Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 3 Study # 6
January 12, 2020
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: The "gift" of "giving" is to be exercised as a most fundamental "gift" in terms of its "purpose".
Introduction: We have looked into the way Paul set forth the issue of how "being a living sacrifice" in God's hands leads to the fulfillment of God's Plan for a "Body" of Christ that will "reveal" the truths about God and His plans that are "invisible" except as He/they are made manifest by the activities of a "body". That "way of setting forth" began with "prophecy" as "the standard for the exercise of all gifts" and as the most fundamental "gift" in terms of the "Life-Need" of men: "truth from God to make 'Life' possible in this present environment of "Death".
Then, that "way" was developed further by setting forth six specific "gifts" that are presented as subdivided into two sets of three.
The first set of three worked out the impact of "prophecy" in terms of "objectives": "ministry" is to be done according to "prophecy" with a fixation upon God's focus upon "meeting the needs of those living in darkness and Death" so that they might live in Light and Life; "teaching" is to be done in respect to the complexity of the "truths of prophecy" so that "understanding" can develop as "teachers" reveal how the words produce a unified/connected body of truth for Life; and "summoning" is to be done in respect to the major problem of man who seeks to keep his distance from God so that he may pursue his own course.
And the second set of three is presented in terms of their primary characteristic so that the "gifts" can produce their intended benefit. This second set begins with "giving" as a "gift" and is the focus of our study for this evening.
- I. The "Gift" of "Giving".
- A. This "gift" is listed first in this second set of three as a kind of parallel to "ministry" as the first listed in the first set of three.
- 1. "Ministry" was set forth in the first set of three to make the point that "meeting the needs of people surrounded by darkness and subject to the pangs of Death" is God's primary desire.
- 2. "Giving" is set forth in the second set of three to provide a method for "meeting those needs".
- B. This "gift" is set forth to be exercised with an "attending attitude".
- 1. This "attending attitude" is identified as "haplotes".
- a. This is a word that Paul used in eight places in his letters; five of those eight bringing the idea of "an undivided fixation" to the table.
- b. The other three uses are found in 2 Corinthians 8-9 where the issue is "giving"; all of which focus upon "seeking to make the amount given as large as possible".
- 1) This is simply taking the idea of "an undivided fixation" and applying it to the exercise of the "gift" as a "stewardship" from God that will be the basis for evaluation at the judgment seat of Christ.
- 2) But it also adds a sense of "amount" to the idea of "an undivided fixation".
- 2. This "attending attitude" is presented with some inescapable principles in the 2 Corinthians 8-9 text.
- a. One of these principles is "amount" as 2 Corinthians 8:2 indicates.
- 1) This text indicates that the "amount" determined was the outworking of "abundance of joy" in the face of "a great trial of affliction" and a "deep poverty" that forced them to make deliberate "exclusions" to their use of money so they would have more to give.
- 2) This text reveals how "an undivided fixation" upon "giving" was put to work.
- b. Another of these principles is "first giving 'their own selves' to the Lord" so that their subsequent "giving" was "by the will of God" (8:5).
- 1) This completely sets "tithing" aside as it exists upon a foundation of thinking that the "tithe" belongs to God, but the rest belongs to "me".
- 2) This blends seamlessly into the Romans 12:1-2 concept that is twice declared in 1 Corinthians 10: 26 and 28. (as the hymn writer says, "We give Thee but Thine own...").
- c. Then, another principle is called by Paul (as the translators render it) "the forwardness of your mind" (9:2) as it plays out in both desire and purpose of heart without feeling any sense of "necessity" or "reluctance" (9:7) and an awareness of the connection between "amount sown" and "harvested realities of the future" (9:6).
- C. This "gift" is, like "ministry", an exceptional development of something that all believers are to take part in to some degree.
- 1. The 2 Corinthians 8-9 text is for "all believers".
- 2. But as a "gift" of the Spirit, there are some believers who will excel in the issues involved.
- D. The purpose of this "gift" is to bring the notion of strong positive desire for good to the table so that people will be impressed to think of God as having a potent and primary desire to bring blessedness into the experience of people.
- II. A Caution Required by the Present State of Affairs in "churches".
- A. "Giving" is to meet the needs of people, not the lusts of men for status symbols.
- B. The leadership of "churches" is often extremely corrupt and totally misguided and the consequence is that "giving" is twisted, and imposed upon the people as if it is "according to the will of God" when it is not.
