(The following is an edited email correspondence.)

This is a question about buying a house with a large mortgage. Do you think that it is generally unbiblical to buy a house with any mortgage at all?

The Charismatics teach that when you borrow, you are essentially bowing down to the banks or the lenders.

For the benefit of those readers who are not familiar with this aspect of Charismatic teachings, let me offer an explanation.

First, let us admit that what we are talking about here refers to the teachings of some Charismatics, and not all of them.

These Charismatics usually belong to the "Word of Faith" or the "health and wealth gospel" crowd, but not everyone within this group completely agrees on the subject. For example, the teaching on borrowing considered here is taught by Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, and many others. However, even within the "health and wealth" crowd, there are those who do not interpret lending and borrowing the same way — for example, the late Kenneth Hagin considered borrowing an acceptable option for Christians.

Nevertheless, since the teaching is usually found among these Charismatics and not the non-Charismatics, in this sense it is fair to say that "the Charismatics teach this."

These Charismatics that we are referring to teach that the atonement of Christ has redeemed believers from "the curse of the law" (Galatians 3:13); therefore, when truly appropriated by faith, the atonement guarantees in this life the complete deliverance from all the effects of the curse of the law described in passages such as Deuteronomy 28. It follows that a person who walks in faith should not experience (or should always overcome) the problems and calamities described in this and other passages.

I have addressed the "triumphalism" of some Charismatics in my book, Biblical Healing. Although the context there is healing, the same problems and principles apply to the Charismatic teachings on financial prosperity.

Now we will proceed to consider the question on borrowing.

The verse from which they have taken the expression is Proverbs 22:7, which says, "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

So the Charismatics did not invent the phrase, but they have distorted it. The verse is making a factual statement, but in itself it does not tell us whether it is morally wrong to borrow. It does not tell you not to borrow, and it does not say that it is a sin to borrow; instead, it just tells you what happens when you borrow by describing the relationship between the borrower and the lender.

The verse is literally true. If you take out a big loan to buy a place, then in a real sense, you will be working for the bank from that time forward until you pay off the whole thing. And if the price of the place falls below the amount you borrowed, then you really will be working for the bank!

In other settings where one borrows from another, a similar relationship is also established. Consider the many college students who go credit card crazy, and also consider their college student loans. Some of them have to keep paying their debts for years after graduation. They have become slaves to the lenders.

This might make you think twice about borrowing, but the verse in itself does not tell you not to do it. It just tells you what will happen.

Then, the Charismatics also use the following verse when teaching against borrowing: "He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail" (Deuteronomy 28:44).

The verse is spoken in the context of God’s covenant curse against those who would break his law. The Charismatics have again distorted it, interpreting it as if it says, "If you borrow, then you will become cursed. If you borrow, then you will become the tail and not the head."

But instead, this verse is saying, "If you disobey me, then I will put you under a curse, and then you will have to borrow." The need to borrow is one manifestation of the covenant curse, and not the cause of the curse.

Analogous to this is the relationship between the curse and banishment from the land (that is, the Jewish exiles). If we were to use the same reasoning here, we would teach, "God’s Word says that if you are banished from the land, you are or will be under a curse, so just don’t leave. If you leave, it means that you don’t have faith, and you will suffer for it." The cause and effect are reversed. Rather, the proper teaching is, "Do not disobey God and break his commandments; otherwise, he will put you under a curse, and as a result, you will be banished from the land."

Nevertheless, even if you have the need to borrow, that in itself does not indicate that you are under God’s curse, since some people are just poor, even if they are right before God (James 2:5).

Of course, then there are those who are not poverty-stricken, but they just want to live beyond their means.

Recommended:

Ministry Spending and Favoritism

Vincent Cheung, Godliness with Contentment

Vincent Cheung, Commentary on Philippians

Vincent Cheung, The Parables of Jesus

Vincent Cheung, Biblical Healing

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