Exploring Prosperity Preaching Chapter 9

Prosperity
Exploring

Preaching
Biblical Health, Wealth, & Wisdom

Debra J. Mumford
Foreword by DeForest B. Soaries Jr.

Taken from Exploring Prosperity Preaching: Biblical Health, Wealth, & Wisdom by Debra Mumford
© 2012 by Judson Press. All rights reserved.
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Exploring Prosperity Preaching
© 2012 by Judson Press, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Mumford, Debra J.
Exploring prosperity preaching : biblical health, wealth & wisdom / Debra
J. Mumford ; foreword by DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. -- 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-0-8170-1708-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. African Americans--Reli-
gion. 2. Faith movement (Hagin) 3. Wealth--Religious aspects--Christianity.
4. Preaching. I. Title.
BR563.N4M86 2012
241’.6808996073--dc23
2011051583

Printed in the U.S.A.

First Edition, 2012.


Chapter 9

You Are the Righteousness of God

“You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.” This
statement is frequently made by preachers of the prosper-
ity gospel when they are trying to get believers to under-
stand who they are in Christ and the rights and privileges
to which they are entitled. In one sermon, Creflo Dollar
cited E. W. Kenyon, who wrote that sin makes cowards of
people because they will not stand up for their rights. Dollar
contended that people do not stand up for their rights be-
cause of their sin consciousness. He asserted that Jesus was
fearless in his ministry because he was righteous. Therefore,
if believers can shed their sin consciousness, they will no
longer be cowards and will then become the people God was
calling them to be.

How many cowards do we have in the house? And how many
days will we continue to be cowards? How many days will we
continue to allow sin to make you a coward? Sin is not the prob-
lem. Jesus has already given an answer to sin. The blood has
already taken care of sin. Sin is not the problem. Quit making sin
the problem. We have an advocate with the Father. Sin is not the

97

98 Exploring Prosperity Preaching

problem. And we have not only made it the problem, we’ve al-
lowed it to make us the cowards. I’m not a coward. I have a right
to everything he promised and declared in this book. Now I’m
sorry that some people don’t read all of it. But he has declared,
he has declared I have a right to get answered prayer. He has
declared that I have a right to come boldly to the throne of God.
He has declared that I have a right to have forgiveness of my
sin. He has declared that I have a right to be solid in every area,
whole in every area of my life. And he has declared that I am to
be rich. Now I am sorry that you don’t want to stand up for that.1

Dollar was basically telling his hearers that the reason many
of them do not claim their rights as the embodiment of the
righteousness of God is because they are too scared to do so.
They are supposed to go boldly to God and claim their rights.
Their rights, according to Dollar, include being rich.
Bill Winston also tried to teach his hearers about the value
of righteousness. In a sermon titled “Understanding Our Di-
vinity,” he told his hearers that when they were born again,
“they assumed the same nature as God.”2 One of the struggles
that new converts have is the renewing of their minds. Before
receiving Christ, people live in condemnation. After receiving
Christ, they live in righteousness.
Christians, Winston taught, have been programmed to
believe that they have limits. But the new person who lives in
righteousness is connected to the ability of God and therefore
has no limits. Whereas people used to think small, after con-
version they need to develop a new mentality. Winston cited
Peter walking on the water as an example of a new mentality.
When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he told Jesus to
call out to him so he could walk on the water too. Undoubt-
edly, Winston speculated, there were people in the boat who
were calling out to Peter, trying to get him to come back.
They were telling him that he was crazy. But Peter believed
that he could do what Jesus did. That “I can do anything”
mentality is the mentality believers should have.


