What is the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word responsibility? For most people it is something negative. It is some drudgery like getting up early in the morning to go to work. It is doing chores. It is the opposite of having fun. Vacation is freedom from responsibility. Yet responsibility is not a curse. It is a blessing. When God cursed the ground after Adam and Eve sinned, it was not work that was the curse. Adam was already assigned to dress and keep the garden (Gen 2:15). To dress is to work, serve, labor, or till. God planted the garden, but Adam was to maintain what God gave him. To keep is to keep guard, watch, observe, heed, protect, and preserve. What did Adam have to guard against in a place like the garden of Eden? The only threat was their own choice to sin (Gen 2:16-17). The curse on the ground was unfruitful work. The word till is in Genesis 2:5 before sin and Genesis 3:23 after sin. The real difference between Genesis 2:15 and Genesis 3:23 is no fruit (Gen 3:18), and he would work outside God’s garden (vineyard) instead of inside (Gen 2:8, Gen 13:10, Is 51:3, Eze 28:13, Eze 31:8-9). He always had to work either way. The sixth commandment is to work 6 days and take one off (Ex 20:6). Most people in America have a 5-day work week, so we have an extra day off.
It is the will of God for us to work (1Cor 4:12, Eph 4:8, 1Thes 4:11, 2Thes 3:7-14), our labor to be productive (Prov 13:11), and for us to get to enjoy the fruit of it (Ecc 3:13, Ecc 5:18-19, 2Thes 3:7-14, Heb 4:11). We are to be rewarded according to our work (Prov 24:12, Jer 25:14, 1Cor 3:8, 2Cor 11:15, 2Tim 4:14, Rev 18:6). In the parables of the pounds and talents, those that produced were rewarded, and he that did not had his initial investment taken away and given to him that produced the most (Lk 16:1-13, Lk 19:11-27.
Responsibility has many benefits. It keeps up out of trouble. The prodigal son learned this the hard way (Lk 15:11-32). It wasn’t about the money. When he got it he did not invest it, buy anything, or save it. He wasted (scattered, thrown into the air like chaff) it, and had nothing to show for it. It was about getting out of the responsibility he had as a son. When he shirked his responsibility at home he got into big trouble. When he got a job feeding swine, he came to himself, returned home, and asked for a job – he came to understand the value of responsibility.
The father restored his place of responsibility (vs 22 – robe, ring, shoes). The elder brother wasn’t mad about the party, he was mad about responsibility vs. the lack thereof (vs 25-32).
Small responsibilities prepare us for bigger ones (Lk 16:10-12). He that is faithful in the least is faithful also in much. If we are not faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to our trust the true riches? If we are not faithful in another’s, who shall give us that which is our own? The Lord told the faithful servant, “because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities (Lk 19:17). This life is training for our service in the kingdom to come. Eternal life is not about sitting on a cloud playing the harp. God will restore everything lost in the garden of Eden and remove the curse (Is 11:6-10, Rom 8:16-23, Gal 3:13, Rev 22:1).
However, just as in the garden there were things to do, so will it be when He returns:
1. We are coming back to earth to administrate the kingdom (Mt 19:28, Lk 19:17-19, 1Cor
6:2-3, 1Thes 4:14 – will God bring with him, 2Tim 2:12, Pet 2:9 - Rev 1:5-6).
2. The bride (church – Is 62:5, Jn 3:29, 2Cor 11:12, Eph 5:22:33, Rev 21:9) is returning to
earth (Rev 19:14, Rev 20:4-6, Rev 21:1-3)
3. Rewards are not just trophies, but higher position in the kingdom (Rev 2:26-27, Rev
3:21, Rev 5:9-10, Rev 7:9-17 – vs 15 serve day and night).
4. The church will be the kings of the earth (Rev 21:24-27). Only they can enter the city,
the headquarters of the kingdom (Rev 21:27). The leaves are for healing (Rev 22:2).
How will they get them unless we bring them?
