People believe that work is just a means of earning a living and providing for their needs and those of their loved ones. But what is God’s perspective on work, and what should be the Christian attitude to it? The answer to this question will not come from me, nor will it come from you, but we will source the answer to this question from God’s own inspired Word, the Bible, which is profitable for teaching and instruction in righteousness 1.

One truth we will all agree on is that we spend more time at work than on any single physical activity except sleep, and some of us work more than we sleep or rarely even sleep. Right? For a quick exercise, take some time to think about how much time you spend at work each day and how much you sleep at night, on average.

The point is that we all work a lot, at least five days every week, and are committed to the work we do, either gladly or forcefully. I’m sure many of us have different reasons and motivations for why we work; maybe some of us don’t even have one and still can’t understand how we got ourselves into this “9-5 life” as we became adults and are probably wishing we could have a six-month vacation twice a year, as many sarcastically say :). But if we’re all spending this much time on something every day of our lives, wouldn’t it be of great importance to understand why we’re doing it, even if just out of curiosity?

One interesting fact is that neither your nation's government nor your employer created the concept of work. God, the creator of the entire world, including you and me, created work. It’s my goal and desire then that we not only satisfy curiosity in this essay but also, through God’s word, ask the one who created work what He intended when He created it, and that, upon receiving an answer to our questioning, our response and attitude toward work moving forward might be transformed.

Two sub-questions to answer the one main question of this essay:

1. What is Work?

2. What is God’s Purpose for Work?

What is Work?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, work is defined as:

1. “An activity, such as a job, that a person uses physical or mental effort to do, usually for money.”

2. “The material used by someone at work, or what they produce.”

3. “A place where a person goes specially to do their job.”

Below are a few examples of what these definitions will look like:

This is indeed a case of a polysemous or ambiguous word (a word that can have more than one meaning derived based on the context it’s used in). But either we’re referring to work as the activity, the product of the activity, or the location in which the activity occurs, work generally is:

1. An activity done by a person (usually an adult).

2. An activity that requires physical or mental effort.

3. An activity, usually done for remuneration (one-time, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).

That said, what then is God’s purpose for work?

What is God’s Purpose for Work?

The title of this essay is “Is Work Only About Money?” and the use of the adverb “only” in that phrase already communicates that money is involved in work, and indeed it’s God’s design that we work to earn money, so we can:

1. Take care of our basic needs and those of our family (II Thessalonians 3:10-12 2, Genesis 1:29-30 3, I Timothy 5:8 4).

2. Take care of the needs of anyone else in need or unable to work (Ephesians 4:28 5, Titus 3:14 6).

But the purpose of earning or meeting needs is not the most important or primary purpose of work but rather a secondary reward and blessing we receive from God for having done the work He gave unto us. Adam was only able to continuously eat from the trees after he had worked the ground and kept it, as we will see shortly. But if work is not only and primarily about money, what then is it primarily about?

First, God created and commanded us to work, and work is a vital component of who we are, as we see in the book of Genesis:

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” —Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV).

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. —Genesis 2:15 (ESV).

God created Adam and gave him a specific task. Adam’s job was to work the ground and keep it in order. The same is true of us as descendants of Adam (Genesis 5:3 7). God has placed you here on earth, specifically in the city where you reside right now, because He has a task for you to accomplish. God created us to do something, to be fruitful, to cultivate, to keep, to steward, to contribute, and to produce. The word “dominion” here refers to being in charge of or ruling over something. God gives a portion of His creation to people to rule over as stewards and take care of. We are to work hard to care for what’s been entrusted to us, and our jobs present opportunities for us to have dominion over what God has created (just as earthly stewards do in earthly royal kingdoms for their kings, for example). But the confusion about work in our time stems mostly from a limited understanding of who we, as humans, are created to be and to do, and of the value and honour of work. But ultimately, work is crucial to fulfilling our chief purpose: glorifying and enjoying God forever 8.

