'Sell your possessions and give to the poor'

[Fillan]

Hello! I am curious about this passage, does the command to sell possessions and give the money to the poor still hold today? If so, how to manage the challenge? If not, why not?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31-35)

Thank you and God Bless You

 

[Dino246]

Hello! I am curious about this passage, does the command to sell possessions and give the money to the poor still hold today? If so, how to manage the challenge? If not, why not?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31-35)

Thank you and God Bless You

Jesus said these words to the disciples before He went to the cross. He had chosen them specifically to spread His gospel, and He was calling them to a life of itinerant ministry. God has called many to this kind of life, and He has called others to fund the ministry. While the principle holds today that we as believers are not to amass wealth for ourselves, God does not call everyone to the "minimalist" life. When you put this passage together with the rest of the biblical teaching on money, wealth, and giving, you will see a fuller picture.

 

[GRACE_ambassador]

Sell your possessions and give to the poor.

Precious friend @Fillan, much confusion about this subject and
several others is eliminated when God's Precious Word Of Truth Is Rightly
Divided - ie:

Borrowed From an "Update" of Basic Distinctions Of Prophecy and Mystery:

Prophecy/Law { earthly! }:
(19) "Sell everything/follow Jesus" = Commanded in Matthew_19 : 21,
Mark_10 : 21, and Luke_12 : 33, 18 : 22! The Twelve and Jewish
believers obeyed, In Acts_2 : 44-45 and 4 : 32 AV)

Rightly Divided (2 Timothy 2:15 AV) From “Things That Differ!" (BBS)

Mystery/GRACE { Heavenly! }!:
(19)
"...Work with your hands, to provide for your own/give to those in need..."
(Acts 20 : 35; Romans 12 : 11; 1 Corinthians 4 : 12; Ephesians 4 : 28;
2 Corinthians 12 : 14; 1 Thessalonians 4 : 11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3 : 7-12;
1 Timothy 5:8 AV)

-------------
And, precious friend(s), Please Be Very Richly Encouraged and Edified
In The Lord Jesus Christ and In His Precious Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided:

The Bible: The BIG Picture

Amen.

 

[tablet123]

Hello! I am curious about this passage, does the command to sell possessions and give the money to the poor still hold today? If so, how to manage the challenge? If not, why not?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31-35)

Thank you and God Bless You

Act 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
Act 2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

Act 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
Act 4:34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
Act 4:35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

The early Church sold their possessions that was not a necessity and the money was for those that had need.

And they had all things common which they shared everything.

That is how the Church is supposed to operate so it applies today.

Rev 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
Rev 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

This Church could not bear them which were evil, and loved being Christlike, and had determination to labor preaching the truth.

But they left their first love which they were neglecting the poor and needy.

Which love of people is the fulfilling of the law.

Jesus told them to repent and correct it.

1Ti 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
1Ti 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The love of money is the root of all evil for it neglects the poor and needy, and love is the fulfilling of the law.

 

[JohnDB]

Hello! I am curious about this passage, does the command to sell possessions and give the money to the poor still hold today? If so, how to manage the challenge? If not, why not?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31-35)

Thank you and God Bless You

The Spirit or essence of what Jesus was saying most definitely still applies today....it's a timeless message.

It's for those who have ears to hear.
Otherwise....

It's Isaiah 6 time....
Be ever seeing but not understanding
Hearing but never perceiving
Rule upon rule, do upon do.
Otherwise they might turn their hearts and be healed.

 

[timf]

If not, why not?

This was for Israel who upon entering the earthly kingdom who would have food and raiment provided them.

 

[Lovette]

Hello! I am curious about this passage, does the command to sell possessions and give the money to the poor still hold today? If so, how to manage the challenge? If not, why not?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31-35)

Thank you and God Bless You

That's not a command, but more of a test for the rich young ruler in particular, to see which he really holds dear, his possession or God? Unfortunately he failed the test.

Be absolutely clear on this, that Jesus is NOT a socialist, his talented is distributed to his servants each according to their ABILITY - not need! Whoever portrays Jesus as a socialist for property redistribution is a devil from hell.