5. Is Jn 14:2 a geographical location or a position in the kingdom?
a. house also means household or family; property, wealth, goods
b. mansions means permanent dwelling place or abode – same word as Jn 14:23 (abode)
c. place also means the condition or station held by one in any company or assembly;
opportunity, power, occasion for acting, license
Responsibility teaches accountability:
1. Mt 21:33-46 – no fruit, husbandmen destroyed, vineyard given to those bearing fruit
2. Lk 16:1-13 – steward to give account
3. Lk 19:11-27 – parable of pounds (Mt 25:14-30 – talents)
Responsibility reminds us we are not owners, but stewards of God’s things:
1. 1Chr 29:14-18 – all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee
2. Lk 12:42 – who then is that faithful and wise steward?
3. Lk 16:1-8 – unjust steward
4. 1Cor 4:1-2 – stewards of the mysteries of God, it is required of stewards that a man be
found faithful
5. Titus 1:7 – bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God
6. 1Pet 4:10 – as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another,
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God
Responsibility gives a sense of worth and accomplishment. The Biblical definition of pride is thinking too highly of one’s self (Rom 12:3), or it is thinking one’s self better than others (Phil 2:3). It is about comparing ourselves to others (2Cor 10:12). When we get what we call a sense of pride over a job well done, that is not pride within itself.
Responsibility gives joy. This is the opposite of what our carnal nature tells us:
1. 1Chr 29:9 & 17 – when the people offered willingly, David had great joy
2. Ps 51:8 & 12 – David acted irresponsibly and lost his joy. He asked God to restore it.
3. Ps 126:5-6 – they that sow in tears shall reap in joy
4. Mt 25:21 & 23 – thou hast been faithful…enter thou into the joy of thy lord
5. Lk 6:23 – rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in
heaven
6. Lk 10:17 – the seventy returned again with joy
7. Jn 16:21 – as soon as she is delivered, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy
8. Acts 20:24 – I might finish my course with joy
9. Phil 4:1 – brethren…my joy and my crown
10. Heb 12:2 – for the joy that was set before him endured the cross
11. Jam 1:2 – count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations
12. 1Pet 4:13 – inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings…ye may be glad with
exceeding joy
Responsibility is not a punishment, a drudgery, or a burden. It is an opportunity to serve a greater purpose and grow as a person.
The Bible does not talk about luck. It talks about blessing and cursing (Lev 26, Deut 28-30). When we do the will of God, He can bless our efforts and they will be fruitful. When we sin, God cannot honor it. We invite a curse instead. One of the blessings described in these passages is fruitful work.
The book of Proverbs covers many subjects. If often does this by way of comparing and contrasting. One such topic is diligence versus laziness:
1. 6:4-11 – give not sleep to eyes, consider ant, a little sleep – so poverty comes
2. 10:4-5 & 16 – slack hand becomes poor – diligent makes rich, gather in harvest – wise
son, sleep in harvest causes shame, labor of righteous tends to life – fruit of
wicked to sin
3. 12:11, 14, 24 & 27 – till land – satisfied, recompense of man’s hands rendered, diligent
shall bear rule, slothful under tribute, slothful roasts not – substance of diligent
precious
4. 13:4 – sluggard desires – has nothing, diligent made fat
5. 14:4 & 23 – no oxen – crib clean, much increase by strength of ox, in all labor profit –
talk of lips only to penury
6. 15:19 – way of slothful hedge of thorns
7. 16:26 – laborer labors for self – mouth craves it
8. 18:9 – slothful brother to great waster
9. 19:15 & 24 – slothfulness casts into deep sleep, idle soul suffers hunger, slothful hides
hand in bosom, will not bring to mouth
10. 20:4 & 13 – sluggard won’t plow because of cold – will beg in harvest and have
nothing, love not sleep lest come to poverty – open eyes be satisfied w. bread
11. 21:5, 17 & 25-26 – thoughts of diligent tend only to plenteousness – of hasty only to
want, lover of pleasure shall be poor – of wine and oil not rich, desire of slothful
kills him – his hands refuse to labor – covets all day but righteous gives and spares
not
12. 22:13 & 29 – slothful says lion without – slain in streets, see diligent? – shall stand
before kings – not mean men
13. 23:21 – drowsiness will clothe with rags
14. 24:27 & 30-34 – prepare and make it in field – then build house, field and vineyard
of slothful grown over w. thorns – stone wall broken, little sleep – poverty comes
15. 26:13-16 – slothful says lion in streets, as door on hinges – slothful on bed, slothful
hides hand in bosom – grieves to bring to mouth, sluggard wiser in own conceit
7 who can render reason
16. 27:18 & 23 – keep fig tree- eat fruit, wait on master – honored, be diligent to know
state of flocks – riches not forever
18. 17. 28:19-20 – till land – plenty of bread, faithful abound
19. 30:24-25 – ants prepare in summer
20. 31:10-31 – virtuous woman – seeks wool and flax, works willingly, brings food from
far, rises in night to give meat to household, buys field, plants vineyard,
girds w. strength, strengthens arms, candle goes not out, lays hands on spindle
and distaff, hand to poor and needy, household clothed in scarlet, makes tapestry,
makes fine linen and sells, delivers girdles to merchant, looks well to household,
eats not bread of idleness, giver of fruit of her hands, let her works praise her