You Are the Righteousness of God 99

Both Dollar and Winston used Kenyon’s teachings about
the righteousness of God as the basis for their preaching. Ac-
cording to Kenyon, when Christ was resurrected from the
grave, he gave Christians the ability to become the righteous-
ness of God in him.3 Righteousness is the ability to stand
before God’s presence as if one had never committed sin.
Since believers have been declared righteous, they have God’s
own nature.4
Kenyon asserted that Christians no longer have to live with
a sense of spiritual inferiority or with a constant sin conscious-
ness; rather, believers should live with Son consciousness.5
Son consciousness creates within believers the understanding
that once they accept Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, they
have at work in them the same unlimited ability and wisdom
of God as Christ has. Kenyon’s Son consciousness is consis-
tent with his teaching that believers are as much incarnations
of God as Christ was when he was on earth.
According to Kenyon, God created human beings because
of God’s desire for fellowship. However, Adam’s sin broke
fellowship with God. Since the righteousness of humanity
has been restored through Jesus, perfect fellowship between
God and humanity can be restored if humanity allows sin
consciousness to be eradicated.6 If humanity does not allow
sin consciousness to be eliminated, Satan’s work in Adam will
be proven more effective than God’s work in Christ.7 When
believers realize they are the righteousness of God, they can
take their places as sons and daughters of God and walk as
fearlessly through life as Jesus did.8
The text these prosperity preachers cite as evidence is 2
Corinthians 5:21: “God made him who had no sin to be sin
for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God” (niv). Does being the righteousness of God mean that
humanity actually assumes the very nature of God? Are Jesus
and humans on equal footing in the eyes of God? Comparing
Word of Faith theology to another mainline Protestant theol-
ogy may be instructive.



Because of Christ’s Righteousness Alone
John Calvin, one of the authors of Reformed theology and
one of the theologians who emerged during the Protestant
Reformation in the sixteenth century, can offer another theo-
logical perspective. Calvin wrote extensively in his Institutes
of the Christian Religion about the justification by faith
wherein humanity is forgiven of their sins and deemed righ-
teous by God through their confession of faith in Jesus.9 For
Calvin, believers are deemed righteous because our mediator,
Jesus, is righteous.
However, while Calvin believed that humans are made
righteous in the eyes of God through Christ, he adamantly
rejected the teachings of Andreas Osiander, a German theo-
logian in his day, whom he contended was assigning divine
attributes to humans. He argued that humans were not
“transfused” with “divine essence” upon conversion.10 While
Kenyon believed that humans assumed God’s nature when
they were made righteous and were just as much incarna-
tions of God as Christ, Calvin believed that being declared
righteous was the beginning of a lifelong process of sanctifi-
cation. Humans, according to Calvin, spent a lifetime living
into their righteous status.
What was at stake for Calvin in making this distinction?
Why spend so much time and effort on it? Calvin argued
against humans being imbued with divinity when they were
justified by faith because of the reality of sin. For Calvin,
even though God declares humans to be righteous when they
accept Christ, they are not free from sin. Christ was free
from sin. Humans are declared righteous simply because of
God’s grace.11 It was only by the grace of God, through the
person and work of Jesus Christ, that humans receive salva-
tion and justification. Calvin believed that the continued ex-
istence of sin, even among the converted, are a reality check
for Christians that they are not as much incarnations of God
as Christ.



While we should not allow the reality of our sinful natures
to weigh us down, having some sin consciousness is not a bad
thing. Being aware of sin and our propensity to commit sin
allows us to be continually aware of dependency on God for
all things. (I explore this further in Sifting the Wheat from
the Chaff.)

The Favor of God
Calvin believed that serving God has benefits. One privilege
of being the righteousness of God for Calvin is being the
recipient of the favor of God. For Calvin, the favor of God
is God’s assurance of God’s divine presence in this life and
expectation of life with Christ in the next.12 For Calvin the
favor of God also includes God’s blessings on human works
(day-to-day activities) and work they do for God. Blessings on
works represent divine favor, because by their own merit, hu-
man works do not measure up to divine standards. No matter
how good human works are, they are still tarnished with sin.
However, because God looks at human works through Jesus
Christ, God is able to attribute to them value they ordinarily
would not have.
Calvin argued that in as much as the promises of the law
reward works, they are of little value, because the law is im-
possible for humans to fulfill. Though impossible to fulfill,
the law still serves as a guide for godly living. However, when
the promises of the gospel (which include free pardon of sins
and being accepted by God) are substituted for the promises
of the law, then God blessed the works of the faithful:

But when the gospel promises are substituted, promises which
announce the free pardon of sins, the result is not only that our
persons are accepted of God, but his favor also is shown to our
works, and that not only in respect that the Lord is pleased with
them, but also because he visits them with the blessings which
were due by agreement to the observance of his law. I admit,



therefore, that the works of the faithful are rewarded with the
promises which God gave in his law to the cultivators of righ-
teousness and holiness.13

