75 - Giving, Gratitude and Grace

Giving, Gratitude and Grace; Gal. 6:6-8

Galatians 6:6-8 ^NASB "The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches {him.} Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

The doctrine of grace giving (Summary)

1.  Giving is a part of every believer's worship of God and is based on personal response to the grace of God. 2 Cor 8:1, ^NASB "Now, brethren, we {wish to} make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia." Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to pay aside on a weekly basis a certain amount of money, and then when Titus would come through to collect that money it was to go back to Jerusalem because the Jews in Israel were going through a famine. The churches of Macedonia gave freely and generously as a response to the grace of God and the giving that they manifested was not viewed as a bribe to God in order to get God to make them prosperous because they were giving a certain amount of money; their giving was a reflection of how well they understood grace. The generosity of this church in Macedonia was so phenomenal that Paul mentions it frequently in the New Testament as an example for all believers of giving—Acts 24:17; Romans 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 16:1-5; Galatians 2:10.  

2.  We see that grace giving is not related to the depth of finances in the bank account but is related to the depth of gratitude in the believer's soul. 2 Cor 8:2 ^NASB "that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality." Inner happiness in the soul as a result of their maturity in the Word and their deep financial poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.

3.  The principle in giving is not a mandated percentage but abundant generosity. 2 Corinthians 8:3 ^NASB "For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, {they gave} of their own accord." They were not rationalising their finances. It was free will giving, not a mandated legalistic system.

4.  Grace giving is a privilege, not a burden. [4] "begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints." In the Greek the word "favor" is charis [xarij] which is the word for grace. They understood that it was a grace operation and that it was directly in response to the grace of God in their lives.

5.  Grace giving is preceded by positive volition to Scripture and spiritual growth. Giving is not a means to spiritual growth but is a result of spiritual growth. [5] "and {this,} not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God." First they made their relationship with the Lord the priority; they were committed to doctrine.

6.  The pattern for grace giving is the sacrificial generosity of Jesus Christ on the cross. [9] "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich."

7.  Giving is done under the principle of proportionality and responsibility. [11-15] "But now finish doing it also, so that just as {there was} the readiness to desire it, so {there} {may be} also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what {a person} has, not according to what he does not have. For {this} is not for the ease of others {and} for your affliction, but by way of equality—at this present time your abundance {being a} {supply} for their need, so that their abundance also may become {a supply} for your need, that there may be equality; as it is written, "HE WHO {gathered} MUCH DID NOT HAVE TOO MUCH, AND HE WHO {gathered} LITTLE HAD NO LACK." 

8.  Giving should be planned out and part of the family budget. 2 Corinthians 9:5 ^NASB "So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, so that the same would be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness" … so that at the last minute they don't get greedy and reach into the box and take the money back. 

9.  The analogy that he gives, starting in verse 6, is based on the agricultural economy of the day. Results in the spiritual life in terms of giving are proportional to the giving but not necessarily in kind. [6] "Now this {I say,} he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." This is going to relate to both contingent blessings in time and to contingent blessings in eternity.