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NASB | Romans 8:28 ¶ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 8:28 ¶ And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. |
Bible Question: Is it true in your opinion that God wants His people on earth to prosper and be out of poverty? I know many people fight this and also is it true God always desires to heal we the Christians fail to recieve it? |
Bible Answer: A God who does not get what He wants because of the decisions of human beings not to "receive it" would be a very weak God indeed. We do not "unlock" God's power. If God's true desire is for people to possess material wealth, then someone had better explain that to faithful Christians in the poorest Third World countries how they are living out of God's will. People should have explained to Paul that rather than collecting offerings from richer churches to help poorer churches, that he should have smiled and told the poorer churches to "claim their blessing." And all those great people of faith in church history who died of diseases! If only some "enlightened" Christian from the 21st century had told them it didn't have to be that way! It is indeed God's will that poverty be relieved -- by means of Christians (Acts 20:35; Romans 15:26; Galatians 2:10; James 2:2-6,16). The Christian life is not to be one of accumulation of wealth (Matthew 16:26; Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:33), but one of generosity (1 Timothy 6:17-19). And health is not guaranteed. Timothy was instructed to treat his ailment rather than to claim deliverance from it (1 Timothy 5:23). Epaphroditus recovered from his sickness which almost led to death. Did he not know to name it and claim it before it got that bad? Maybe Paul didn;t instruct him in the faith well enough (Philippians 2:25-27). The bottom line is that the prosperity gospel is not biblical, nor was it taught at all in church history until the 20th century. Did all of God's great preachers and teachers for 1900 years just miss this teaching which is so central to much of materialistic American evangelicalism today? I think not. --Joe! |