this sermon<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nBut for our purposes today, the main point is this: Even in the context of great sharing, Peter affirms that Ananias and Saphira have the right to use the proceeds of the sale as they see fit.<\/p>\n
So, no, the Bible does not argue that all you have belongs to the church, must less to the state.<\/p>\n
What about the second answer to the question, \u201cWhy do you own<\/i> anything?\u201d \u2013 what I called the common American view?<\/p>\n
Do you deserve what you have?<\/p>\n
Think about what you have. Where did it come from?<\/p>\n
All you have came as a gift, as inheritance, or from your work (for our purposes today, let\u2019s consider government transfer payments as gifts, and include investment income under the gains from work).<\/p>\n
You clearly did nothing to merit what you received through gifts or inheritance. What about your earnings from work? Do you deserve what you worked for, what you earned through investments?<\/p>\n
Next week we\u2019ll look more closely at the biblical view of work. We\u2019ll see that work itself is God-ordained, that we are to work hard, as to the Lord, and that we are not to be lazy.<\/p>\n
But no matter how hard we work, the Bible claims that even what we earn is really a gift from God:<\/p>\n
Deuteronomy 8:17-18:\u00a0 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’\u00a0 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power [NIV \u201cability\u201d] to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.<\/p>\n
Listen to that carefully. This common American attitude is explicitly anti-biblical. The passage warns, \u201cDo not<\/i> say in your heart, \u2018my power has gotten me this wealth.\u2019\u201d That is, \u201cDo not <\/i>say in your heart, \u2018I worked hard and earned every penny I own.\u2019\u201d Do not <\/i>pat yourself on the back and say, \u201cI was smart, I bought Apple in 1985 for less than $2 per share. I deserve all those capital gains.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead: Remember! Remember it is the Lord your God who gives you ability to get wealth. He gives you all <\/i>your ability: Your education, your health, your intuition, your people skills, your looks, your diligence. Everything you use to make money is a gift from God. Every penny you make is to be used by God to confirm His covenant.<\/p>\n
Work itself is gift of God. So all you own is undeserved: whether earned through labor, earned through investments, inherited, or received as a gift.<\/p>\n
As Paul says: \u201cHe himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything\u201d (Acts 17:25). Your ability to absorb oxygen from the air and to transfer it into your red blood cells is a gift of God. Apart from that, you are dead. And then what do you earn?<\/p>\n
Indeed, biblically the only thing we earn in this life through our actions, the only thing we merit, is death. Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, and every man and woman since born in the normal way has joined them in that rebellion. Death is the wages of sin, the right, just, and fair remuneration for sin. But God graciously grants us forgiveness in Christ, adoption, inheritance, security, joy \u2013 by faith, <\/i>not by works, not by merit. There is redemption for all who believe, <\/i>not redemption for all who are smart, wise, and hardworking. We are saved by looking away from ourselves, <\/i>by looking away from our merit, <\/i>and looking solely to Christ. <\/i>So Paul writes:<\/p>\n
What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4:7)<\/p>\n
Why do you own<\/i> anything?<\/p>\n\n- The Marxist view is unbiblical.<\/li>\n
- And the common American view is unbiblical.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
All you have is a gift from God \u2013 even what you earned as wages, or from your business. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All is undeserved. He gives us the ability to work, to serve.<\/p>\n
Why<\/i><\/b> Do You Own Anything? <\/b><\/p>\n
For what purpose \u2013 if any \u2013 do you own anything? How are you to use what you own?<\/p>\n
God has given you the gift of your material resources for a purpose:<\/p>\n
\n- The same purpose for which He does everything,<\/li>\n
- The same purpose for which He created the world,<\/li>\n
- The same purpose for which He sent Jesus into the world, to the cross,<\/li>\n
- The same purpose for which He forgives you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
God has given you all you own \u2013 for the glory of His Name. All you have is a grant from God \u2013 to be used for His glory.<\/p>\n
There are hundreds of text we could consider to substantiate this point. But let\u2019s look at Romans 11:35-36.<\/p>\n
“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”\u00a0 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0 verse 35, the Apostle Paul quotes Job 41:11. God is speaking to Job:<\/p>\n
Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.<\/p>\n