But while God created us to work and to have dominion, He made us to do it as His image bearers. In Genesis 1:2, we see the world is dark, formless, and void. Then, God brings light, life, and order; He fills the world with goodness. God’s work in creation gives us an example of the nature of God that we should bear (God delights in good and order). Your work then is a special opportunity to image God by bringing goodness and order to others. We work because our Creator works; He has never ceased working and is still working (John 5:17 9), and we’re made in His image, to reflect Him. Traffic wardens are bringing order to roads, medical doctors are saving lives, parents are bringing order to the family unit, farmers are producing raw food items, chefs are processing raw food items, hawkers are making processed goods available to people, engineers are developing solutions, shoe cobblers are restoring footwear, pastors are shepherding souls, architects are building shelter, mechanics are bringing order to transportation, clerks are bringing order to the office, accountants are bringing order to financial records, and so on. Every job contributes to God’s design of work being the means of making discoveries about God’s world and sustaining life. Imagine what the world would look like if everyone had the same gifts and jobs?! We’re all playing our parts and contributing to sustaining order in God’s world.

Another thing to note as we proceed is that work did not come into existence as a result of the fall; the fall only made work more difficult than it already was. You might be familiar with the fall, but you can read about it in Genesis 3 (God gave Adam and Eve an instruction, and they disobeyed), and in verses 17-19, God placed a curse on man as righteous judgment for their disobedience.

¹⁷ And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; ¹⁸ thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” —Genesis 3:17-19 (ESV).

It’s a common misconception to think that because we work really hard now, we wouldn’t have had to work at all if the fall hadn’t happened; but we would have. The beautiful design we see in Genesis 1 was followed by a massive disruption of that design. Sin distorts all aspects of life and work; now Adam has to deal with thorns and thistles, and sadly, we do too.

But we truly cannot work and enjoy work the way God designed it to be enjoyed if we are not in relationship with Him as Adam was before the fall, no matter how much we earn. We have already seen that the fall made us work harder and added pain to work, but this wasn’t the only effect of sin on the world. Adam was separated from God and, by extension, you and I (as Paul puts it in Colossians 1:21, we have been “alienated” from God, shut out of fellowship and intimacy with God, estranged from life in Him… forever). Every descendant of Adam inherited this sin from Adam as David puts it in Psalms 51:5 “...in sin did my mother conceive me”.

But there is good news as Romans 5:6-19 reveals:

⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. ¹² Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³ for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. ¹⁹ For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. —Romans 5:6-19 (ESV).

In Ephesians 2, we see that “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The only reason we would be able to truly enjoy work as we ought is that Jesus did the greatest work for you and me on the cross. Think about it: the work that God has called us to do, we are not even doing it perfectly; we mostly don’t make the best of our time, nor are we diligent enough; indeed, we can’t do perfect work pleasing to God. But Christ has done the perfect work, and when we come into Him, we can enter into the rest, and our work can then be an act of sacred worship.

We can then enjoy work as we ought, whether we earn little or much; we will be content. It becomes work for God out of love for God, as Colossians 3:23 shows us. Any time we attempt to rob God of His glory, we consequently rob ourselves of joy. As my pastor would often say, “When we operate in God’s design and wisdom, the fullness of His goodness and love will be experienced by us.” But we cannot operate in God’s design if we are not reunited to Him; God is calling you now to be reunited with Him. All you need to do is believe in the finished work of Christ and be saved. Perhaps God is calling you now; please do not hesitate and listen to Him.

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. —2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV).

“Though our present work is a mixed bag of the good and the bad, the fulfilling and the frustrating, work was an integral part of God’s design even before sin and death intruded... Work is at the heart of our place and purpose within creation. Work, as designed in creation, must be seen as a contribution to God and His good world and not merely compensation. From cradle to grave, God designed us to contribute to God’s world and the common good—whether or not we receive a paycheck. The biblical definition of work is far more comprehensive than an economic transaction.” —Tom Nelson.

So please go to work from tomorrow, knowing that you are fulfilling God’s special purpose assigned to you. As John Macarthur puts it, “the love of work for work’s sake and the nobility of work as it once was”. As Christians, we don’t work for God to accept us or to meet God’s needs; we work because we’re already accepted, to meet the needs of others. Go to work, then be productive, and glorify God in your choice of work, discharge of work duties, and satisfaction in work. Grace and peace to you.

