It’s Time to Reap
How Do I Get More from My Treasures?
Give to meet needs. Giving is intended to provide for the basic needs of other Christians who are destitute.
The principle, however, remains that giving was a response to needs and that our major concern still must be with human need rather than with “brick and mortar” issues. For the church of Jesus is people.
Getting Takes Giving
bountifully—literally, “with,” or “in blessings.” The word itself implies a beneficent spirit in the giver (compare
(1) A principle holds true in both the natural and the spiritual spheres: the size of a harvest corresponds to the scope of the sowing (cf.
Giving is like sowing. Giving is an investment in our eternal future. The bigger the investment the greater the return (9:6).
9:6 reap sparingly: The law of the harvest is referred to repeatedly in Scripture (
9:6. Reaping what one had sown reflects an ancient proverb, related to many other agricultural images prevalent in antiquity (cf., e.g.,
African Americans have long associated making sacrifices with sowing seeds, and they have understood that great sacrifices ultimately result in a great harvest.
God is a just God, and ultimately the seeds of sacrifice sown for the sake of justice will result in a corresponding harvest of justice.
The amount of harvest is based on the amount of the seed sown. A cause-and-effect relationship undergirds the law of the harvest. This does not mean that someone who gives generously will become rich financially in this life. Most often, the rewards of giving are spiritual rewards now and spiritual and material rewards in eternity (cf.
The words sparingly … sparingly … generously … generously state a principle that is proverbially true, based on common agricultural experience. Here it is applied to financial matters, but see
A farmer’s harvest is dependent on what he sows. Unless seeds are planted, there will be no crop. The seed deposited in the ground is an investment made in faithful expectation of reaping something much more significant.
If you give generously to a legitimate need from sincere gospel motives when it is in your capacity to do so, God will give you his blessing. A blessing is the God-given capacity to experience, enjoy, and extend the goodness and favor of God in your life. Regardless of what God provides to you, he will bless you with his presence and the ability to use what he provides.
In spite of what some health-and-wealth gospel advocates may say, Paul is not promising that giving generously to gospel ministry will result in earthly material prosperity and the elimination of all your problems. Anyone who says that is claiming biblical support for false teaching
It is altogether in harmony with the principles of God’s government (
The word reveals the elevated and divine nature of Christian liberality. Christian giving is not a sacrifice at all, but preparation for a harvest.
It is an agricultural truism that, other things being equal, the size of the harvest is always directly proportional to the amount of seed sown
Giving Requires Gladness - the ability to give should bring you joy
9:7 cheerful giver Paul echoes
(2) Another reason for giving generously is that God loves generosity. God prizes not the size of the gift (cf.
Give as you are able. Giving is not intended to impoverish the giver. It is not the size of the gift but willingness, measured against how much we have, that pleases God (8:10–12).
Giving is personal. How much a person gives is between him or her and the Lord. God isn’t interested in money given grudgingly (9:7).
9:7 Knowing the law of the harvest (v. 6), each believer should give as he purposes in his heart. The believer is to give freely and cheerfully, not out of compulsion, and without regret.
In other words each believer should give what he wished to give, for God loves a cheerful giver. Thus the believer should give unreservedly and cheerfully. It is often taught from this passage that people must give until it hurts, and then give some more. That idea is not found here (or elsewhere). One should not give unless they give cheerfully.
9:7 Christian stewardship, like other good works, flows ideally from a heart of love for God and others rather than from a sense of duty (
Thus, giving is not only about the gift but also about the attitude behind it. We are to be cheerful in our giving because of an understanding that our capacity to give is determined by God and not by ourselves. When you know that God is your source, you can be cheerful in giving since you understand there would be no possibility of giving if he hadn’t given to you first.
9:7 We are to be cheerful in our giving because of an understanding that God is our source. One way you know you are growing in your faith is when you give with a glad heart in response to the goodness of God. Giving should be a
This denotes a well-considered decision. Christian benevolence grows out of deliberate choice. A considerable amount of giving is done on the spur of the moment, without that loving, careful thought that adds to a gift the heart of the giver (see on ch. 8:5)
Giving that saddens the giver is not true giving.
At no time will a Christian find giving a painful experience. A man who gives in that spirit reaps no benefit from the act.
Cheerful. That is, prompt and spontaneous. Of all the Christian duties, none can be discharged with more cheerfulness than giving, particularly to projects designed to advance the kingdom of God on earth. The spirit of liberality is the spirit of Christ; the spirit of selfishness is the spirit of the world and of Satan. The character of the Christian is to give; the character of the worldling is to get.