While the favor of God for Calvin is given to the faithful
according to the promises of God found in the law, godly
favor does not necessarily equate to material wealth. Calvin
believed that Christians can be faithful and blessed with the
favor of God yet still be poor. For both prosperity theology
and Calvin, the favor of God is a result of humanity being
declared righteous by God. The difference between the two
is that for prosperity theology, the favor of God manifests
itself in the form of material wealth in addition to other
blessings.
In one sermon, Jerry Savelle shared with his hearers that
when he became a Christian in 1969, someone gave him a
book by Bob Buess titled Favor: The Road to Success. Until
Savelle read the book, he had no idea that God thought so
highly of humanity. He had always been taught that human
righteousness was as filthy rags before God. When he read
the book, he discovered that God made humans a little lower
than God-self and crowned them with glory and honor:
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of
man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little
lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and
honour” (Psalm 8:4-5, kjv).
Savelle also learned that God has favorable thoughts
about men and women. Through favor, God ensures that
Christians become winners rather than losers. He referred
to Genesis 12:2 in which God told Abraham that he would
make his name great to demonstrate God’s promise to bless
the people of God with divine favor. In Savelle’s view, the fa-
vor of God and the grace of God are the same. While Savelle
does not limit the favor of God to works associated with the
law, he teaches that holiness and obedience to the word of
God are necessary for believers to receive the blessings of



God. For Savelle, the favor of God includes entitlement to
material wealth.
Savelle also teaches his followers that the favor of God
will change rules, regulations, and policies if necessary.14 He
cited an example of a time in his own life when he and his
wife were trying to enroll one of their daughters in school for
the first time. According to state law, because of the date of
her birth, his daughter had to wait an additional year before
she could begin school. Savelle and his wife began to pray and
declare divine favor. When it came time to enroll their daugh-
ter, the school official told Savelle that he did not understand
what happened, but the law had changed and they were now
able to enroll their daughter in school. Savelle declared this
to be an example of God’s divine favor at work in their lives.
In the case of promotions at work, Savelle said that he knew
people who did not have the seniority or the expertise that
would qualify them for promotion. God nevertheless made a
way for them to be promoted.

Sifting the Wheat from the Chaff
Bill Winston and other Word of Faith preachers tell their lis-
teners that they are just as much incarnations of God as Jesus
was. Indeed, when we examine John 14:12, we read that Jesus
did tell the disciples that they would be able to do the same
works (and even greater) than Jesus was able to do during his
earthly ministry. However, as it relates to spiritual equality
with Jesus, humanity still has to deal with the problem of sin.
Therefore, humans are not Christ’s spiritual equals.
Being recipients of the favor of God is especially good
news for people who do not generally get much good news.
People who struggle to meet their basic needs on a daily basis,
who have been unemployed or underemployed for extended
periods, and who don’t know how they are going to pay the
rent or mortgage are glad to hear that God will bless their
lives if they live by the word of God. People who encounter



discrimination in their workplaces based on race, ethnicity, or
gender are overjoyed to hear that they can claim the favor of
God to help them advance in the midst of opposition. These
are the types of situations in which the favor of God is most
needed. Having the assurance of God’s blessings may help to
give people in these circumstances the confidence they need to
live boldly in the world and to dare to dream.
While it is good news to hear that God is able to work
miracles on behalf of the people of God, Savelle’s claims
raise serious concerns. Christians who expect every law with
which they take issue to be immediately changed and every
regulation or policy that is disagreeable to them to be instant-
ly eliminated are in for great disappointment. Even in cases
of tremendous injustice, changing laws and policies can take
months, years, decades, or even centuries. Chattel slavery of
the West African–North American slave trade existed in this
country for two hundred years before it was finally abolished.
During that time, a lot of faithful Christians prayed, worked,
and believed for its elimination. Even with all of that effort, it
lasted for two centuries.
After the abolition of slavery in the United States, it took
many more decades of prayer, pain, and protest to achieve
legal equality for African Americans in the form of basic civil
rights in the United States. For example, the Montgomery
bus boycott alone, which began on December 1, 1955, to en-
able African Americans to ride in any section of the public
bus system they chose, was a thirteen-month mass protest.
Throughout that period, good Christian people were praying,
walking, organizing, and sacrificing their time and efforts for
the good of the cause. Many of these people had tremendous
faith and believed God could do all things. Yet it took time
to realize their dream of equality. The boycott ended with the
United States Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public
transportation was unconstitutional. It was just one of a series
of protests launched over the years that ultimately culminated
with civil rights being extended to African Americans. Though