 

[2ndTimeIsTheCharm]

That's not a command, but more of a test for the rich young ruler in particular, to see which he really holds dear, his possession or God? Unfortunately he failed the test.

Be absolutely clear on this, that Jesus is NOT a socialist, his talented is distributed to his servants each according to their ABILITY - not need! Whoever portrays Jesus as a socialist for property redistribution is a devil from hell.

No, Luke 12:31-35 was addressed to the desciples, not to the rich young man. If you say you are a Christian, are you not His disciple?

 

[Suze]

Hello! I am curious about this passage, does the command to sell possessions and give the money to the poor still hold today? If so, how to manage the challenge? If not, why not?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31-35)

Thank you and God Bless You

Personally , I believe this still holds today , and it's one of the main reasons that many of us r not perfect . Materialism is easily one of the ' civilised ' world's greatest evils which causes so many of us very big problems . I think I have too much stuff and , compared to most I don't think I have , just compared to what I think a Christian should have , I have too much . I don't have any one thing of great monetary value , just lots of little things , things that I don't really need . A lot of it is shared with my hubby so it's not totally mine to give away or sell . We have all the basics in a house but a huge number of DVDs and CDs and books , these r our main sources of entertainment as for various reasons we don't go out much except for exercise walks . We often read books more than once , watch the same dvd more than once and we listen to music every day . Hubby says we shouldn't get rid of things that make us happy , so , these things do perform a function , just like the washing machine , fridge etc . That's his reasoning and I don't argue . We have never had loads of money but, thanks to God , we have enough and we regularly give small amounts to charity . But , I still think we have too much . That's my conscience bugging me . We live in quite a deprived area so we regularly c people who r obviously much worse off than us and it does prick our consciences .

 

[GWH]

Hello! I am curious about this passage, does the command to sell possessions and give the money to the poor still hold today? If so, how to manage the challenge? If not, why not?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31-35)

Thank you and God Bless You

Jesus stated that poverty would always exist (Matt. 26:11), but he also said to give to the poor (Matt. 19:21). These verses imply that we should try to alleviate abject poverty. We know that stealing is wrong (Exo. 20:15), but implicit in the command for the rich to share their wealth is that people should not need to steal in order to survive.

The apostle Paul synthesized/harmonized these two commands by saying (in Eph. 4:28) that people must work instead of stealing, earning a living plus something to share with those in need, perhaps because of being unable to work.

Paul also said (in 2Thes. 3:10) that a man who will not work shall not eat, and (in 1Tim. 5:8) that anyone who does not provide for his family is worse than an unbeliever. His desire was for people to have sufficiently equality (per 2Cor. 8:13), not meaning welfare or communism that results in a smaller pie to share, but rather that every person should have an opportunity to earn a living.

Sewing these verses together with spiritual thread, we can discern that the will of God is for people who are able to work to seek employment, so that earning a fair wage will provide at least the basic necessities plus something (a tithe per Mal. 3:8-10) left over for charity.

Hope this helps.

 

[JohnDB]

No, Luke 12:31-35 was addressed to the desciples, not to the rich young man. If you say you are a Christian, are you not His disciple?

Being a follower of Jesus is one thing.

Being accused of being a Christian is another.

Self labeling yourself as a Christian means so little it's pathetic. In reality today it can mean just about anything anymore.

The accusation by another person however is precious....one that brings a smile to my face every time. It's actually an old derogatory term if you are willing to believe it.
To be accused of being a Christian without being overt about your faith is a precious, precious thing....it means you have succeeded to a certain extent in your discipleship.

The poor & the wealthy? Always going to have them around. Never going to get rid of either two groups. Giving to the poor only dispenses of your wealth....it helps no one, stops no poverty, does nothing except make yourself poor.

The poor are poor because they make poor choices.

The rich young ruler was so so close. He missed it by that much. When he referred to Jesus as "Good" and Jesus asked him about it....he blew it. Jesus was handing out miracles and blessings like it was nothing more than candy in his pocket....and the rich kid blew it. Anyone who recognized Jesus as God the Messiah was given anything they asked for including raising loved ones from the dead.