While Paul is looking for a bountiful contribution from the Corinthians, he stresses that it must be a voluntary gift, not one made simply because he is applying pressure. They must do as they have made up their minds, not reluctantly or under compulsion. Their giving must be in accordance with what they have determined individually in their own hearts.
the emphasis in this sentence is not a contrast between whom God loves and whom he does not love. The contrast is between the cheerful giver who gives out of a desire to do so, and the giver who gives reluctantly or because he is required to give.
Note that CEV translates “God loves people who love to give.” The adjective cheerful is found only here in all the New Testament, although it is used in the Greek translation of
In his heart. The heart must not only go with but anticipate the hand.
A cheerful giver. The phrase is from the addition to
“not grudgingly or under compulsion” Spiritual giving must be voluntary and done with the proper motive (cf. 8:12).
Here ‘God loves’ means ‘God approves of’ [AB, EBC, HNTC, NAC, NIC2, TH], ‘God values’ [AB, HNTC, TH], or ‘God delights in’ [Ho, TNTC]. God loves a cheerful giver because he is a cheerful giver himself [NAC, TNTC].
Giving provides gains - You don’t lose with God, you gain
8. all grace—even in external goods, and even while ye bestow on others [BENGEL].
sufficiency—so as not to need the help of others, having yourselves from God “bread for your food” (
9:8 God is able to cause all grace The Corinthians may have felt concerned about giving money because of the uncertainty of life in the ancient world. Paul does not want this to be reason for them to withhold their generosity. Paul affirms that God can provide everything they need, just as He is doing for the church in Jerusalem.
The good work is done through God’s enabling (cf.
This verse is full of words indicating inclusiveness in God’s enabling: all grace … in all things at all times, having all that you need … in every good work. In the words “all things,” “all times,” and “all … you need,” the Greek heaps three words one after the other: panti pantote pasan. God is indeed sufficient! His “every” grace abounds so that believers can abound “in every good work.”
Giving is an expression of trust. God is able to meet our needs and to provide much more, so we can give joyfully and without fear (9:8–11).
9:8 If we give, God is able to give us more so that we can perform other good works. In other words, God sees to it that the generous giver will not suffer want. Instead, God generously provides for those who give so that they can continue to do so.
The result is that always having sufficiency in all things, believers may have abundance for every good work. This is not prosperity theology in which believers are encouraged to be rich. This is sufficiency theology, which makes the giving believer able to keep on giving in the future.
God’s super abundant grace includes all that he can do for you that you are unable to do for yourself. He can guide you when you’re lost and provide for you when you’re in need. He can heal a relationship that’s broken and grant peace where there’s conflict.
It’s cheerful generosity that causes his grace to comprehensively “overflow” so that in every way you have everything you need to excel in every good work (9:8).
For him autarkeia denoted not self-sufficiency but the sufficiency provided by God’s grace, and as such it made possible not independence of others but the ability to abound in good works towards them.
Knowing that God is favorably predisposed to those who give cheerfully is important because of God’s ability to bless. Paul focused on God’s ability, not his guarantee.
First, believers may be given all that they need (autarkeia), not all they may want (thelo, zeloo). God often gives believers things they desire, but Paul did not have these blessings in view here. The Corinthians faced the challenge of giving generously, which could have threatened their livelihood. Paul made it clear, however, that God (not their selfish greed) was able to supply their needs.
Second, the goal of these divine supplies is not primarily the believer’s wealth or personal pleasure. God supplies so believers may abound in every good work—so they will be free from worry over necessities and may focus on fulfilling the commands of God.
Every blessing is literally “every grace.” NAB says “God is able to make every grace abundant for you” (so also NIV). Here “grace” does not refer to God’s saving grace but rather to the benefits that he freely gives to the Corinthians.
The second half of this verse states that the givers will have enough for their own needs (enough of everything) and enough to give to the needs of others also (provide in abundance). The word translated enough is found elsewhere only in
To make all grace abound toward you. God can give you such abundant gifts that you will not feel the loss of a generous contribution to his service.
“you may have an abundance for every good deed” God will give more resources to those who share their resources with Him. This abundance, however, is not for the personal use of the individual, but for the causes of Christ. The Christian giver becomes a channel of God’s provisions for the needs of others.
QUESTION—What area of meaning is intended by χάρις ‘grace’?
In this context it is material benefit or blessing [AB, Ho, NIC2, SP, TG, TH, TNTC]. It is God’s generosity, presumably expressed in material blessings [HNTC]. It is all spiritual and material benefits and gifts [EBC, EGT, NTC]. It means that God gives material blessings and the spiritual motivation to share them [ICC1, ICC2, NAC].
