“For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” -2 Corinthians 2:17.
This was inspired from a lesson written for my daughter, and provides an example of just how misused God’s Word has become in our day, even among professing believers.
The corruption we’ll look at comes from the first part of the contemporary Christian song Overcomer; which I heard from the gospel group called The Imperials, while listening to their Heed the Call album. This song greatly twists several verses in order to promote the idea of a prosperity gospel, and we’ll examine that here. Please remember that scriptures need to be taken in the CONTEXT of the passage they’re in, as well as in context with the rest of God’s Word.
The part of Overcomer to be examined comes right in the beginning, saying;
Jesus said that when we pray, ‘to believe that we receive. We can have our heart’s desires, as well as the things we need. We can speak to mountains, and they will be removed. Everything will prosper, that we set our hands to.
There is some confusion here in the handling of God’s Word, but the song’s opening statement obviously refers to Mark 11:24, in which Jesus says;
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
God isn’t the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), but we find that here, because Jesus never said that We can have our heart’s desires, as well as the things we need, or Everything will prosper, that we set our hands to. And the part about moving mountains actually came in the verse before the one beginning the song.
Now you might recognize that the parts Jesus didn’t actually say are still in the Bible, but with these we find another mishandling of God’s Word; the author is using only parts of the verses he transplanted in order to promote what he wants the scripture to mean, adding to God’s Word (Proverbs 30:5,6).
Jesus did tell us that God would supply our needs in Matthew 6:33, but the part of we can have our hearts desires actually comes from Psalm 37:4, which says;
“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” So you can see that the song naturally cuts out the Bible’s condition of “delighting in the Lord” first; our desires would then be God’s desires, who wants to provide for our needs, and NOT fleshly greed (Matthew 6:19-21).
This section of the song then closes by saying, Everything will prosper that we set our hands to; words that are actually taken from the passage in Psalm 1:1-3. The promise of “everything prospering” isn’t for every professing Christian, but for those who qualify; those who aren’t keeping company with unbelievers, and they also delight in God’s Word, meditating upon it day and night. Whether or not he intended it, we can see that the songwriter deceitfully handled God’s Word (2 Corinthians 4:2) in order to press the notion of unlimited prosperity for Christians.
Yet there are more problems of mishandling God’s Word here, and for that we’ll look at the full story from Mark 11;
“13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves… 14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it… And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. 22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. ” -from Mark 11:13,14, & 20-26. Bold type added for emphasis.
And so the backdrop for Mark 11:24 was Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree! Matthew 21:18 actually tells us that Jesus was hungry, so why didn’t He bless the tree, and multiply ripened fruit? Jesus needed and desired those figs, yet He chose to do God’s will, whom He delighted in; and we see later that Jesus told His disciples;
“...I have meat to eat that ye know not of…My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” -from John 4:31-34.
It’s important to know that Jesus was speaking only to His disciples in this passage, and the very nature of the FAITH example He used in no way promotes selfish prayers or materialism.
Our Lord also included here the need to forgive others when seeking Him in prayer, which seems to be still another condition to meet if we want to be sure of getting answers to our prayers.
Brethren, the importance of knowing ALL of God’s Word cannot be overstated; we see here an example of how parts of the Bible can be twisted to actually support views which contradict the Word’s overall message. We’ve been warned that in the Last Days false teachers would come (2 Peter 2:1-3), and a more complete knowledge of the Holy Scriptures are our best defense.
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:31,32.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” -John 17:17.
*Quotes from scripture are in quotes & italics;
quotes from the Overcomer song are underlined.
Scriptures involved: Psalms 1:1-3, 37:4, Matthew 21:17-22, Mark 11:13,14, 20-26.
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