Our relationship to Christ determines our identity. In Christ, we have become “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who belong to God, so that we may proclaim the excellencies of the One who called us from darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Our task is not only to be God’s possession but His dwelling place and a demonstration of His nature.

Many scriptures speak about submission in the context of authority, servanthood, and mutual submission among different groups (you can find some at the end of this essay)1. But for starters, according to Peter’s writing in 1 Peter 2 and Paul’s in Ephesians 5, submission to others is a specific manifestation of Godly conduct. “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” Some of these kinds of submission include:

• Submission to civil authorities (1 Peter 2:13-17).

• Submission of servants to masters—including cruel masters and those who may be the cause of your suffering (1 Peter 2:18-19).

• Submission of wives to husbands—including imperfect, believing, or unbelieving ones (1 Peter 3:1-2).

• Sacrificial leadership of husbands to wives —including imperfect ones (1 Peter 3:7, Ephesians 5:22-30).

• Submission of physical bodies between married couples (1 Corinthians 7:4).

• Mutual submission between believers (Ephesians 5:21).

God has placed an entire network of people in this world into positions of authority. Not just government leaders but also leaders in workplaces, circles, and families. We don’t like certain authorities or decisions based on personal preference, and sometimes they’re not even right or fair. However, you should:

• Read and study what God says about obeying authorities.

• Understand and know ahead of time that you are not going to like every decision the authorities make.

• Obey authorities, whether it favours you or not.

• Only disobey an authority if it requires you to commit sin and face the consequences for that happily.

• Pray for those in authority over you.

• If a particular rule doesn’t favour you, pray to God about it.

• Be an example to others and let them see what it looks like to obey authority in your life.

There is nothing wrong with having constructive conversations or confronting unjust rules within the stipulated human rights. But there should be a line between offering your opinion, following set procedures, and becoming disrespectful to authorities. Nothing will make you feel good about having to submit to authority, especially when it’s not favourable. As Christians, we’re to trust the Bible, obey God, and not our feelings.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” —I Timothy 2:1-4.

^“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” —2 Corinthians 2:14-15.

Exodus is often considered the book of the law, covenants, or redemption. It’s the second book in the Pentateuch as the Greeks understood it, the Torah as the Hebrews understood it, or the books of Law/Instruction. The general themes captured include God keeping His promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) and continuing the fulfilment of the seed foretold in Genesis 3:15. God miraculously delivers His people from slavery using the foolish and weak things of the world 1, begins redemption with Christ foretold in the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12), and gives the Children of Isreal laws for living justly and peacefully with one another (by the way, the idea of ethics and justice we have today stems from the Bible). God then institutes the temple, its components, and the office of the priest, teaches them how they ought to fellowship with Him, and dwells among them. All through this process, the people still forget God and seek idols. Oh, the mercy!

Exodus has shown me God’s extreme precision in designing how He will dwell among His chosen people and how they will interact with one another and with Him. He truly loves us and wants the greatest good for us; ergo, communion with Him.

“I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.” —Exodus 29:45-46.

In this book, the Mosaic covenant was also instituted with some conditions the children of Isreal agreed to keep (Exodus 24:7), unlike the unconditional Adamic, Noahic, and Abrahamic covenants, with the Sabbath being the primary sign (Exodus 31:13). In further books, I believe we will see how the Children of Isreal fail to keep these conditions and how some thing/one greater is needed to save them and us from the curses (wrath of God) they rightly heaped upon themselves.

Irrespective of our deficiencies, God calls those He will use and equips them to execute His call. The execution will also be according to God’s prescription, as reflected in the 10 Commandments, which we must follow. Even the theology of work, as seen in God filling people with skill and intelligence (Exodus 35, 36), carries the same message. There’s so much to learn from this book about God and how that affects the way we, as 21st-century Christians, should live. Moses will call this, “Show me Your ways”. God’s ways are revealed in His laws, and we need to see God’s ways to live properly and grow in intimacy with our Father.