God hears the prayers of God’s people, sometimes the positive
outcome of our prayers is not immediate.
As it relates to receiving promotions even though one is
not qualified for the job, this too is problematic. First of all,
people of God should always pray and ask God to reveal to
them God’s will for their lives. This means that though we
may want a promotion, we should first discern whether the
promotion we desire is in line with God’s will for us. After
discerning God’s will, Christians should then pray for help
to achieve the qualifications necessary to get the job. No
one should want to work in a job for which she or he is not
qualified. Not being qualified for a position sets people up
for failure. We certainly want to start a job with all of the
knowledge and skills necessary to do it well.
However, indiscriminate belief in the favor of God, in
which one claims divine favor in all situations, such as get-
ting a premium parking space, the best tickets to a football
game, or moved to the front of a very long line can serve
to turn our omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God
into our own personal valet—a God who is at our beck and
call to make our lives more comfortable and eliminate any
inconveniences we may encounter in our daily lives. God
does not exist for our convenience. We exist to bring glory
to God. God helps us to bring God glory by giving us every-
thing we need to live happy, productive, fulfilling lives that
are accountable to God in every way (spiritually, physically,
emotionally, and mentally).
The favor of God can also be a license for mediocrity with
the expectation that God will somehow bless even our fee-
blest, most token efforts. If we adopt this perception of godly
favor, we believe that we no longer have to work hard to
realize tangible results. We only have to pray and believe that
God will work out situations on our behalf. For example, a
medical student who prays for God’s help to pass an exam
for which he or she has not adequately prepared could claim
God’s divine favor to earn a passing grade. However, if that



student were enabled to pass without acquiring the neces-
sary knowledge, that student would be robbing any future
patients of a physician who is truly competent in the profes-
sion. None of us would want to be the patient of a doctor
who relied on divine favor to get through medical school.
None of us would want to be operated on by a surgeon who
did not quite master the breadth of knowledge necessary to
be an excellent surgeon. We want doctors who worked hard,
studied diligently, and gained the knowledge and skills neces-
sary to treat us effectively. Just as we have high expectations
of our physicians, we should also have high expectations of
ourselves and all people. We should always strive to do the
best we can in every aspect of our lives. God will help us, but
we must also do our part. God will be there when we need
God most.
Among other issues raised in this chapter, I examined the
concept of divine favor. Divine favor is good news for people
who have been and are being treated unjustly in any way.
African Americans are intimately acquainted with injustice,
especially as it pertains to race. Yet, in the next chapter, we
discover that Creflo Dollar contends that race does not matter.

Notes
1. Creflo Dollar Jr., “Ruling and Reigning through Righteousness,” Cre-
flo Dollar Ministries, 2001, audiocassette.
2. Bill Winston, “Understanding Our Divinity,” http://bwmbroadcast.
org/player/flash?stream=BW591_2.mp4 (accessed September 17, 2010).
3. E. W. Kenyon, Jesus the Healer (Lynnwood, WA: Kenyon’s Gospel
Publishing Society, 1940), 8–9. By “righteousness of God,” Kenyon means
a state of being without sin before God. At the moment the believer accepts
Christ as Savior, he or she is declared righteous.
4. Ibid.
5. E. W. Kenyon, Identification: A Romance in Redemption (Lynnwood,
WA: Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society, 1941), 49–50.
6. E. W. Kenyon, The Father and His Family: The Story of Man’s Re-
demption (Lynnwood, WA: Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society, 1937),
219.
7. Ibid., 220.



8. Ibid., 223.
9. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.11.2, Christian
Classics Ethereal Library, 2002, www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/
Calvin%20Institutes%20of%20Christian%20Religion.pdf (accessed De-
cember 13, 2011).
10. Ibid., 3.11.5.
11. Ibid., 3.11.11.
12. Ibid., 3.2.28.
13. Ibid., 3.17.3.
14. Jerry Savelle, “The Favor of God #2.” Jerry Savelle Ministries video
podcast, iTunes, downloaded October 6, 2011.


Exploring Prosperity Preaching Chapter 9

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