Sell Your Possessions and Properties

[aspen]

Have you done it. ??? Nice to quote scripture but unless you have lived it, it is all meaningless.

I have done it.

 

[Enoch111]

And if you give away all your possesions who than will feed you...

The Nanny State.

 

[friend of]

Proverbs 30:7-9

7“Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?'
Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

 

[mjrhealth]

The Nanny State.

We love to boast, all I have to boast is Christ, and for that I am truly thankful..

 

[Phoneman777]

Here we go again. (I guess the first two things you should sell are your phone and computer.)

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

 

[Phoneman777]

All believers are called to sell their possessions and properties. Read this bible study on why this is so, and why this mandate has not changed, Sell Your Possessions and Properties | Wisdom of God .

The bible study is also available in Spanish here Vende Tus Posesiones y Propiedades | Sabiduría de Dios .

Of course you don't mean even selling off the clothes on our back so that the poor can have clothes on their back.

What you mean is "stored up riches on Earth" should be put in service for the cause of Christ. I just can't accept that God is happy with Christians leaving a million sitting in the bank while they live off the interest each month.

 

[biloqewu]

I already pointed out that these instructions to the Rich Young Ruler had a specific design. He had to chose between his money and Christ, and he chose his wealth.

The rest of the New Testament clearly shows us that Christians were not monks and hermits who had taken the vow of poverty. The issue for Christians is whether their wealth becomes an idol. As the apostle John said "Little children, keep yourselves from idols".

But he also said this to Gaius: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. And because Gaius was blessed with wealth, he also said this to Gaius: Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:

How could Gaius have been generous and charitable to the brethren and strangers, and helped them financially and materially, and provided for their missionary travels, if he had been totally destitute?

Do you see right here that what you are promoting is a false idea about Christians become destitute so that they have to receive handouts from someone else.

Sell your possessions was for everyone, which is why the disciples left everything, and also why the early believers sold their possessions and properties. This command isn't only for the rich, it is for everyone.

 

[biloqewu]

It seems to me that @biloqewu is not exhorting us merely to give, but to get rid of all of our possessions.

To me this seems extreme: this teaching will deter people from receiving Christ because, they will say, He demands too much of me.

If you are going to be a disciple He demands great things of you; but to be saved all He demands of you is faith in what He did for you. If you love Him enough to become His disciple after being saved, He will most certainly be pleased with you.

The way to life is indeed narrow, but the narrow path doesn't have to do with how difficult you make your life (it is strait in the kjv, not difficult). The narrowness is in that you come through Him; and that you don't trust in your own works to save you.

People entering through the broad path try to enter in through what they do: this is the way that most people attempt to enter in by, even the broad path.

But the narrow path has to do primarily with John 14:6.

Jesus is the way and the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father except through Him.

It is about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you don't know Him personally, then nothing you do try to earn acceptance with God will even matter.

If you know Him, then He will lead you and guide you as to whether to give all your money to the poor or not.

It is about receiving Him as Lord.

It is not about a legalistic requirement.

Therefore, if you sell all you have and give to the poor, it should not be because of the letter of the word.

It should be a leading of the Holy Spirit.

Of course He often speaks when we are reading His word, through the passage that we are reading.

But usually when someone comes up to you and says, "I have a word for you..." it is best not to heed what is spoken unless the Lord also speaks to you the same thing in your own relationship with Him.

We don't have a relationship with the Lord through other people:

1Ti 2:5, For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

re #70.

So therefore every one of you who does not give up all that he himself possesses, is not able to be my disciple.
Luke 14:33

 

[biloqewu]

I'm not entirely sure why, but after browsing this thread it seems like people are averse to what the bible instructs us about giving. Not sure why, because giving is a good thing and God is pleased when His people give in His name because it is to His glory. So bilogewu is exhorting us, with this thread as a reminder, to acts of charity. I dont understand why people would try to turn this around on him and be suspicious of his motives and start accusing him of self righteousness, as that doesn't seem called for. The bible speaks at length of the necessity of aiding the poor with alms (food, money, clothing, aid, shelter) and many scriptures have been posted in this thread that exhort the reader to do such things. Let us never forget the most sober warning of our Lord in Matthew 25:41-46.

