Beware of the Prosperity Gospel

164 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 6:4,5, “he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, 5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. ( 1 Tim 6:4,5) Paul continues his description of false teachers. Using smoke and mirrors, and wrangling over words with minds that have been rotted by an obsession of the flesh to finding loopholes and exceptions to the clear commands of God in order to justify sin. These useless wranglings (the phrase means misemployment, or misuse of the true meaning of the Word of God. It's twisting Scripture to fit our flesh rather than the Spirit. These false teachers see godliness (the doctrine of Christ) as a means of financial gain. What do I mean by that? Well, the doctrine of Christ includes the teaching that Jesus is God in the flesh and that upon ascending into heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell all believers! Some see an opportunity to gain financially from this arrangement. They pervert Col 1:27 to read, “Christ in you the hope of riches, instead of Christ in you, the hope of glory! Classic example is Simon the sorcerer in Ac 8:18-22, “And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 20 But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 "You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 "Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. This portion of Scripture a clear warning for teachers and leaders in the church to check their motivation! There are some charlatans out there who twist the words of Scripture and the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to line their pockets and unfortunately, there are often many gullible sheep, blinded by the possibility of obtaining their own riches, who gladly withdraw from their bank account rather than following Paul's advice to withdraw from THEM!