Subject: Divine intervention? |
Bible Note: Vintage68- first let me say that I appreciate that you do point to Scripture to try and support your argument which many on this forum do not. What is obvious to me though, is that you are not in fact practicing good exegesis. Instead, what I see is a significant effort to use Scripture to support what you believe is true. The problem with that is that you end up applying your beliefs (doctrine) to Scripture instead of allowing Scripture to establish your belief. Please don’t be offended; allow me to point some things out. There is so much more to bible study than doing word searches. You write that “there is not (one) place in the Old Testament where the word steward is used, where it is not referring to a person that takes care of the household, ie, belongings of another. You go on to credit the NT for giving a single example. You argue that “Every other place it is only used in relation to the person dealing with the spiritual things of God”. That is, I believe, you’re problem understanding stewardship. The carnal mind is capable, perhaps, of separating it. The changed, saved person will eventually understand from Scripture that there is no part of his/her existence that is not spiritual. In other words, every word you speak, every thought you think, every penny you spend, etc. is intimately involved with and dictated by your spiritual condition. Matthew 12:36 declares this. There is no biblical principle or teaching (in either testament) that teaches that 10 percent is God’s and the remaining 90 percent is mine. Absolutely nowhere will you find that. Read the following passage and consider it within the context of our topic here. Deuteronomy 6:10-15 (ESV) 10 "And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you, 15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God, lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. The first part of this passage is demonstrating that it is God who provides all things. The second part is the command to manage the resulting life in a spiritually right way. Have you ever heard the story about the little girl’s prayer? At dinner one night the father asked his young daughter to give thanks for the evening meal. She thanked God for MAKING everything on the table including the plates, glasses, silver ware, napkins, etc. After she was done her father asked, “Honey, don’t you know that daddy goes to work every day so that he can buy all these things on our table”? The little girl looked up at her father briefly and then closed her eyes once more in prayer. “And God, thank you for making daddy”. It all comes from God, it ALL belongs to God, and how we manage it all is in direct correlation with who we are spiritually. Every dime that I call mine is one dime I’ve been allowed (by God) to keep for myself. Whatever percentage that dime represents of my earthly wealth also represents what percentage of my spiritual self I have not surrendered to God. Jeff |