The Bible is not a book about politics, although politicians use and abuse it often. It is about our relationship with God. However, we must apply the principles of the Bible to society and government if we want God to bless them. When we deviate from scripture, we invite a curse. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God (Ps 9:17).” There are two main political systems in the world – capitalism and socialism. Some countries have pieces of both. Socialism and communism have some slight differences in theory, but in practice they are really the same. Remember the name of the place where communism was founded, and from which it spread throughout the world – the U.S.S.R, which stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The word Nazi means national socialist. Every place capitalism has been implemented even only in part has experienced economic growth. Every place socialism has been implemented has experienced a curse. Places such as Venezuela that were once prosperous became poor. That is because the Biblical financial principles of individual responsibility and the blessing of keeping the fruit of your labor cannot be violated without consequences. Communism and atheism are twins, i.e. the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cambodia. Two of the ten commandments are don’t steal and don’t covet (Ex 20:15 & 17). Taking property by force which someone else earned is the definition of theft (or robbery or burglary). There is no such thing as government money. There is only money which people have earned which is taken away from them. Granted, operating government takes money, and the money must be collected from the citizens; but if the government stays within its scope of responsibility and only collects what is absolutely necessary, the amount or percentage can be very low and unburdensome. When the government violates the principle of people keeping the fruit of their own labor, it only leads to a curse and economic loss, especially when it is playing Robin Hood in the name of false compassion and taking from earners and giving to non-earners. That is punishing diligence and responsibility and rewarding laziness and irresponsibility. Some parents teach this lesson to their children. They reward bad behavior instead of good. It is better to give a child rewards for jobs accomplished than to give an allowance regardless of behavior. Once again, the Bible teaches a man should keep the fruit of his labor:
1. If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose
their life (Job 31:39)
2. A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a
man's hands shall be rendered unto him. (Prov 12:14)
3. Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall
be honoured (Prov 27:18)
4. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. (Prov
31:31)
5. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the
gift of God (Ecc 3:13)
6. Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to
enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which
God giveth him: for it is his portion. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and
wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in
his labour; this is the gift of God. (Ecc 5:18-19)
7. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the
fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another
eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the
work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are
the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. (Is 65:21-23)
8. Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall
set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they
shall drink thy milk. (Eze 25:4)
The people of Israel saw that their leader Samuel was getting old and that his sons were not fit for leadership, so they asked him to make a king so they could be like the other nations (1Sam 8). God saw this coming back in the days of Moses before they even entered the promised land (Deut 17:14-20). The Lord gave them some guidelines on who was to be chosen, and He placed some requirements on the king that was to be chosen. He was not to be a raiser of burdensome taxes, and he was to read the Bible every day to remind him so he would remember God and His commandments and not lift himself up above his brethren. Samuel was angry with Israel for asking for a king. They were not wrong about Samuel or his sons, but they were wrong for rejecting God as their king, and for wanting to adopt the leadership system of the world. Samuel warned them from the mouth of God that the king would tax them heavily in the fruit of their wombs, their fields, and their flocks. They would cry out to God, but He would not hear, for they were warned and forced their choice anyway. They did not listen to God, so He would not listen to them. The first two kings were Saul and David, and neither of them really did what Israel was warned of. It was David’s son Solomon that brought the burden upon them. Solomon was rich and powerful, and he built the temple (1Ki 4-10). However, he taxed the people very heavily to pay for his government projects (1Ki 12). After his death, the people went to his heir Rehoboam and asked him to relieve this heavy burden. He followed foolish advice and threatened to increase their burden instead of easing it. Ten of the twelve tribes revolted from under his reign as a result of his father’s sins (1Ki 11). The kingdom of Israel remained divided until both factions fell later. To work and not enjoy the fruit of your labor is vanity (emptiness) and vexation of spirit (Ecc 2:21-26, Ecc 6:1-3).
Some people read in the book of Acts how the early church shared their wealth and try to insert socialism into these passages (Acts 2:44-45, Acts 4:32-37). There are two essential ways that what the early church did differed greatly from socialism. What they did was private and voluntary. It was not forced by anyone, and it was not redistribution run by the government. This, and the fact that the early church believed in private property (keeping the fruit of your labor), is evident in Acts 5:1-11, when Ananias and his wife Sapphira pretended to give the full price of some property they sold. When Peter questioned Ananias, he said, “Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God (Acts 5:4).” The issue was not that they only gave part of the price, or that the church was not to have private property. It was that they pretended to give the whole price so they could appear to have done the same as others.