The law leads to Christ and Christ leads us back to the law. It leads to Christ as the redeemer and Christ leads to the law, as the leader and director of life. —Francis Turretin.

Lastly, one notable connection I saw was the use of fragrances and spices in temple worship (Exodus 30, 31) and Apostle Paul's reference to Christians as the fragrance of Christ in the New Testament. The veil is truly torn, and we are now the temple in which God lives 2. Oh the mercy! Hallelujah!

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, ¹⁶ to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. — 2 Corithians 2:14-17.

In the chart below, I tried to document some of the attributes of God I see reflected through each chapter of Exodus. While this is an inexhaustive list, it attempts to capture who God is as reflected through the history of redemption, showing how God has never changed, even in our age now, showing the same attributes. It might interest you to note that the most recurring attributes were Sovereign, Giver of Precise Instructions, Powerful, Orderly, Patient, and Merciful.

Genesis is often considered the book of beginnings: the first book in the Pentateuch as the Greeks understood it, the first book in the Torah as the Hebrews understood it, or the first book of the books of Law/Instruction. The general themes captured include Creation of the World, Sin, Judgement, Evolution of Sin, The Effect of Sin, Covenants (Noah & Abraham), Family Dysfunction, Sin, More Sin, Increasing Sin, etc.

In the beginning, everything was empty. God hovered over it and, in the particular order below, made everything. God made:

1. Light (Day) and Darkness (Night).

2. The expanse that separated the waters from the waters (Heaven & Sky).

3. Split the waters under heaven into waters and dry land (Earth & Vegetation).

4. Solar system and great lights (Sun & Moon).

5. Animals in water and air.

6. Animals on land and humans (Man & Woman).

7. Rest

Side note: Do you remember being taught in school that humans evolved from apes or humans branched off from a primate ancestor? Well, aside from the reality that even science disproves these claims, it’s an unbiblical representation of God’s creation and science perverting God’s work. I believe as revealed in Genesis, Adam and Eve were created by God into full-grown adults at once and we all decended from them. I’ve attached a few helpful resources on creation/evolution theories in the footnote 1.

Genesis captures the origin of everything, including sin. From Adam’s fall in chapter 3 (breaking the Edenic conditional covenant in Genesis 2:15-16), we see a curse on all mankind. God then express His attributes of Mercy and Grace in the promise of the seed and in sending Adam and Eve out of the garden, which starts the story of redemption. And all the subsequent chapters from 4 to 50 show God making and keeping unconditional covenants (Adamic, Noahic, and Abrahamic), and the depths of the depraved state of all mankind, capturing the story of redemption and the emergence of that seed (Christ Jesus).

Genesis tells us about the triune God. It tells us that God existed self-sufficiently before anything else (completely independent, uncreated, and relying on nothing outside Himself). God created all things. God has a law that man violated, which caused us to suffer a curse. Man needed constant blood sacrifice to appease their creator God for their sins. And there is a Saviour coming who man desperately needs to pay the penalty for their sins. The stories of Abraham and all his descendants capture the hostility of sin and its immense consequences. God be praised for His many mercies, and for not leaving us to ourselves and for creating a means for us to be reunited with Him.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.” —Genesis 3:15

In the chart below, I tried to document some of the attributes of God I see reflected through each chapter of Genesis. While this is an inexhaustive list, it attempts to capture who God is as reflected through the history of redemption, showing how God has never changed, even in our age now, showing the same attributes.

I’ve been reading the Bible for most of my teenage years, when I professed to be a Christian from different parts of both the Old and New Testaments. For all those years, my initial understanding of the scriptures was shaped by what my then-teachers/pastors taught me and not necessarily from personal, detailed studying and seeking. Since being saved by grace in 2019, I have begun reading God’s word on my own, with a better understanding of what it is and why. Having read from different parts of the Bible (mostly the New Testament, with my initial favourites being Ephesians, Romans, the Gospels, and most of the Epistles), I then finished cover-to-cover books like Galatians, Job, Titus, I John, and II John. I have since then progressively delighted in hearing God speak to me through His word while struggling with the help of the HolySpirit to align my new identity with the sin-driven desires of my heart and staying consistent with spiritual habits I had set to follow. As someone who writes a lot, both personally and professionally, in those past years I have written up to a million words of notes as I wrestled through understanding different part of God’s word and attempting to answer some questions a few people asked me, which has formed the basis of my doctrine, theology, and Christian worldview (my wife is probably the only person who has access to all of them). Well, over the years, some of those views have changed, and others have either deepened or morphed.

