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What Does the Bible Say About..God Promising Wealth?

I recently heard a minister state that we are promised a life which includes wealth. He cited the scripture which says that Christ came that we might have life and life abundantly. He pretty much said that we should be wealthy and that we should believe God for this wealth. What say you?

Answer

Please see my article at Have Faith in Faith for a partial answer to your question.

Wealth, of course, is a relative thing. Here in the United States most of us have considerable wealth when compared with much of the world. Some would even say that a poor person who thinks he has enough has more wealth than a rich man who thinks he needs more. How God defines wealth might not be how we define it.

The passage you mentioned (John 10:10) says nothing about money. Jesus came that we might have life, and that in abundance. He doesn’t promise money in abundance, or honor, or wisdom. He promises life in abundance. How can we have life more abundantly than we already have? We can have eternal life with God. That is why Jesus came to die, not to give us riches. We should be thinking in spiritual terms, not physical. When we do that, God will give us sufficient of the physical as well, but not necessarily more than what is necessary. “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:31-33) Jesus promises that we will have food, drink, and clothing if we put his kingdom first. He doesn’t promise a closet full of Armani suits and champagne and caviar every night; just food, drink, and clothing. But the spiritual wealth we will have will last much longer than any earthly treasure. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)