Most Believers haven't realized that fully two-thirds of the parables in the New Testament are concerned with money, property and possessions. Part of the reason for Jesus' emphasis is that a major objective of the Holy Spirit would be to teach us about these subjects as a foundational part of being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). Jesus Himself said that He spoke in parables in order to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 6:9-10 that by speaking them, the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven would only be revealed to those who had eyes to see and ears to hear (Matthew 13:11). Since many of the parables specifically had to do with STEWARDSHIP, we can derive that biblical STEWARDSHIP involves the revelation of those mysteries by the Holy Spirit to the heart of the Believer particularly financial principles that will only function and be understood in the Kingdom of God.

Now in trying to actually define STEWARDSHIP, many Believers think it's only concerned with whether or not they have given faithfully of their tithes and offerings to their local churches because that's pretty much what they've been taught. In this limited view then, a good STEWARD is someone who gives money regularly and generously so the church's bills can be paid. But Jesus spoke frequently about being a good and faithful STEWARD and giving was not usually the context. Indeed, the word STEWARDSHIP is actually defined as the delegated responsibility and accountability of wisely managing what belongs to someone else. Certainly we could expect that a good and faithful STEWARD will be a regular and generous giver to the works of God but that is only one of a number of different criteria. In sum, the good and faithful STEWARD is someone who seeks after, and sees, and hears, and understands, and applies, all the various biblical financial principles as the Holy Spirit reveals them.

Therefore, if Believers are STEWARDS in the Kingdom of God, what is it that we're STEWARDS over? The Bible clearly answers that question for us but there are two perspectives: the first is STEWARDSHIP under the Old Covenant and the second is under the New Covenant. Under the terms and conditions of the Old Covenant it was made clear that God owned everything so this made the Israelites STEWARDS over His property and we can see this confirmed in the following selected scriptures:

Psalm 24:1 (KJV) "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."

Psalm 50:10-12 (KJV) "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills, for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof."

Haggai 2:8 (KJV) "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts."

Job 41:11 (LB) "I owe no one anything. Everything under the heaven is mine."

In order for the New Testament Believer to understand today's STEWARDSHIP, we need to start with this Old Covenant perspective of God owning everything and then build on it. God has always owned everything and the truth is He still does. From the beginning, Adam didn't own the Garden of Eden; God placed him there to cultivate and watch over it (Genesis 2:15). God was the owner and Adam was the STEWARD with the responsibility of INCREASING the Lord's property (Genesis 1:28). A basic biblical concept to understand from this is that a good and faithful STEWARD works to INCREASE what he/she has been assigned by God to cultivate and watch over.

Eventually Adam and Eve sinned through a misuse of God's property and they were quickly evicted from the Garden demonstrating God's complete ownership. Why were they evicted? They were evicted because they violated the terms of their STEWARDSHIP agreement. Why was that so important? It was important because through their violation (i.e. their sin), they became separated from the presence of God (Genesis 2:17 with 3:8) and lost their ability to INCREASE what God had given them to STEWARD. Therefore, a second basic biblical concept is that a good and faithful STEWARD willingly performs his/her function in concert with and dependence on the presence of God.

Now to do this requires our recognition of the fact that the way the World manages something is very different from the biblical way. We may possess documents that say we own something like a house or an automobile or some other asset but those are the World's papers for use in Man's system. They work in the World but not in the Kingdom of God so in a spiritual sense the Believer needs to deny ownership of everything he/she has been provided by the Lord to be the STEWARD over. And this is where things start to break down for the Believer; we are called first to be STEWARDS, not owners. Our Flesh wants to be an owner and will contend with our pursuit of being STEWARDS. Therefore, if we don't relinquish ownership (control) of God's provision, the result will be materialism and covetousness. Without help though, we're incapable of relinquishing ownership and if we were still under the Old Covenant we would be subject to the Curse of the Law because of our sin (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

