Listed below are 5 teachings of worldly Christianity that were never instructed by the Bible. In this post we will look at them in a deeper understanding of what the Bible actually teaches on the subject.

Rebuke Our Disease

There is no biblical foundation for such a belief. Disease is the cause of the curse of sin on earth. My mother has been battling metastasis cancer for over 14 years and is still fighting. Various ministers have attempted to rebuke her disease to bring complete physical healing. But the truth of the matter is that if God wills for you to go through an illness, He is the only one that can remove it.

Paul, who is the Gentile apostle, struggled with a “thorn in his flesh”. We do not know much detail about what that was exactly but he asked God to take it away and God replied “My grace is sufficient for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:6-10). Notice how He asked God and didn’t take it upon himself to handle the sickness or rebuke it. He went directly to the greater Physician with the problem. 

Like Paul, Christians should live with the expectation that while we are faced with various trials and disease being one of them, we ought to search for the purpose of God through it rather than trying to get rid of it. 

Cast Out Problems

Problems are nothing new in a fallen world. The Bible doesn’t gloss over the topic of problems. In fact, the Bible has a lot to say about it. But the basis of what the Bible says about this teaching is that we are not the ones to “cast out”. Instead, it tells us to “CAST UNTO THE LORD” (Ps 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7). 

Within the context of these verses, God sustains us, He cares and will never let us fall. We first must see that God declares both His ability and His willingness to be our strength and support. This may be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. He is able to and willing. However, we must not be quick to want to get out of problems without first searching the purpose of why you are faced with them. As spoken in the “rebuke our disease” section. 

See your problems/worries as an opportunity to practice trusting the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

Speak Into Our Trials

This teaching has many threads and I’m not really sure what it even means. But what I do know is what the Bible says about trials. Jesus foretold us that in this life we will face many trials and tribulations (John 16:33). James encourages us to rejoice and embrace our trials because in our trials we grow and mature (James 1).

The whole “speak into existence” teaching is solely within God’s power and right. We on the other hand do not have authority to create or form. God is the only one who can speak into existence. We’ll talk more about this in the next point.

One thing I do want to agree with is that our words do have power (Proverbs 12:6). But this is in the context of using our words to build people or destroy them. Our words are so important that one day we will have to give an account before Christ for them (Matthew 12:36-37). And Paul encourages us to not let an unwholesome talk come out of our mouths (Ephesians 4:29).

The words we speak are not to demand things to happen into our trails but to build others up. Speak edifying things filled with grace and truth on the basis of The Word and not the desires of our heart.

Claim Our Success

This teaching comes from a misinterpretation of Bible passages. When we look at the section without considering the proper context we can make such mistakes. One verse that people often cite when trying to prove this teaching is Mark 11:24,

So let’s look at the context of this to help give us the proper interpretation. First, these words of Jesus do not give way of bringing something into existence (as discussed briefly in the previous point). In context with the rest of the Scripture, 1 John 5:14 says,

We are told to submit to the will of God in our prayers. We are not told to claim or speak something into existence. But to pray according to the will of God. 

Success and being free from troubles are something we all will and want. But many times, it’s the will of God for us to face trials of financial struggle and/or other various kinds of trials.

Now, if we are to speak on the Biblical basis of what success is. When it comes to skills and abilities to grow in success in various fields such as our spiritual gifts or ministry we see an emphasis on this in Scripture. It claims- GOD is the giver. Consider 1 Corinthians 4:7, 

The implication in these questions is that our abilities and skills come from God. The things we may consider success may not be what God views as valuable. 1 John 2:15-17,

God measures success differently than the world. Jesus emphasizes this in Luke 9:48,

Biblical success that pleases and glorifies God is being known by Him and knowing and serving Him wholeheartedly through our faith in Jesus Christ. 

Demand God to do something

John 15:7 says,

The Greek word for “ask” used in this passage is aiteo and within its definition it destroys any suggestions of demanding God to do something. It also destroys the picture that we must beg and plead for things from God. The word “ask” means to be adamant in requesting and demanding assistance to meet tangible needs such as food, shelter, provision, safety, etc.

Let us not be ignorant to this truth. We do not deserve anything from God because we have violated His law. The only thing we deserve is damnation to eternal separation from our Creator. But because He is GOOD and MERCIFUL He calls all to repentance in Christ and He freely gives to those who are genuine in faith salvation for eternal life.

I hope and pray that I was able to give you a different perspective versus the world Christianity teachings. If you want to read more on other world concepts versus Biblical truth we do have a post on Biblical self-love and what the Bible says about it. Check it out here.