Presenting a Biblical response by concerned former Seventh-day Adventists to the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide.

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Commentary on "Stewardship"

RICHARD TINKER

 

Day 7: Friday, June 12, 2009

Friday is a summary of the week's lesson using Counsels on Stewardship as a resource to support the week's points. The four discussion questions follow with biblical answers:

 

1. How are we to understand the whole question of stewardship and accountability to God in the context of salvation by faith alone? Are we saved by what good stewards we are? Or does our stewardship reveal the reality of our faith? And even if we make mistakes here,why should we not give up in despair? 

A. Our behaviors, including stewardship, follow our belief and trust in Jesus. Stewardship has nothing to do with our salvation. It flows from being saved and reflects our recognition that everything we have belongs to God.

 

2. What’s wrong with what’s been dubbed the “health and wealth gospel,” the idea that if you live right, God will give you lots of money and good health? How is this a perversion of true principles of stewardship? 

A. It's interesting that Adventists take a position against the "health and wealth" gospel but teach a similar one. Adventists have many stories of people being blessed for paying a faithful tithe. If Adventists suffer financially, they are told to make sure they are paying a faithful tithe and giving offerings; If they do these things, it is implied, they will receive financial blessings. 

 

3. Discuss the following statement: “The greatest, most gifted people are useless if they don’t make themselves available to be used by God. In short, availability is more important than ability.”—Mike Nappa,The Courage to Be a Christian (West Monroe, La.: Howard Publishing Co.,2001),p.164.

A. People can achieve amazing accomplishments by using their abilities. Work for the kingdom of God, though, is not possible unless a person is filled with the Holy Spirit and submitted to His direction. 

 

4. What advice do you give to a church member who, struggling through hard financial times, says that he or she just can’t afford to pay tithe, much less give offerings? What various approaches could or should be taken with this person?

A. Tithe is not a part of the new covenant. The first approach to such a person should be to ask if he or she has accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord. After a person has been born again, encourage him/her to take a Bible-based financial management class and to ask God to show him/her how to manage his/her money. Again, tithe is not a part of the new covenant. Instead, we submit everything we have to Him.

 

Summary

  1. Stewardship has nothing to do with salvation.
  2. God is not a vending machine. We do not give because of what we might get but as an act of worship.
  3. A Spirit-filled life comes before work for God's kingdom is possible.
  4. Tithe is not a part of the new covenant. Instead, we submit everything we have to Him.

 

Important Resouces

Be sure to watch this sermon: "Generous Living" by Gary Inrig. This is an excellent study on the Bible's teaching on giving. More of Gary's sermon's in the series "Dollars and Sense" are found here.

 

 

 

Copyright 2009 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised June 11, 2009. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.

 

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