So, my first goal: I’ll publish some of those notes in this journal over time, and perhaps write new ones as my understanding of God’s word strengthens, as an archive for both myself and others. Hopefully, this will help other fellow Christians who have started their journey in seeking after God. Some of these will be categorised into “Answers To” and “General Thoughts” tags. This will also be an avenue to get some of my understanding challenged and broadened by those whom my good Lord in His providence will bring from all corners of the world to read and leave a comment (as I have been privileged to physically enjoy through my local church).

Secondly, at the start of 2026, I began a fresh journey (I’ve tried to do this many times but never finished) into reading through the entire Bible this year, starting from the Old Testament. My desire for this is to see God’s redemptive work through Christ Jesus progressing from Genesis to Revelation as revealed by God 1 and to note the attributes of God I see being revealed through each chapter, that I may be taught, rebuked, corrected and trained in righteousness, being thoroughly equipped for every good work 2. Going through the entire Bible, I anticipate I will come across different familiar verses/stories I have been taught as a child, but never studied myself to get the biblically consistent interpretation. At the end of each book, I’ll publish a few summary notes to capture initial reflections as the Holy Spirit opens my eyes to see, with the goal of having references I can return to as I try other Bible study techniques in the years the Lord will give me ahead. These will be categorised under the “Musings From” tag.

I’m taking this public journaling method to keep myself more accountable, perhaps provide some encouragement to others progressing a similar path, and contribute to the resources that will be recommended to those using the search engine and the “ever-rising generative AI” to find answers to specific faith-based questions. God has called us to look upon Him; to gaze. The true rest we all seek lies in resting in the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross, as St. Augustine puts it well 3. The more we prayerfully behold His beauty, the more we will know Him, become more like Him, and fulfil our purpose here: to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever 4.

A few final notes:

• I’ve in the past two years fed from a devotional titled, The Poor Man’s Morning and Evening Portions, written by Robert Hawker (1753–1827), and as Monergism commented, “the great devotional classic received its unique name because it was originally published in small ‘penny’ portions so as to be affordable to the poor”. The idea was that each portion was written for the poor, who you would consider less educated at the time, hence the language used was as accessible as possible (spoiler: though accessible for their time, it was the older, 19th-century style of English, which might not be accessible for modern standards 🥲). Anyways, my desire is to do my best to do the same here, making every journal entry very layman-friendly for our time.

• One of my weaknesses is that I tend to express a lot in writing and often am not able to be concise. This is something I’m working on because certain scenarios require concise communication, and I hope to put this into practice in this journal.

• My goal is to share short essays that address the questions young Christians have, along with personal musings from reading the entire Bible, all leading to Psalm 27:4 becoming our heart’s desire (to seek, dwell, gaze, inquire).

• The domain name of this blog or digital journal ends with .xyz, which are the last three letters of the English alphabet, capturing the reality that the gazing referred to in Psalms 27:4 continues till the end of this world, ushering in the new one to come.

• If you have any questions resulting from reading any of the journals or something else, please do leave a comment to ask, and I’ll attempt to answer or refer you to other resources from those more knowledgeable than I am.

• Grace and peace to you, dear reader.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple. —Psamls 27:4 (ESV).

Question (April, 2023):
How do we discern churches that teach perspective from those that just share knowledge. The task of discerning presumes I know the difference. As I don’t, what are the markers I should look out for?

Context: An excerpt (reference below) was shared from the book “Thinking. Loving. Doing.: A Call to Glorify God with Heart and Mind” by John Piper, Thabiti Anyabwile, Francis Chan, David Mathis, R.C. Sproul, and Rick Warren.

