JOSHUA SELMAN MUTILATES PAUL’S PRISON LETTERS

By Akin Ojumu

Just the other day, Joshua Selman—one of the leading apostles of the realms, portals, dimensions, spiritual frequencies, and other celestial real estate unknown to the biblical writers—decided to reveal to his biblically beleaguered followers the secret of the “riches of glory” supposedly enjoyed by celebrated apostles of his spiritual caste.

As is customary, Selman first informed his audience that what he was about to disclose was so profound, so indispensable, and so cosmically important that they should practically engrave it upon their foreheads and inscribe it upon their forearms, lest this precious revelation escape their memory.

He then quoted Ephesians 3:15–16 and Philippians 4:19:

Ephesians 3:15–16

“From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being.”

Philippians 4:19

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Having read the verses, Selman proceeded to perform the familiar prosperity-preaching operation: remove the passages from their historical and literary context, drain them of their life-giving meaning, and refill them with the rotten ambitions of modern religious entrepreneurs.

The context was discarded. The imprisoned Apostle disappeared. The Cross was pushed aside. What remained was a shiny proof text ready to be repackaged as a promise of material abundance.

Joshua Selman twists Paul’s letters to the Ephesians and Philippians in order to manufacture theological support for a doctrine Paul himself neither taught nor practiced.

What the self-appointed “apostle” conveniently neglects to mention is that Paul wrote both letters while imprisoned—deprived of his freedom, chained 24/7 to a rotating shift of Roman centurions, and suffering for the sake of the Gospel.

When Paul prayed that God would strengthen believers “according to the riches of His glory,” he was not speaking from the balcony of a palatial mansion.

When he assured the Philippians that God would supply their needs “according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” he was not displaying luxury vehicles, designer clothing, private jets, expensive jewelry, or overflowing bank accounts as evidence of divine approval.

The man was an impoverished prisoner, chained to a Roman guard like a common criminal.

Philippians 1:12-18

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the Gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”

2 Timothy 2:8-9

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my Gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the Word of God is not bound!”

When Paul wrote the words of his letters to the Ephesians and Philippians, he was not broadcasting from the luxurious headquarters of a multinational religious empire. He was writing from confinement. 

The man who spoke of the riches of God’s glory was accustomed to hunger, thirst, homelessness, beatings, exposure, rejection, persecution, and imprisonment.

Listen to Paul describe his own circumstances:

1 Corinthians 4:11–13

“To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.”

2 Corinthians 11:21–27

“But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

This is the man whose words Joshua Selman now mutilates in order to preach the gospel of self-glory.

Paul’s “riches in glory” were not a secret code for mansions, luxury cars, overflowing bank accounts, social prestige, or admission into the economic upper class. Paul was speaking about the inexhaustible riches believers possess in Christ: redemption, forgiveness, righteousness, adoption into God’s family, the indwelling Holy Spirit, spiritual strength, perseverance in suffering, and the eternal glory that will be revealed when Christ returns.

The context of Ephesians is not financial acquisition but spiritual blessing.

Paul declares that believers have been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” He speaks of election, adoption, redemption through Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of sins, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, reconciliation with God, unity in Christ, strength in the inner being, and the immeasurable greatness of God’s power toward those who believe.

He does not describe a divine investment scheme for turning prayer into profit. He does not teach that apostolic authority is measured by property portfolios. He does not present material opulence as evidence that someone has discovered the secret frequency of the riches of glory.

Likewise, Philippians 4:19 is not a blank cheque issued to religious fortune hunters. It was written to an impoverished congregation that had sacrificially supported Paul’s ministry even from the little they had. The Philippians had shared in his affliction and repeatedly sent assistance for his needs. Paul’s assurance was that God would faithfully provide what they genuinely required as they participated sacrificially in the work of the Gospel.

The verse is about God’s faithfulness to generous believers, not God’s obligation to finance extravagant appetites.

To wrench these passages from their literary and historical context and convert them into promises of material wealth is not biblical exposition. It is theological vandalism. It is the kidnapping of Scripture, and then subjecting it to torture by waterboarding to obtain a forced confession.

Paul preached contentment in abundance and in hunger. Prosperity preachers quote the abundance and quietly bury the hunger. Paul gloried in the Cross. They glory in comfort.

Paul endured deprivation for Christ. They use Paul’s letters to promise immunity from deprivation. Paul worked with his own hands. They build personality cults around their titles. Paul counted earthly status as loss. 

Modern prosperity preachers like Joshua Selman display status as proof of spiritual superiority. Paul pointed believers toward eternal glory. They drag his words down from Heaven, run them through the machinery of the prosperity industry, and convert them into advertising slogans for earthly accumulation.

The contrast could hardly be more embarrassing.

Paul in chains. Prosperity preachers in designer suits.

Paul guarded by Roman soldiers. Modern “apostles” guarded by protocol officers and security details.

Paul writing from confinement about strength in the inner man. Prosperity preachers standing on illuminated stages, using his prison letters to promote upward mobility.

Joshua Selman’s interpretation of Ephesians 3:15-16 and Philippians 4:19 does not merely misunderstand Paul. It reverses him. It takes the testimony of an imprisoned apostle who had learned to be content in every circumstance and forces him to become a salesman for the very prosperity gospel his life so thoroughly contradicts.

Paul wrote about riches while wearing chains. The prosperity preacher removes the chains, keeps the word “riches,” and hopes no one notices the fraud.