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Chapter 21 - Sensible Steward

Luke 12:48

48 But [de] he that knew [ginosko] not [me] , and [de] did commit [poieo] things worthy [axios] of stripes [plege] , shall be beaten [dero] with few [oligos] stripes. For [de] unto whomsoever [hos] [pas] much [polus] is given [didomi] , of [para] him [autos] shall be much [polus] required [zeteo] : and [kai] to whom men [hos] have committed [paratithemi] much [polus] , of him [autos] they will ask [aiteo] the more [perissoteros] . KJV-Interlinear


48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. NASB


God is fair. God is far more than fair than any person could be. Too often people will keep bringing up your past in order to put you down. Not so with God.

In life God gives varying degrees of wisdom. For babies there is very little. For a person in a Christian society, and who has a very high IQ, then there is more opportunity and availability of Gods wisdom.

For a person in a communist country there would probably be less of a chance to have daily Bible studies, than for a person in a free society.

A person who lived in the darkest part of a jungle and has never seen a modern man, then there is little chance if any, for them to come to Christ. And so you can come up with all manner of degrees of exposure to God, to doctrine, to Christ, and salvation and such.

In every case people have a basic knowledge of right and wrong (except for infants obviously), but beyond that basic knowledge of social norms and standards, then Bible doctrine or coming into contact with a culture in which it is available, is necessary in order to have an opportunity to gain an understanding of Gods word and the principles contained within it.

Gods punishment takes in all of these considerations, however all people have an obligation to come to a knowledge of right and wrong and to acknowledge it before society (by virtue of their daily life style and pattern of living) at least, but especially to God.

Lev. 5:15
15 'If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the Lord's holy things, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the LORD: NASB

Num. 15:29-30
29 'You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. 30 'But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; NASB

Ignorance of our duty is an extenuation of sin. The person who does not know Gods will, through carelessness and neglect, and his not having the opportunities as some others might have, of coming to the knowledge of it, but does things deserving of discipline, then he will be beaten (as it were).

This is so because there is a fundamental and underlying expectation that people know (or should know) right from wrong, therefore because he should have known his responsibility better, but with lessor discipline then, his ignorance is excused in part, but not wholly. Note the requirement of Lev. 5 (which we have already studied) wherein the individual is required to bring an offering for unknown sins. This is the requirement of God that the individual acknowledge that there are flaws, but he just does not know what they are. We take these into consideration in our confession prayer. In that prayer we confess the known sins, and in so doing, our unknown sins are forgiven as well, placing us back into fellowship, 1 Jn. 1:9. But don't play games with God on this one. He knows if you know what is right and what is wrong.

Likewise to those who are given much, whether it is by means of opportunity, or outright blessing, then much is expected by God.

Some in the world have tremendous opportunities available to them. They live in a free society, they might have a high IQ and thus the ability to learn and grasp truth more easily than others. Some individuals are born into the silver spoon life style, and thus have greater resources than the rest of humanity, with which to live their lives. Even middle class or lower class people in the USA for example, have greater opportunities than do people in third world countries. So, God has greater expectations of those who have been given this 'much' opportunity.

In contrast, an infant who dies will go to heaven automatically, since it never had the opportunity to know God or anything else for that matter.

If you are reading this study, then you probably are getting it from a computer, which means you have some degree of prosperity in your life. If you are getting the study from a public library, or through someone else who is bringing copies to a weekly Bible study which you belong to, then you have opportunity in that respect. Only if you were born and raised on a deserted island will you probably have more excuses for not growing up spiritually. Just by living in the USA, you have tremendous opportunity, and therefore fewer excuses.

So what does all this mean? Gods rewards and punishments will be allotted in this life and in the coming life (rewards only) with strict justice. There are degrees in enforcement and punishment, but too there are degrees in the recognition of glory (blessings) in eternity.

We need to understand that it is a crime (sin against God) to be ignorant of God's will. People are held responsible and accountable for their thoughts, decisions, and actions in life.

Those who have had much access to Gods Word, or the opportunity of receiving much, and have not improved it to their own spiritual growth, will have more punishment proportioned to them accordingly. On the other hand, those who have had little spiritual opportunity, and few means of improvement, will have lessor punishment, and will be punished only for the abuse of the knowledge they possess.

Likewise in the closing phrase of this passage, those who comply with Gods will and persevere in His will throughout their lives, have every right to greater expectations from God.

Why do they have this expectation? Is it because they have advanced themselves and made the sacrifices in life to be obedient to God? No. What man can do, any man can do. Mans efforts are not a part of Gods plan.

The only reason mature believers have a right to expect more from God, is because God has promised it, therefore man has the right to expect that God will fulfill His promises. Therefore we can expand this concept - 'To whom there is much compliance in the spiritual life, there will be much reward.' This is merely a restatement of that which Jesus Christ has already said. End of Lesson

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