Answer:

You’re right; discerning presumes you know the difference to some extent, and the first thing you should do for yourself is to understand what the “right doctrines” are as instructed in the Bible and how the Bible instructs us to look out for those things in churches (these correct doctrines are the foundations for teaching the “true knowledge and perspective of God”).

The Bible shows in different parts how God reveals Himself to certain people, but to others, He doesn’t. They see the acts, they see the miracles, but they never “see God”. This shows that there’s the right way to see God (this is the way Christians would), and there’s another way that “others” see God. Mark 8:27-30, II Tim 2:19, Luke 8:9-10, John 14:16-17, John 17:25, Ephesians 4:17-24.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” I Corinthians 1:18-25.

Christians (true, biblically saved Christians according to the standard of the Bible) see God for who He is and continue in a progressive process of sanctification, love for God and the things of God, and growth in the knowledge of God. They learn more about God and live their lives more like God to His glory. Romans 6:1-23, I Thessalonians 5:23-24, II Corinthians 3:16-18, I John 3:2.

The essential doctrines of Christianity are:

1. The doctrine of the person of Christ (God and Man).

2. The doctrine of the offices of Christ:

   1. Priest (removal of the guilt of sin, annulling the formal commandment, and the superiority of a new, perfect, and eternal priesthood) Hebrews 7:11-28.

   2. Prophet (asserts the kingdom of God) John 6:30-40, Hebrews 8:7-13.

   3. King (the King and Lord of the new kingdom), Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 21:25-28, Daniel 2:44-45.

A correct understanding of these doctrines will give a clear perspective of the truth about God and His relationship with humanity. The Bible's systemic and unified message is also evident as one studies and understands the doctrine of Christ. Jesus Christ is everything about Christianity, and the entire Bible revolves around this truth.

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul outlines what the gospel is and its importance in embracing and sharing it with others. He reminds the Corinthians of the gospel he preached among them: “That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” This is the essence of the gospel. Paul also warns us to be wary of the many “false gospels” offered to the unsuspecting: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed”—Galatians 1:8-9. The pure gospel of Jesus Christ—His death on the cross for sinners and His resurrection to everlasting life—is central to the Christian faith.

So how, then, do you know a true Church that teaches the truth? You will know them by their fruits. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:15-20.

• Their fruit is their lifestyle, their priorities, their teaching, and the effect of their ministry on the lives of their followers.

• Test their fruit by comparing it with the fruit of the life of Jesus Christ and His apostles, and the stark difference will be apparent to anyone with spiritual discernment.

What they teach (the highest percentage of their teachings is filled with these):

• They teach vanity (things that do not last) and earthly things. They also give their followers a license for immorality.

• “Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” Philippians 3:18-19.

• “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4.

• “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that are clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:18-19.

What they do not teach (the essential parts you should look out for—these are what sound Churches will teach):

• Unlike Apostle Paul, they do not teach or preach Christ. “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” II Corinthians 4:5.

• If you stay long with them, you will learn more about them (the preacher) and less about Christ. If you don’t see Christ more in a church, something is wrong. “John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:27-30.

• If you stay long under their teaching, you will have many exciting ideas and philosophies from the Bible, but your love and passion for Jesus Christ will not grow; rather, it will deteriorate.

• You will be fired up by all kinds of principles and ideas from the Bible, but you will not grow deeper in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

• Your regard and honor for the pastor will increase, but your regard and honor for the Lord Jesus Christ will decrease.

• Under their ministry, you will see Jesus Christ as a tool to be used as needed, not as the Lord God who deserves the complete surrender of your life and earthly ambitions.

• Under such teaching, you will never desire to say like the Apostle Paul, “But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” Philippians 3:7-8.

In conclusion, as a believer, you’re to test every spirit with the doctrine of Christ as the Holy Spirit guides you. The task of testing also requires you to have the true Spirit in you, so the first test starts with you. Do you think you know and believe this truth in the excerpt below?

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confessed not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3.

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:21-23.

