What Does Scripture Teach About Money? A Covenantal Vision Beyond Personal Virtue
This six-chapter course recovers the Bible's richest teaching on money as a covenantal and structural force, not merely a tool for individual moral performance. Beginning with the foundational text that distinguishes the love of money from money itself, the course traces how Hebrew economic law embedded justice into community structures, how Jesus named money as a rival power (mammon), and how apostolic practice revealed economics as a cosmic realignment. Each chapter starts with primary Scripture and shows how cultural, historical, and theological context deepens—not replaces—what the text already says. Learners will discover that biblical money teaching is far more concerned with concrete justice NOW in covenant community than with afterlife reward, and that wealth functions as a theological force requiring both personal AND corporate transformation. This is enrichment and recovery: the biblical text proves richer than inherited tradition suggested.
Chapters
The Love of Money vs. Money Itself: Establishing the Foundation (1 Timothy 6:10)
1 Timothy 6:10 - '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.'
The Cosmic Rival: Money as Personified Power (Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:9)
Matthew 6:24 - 'No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.' Luke 16:9 - 'I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.'
Divine Blessing and Covenantal Stewardship: Wealth in the Hebrew Narrative (Proverbs 10:22, Genesis 13, Job 42)
Proverbs 10:22 - 'The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.' Genesis 13:2 (Abraham's wealth as divine blessing); Job 42:12-17 (Job's restoration as covenant faithfulness).
Justice Embedded in Law: Hebrew Economic Structures as Covenant Expression (Deuteronomy 15:1-11 and Leviticus 25)
Deuteronomy 15:1-11 - The sabbatical year canceling debts and freeing slaves; Leviticus 25 - The Jubilee Year restoring land and redistributing wealth every fifty years. Proverbs 22:7 - 'The borrower is servant to the lender.'
Jesus Confronts Wealth as Discipleship Cost: The Rich Young Ruler and Radical Redistribution (Mark 10:17-31, Luke 12:15-21)
Mark 10:17-31 - Jesus and the rich young ruler: 'Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor...then come, follow me.' Luke 12:15-21 - The Parable of the Rich Fool: 'A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'
Apostolic Practice and Cosmic Redemption: Economics as Grace-Powered Realignment (2 Corinthians 8-9, Acts 2:44-45, 1 Peter 1:18-19)
2 Corinthians 8-9 - Paul's teaching on grace-motivated giving and economic equality among churches; Acts 2:44-45 - Early church selling possessions and distributing to all who had need; 1 Peter 1:18-19 - 'You were redeemed...not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.'
Sources Used
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