This verse undercuts the foundation of most manmade religion. All of paganism \u2013 and, indeed, much unbiblical Christianity \u2013 is based on our giving something to God, putting Him in our debt. Then we draw down that debt when we need help.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re all tempted to think this way: \u201cI have resources, time, energy, and abilities. If I use these in ways God wants, He then will have to pay me back. He\u2019ll do what I want Him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t that way many, many people think? Haven\u2019t you been tempted to think that way?<\/p>\n
\n- \u201cIf I tithe . . .<\/li>\n
- \u201cIf I attend church services . . .<\/li>\n
- \u201cIf I pray regularly . . .<\/li>\n
- \u201cIf I read the Bible daily . . .<\/li>\n
- \u201cIf I fast . . .<\/li>\n
- \u201cIf I do good deeds for others . . .<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
God will be in my debt, and then He\u2019ll be obligated to give me what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s ridiculous. That\u2019s fundamentally pagan thinking.<\/p>\n
Scripture tells us: All things are from Him. He already owns everything. <\/i>Whatever goods, abilities, or skills you have are from Him. <\/i>Anything you give to God belonged to Him before you gave it!<\/p>\n
Imagine that 8-year-old Megan went to her daddy and asked, \u201cMay I have $10?\u201d<\/p>\n
He replies, \u201cWhat will you use it for?\u201d<\/p>\n
She says, \u201cI want to buy you a birthday present!\u201d<\/p>\n
So he gives her $10, and she buys him a lovely purple tie with pink polka dots that says \u201cIt\u2019s My Birthday!\u201d on it.<\/p>\n
He opens the present and exclaims, \u201cOh! A tie! How lovely!\u201d<\/p>\n
Is he better off because he received the gift? He surely appreciates the thought, the desire to give. But you\u2019d be hard-pressed to argue that he gained through that transaction. And receiving a gift for which he provided the money surely doesn\u2019t put him in Megan\u2019s debt.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s true of all we give to God- whether time or money or energy. All things are from Him. <\/i>\u201cWhatever is under the whole heaven\u201d is His! So whatever you give to Him was His already.<\/p>\n
In Romans 11, after Paul says \u201call things are from Him,\u201d he goes on to say: \u201cAll things are through Him.\u201d That is: He is the means by which all things are accomplished. Just as we said, even the work we do, we accomplish by His grace.<\/p>\n
Then, third, Paul answers our question. He tells us the purpose of all that we have: \u201cTo Him<\/i> are all things! So to Him be the glory forever!\u201d<\/p>\n
All creation \u2013 and thus all you are and have \u2013 exists to display His glory, to show what He is like. So He gives and gives and gives so that He might share His bounteous goodness with us, and so that we, in turn, might display to others Who He is.<\/p>\n
That is true of all things, <\/i>so that is true of all things that you own. <\/i><\/p>\n
All you own is from Him, through Him, <\/i>and to Him. <\/i>All you own is a grant from God, which you are to use for His glory.<\/p>\n
You deserve nothing; rather, You deserve condemnation. But instead, if you are in Christ, God has granted you life \u2013 and more than life: He has granted you material goods, He has granted you time, He has granted you energy. And all this grant is for the purpose of glorifying His Name.<\/p>\n
Recognizing this truth leads to a profound change in attitude toward \u201cyour\u201d possessions.<\/p>\n
In the early nineties I was conducting an economic research project in Kenya and Tanzania. I received a grant of $250,000 from USAID to assist with project costs. I had to account for how I spent each dollar. Now, I had flexibility; I could move the budget among line items as needs arose, as the project turned out differently than I had planned. But I had to justify each expenditure by how it fulfilled the goals of the research project. And if I had reported that I spent $3000 for a party for my employees at the most expensive Nairobi hotel, the accountants at USAID would have said, \u201cThat\u2019s not allowable. You can\u2019t spend the grant that way. That violates the purpose of the grant!\u201d<\/p>\n
Just so, all you have is not yours to use however you decide to use it. All you have is a grant from God to be used for His glory.<\/p>\n
So how does that change your mindset?<\/p>\n
Think about what you own:<\/p>\n
\n- My house is a grant from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n
- My car is a grant from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n
- My computer is a grant from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n
- My job is a grant from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n
- My health is a grant from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n
- My weekend is a grant from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n
