Affluence

Godly affluence

Exodus 3:8 NIV

8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and 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 NIV

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Greed for more riches

Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV

10 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

Temptation

1 Timothy 6:9–10 NIV

9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Cares and anxieties

Matthew 13:22 NIV

22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Spiritual complacency

Revelation 3:17 NIV

17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, 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 NIV

7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

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 NIV

19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his 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