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The Bible has a lot to say about wealth, but it is necessary to give context to the various Passages amidst all the Bible has to say. If you walk away after reading one Passage, you will only have a limited view of what God thinks of wealthy people. For instance,
Mark 10:25 says “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” That may make one think that only poor people have a chance of going into heaven. But you need to read the rest of the Passages to determine if and when God has no use for wealthy people.
Is it wrong to have riches? Not so, according to Genesis 1:28. There, God actually commands Adam and Eve to ““Be fruitful” among His other Commands. He has provided us with an environment on earth in which to be fruitful. And then, continuing in the Old Testament we have Deuteronomy 8:18 in which Moses says to the Hebrews, “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” So, if you interact with God favorably you may attain wealth if you want it. That is confirmed later when Job, after being stripped of his riches in a bet God made with Satan, has his wealth restored two-fold when he prays for his friends as described in Job 42:10.
So what’s the problem with wealth? Well, the Bible makes clear that there is nothing wrong with attaining wealth, it’s what you do or don’t do with it that matters. If you don’t do anything with it, then God has no use for you in His Kingdom. In Matthew 19:16-21, a rich young man asks Jesus what to do to have eternal life. Jesus says he should sell what he possesses and give to the poor. In short, make your wealth useful. Jesus fortifies this later in his Parable of the Rich Fool, in Luke 12:16-21. There, a rich man said he will gather ever more wealth and store it in ever bigger and more barns. But the Lord in verses 20 and 21 says “’Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
The one who is rich toward God is the one who shares his riches with others. Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46 says that those who help the disabled, destitute, sick otherwise unfortunate will enter His Kingdom and those who don’t will go to “the eternal fire.”
At the end of the day, regardless of the wealth we acquire, if we work for God by making use of our wealth for others, and for ourselves to the extent we are still alive to enjoy it, we stand a good chance that God will look favorably upon us.
Mark 10:25 says “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” That may make one think that only poor people have a chance of going into heaven. But you need to read the rest of the Passages to determine if and when God has no use for wealthy people.
Is it wrong to have riches? Not so, according to Genesis 1:28. There, God actually commands Adam and Eve to ““Be fruitful” among His other Commands. He has provided us with an environment on earth in which to be fruitful. And then, continuing in the Old Testament we have Deuteronomy 8:18 in which Moses says to the Hebrews, “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” So, if you interact with God favorably you may attain wealth if you want it. That is confirmed later when Job, after being stripped of his riches in a bet God made with Satan, has his wealth restored two-fold when he prays for his friends as described in Job 42:10.
So what’s the problem with wealth? Well, the Bible makes clear that there is nothing wrong with attaining wealth, it’s what you do or don’t do with it that matters. If you don’t do anything with it, then God has no use for you in His Kingdom. In Matthew 19:16-21, a rich young man asks Jesus what to do to have eternal life. Jesus says he should sell what he possesses and give to the poor. In short, make your wealth useful. Jesus fortifies this later in his Parable of the Rich Fool, in Luke 12:16-21. There, a rich man said he will gather ever more wealth and store it in ever bigger and more barns. But the Lord in verses 20 and 21 says “’Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
The one who is rich toward God is the one who shares his riches with others. Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46 says that those who help the disabled, destitute, sick otherwise unfortunate will enter His Kingdom and those who don’t will go to “the eternal fire.”
At the end of the day, regardless of the wealth we acquire, if we work for God by making use of our wealth for others, and for ourselves to the extent we are still alive to enjoy it, we stand a good chance that God will look favorably upon us.