- My vacation is a grant from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n
- My savings accounts, my 401k\u2019s, my college savings are grants from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n
- My income and my assets are grants from God to be used for His glory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Is your reaction: \u201cGod can\u2019t take all that from me! What\u2019s left for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a natural reaction.\u00a0 I feel that in myself.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s a word for that reaction: Sin.<\/p>\n
Why? Why is that reaction sinful?<\/p>\n
Consider: What attitude underlies that reaction?<\/p>\n
When we react that way, our attitude is: \u201cIf it\u2019s for God\u2019s glory, it must not be for my joy! I don\u2019t mind giving some to God \u2013 but I need to reserve some for myself to be sure I get what I need!\u201d<\/p>\n
Is that the attitude of someone whose identity, security, and joy are in God?<\/p>\n
Is that the attitude of someone who is content with God?<\/p>\n
Indeed, what underlies that attitude?<\/p>\n
This thought underlies the attitude: \u201cI know better than God what is in my own best interest. He won\u2019t really look out for me. He doesn\u2019t really have my best interests at heart. I\u2019ve got to look out for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that was Eve\u2019s attitude when she chose to eat the forbidden fruit.<\/p>\n
My friends: God loves you with an everlasting love. He gives you the greatest joy imaginable. As Paul says in Romans 8:32:<\/p>\n
He who did not spare His Son but gave Him up for us all \u2013 how will He not along with Him freely give us all things?\u201d<\/p>\n
You see? Putting Jesus on the cross was the hardest gift of all for God to give. He did that \u2013 for you! <\/i>Having done that: Won\u2019t He give you what is much, much easier?<\/p>\n
Think of it this way: Those of you who have loving parents, think of what they\u2019ve done for you.<\/p>\n
\n- They stayed up long hours at night when you were an infant.<\/li>\n
- They stayed up long hours at night when you were a teen.<\/li>\n
- They cooked and cleaned for you.<\/li>\n
- They counseled and taught you.<\/li>\n
- They drove you to practices and plays.<\/li>\n
- They prayed for you and played with you.<\/li>\n
- They cried with you and comforted you.<\/li>\n
- They taught you to drive and drove you to excel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Now: Your dad drops you off at the airport. You say goodbye, and go to check in. You get to the counter and the agent says, \u201cSorry, Your flight is canceled. We can\u2019t get you out until tomorrow morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you then think: \u201cOh, no! I can\u2019t call dad back. He just drove me to the airport! He won\u2019t come back to pick me up!\u201d<\/p>\n
Could you really think that? After all he\u2019s done that\u2019s so much harder \u2013 he won\u2019t come and pick you up?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s nonsense. He\u2019s done what is hard. He\u2019ll do this little thing.<\/p>\n
Just so with God. After giving us Jesus \u2013 after sending Him to the cross \u2013 won\u2019t He provide whatever we need for our good and His glory? That is: Won\u2019t He provide whatever we need<\/p>\n
\n- to sustain us through trials,<\/li>\n
- to conform us to the likeness of His Son,<\/li>\n
- and to bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You are rich. And all you own is from<\/em> God. All you own is to<\/i> God, to be used for His glory.<\/p>\nThere\u2019s much to explore in weeks ahead concerning how to live this out: What should be our attitude towards work? How do we live out this truth through our budgeting and spending? How do we use all we have for God\u2019s glory? We\u2019ll consider entertainment, saving, giving, and borrowing.<\/p>\n
But for now: Think of what you own or have: Material goods. Skills and abilities. Interests. Blocks of time. Pray to God, acknowledging that these are His. And tell Him you want Him to use it for His glory \u2013 whatever that may mean. Pray, \u201cWe offer our bodies, ourselves, all we have as sacrifices for Your glory.\u201d<\/p>\n
May He bring that about \u2013 for our great joy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why do you own anything? Consider what you own: Shirts, dresses, and pants, Dress coats, rain coats, and fleeces, Exercise shoes, casual shoes, and dress shoes Beds, mattresses, and sheets,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,19,24],"tags":[138,570,669,984,1118,1221,1351,1365,1366,1378,1475],"class_list":["post-963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-money","category-sermons","tag-ananias-and-saphira","tag-from-him-through-him-and-to-him","tag-grant-from-god","tag-marx","tag-ownership","tag-property","tag-rich","tag-romans-1135","tag-romans-1136","tag-romans-832","tag-socialism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}