The Bible does not promise equal results, only equal value. Jesus Christ said, “For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always (Mt 26:11).” The Lord knows what the ideal is, but He also knows what the real is. “Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it (Deut 15:4).” That is the ideal. We only have to go three more verses to find the real: “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother (Deut 15:17).” However, how much money we have does not determine the value of our soul to God (Mt 16:26, Lk 12:15). Riches are not a spiritual virtue, although hard work and handling money correctly are important values. Yet poverty is not a statement about our value as people to God. Money is not the root of evil, but the love of it is (1Tim 6:10)
Private property is a principle upheld throughout the Bible. Two of the ten commandments make no sense unless there is private property – don’t steal and don’t covet (Ex 20:15 & 17). In fact, the ten commandments are about who things belong to:
1. don’t give the worship that belongs to God to any other (# 1-4)
2. don’t give the honor due your parents to anyone else (#5)
3. don’t take someone else’s life (#6 - it’s not yours to take)
4. don’t commit adultery (#7 - don’t give the love that belongs to your spouse to anyone
else – 1Cor 7:5, 1Thes 4:6 – don’t defraud your spouse of sex)
5. don’t steal (#8 – don’t take another’s property, it does not belong to you)
6. don’t lie about others (#9 – don’t take their integrity and reputation)
7. don’t covet (#10 – don’t desire the property of others which does not belong to you)
The promise God made to the descendants of Abraham would be impossible without the idea of private property. He promised them a land they could call their home after Abraham and his family had sojourned in it and then spent 400 years in Egypt (Gen 12:1-3, Gen 13:14-17, Gen 15:16-21, Gen 17:18, Gen 22:17). That land is called their inheritance 79 times. The importance of how the land was divided after its conquest is illustrated by the 5 daughters of Zelophehad (Num 26:33, Num 27:1-11, Num 36:1-13, Josh 17:3-4, 1Chr 7:15). Another illustration is Naboth who refused to give his property to Ahab (1Ki 21:1-29, 2Ki 9:21-26). The Hebrew word for landmarks, also translated borders, appears 227 times. The land was never to be sold (Lev 25:23). If someone became poor, they could lease their land until the year of jubilee when it would return to them (Lev 25, Lev 27:L22-24). If they were able to, they could buy it back before then (Lev 25:24-55, Lev 27:17-21). Jeremiah showed how thoroughly they used to authenticate their land transactions (Jer 32). Israel was forbidden from taking the land God had already given to the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites (Deut 2:5-19). It was so important that moving the markers that indicated property borders was serious:
1. Deut 19:14 - thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have
set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth
thee to possess it
2. Deut 27:17 - Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people
shall say, Amen
3. Job 24:2 – some remove the landmarks
4. Prov 22:28 - remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set
5. Prov 23:10-11 - remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the
fatherless: for their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
6. border
The eventual punishment for Israel’s sins was the loss of their property (Lev 26, Deut 28, 1Ki 8, 2Chr 7, 2Ki 17, 2Ki 25). Their hope during the Babylonian exile was their eventual return after 70 years (Jer 25:11-12, Jer 29:10). The Lord warned Israel that they would again be exiled for rejecting Him as their Messiah until His return approached (Mt 23:37-39, Mt 24, Lk 21:24, Rom 9-11).
Without property rights, we lose all of our other rights including freedom of religion. If there is no private property, then who owns it? – the government. When the government owns all the property, they control the people. That is what happened to Egypt during the famine (Gen 47). These are the true goals of socialism. Karl Marx said so in the Communist Manifesto. Trying to put socialism into the Bible is deception. The Bible, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution do not promise equal results for all, only equal value and opportunity. Be careful not to confuse private or personal Biblical charity and compassion with an attempt at forced government equality of result that cannot work. It always has and always will be hypocritical and will always fail. It is a veiled attempt by Satan to enslave and impoverish people. If the Bible does not teach the concept of private property, then why would there be a provision for the defense of it (Ex 22:2)?
The Bible not only speaks of physical property such as land, houses, and things. The Bible
also speaks of spiritual property such as salvation, freedom, beliefs, thoughts, words, minds,
souls, spirits, and hearts We need to defend those things more than earthly things (Gal 5:1).