@biloqewu is committing no error here in, but following Hebrews 10:24 which says:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

Additional scriptures about giving

Luke 12:33

"Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys"

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

1 Timothy 6:18

Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

Proverbs 28:27

He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them recieves many curses.

Proverbs 14:21

Blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

Ephesians 4:28

He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need

It is because these people don't want to sell their possessions, and worst of all, they don't want to do good works. They are fruitless believers, and that is why they resist this teaching.

 

[biloqewu]

Here Jesus is giving the rich young ruler an impossible task as a way to inherit eternal life.

"All" means "all" that would include the pants on your legs and the shirt on your back.

@biloqewu, you certainly would not be able to post on this message board if you really did this; because you wouldn't have a computer.

And you also have to sell your bicycle, I'm sorry to say. "All" means "all".

There are two ways by which we might seek to enter into the kingdom:

1) through the keeping the law, or the moral requirement (perfectly).

2) through believing in Christ and what He did for you on the Cross (i.e. the grace of God).

I believe that the following scripture is appropo:

Gal 3:10, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Gal 3:11, But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
Gal 3:12, And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Gal 3:13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Jesus, for the sake of the rich young ruler, laid down the law: the rich young ruler was not loving his neighbor as himself because he was hoarding his possessions and not doing anything for his neighbor. The Lord set it forth in such a way that the rich young ruler would not be able to comply so that he would later realize that the gospel that Jesus died for him on the Cross is the way that he can enter in and so that he would take that avenue instead of the self-righteous attitude that he had taken with the Lord, thinking that he had measured up (though he was still empty inside and therefore asked the Lord, what do I still lack?).

I already explained that "sell your possessions" means reduce yourself to necessities, not sell absolutely everything even the clothes on your back. Not even the apostles did this, and we know that the early believers remained in houses. You deliberately choose to misinterpret this to then negate "reduce yourself to necessities", because ultimately, you don't want to.

 

[biloqewu]

Salvation and being a disciple of Jesus are two different things.

You cannot achieve deliverance if you are not a follower of the Messiah.

 

[Dave L]

This is not correct, not giving is evil not because it is in itself stealing, but because it transgresses the commands of the Torah that say, "love your neighbor as yourself" and "if you see your brother in need, give him sufficient to his need". We are commanded to give, it is not optional as many believers think it is.

If you give legalistically, it is nothing more than the Pharisees did. If love compels you to give, you have treasure in heaven.

 

[biloqewu]

If you give legalistically, it is nothing more than the Pharisees did. If love compels you to give, you have treasure in heaven.

The Pharisees never gave though, why do you think the Messiah gave them the example of the good Samaritan, or John the Baptist told them to "bear fruit worthy of repentance"? They were focused on making their tzitzit long, and their tefillin wide, yet they neglected the weightier matters of the Torah, which were matters of love and mercy, which were these commands, "love your neighbor as yourself" and "if you see your brother in need give him sufficient to his need". It is good works that God wants us to do, which is why he commands it. It is not optional. And he also wants us to love giving, not grudge about it. So if you give grudgingly, or refuse to give, then your heart is not in the right place, and that is one reason why many are prevented from entering the kingdom of God, because they do not bear good fruit, which we are all required to produce. Any tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down. As opposed to evil works, God wants us to be rich in good works, to be instruments of righteousness. If you do not bear good works, and ignore the call of the poor, you are useless to the Master, and your belief is null and void.

