DISTRIBUTING TO THE NECESSITY OF SAINTS

Generosity should characterize the Christian. Freely giving of what the Lord has given us springs from the fact we have received countless blessings from the Lord and all of them undeserved. Consequently there should be no holding back on our part towards our fellow believers in need.

This was particularly applicable in the early days of the church when many lost their possessions and livelihood when they came to Christ. Employment and businesses were lost and there was great need, Acts 2. 44-45. Likewise there are needs among believers today. Some believers are persecuted and are unable to earn an income and are deserving of generous care and support. Other believers have been called of the Lord to be relieved of regular employment in order to give their full time and attention to the Lord’s work. These too are to be cared for by fellow believers who have resources, ‘Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel’, 1 Cor. 9. 14.

The Holy Spirit teaches that giving to fellow believers not only benefits them, but is an eternal investment for the giver; cf. 1 Tim. 6. 17-19.

Giving, here, is for the ‘necessity’ of the saints. It is to care for their temporal needs. It does not mean we are obligated to lavish material wealth that raises them above most believers. Neither does it mean that fellow believers should be supplied with only the very barest of necessities. A generous spirit knows when to give and when to refrain from giving.

This does not relieve us of our obligation to work and labour. God has also said that ‘if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel’, 1 Tim. 5. 8. Those who are worthy of support are those who are unable to provide, not those who are unwilling.

We might remember the example of the Lord who gave: ‘For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich’, 2 Cor. 8. 9.