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Wealth of the wicked for the believer?
By admin | October 29, 2008
I hear so many believers make reference to the fact that God would transfer the wealth of the wicked into their laps. Therefore, though the title of the article might sound like a rhetoric question, there is an important truth that we need to be aware of.
The scripture reference is found in Proverbs 13:22,
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children; And the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous.
The reference in this scriptural verse refers to the righteous and not the believer. This is not a play on words. The obvious question that comes to mind is that, isn’t every believer righteous because of what Christ has done? After all, in 2 Corinthians 5:21 and 1 Corinthians 1:30, the scriptures tell us that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
A good starting point is to go back to the definition of the word righteous. Righteousness simple means to be righteous and righteousness, in turn means that we have a right standing before God.
Therefore, what Paul is implying here is that because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, we now have a right standing before God. Indeed, because of this, we are encouraged to approach the throne of God with boldness, knowing that we are accepted.
On the other hand, there are scriptures such as Matthew 5: and Luke 6:33, where we are told to hunger and thirst after righteousness. In fact, in the Luke reference, Jesus places seeking righteousness above seeking for our daily water and food. If there was not a need to seek after righteousness, it would not have been recorded in the Bible. The righteousness spoken about here conveys the idea of moral righteous – doing what is right.
So how do the two scriptures fit together and what are we to make of it? The work of Christ enables us to have a right standing before God but the scriptures also encourage us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling i.e. now as believers, we should strive to continue to have a right standing before God.
We cannot say that because Christ has made us the righteousness of Christ, we can live our lives any-how because we have been bought with a price. However, the Christian journey is a process and a journey that we live in conjunction with the Holy Spirit.
We should thrive to make righteousness our main priority, so that, at all times, we have a right standing before God, with clean hands and a pure heart.
There is action involved on our part and as we do so, we can see that the wealth of the wicked, would be laid up, not for the believer but the righteous. We should seek to deliberately walk in a righteous manner.
Yes, we all know many people who are neither believers nor righteous, but are wealthy but that’s a discussion for another day.
However, for you, my fellow brothers and sisters, who are seeking the best from God, let’s remember, that the key to the wealth of the wicked, is the need to be righteous. Pursing God’s righteousness, you cannot go wrong.
I hope that you have enjoyed and be challenged by this post. Please don’t forget to leave your comments. So until I appear again in your inbox, stay blessed.
Ola Aroyehun
Topics: Uncategorized |
October 29th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Nice Site layout for your blog. I am looking forward to reading more from you.
Tom Humes
November 9th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
This was very helpful to me. I have always beleived that we must do more than give to be blessed financially.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Ola,
Your article is very interesting. My question is this - can one be a beleiver without being righteous?
Uka Nwachukwu
Lagos Nigeria
November 21st, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I am contemplating this concept deeply lately. I was thinking about how everyone thinks that gaining wealth from the “wicked” is a great thing and that it can only be from God in these “last days”. What if the believers heart is not right at the time of “transfer of wealth” They are looking at this as a blessing from God. But could it also be a set up from Satan. Money can destroy people if there hearts are not in the right place. Some believers could be seduced into believing that this transfer of wealth was from the Lord and get completely taking out in this Babylonian society. It is a slow and seducing spirit that could draw you away from the Lord. I would like some input and response to my comment.
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:57 am
nice post. In this time of economic crisis, the wealth of the wicked will be transferred to the righteous. I heard a pastor preached about recession-proofing your income, he said giving/tithing is the key.