 

[Dave L]

The Pharisees never gave though, why do you think the Messiah gave them the example of the good Samaritan, or John the Baptist told them to "bear fruit worthy of repentance"? They were focused on making their tzitzit long, and their tefillin wide, yet they neglected the weightier matters of the Torah, which were matters of love and mercy, which were these commands, "love your neighbor as yourself" and "if you see your brother in need give him sufficient to his need". It is good works that God wants us to do, which is why he commands it. It is not optional. And he also wants us to love giving, not grudge about it. So if you give grudgingly, or refuse to give, then your heart is not in the right place, and that is one reason why many are prevented from entering the kingdom of God, because they do not bear good fruit, which we are all required to produce. Any tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down. As opposed to evil works, God wants us to be rich in good works, to be instruments of righteousness. If you do not bear good works, and ignore the call of the poor, you are useless to the Master, and your belief is null and void.

Motive is everything. And love is the only true motive.

 

[justbyfaith]

So therefore every one of you who does not give up all that he himself possesses, is not able to be my disciple.
Luke 14:33

"All" means "all". You need to sell your computer, your phone, and your bicycle.

This word of Jesus is His way of setting forth an impossible requirement so that we will come into the kingdom through the proper channels: through faith in Him, rather than by trusting in our works.

I already explained that "sell your possessions" means reduce yourself to necessities, not sell absolutely everything even the clothes on your back.

You are not being faithful to the text. Better explain this again, a little bit clearer. I am not going to read your Bible Study. So bring your teaching to the forefront.

It is good works that God wants us to do, which is why he commands it. It is not optional.

Good works are not mandatory for salvation. See Romans 4:6, Romans 11:5-6, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-9.

They will normally result out of a true salvation; but that is a different thing.

because they do not bear good fruit, which we are all required to produce.

Okay, if we do not bear good fruit we will be cut off from the vine and cast into the fire; however your teaching misses out on something very important: the way that we bear fruit does not have to do with an effort to bear good fruit. We bear fruit because we are connected to the vine and drawing up nourishment from the vine. We have a relationship with Jesus Christ; we are connected to Him: the Spirit dwells within us, and therefore the Spirit, like the sap or blood of the plant, flows to the end of us as branches and fruit develops as the result. But our fruit does not develop as a result of the letter of the law. Because we have a relationship with Jesus we are obedient to the spirit of the law, Romans 7:6. But the letter kills and the spirit gives life, 2 Corinthians 3:6.

So then, if we do not bear good fruit, it is the sure sign that we are not abiding in the vine. But those who see the fruit in others and try to copy it are only going to produce plastic fruit.

Again I say, bearing the right kind of fruit is the result of abiding in the vine. We do this by staying in the word of the Lord and praying; we draw up nourishment from the vine in the doing of this. It is also called spiritual breathing. When we breathe spiritually, we will be alive; and the works that God has before prepared for us to do will be walked in. However this is not dictated by other people, but by the Holy Spirit who dwells within every believer.

The whole point of the original poster seems to be that a man is condemned if he does not do the works that he himself has placed it on himself to do. He is trying to impose on other people as required a behaviour that is not required by the scripture for salvation. It should be clear from scripture the following principle:

Rom 14:4, Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

The Bible tells us to "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 2:2)

This teaching is not about grace but is a legalistic imposition that, if believed, will deter a great number of people from coming into the faith of Jesus Christ.

 

[bbyrd009]

I have done it.

and it is abundantly obvious imo :)

 

[bbyrd009]

And if you give away all your possesions who than will feed you...

Ha Whom do you imagine is feeding you right now lol

 

[bbyrd009]

This word of Jesus is His way of setting forth an impossible requirement

Ha, I don't think so wadr, imo it just needs to be understood better, not really even a puzzle imo, "recognize and have faith in God as your source, rather than riches" or similar?

 

[bbyrd009]

Good works are not mandatory for salvation.

Don't be deceived, little children

 

[bbyrd009]

The Nanny State.

The same state that in other forums you will pledge allegiance to lol.
What if the believer happens to not be in the US though, what then
I mean see how firmly egocentric our perspectives usually are?