Affluence

Godly affluence

Exodus 3:8 ESV

and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

See also Dt 28:1–6; Dt 28:11; Ps 1:3; Ps 112:3; Pr 8:18–21; Pr 22:4; Is 60:5; Is 61:6; Is 66:12; Mic 4:4

Examples of affluence

Ge 2:8–12 Eden; Ge 13:2 Abraham; Ge 26:12–13 Isaac; Ge 33:11 Jacob; Job 42:10–12 Job

Solomon:

1 Ki 3:13; 1 Ki 10:23–29

2 Ch 32:27–29 Hezekiah; Mt 27:57 Joseph of Arimathea

The dangers of affluence

Pride

Dt 8:17–18; 1 Ti 6:17

See also Ps 10:4–6; Ps 73:3–6

Reliance upon riches

Pr 11:28; 1 Ti 6:17

See also Ps 62:10; Pr 23:5; Ec 10:19; Mk 10:24; Lk 12:16–21

Over-attachment to riches

Matthew 19:22 ESV

When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Greed for more riches

Ecclesiastes 5:10 ESV

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

Temptation

1 Timothy 6:9–10 ESV

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Cares and anxieties

Matthew 13:22 ESV

As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Spiritual complacency

Revelation 3:17 ESV

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Contempt for God

See also Pr 30:8–9

Contempt for the poor or unfortunate

Job 12:5; Pr 22:16; Am 2:6–8; Am 4:1; Am 5:11; Lk 16:24–31; Jas 5:1–6

Affluence is temporary

It is for this life only

1 Timothy 6:7 ESV

for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.

See also Job 1:21; Ps 37:35–36; Ps 49:10–12; Ps 49:16–20; Ec 5:15

It is often lost

Job 1:13–15; Ec 5:13–14

Spiritual affluence

The riches of God

Philippians 4:19 ESV

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

See also Ps 36:7–9; 2 Co 9:9; Eph 3:8

Spiritual wealth

Eph 1:3; 1 Pe 1:4; Re 2:9

The shared wealth of the church

Mk 10:29–30; Ac 4:34–35; Php 4:18

The wealth of heaven

Mt 6:20; Lk 12:33; Re 7:16–17