Question (April, 2023):
From a Christian perspective and taking away the greed factor, what’s the difference between gambling, forex-trading, crypto-trading, and seed-investing in startups?

Answer:

Without greed, they’re all the same. You’re putting in some cash with the goal of earning profit (ROI). However, there’s a slight difference between gambling/lottery and stock trading/angel investment. One is casting lots (eyi je, eyi o je); even though I understand that some gamblers bet with data, your money isn’t doing any work, and your profit comes from the loss of others. The latter runs in the matrix of financial markets and leverages data to predict and make decisions that will yield an ROI. That is, I give company A $5k and expect to get $50k in 10 years (this profit comes legitimately from the companies value provided to customers in exchange for money), or I put $100 in S&P 500 index fund (giving me a tiny percentage of share ownership in some companies through stocks) and hope to get some undefined amount of profit. The appreciation or depreciation of my stock value depends on many factors. Still, fundamentally, you receive a small stake in the company, making it similar to an angel investment (with the added benefit of ownership). The profit comes from how well the company generally performs in all ramifications (an actual value exchange is taking place here).

For crypto trading, I think that’s slightly different. Suppose it’s legally backed (as some are already). In that case, that’s similar to forex trading, which basically deals with trading of currencies in the financial markets for commerce reasons (it’s an economic job technically); crypto is just a virtual digital version of forex, as the currencies in play are not tied to any country as legal tender (national currency). The above provides some background information on how I’d process each concept in question.

To define things, an investment is “an asset or item acquired “ with the goal of generating income or appreciation. While Appreciation refers to an increase in the value of an asset “over time.” Emphasis on “assets” and “over time.”

In summary, forex-trading, crypto-trading, and seed-investing are investments (you’re dealing with assets that will appreciate over time), while gambling is not an investment since there’s no asset acquisition involved nor value appreciation over time, but only placing stakes on something of value.

Now that the above has been established, and to be clear, gambling is not a sin according to the Bible (I can’t find any record of it being a sin). The Bible only warns against the love of money, greed, idolatry, and lack of hard work —all of which lead to sin. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” —I Timothy 6:10 NKJV.

While there are a few who gamble just for fun, the majority gamble out of love of money. Gambling is addictive, and the Bible warns Christians to flee from every appearance of evil. But again, just like the conversation about alcohol. The Bible doesn’t say drinking alcohol is a sin, but “being drunk” is a sin. As a Christian, why shouldn’t you then drink alcohol if you’re confident you won’t get drunk? I have a personal bias that it’s almost impossible not to get addicted to alcohol if you drink it often (and potentially slip into getting drunk), but data shows that some people can drink often and not get drunk. Also, there are health dangers of drinking alcohol, especially at a consistently high consumption rate. If you ignore that and slowly harm your body, you’re committing a sin by not taking good care of your body— the temple of God.

Now, there’s a negative societal perception of gambling and drinking alcohol (which doesn’t seem to exist for the ones people have termed legit investments, e.g., stock trading, crypto trading, angel investment, etc.). The Bible relentlessly pushes us toward simplicity and economy for the sake of the gospel 1. The more accustomed we become to gambling, the more difficult it is for us to be simple and economical, and the less it looks to outsiders (unbelievers) that we’re free from “the pleasure of money”. In wisdom, we should then avoid such things.

There’s also the part where gambling is wasteful and often a “get rich quick” scheme that takes away honest labour and the work of earning your money (or your money working by exchanging value for money).

“Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, But he who gathers gradually by [honest] labor will increase [his riches].” —Proverbs 13:11 AMP.

“Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” —Proverbs 13:11 ESV

To end, I’ll quote GotQuestions.org and add some verses at the end:

“Gambling is poor stewardship of one’s God-given resources, it attempts to bypass honest work, it promotes greed, covetousness, and it rejoices in the misfortune of others. A Christian should not be involved in gambling or in other forms of materialism.”

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” —I Corinthians 6:12 NKJV

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.” —I Corinthians 10:23-24 NKJV

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” —I Corinthians 10:31-33 NKJV

““No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].” —Matthew 6:24 AMP

“Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”” —Hebrews 13:5 AMP