Thomas Jefferson said, "The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." He also said, "Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever." In 1792, James Madison defined property as “every thing to which a man may attach value and have a right, and which leaves to every one else the like advantage (emphasis in original). He also said “In (one) sense, a man’s land, or merchandise, or money is called his property. In (another) sense, a man has a property in his opinions and the free communication of them. He has a property of peculiar value in his religious opinions, and in the profession and practice dictated by them. He has a property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person. (A man) has an equal property in the free use of his faculties and free choice of the objects on which to employ them. In a word, as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.” God’s people should take possession of the gates of their spiritual enemies (Gen 22:17, Mt 12:43-45, Mt 16:18, Mk 3:27, Mk 5:10). Just as Israel had the land of Canaan as an inheritance, the church has a spiritual inheritance:
1. Mt 21:38 – let us seize upon his inheritance
2. Acts 20:32 - the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an
inheritance among all them which are sanctified
3. Acts 26:18 - they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are
sanctified by faith that is in me
4. Rom 8:17 -if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ
5. Gal 3:18 - if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to
Abraham by promise
6. Gal 3:29 - if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise
7. Gal 4:1 & 7 - thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God
through Christ
8. Eph 1:11 - in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
9. Eph 1:14 - the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
10. Eph 1:18 - ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints
11. Eph 5:5 - any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God
12. Col 1:12 - Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light
13. Col 3:24 - of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
Christ
14. Titus 3:7 - being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life
15. Heb 1:14 - Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall
be heirs of salvation?
16. Heb 6:17 - to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel
17. Heb 9:15 - they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance
18. Jam 2:5 - heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him
19. 1Pet 1:4 - an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you
20. 1Pet 3:7 - heirs together of the grace of life
The Lord promised those that abide in Him through His word that they would have fruit, and that their fruit would remain (Jn 15:1-16).
Some people assert that the Bible promotes slavery. Here are some reasons that is not true:
1. Slavery was a practice instituted by pagan cultures, not the Bible.
2. While slavery was not forbidden, the Bible did offer some protections for servants of
Israelites.
a. They were allowed to become Jews (Ex 12:44).
b. It forbade Israelites from having each other as slaves, and such were free in the year of
jubilee (Lev 25:25-55).
c. If an Israelite had another as a servant, he was to be freed the seventh year (Ex 21:2,
Deut 15:18).
d. If a man punished his servant and he died, he was to be punished (Ex 21:20).
e. If a servant lost an eye or a tooth at the hand of his master, he was freed (Ex 21:20-21).
f. Escaped servants were not be returned to their masters, and they were allowed to live in
Israel wherever they chose (Deut 23:15-16).
g. They were not to oppress a servant whether or not he was an Israelite (Deut
24:14).
h. Masters were to treat their servants right (Eph 6:9, Col 4:1).
i. The book of Philemon was written about an escaped servant that became a Christian.
3. The Bible clearly teaches the supreme value of man over all of God’s creation (Mt 6:26,
Mt 10:29-31, Lk 13:15-16, Lk 14:5, 1Cor 9:9-10). Yet God commanded the proper
treatment of animals (Gen 7:2 & 14, Ex 22:19, Ex 23:19, Ex 34:26, Lev 17:11-14, Lev
18:23, Lev 20:15-16, Lev 24:18-21, Lev 25:6-7, Deut 14:21, Deut 22:6-7, Deut 25:4, Deut
27:21, Prov 12:10, Prov 12:27). The very fact that animals were used in sacrifices shows
their value to God. The sacrifices were a symbol of the awful cost of sin. If the animals
were valueless, the sacrifices would have been meaningless (2Sam 24:24). They were used
as an illustration of how God cares for the animals (Job 38:39, Ps 36:6, Ps 50:10, Ps
104:21, Ps 147:9, Mt 6:26, Mt 10:29). If God cares for the animals, how can He be
accused of authorizing oppression of his highest creation through slavery?
4. The influence of the Bible is the reason slavery was abolished in the United States and
other countries. It was Christians who brought an end to it where it ended, and it is non-
Christians who perpetuate the practice.
Even oxen were entitled to be compensated for their labor (Deut 25:4). Paul quotes this verse twice (1Cor 9:9, 1Tim 5:18). Another great resource on this topic is an article at answersingenesis.com entitled “Doesn’t the Bible Support Slavery” by Bodie Hodge and Paul S. Taylor from January 19, 2015.
The principles of the work ethic and its proper rewards are fundamental and throughout the Bible, as well as that the worker should get to keep and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Having it otherwise is called a curse, emptiness, and vexation of spirit. Any principle that dishonors these values is unbiblical and God will not honor it. He only honors His word. Anytime, anywhere, and anyhow people apply the principles of the Bible, their work will be blessed. This is true for every area, whether it be spiritual, economical, or otherwise.