April 19, 2026

Biblical Prosperity: What is an Abundant Life?

By Darrien DeFederico

John 10:10 (NASB95)

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Devotional

If you watch or listen to certain Word of Faith preachers (nearly synonymous with televangelists), then you know that when you become a Christian, God opens the floodgates of Heaven and the wealth immediately comes in. No more one-story houses, pre-owned cars, boxed TV dinners or thrift store clothes. As soon as you get home from work, your home transforms into a mansion before your eyes, along with the car you were sitting in, to a Ferrari. Your refrigerator is bursting at the seams (the door will not even close) with caviar and expensive imported Italian cold cuts, while you are immediately blinded by your solid gold clothes in your bedroom that nearly burns your newly acquired mansion down due to the amount of light it is reflecting (a major fire hazard if we are honest). This abundant life is not so bad!

I will admit I was more than a little misrepresenting what those false teachers actually say, though I am not far off. They teach financial prosperity (along with good health) as a guaranteed and present reality through faith in Jesus and that you only need to give them thousands of dollars to access the "millionaire blessing" (really just a "give to get" mentality). Even the most minute reading of the New Testament should immediately reveal to all that unlimited financial blessings are not promised or a present reality (Philippians 4:12-13). If so, then what is the biblical understanding of prosperity. What does Jesus mean in John 10:10 when He promised us abundance?

As with all good biblical doctrine, you should never take one verse and isolate it from its context. In John 10:1-21, we see Jesus giving parables concerning Himself. his relationship with God, and how He relates to His followers. He calls Himself the Good Shepherd, someone that cares for His sheep, instead of a hired hand that is only there to do a job and does not care about the result. In the midst of this parable, Jesus describes that His true followers are able to have an abundant life because of Him. This is because of Jesus' atoning death on the cross. The phrase "I came that..." shows that this abundance is intrinsically linked to Jesus' purpose. Abundance in Christ is linked to Jesus' death and sacrifice, not to riches or any type of material blessing. Donald Arthur Carson writes concerning John 10:10 that "within the metaphorical world, life … to the full suggests fat, contented, flourishing sheep, not terrorized by brigands; outside the narrative world, it means that the life Jesus’ true disciples enjoy is not to be construed as more time to fill (merely ‘everlasting’ life), but life at its scarcely imagined best, life to be lived."¹ In other words, God did not send Jesus just to give us more time for hobbies and vanity; He is giving us true life through a right relationship with God that is actually worth living; one that is in service to the one true King.

Does that mean followers of Christ will not (or should not) have any financial prosperity? That would not be correct based on the whole council of Scripture. The Book of Proverbs in particular has a very positive attitude concerning money. Proverbs 10:4 says "poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich", and Proverbs 10:22 tells us "it is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it". Biblically, financial prosperity can (though it is not promised) result from a combination of hard work and righteous living towards God.

However, the attitude of chasing or expecting financial blessings because of some type of obligation on God's part is wrong. Philippians 4:12 has Paul declare "I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need". Prosperity is not the goal; contentment with where we are is the goal, whether that is rich or poor.

In other words, prosperity is like fog in the morning; it may or may not be there, regardless if you are serving Jesus. If you have prospered recently, praise God and make sure not to trust in the deceitfulness of riches. If you are poor, praise God that He is taking care of you and you've been given an amazing opportunity to live life and serve Him, even though you have no money to offer. No matter whether you are rich or poor, crying in sadness or on the mountain tops of joy, life is still worth living knowing that your soul is permanently linked to Jesus; that is an abundant life!

Prayer

Father, please help us to be content with the things that you have given us, and to not covet those things that television and the media always bombard us with. Help us not to be jealous over what others have, and to be grateful for what you have provided. Help us to not hold onto our possessions tightly, but to remember they are only tools to serve you. Amen.

Bibliography

1. D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 385.