With this post, I want to briefly address the Word of Faith doctrine that came up in the 2 part post “When prayers for healing seem to fail” and why I believe it is a false teaching.

Since my 20s when I first heard preachers espouse Word of Faith doctrine (aka: name-it-and-claim-it) with an emphasis on physical healing and prosperity through tithing, I sometimes tried to apply the principles to my own life, but never with any success. I did once overcome a headcold when the Spirit showed me the enemy’s plan to make me sick before an important engagement. Jesus had me rebuke the enemy, who fled from me and I was spared from a week long snot fest.

In my early 40s, The Spirit dealt with the prosperity message by having me study and write about The TITHE Lie. But He never dealt with me concerning Word of Faith belief as it relates to physical healing in this life. So when Karen’s suffering greatly increased last year I took her to a healing ministry where word of faith doctrine is taught and practiced. Thereafter we tried to pray and confess our way to healing for Karen. Though painful and at times desperate, the experience was necessary to teach us God’s Truth and deliver us from the false doctrine of Word of Faith, and to show us the genuine character of God who heals us for no other reason than He loves us. In the end, we learned that a person can do no better than to abandon themselves to God, whose love and mercy is without end (Lamentations 3:22-23).

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23 RSV)

As near as I can determine, the root of error in the Word of Faith movement, is the failure to account for the difference between the flesh, which is temporal, and God, who is Spirit and eternal. If the promises of God for healing and prosperity are viewed wholly through the flesh, then God is a promise breaker – a liar – as often as one of His people are not healed in this life. If not that, then God’s people are at fault for not possessing their healing which leaves practicioners of Word of Faith accusing one another when they are not healed. But wait! How can that be, when faith itself is a gift from God (1 Cor. 12:9)? Surely then God is responsible to give me as much faith as I need to possess my healing! So if I can’t receive my healing through God’s promises, it’s His fault once again for failing to give me the faith I need.

Ah, but what if we view the matter from a spiritual perspective? God is spirit, we are created in His image as spirit-beings in temporary jars of clay for the purpose of discipline and maturing (growth), and so we must approach His word spiritually which means the end of our life in the flesh is in fact God’s harvest and the beginning of our complete healing in the spirit. Consider the way Abraham understood the promise of God to give him descendants through Isaac, whom God asked Abraham to sacrifice by burnt offering. Abraham reasoned God is all powerful and could raise Isaac from the dead to keep His promise to Abraham. Thus if God says He will heal us, He will heal us. The error of the Word of Faith movement is the insistance of the flesh that God is obligated by His word to heal us in THIS lifetime, before the death of our flesh. It’s a glaring contradiction of other provisions in scripture, wherein we are told to take up the cross and crucify our flesh. Word of Faith essentially demands God heal our flesh while we are yet crucified and being disciplined through our flesh. Word of Faith is often in direct opposition to complete surrender.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.” He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (Hebrews 11:17-19 RSV)

So should we be assigning fault to a brother when their infirmity remains? Especially when we are told to love one another and bear each other’s burdens? Have we forgotten it’s the devil who is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10) and the father of lies (John 8:44)? In my view, the most dispicable lie of the Word of Faith doctrine is that it invites fault finding and division amongst the brotherhood.

For more about the errors and lies believers have embraced that lead to such divisive movements as the Word of Faith and Neo-Apostolic Reformation, check out the blog post Dreams, Visions or Delusions (LINK). In simplest terms, every believer needs to reconnect with the Head, who is Jesus Christ and cut out the middle man. The man who follows Jesus alone will find peace and completeness in Him. Trying to follow Jesus by proxy through another man, can only lead to error and chaos.

But as for you, Christ has poured out his Spirit on you. As long as his Spirit remains in you, you do not need anyone to teach you. For his Spirit teaches you about everything, and what he teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit’s teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ. (1 John 2:27 GNB)