The Heresy Hunter

1 Corinthians 2:9 - Joel Osteen Version

In today's devotional message Joel quotes 1 Cor. 2:9 and writes:

Because God loves you, He has supernatural blessings in store for you; increase, favor, good breaks, supernatural opportunities. His dream for your life is so much greater than you ever imagined. You haven’t seen anything yet! You may have a dream to get well again, or to be able to walk without pain, but God’s dream for you is not only that you will walk, but that you be able to run and play like you did when you were a child. Your dream may be just to keep your marriage together, but God’s dream is that your marriage would be happier, healthier, and more fulfilling than you ever thought possible!

Your dream may be to just pay your bills and make it through each month, but God’s dream is that you have an abundance, that you be totally out of debt, pay your house off, pay your credit cards off, and have so much overflow that you can be a blessing to everyone around you! Get ready because God has greater blessings in store for you that you ever imagined. Open you heart today and keep an attitude of faith and expectancy and you will live the abundant life the Lord has prepared for you!

But what does Paul say in 2 Cor. 2:6-10?

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"

but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

Although many Christians use this to point to what God has prepared for us in eternity, Paul is quoting from an Old Testament passage that was pointing forward to the plan of salvation. No doubt we can also use it to describe God's future plans, but one thing we can say for a certainty is that the Joel Osteen interpretation is pure fiction.

As an aside, you can read my review of Osteen's current best-seller, "Become a Better You," in the current Christian Research Journal.

Labels: Joel Osteen

posted by Bob Hunter @ Friday, August 08, 2008