This brings us to the New Testament perspective of STEWARDSHIP. We start out with the same premise: God is the owner of everything and we're called to be STEWARDS. But there's been a big change! Jesus shed His blood on the Cross of Calvary and rose from the dead on the third day to establish a New Covenant between God and His people. Under the New Covenant ALL our sins past, present and future have been paid for and we've been ransomed from the control of sin, death and the devil (please request our previous Newsletter on the subject of Redemption). Additionally, the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in every professing Believer so we can have help in relinquishing CONTROL of all the things God wants to give us to be STEWARDS over. We're no longer subject to the Curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13) unless we dishonor the finished work of Christ and put ourselves back under the Law by trying to please God with our own "righteous" and "holy" works.

Moreover under the New Covenant the Blessing of Abraham has come to ALL Believers who by faith are willing to receive the finished work of Christ. Just what is the blessing of Abraham? As discussed in our last Newsletter, Abraham was blessed because by the strength of his faith (Hebrews 11:17-19) he obeyed God's voice when he was tested (Genesis 22:17-18). That Blessing is summarized in Romans 4:13: it was promised that Abraham and his SEED would inherit the world. According to scripture that SEED is Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:16) and so those who belong to Christ have become Abraham's descendants and heirs to the Promise that God made to him (Galatians 3:29). Indeed, we are joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) and have received the entire earth as our inheritance.

Now what does this mean in terms of STEWARDSHIP? While it's still true that God owns everything and Believers are still STEWARDS, by inheritance we have acquired an OWNERSHIP interest in the entire earth. In other words, we're now part owners of the property and possessions we've been called to STEWARD. If you sin today, God will not disconnect you from His presence and kick you out of His NEW Garden because Jesus has already paid for that sin at the Cross and God doesn't even take those new ones into account (Romans 4:8 from Psalm 32:2). If you're born again you are permanently a joint-owner of the earth with Jesus and with all the other Believers in the Kingdom. We are accountable to the Holy Spirit, to each other and to Christ the Head of the Church to cultivate and watch over the portion of the Kingdom of God we've been assigned to. In sum, the earth has become a family business with God as the CEO. ALL Believers are now a part of God's family business and we've been blessed to become STEWARDS of His mysteries (1 Corinthians 4:1).

The truth is, even under the New Testament a Believer can still be a good or a bad STEWARD. If we're good and faithful STEWARDS, the Bible says we'll be given more responsibility and more to STEWARD (Luke 19:26). If we're bad STEWARDS we'll still retain an interest in the family business but the part that we are responsible for STEWARDING will be reduced (Luke 19:26). You see, God has set up a new system that operates by spiritual laws and we'll experience the appropriate results for our performance. God does NOT put a Curse on bad stewards or kick them out of the Kingdom because Jesus has already paid for the Curse. But bad STEWARDSHIP in the New Testament still DOES open the door to the devil and he'll certainly use every opportunity to bring the negative consequences of the Curse to your attention. In the process he'll take over as much as he can of the portion of the Kingdom of God you're responsible for. When that happens your job is to resist him (James 4:7) and re-establish your authority in order to regain control of whatever he has stolen from you.

In sum, the Godly stewards are the ones who receive increasing amounts to manage in the Kingdom. Their territories grow. The Parable of the Unrighteous Steward in Luke 16:1-13 confirms this arrangement and also presents a couple of other points that emphasize how important it is to learn to be a good and faithful STEWARD:

• The first point confirms that STEWARDS who're faithful with little will be given more (10).

• Second, the parable tells us that if we can't be trusted with the management of money, we should not expect to receive true wealth which is speaking of the Kingdom of God (11)

• And thirdly, if we can't be trusted in the use of someone else's property, we shouldn't expect to be given our own property to own/manage (12).

