You’ve Already Got It? What the Finished Work of Christ Does—and Does Not Mean

You’ve Already Got It!  by Andrew Wommack offers both biblical and unbiblical teachings.  He teaches a core, foundational truth every evangelical Christian should affirm: the saving work of Jesus Christ is finished. Believers do not earn justification, forgiveness, acceptance, righteousness, or eternal life. Christ accomplished redemption at the cross, and those who trust in Jesus receive these blessings by grace alone through faith in Him and His finished work.

The problem is not Wommack’s teaching that Christ’s redemptive work is complete. The problem is what he builds upon that truth. Wommack teaches that God has already “blessed, healed, and prospered” the believer and that Christians have already been given everything they will ever need. His ministry describes faith as the bridge between the physical world and a spiritual realm, and believers are already blessed.  That’s true, if properly understood. But Wommack also teaches that healing, wisdom, prosperity, joy, peace, and other provisions already exist in the believer’s spirit and need only be released into physical experience. That is where a biblical truth about Christ’s finished work becomes problematic in Word of Faith theology and doctrine.

What is Word of Faith Theology

Before proceeding, let’s define Word of Faith theology.  It is a charismatic Christian teaching that emphasizes the power of faith, spoken words, and the believer’s spiritual authority to receive or bring into visible experience blessings believed to have already been provided through Christ, especially healing, prosperity, deliverance, and victory over adverse circumstances.  Such teaching does not align with biblical teachings on faith, prayer, healing, and the finished work of Christ. Instead, it turns faith into a means for obtaining personally desired outcomes.

What Have We Already Got?

Scripture unquestionably describes many aspects of salvation as completed realities. The believer has been justified (Romans 5:1), has redemption and forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7), has eternal life (1 John 5:11-13), and has been sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). Ephesians 1:3 declares that God “has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” These are not promises waiting for greater faith to activate them. They are realities, God-given to everyone who is in Christ.

In that sense, we already have it—but this should only be understood to mean in our positional standing in Christ—our spiritual life. Scripture does not say that everything Christ’s redemption has given us positionally is ultimately accomplished or fully realized in our present physical, earthly experience.

That distinction is essential.  It’s the difference between our positional standing in Christ (our justification) and our practical living for Christ (our sanctification).  

<For more on this, read: How Should I Understand Salvation? In Simple Terms and The Gift of Salvation: Justification & Imputation (Imputed Righteousness) >

Already, Not Yet

The Bible presents salvation with an important “already, but not yet” framework. We have been completely justified, yet we are still being sanctified. We possess eternal life, yet our mortal bodies still die. We have the Holy Spirit as the earnest, or guarantee, of our inheritance, yet we await the fullness of that inheritance.

Romans 8:23 makes this especially clear. Christians who already possess the Spirit still “groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption…the redemption of our body.” Our redemption has been purchased, but its effects have not yet been fully consummated.

That single distinction creates a serious problem for Wommack’s theology and teachings.

The Vertical and Horizontal of the Cross

Another helpful way to understand this distinction is in my article, “What is the Vertical and Horizontal of the Cross?”  

Consider the two beams of the cross to represent justification and sanctification.

• The vertical beam represents what God has done for us and in us—our relationship and positional standing before Him.
• The horizontal beam represents the sanctifying work God continues to perform in and through us as we live in relationship with others. It represents our practical living for Jesus. 

“It is Finished” — vertical;  “It’s New Every Morning” — horizontal. 

Making this distinction protects the believer from two errors. First, we must never treat justification as unfinished. Christ is our righteousness. His sacrifice is sufficient. Our position in Him is secure.

Second, we should not treat our practical Christian life as though it were already complete. We still need daily grace. We need wisdom. We pray. We grow. We confess sin. We learn obedience. We endure suffering. We minister to others. We wait upon God. We depend upon the Holy Spirit.  

Our position is finished. Our practice is ongoing.

Wommack’s You’ve Already Got It! tends to blur these categories. This becomes particularly apparent in Wommack’s doctrine of healing.

He teaches that believers are not waiting for God to heal them because God has already provided healing. His ministry therefore describes healing as something Christians should learn to “walk in,” rather than something God may or may not grant at present.

His website states:

“You Already Have Everything You Need — What do you need the Lord to do for you? Do you need the Lord to heal you? How about prosperity? Could you use more money? The truth is, you don’t need the Lord to do anything for you. He’s already done His part. You’ve already got it, whatever “it” is.”