But the central message of these and other parables is often overlooked and it is that good STEWARDSHIP of finances is a fundamental requirement for advancement in the Kingdom of God. Believers who are poor financial STEWARDS are also unable to reach their spiritual potentials in other areas; they become stuck at the bottom of the ladder until they learn how to be good and faithful financial STEWARDS. The only way to learn to be a good STEWARD is to pursue the revelation of the Holy Spirit by studying the Word and applying in your life the financial principles you find there. In sum then, you should conclude that the level of your PROSPERITY is very much connected to the quality of your financial STEWARDSHIP.

In order to be a good and faithful STEWARD scripture reveals a number of personal characteristics we should be pursuing. By definition a Godly STEWARD will ALWAYS possess ALL of these characteristics at relatively advanced levels of development under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit:

• A Godly STEWARD is working to INCREASE what God has given in order to glorify Him and build His Kingdom.
• A Godly STEWARD works out of love and faith in order to please God (1 Corinthians 13:2 with Hebrews 11:6).
• A Godly STEWARD desires to bless others because it's part of our inheritance (Genesis 22:18).
• A Godly STEWARD must be faithful and sensible (Luke 12:42).
• A Godly STEWARD must be above reproach (Titus 1:7).
• A Godly STEWARD gives cheerfully, voluntarily and in faith from his/her substance into the Kingdom of God.
• A Godly STEWARD is always studying the Word to improve STEWARDSHIP skills.
• A Godly STEWARD knows his/her authority and protects from the enemy whatever God has provided.

In addition, real biblical STEWARDSHIP is NOT about living with lack and insufficiency, in false humility, and in unbiblical frugality. Many Believers think that always buying the cheapest stuff is good STEWARDSHIP but that's not biblical. God is NOT cheap. The truth is He's an overflowing, running over, surplus- building PROSPERITY giver. It is true that He doesn't want us to waste His resources and a number of scriptures confirm this. But when the Bible talks about being frugal, it's talking about not WASTING our resources and the scriptural meaning of "waste" is about squandering what God has given you on unrighteous acts. It's NOT talking about being cheap or hoarding the money you've been given so you'll have financial security. The truth is there's a lot of confusion in the Body of Christ these days over this very topic because tradition has taught us for centuries that there's virtue in poverty and in being cheap but Scripture does NOT say this. On the contrary, the parables confirm that virtue is in INCREASING the Kingdom of God until it covers the whole earth which happens by INCREASING what God has given each of us to cultivate and watch over.

God's way to be a good and faithful STEWARD is to live by faith as we're called to do in Romans 1:17. If we do this we can expect abundance to come into lives because Jesus promised it (John 10:10) and because God is pleased by faith (Hebrews 11:6). Abundance means that we'll receive more provision than is required to meet our needs so we can be a blessing to others. As stated previously part of the inheritance of the Believer is the assignment to be a blessing to others but if we're satisfied with lack and insufficiency and poverty, we'll never be able to be a blessing. Indeed, the life of the frugal miser is a life of selfishness, lacking in faith and failing to receive the inheritance that could be used to bless others. Read the parables and find out for yourselves; the life of a good and faithful STEWARD is about INCREASING what God provides and about cheerful giving and blessing others.

In this article today we've chosen to focus on FINANCIAL stewardship but the truth is Believers are called to STEWARD every gift from God. To illustrate this the same term was used by the apostle Paul to describe his charge to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 9:17 and Ephesians 3:2). By analogy, every Believer has a STEWARDSHIP responsibility to use God-given spiritual gifts as well as their time and money for Christian ministry. Whatever God has given you, whatever talents, whatever skills, whatever abilities, whatever experiences, whatever resources, ALL of them have been given to you as an act of grace for the purpose of glorifying God and building His Kingdom. Someday we'll each give an account of what we did with the things God graced us with, not just money although certainly starting with money, but all the things that we've each been called to do in the Kingdom.

Thanks for reading PLN today. We hope this message has blessed you and opened your understanding to the subject of STEWARDSHIP. We'll be looking for you again in three weeks on May 23. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you and your family with every spiritual blessing.

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