Watch this video clip:

Note what was said:  “He [GOD] HAS DELIVERED THIS POWER AND AUTHORITY TO ME, AND NOW I REACH OUT, AND I RELEASE THE HEALING POWER, THE DELIVERING POWER, THE PROSPERITY POWER, THE RELATIONAL POWER THAT GOD HAS PUT ON THE INSIDE OF ME, AND YOU JUST LET GOD FLOW THROUGH YOU. THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE WALKING IN VICTORY. BUT WE’VE GOT MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS THAT BELIEVE GOD CAN DO ANYTHING.”

The healing power?  The prosperity power? And the relational power?  Where in the Bible does it say that God has given us those powers inside of us?  It doesn’t. But Wommack uses 1 Peter 2:24 out of context:  “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…by whose stripes you were healed.”  

The immediate context of that verse is about sin and righteousness: “that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.”  Peter drew his words from Isaiah 53:5-6, and the verses are about spiritual healing of the soul, not physical, financial, or relational healing. 

Consider that the New Testament presents faithful believers who remained physically ill. Paul told Timothy to use a little wine for “his stomach’s sake” and “often infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). Paul left Trophimus at Miletum sick (2 Timothy 4:20). Epaphroditus became so ill that he nearly died.

These accounts are difficult to reconcile with the claim that bodily healing operates like justification—something already possessed, and we must simply activate it by sufficient faith.

Sufficient Faith?

Therein lies a serious danger—one that I experienced the consequences of as a young child.

A nine-year-old playmate, the son of close family friends, became seriously ill. Because of the father’s newfound religious beliefs, his parents did not initially seek medical treatment, relying instead on the church’s teaching that if they exercised sufficient faith, healing would come. Tragically, the untreated illness progressed, and my friend died. The devastation did not end there. Hours before the death, his father relented and called a doctor. Afterward, the church told him that doing so demonstrated his lack of faith in God’s healing power—and that this failure of faith was the reason his son had died. The loss of a child was compounded by the crushing burden of spiritual blame. It is difficult to imagine a more heartbreaking example of how a distorted teaching about faith and healing can wound people at the very moment they most need truth, grace, and compassion.

Faith Is Not a Spiritual Mechanism

Biblical faith is confidence in God and surrender to God’s will.  “Not my will, but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42). Word of Faith theology can subtly turn faith into confidence in oneself by believing that “you already have it” and it’s up to you to sufficiently activate it to get what you want.

The question changes from: “Lord, what is Your will, and please help me in this situation?” to: “How do I do this by releasing what is already inside me?”  It is no longer God working in you and through you by the power of the Holy Spirit.  You are working to activate what is already in you.

This is not a small distinction. Scripture repeatedly teaches believers to ask God for what they need:  

• Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”—Matthew 6:11
• Paul instructed: “In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” — Philippians 4:6
• James wrote: “You have not, because you ask not.” — James 4:2
• And regarding sickness:  “Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him.” — James 5:14

What the Christian Already Has

The Christian possesses many gifts far greater than a guarantee of present health or greater prosperity in this world. We have Christ Himself, peace with God, forgiveness of sins,  Christ’s imputed righteousness, access to the Father, resurrection hope, and the indwelling Holy Spirit to teach and guide us, strengthen and encourage us, and produce in us His fruit. God gives us all these gifts so we can live to honor Christ, share His love and saving grace with all people, and minister to others.

The Answer

The biblical answer to You’ve Already Got It! is “YES” in justification and “NO” in sanctification.  While Wommack says many biblical things about our spiritual lives, he crosses the line into wrong teaching when he applies both Word of Faith doctrines and Prosperity principles to our physical lives.

God has not given us “THE HEALING POWER, THE DELIVERING POWER, THE PROSPERITY POWER, THE RELATIONAL POWER” inside of us. 

The Bible clearly teaches that God has given us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—the fruit of the Spirit.

Those are the gifts we already have, and our only work is to surrender to God’s will and submit to the teaching, guidance, and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Then God can work in and through us, for His good and perfect will.  

• We do not have healing power in us, but our God has the power to heal. Acts 3:12, 16
• We do not have delivering power in us, but God promises to be with us in all things; and in His time, to deliver us. Psalm 34:19, 2 Timothy 4:18, 2 Peter 2:9a 
• We do not have prosperity power in us, but God promises to provide for all our needs. Philippians 4:19
• We do not have relational power in us, but we do have the fruit of the Spirit, and if we allow the Spirit to grow and guide us, the gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will flow from us and bless all our relationships.  Galatians 5:22–23

Philippians 4:6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

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