However, in this example it becomes very clear....possessions and ownership is not exactly cut and dry as we would want to believe....possessions tend to own us....not the other way around.

 

[ResidentAlien]

I'm not sure we should sell everything and give to the poor, but we definitely need to examine ourselves and determine if we love God more or our possessions. The Lord still tests us today.

 

[GWH]

I'm not sure we should sell everything and give to the poor, but we definitely need to examine ourselves and determine if we love God more or our possessions. The Lord still tests us today.

We can be sure selling out is not required of most Christians because of the teachings of Paul about poverty:

The apostle Paul said (in Eph. 4:28) that people must work instead of stealing, earning a living plus something to share with those in need, perhaps because of being unable to work. Paul also said (in 2Thes. 3:10) that a man who will not work shall not eat, and (in 1Tim. 5:8) that anyone who does not provide for his family is worse than an unbeliever.

We might also discern that the will of God is for people to earn wages that will provide at least the basic necessities plus something left over for charity/a tithe per Mal. 3:8-10.

 

[2ndTimeIsTheCharm]

I'm not sure we should sell everything and give to the poor, but we definitely need to examine ourselves and determine if we love God more or our possessions. The Lord still tests us today.

It doesn't say sell "everything":

Luke 12:31-35 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

[JohnDB]

Watching yawl not figure out that Jesus is talking about what we often refer to as just habits....

People have habits....wealthy people who know how to make money have habits just like poor people have habits.....

I have bad habits too as well as very good habits. Everyone has them.
Chemical dependency is developed through habits making the chemicals a crutch even if they are not physically addictive....they are psychologically addictive and keep you from emotionally maturing or having any sort of emotional control....
Money is no different from alcohol, nicotine, THC, narcotic, food or any other chemical....

Sure, we need food and money in this world to survive. Just a part of life. But who is in charge? Your habits? Can you give them up despite the pain of going without? And the reverse can be true as well....money has responsibilities that goes with it. Because money was caused by some sort of relationships or talents....and both come with responsibilities that you may or may not want due to these same habits....how many lottery winners go broke again?

YOU OWN YOUR HABITS....chances are they are not a positive in your life. Especially if you have issues with the second most important commandment. (Most people do....and the reason the path and gate are narrow)
Maybe you need to adopt new ones like Jesus suggested to the young man....

But here on Earth play all the games you want....it just wont work out in the end.

 

[Lovette]

No, Luke 12:31-35 was addressed to the desciples, not to the rich young man. If you say you are a Christian, are you not His disciple?

Only if you're filthy rich with great possession - like that rich young man.

 

[OMC]

Hello! I am curious about this passage, does the command to sell possessions and give the money to the poor still hold today? If so, how to manage the challenge? If not, why not?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31-35)

Jesus’ command in Luke 12:33 to “sell your possessions and give to the poor” is not a universal rule that every Christian in every era must liquidate everything.
It is a heart‑diagnosis aimed at people whose security is tied to their stuff, and the proof is that the New Testament never treats this as a blanket command:
Zacchaeus gives half, not all; the early church shares freely but not by compulsion;
Paul assumes believers still own homes, tools, and resources; and Jesus Himself had disciples who kept their boats, houses, and livelihoods;
The point of Luke 12 is not “every Christian must sell everything,” but “every Christian must treat the kingdom as their treasure,” and for some people that will mean radical generosity, for others it means open‑handed stewardship, but for all it means refusing to let possessions become the place where the heart hides;
So the way to “manage the challenge” is not by fearing poverty but by letting Christ reorder your loves — give sacrificially, hold possessions loosely, help the poor intentionally, and live in such a way that your security comes from the Father who delights to give you the kingdom, not from the things you own.

 

[Fillan]

Jesus said these words to the disciples before He went to the cross.

Yes. Also just before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, a time when a holocaust was nigh. What would be the point in keeping lots of possessions if the Romans were soon the burn everything:

Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children (Luke 23:28)

God Bless

 

[biblestudent78]

Jesus said these words to the disciples before He went to the cross. He had chosen them specifically to spread His gospel, and He was calling them to a life of itinerant ministry. God has called many to this kind of life, and He has called others to fund the ministry. While the principle holds today that we as believers are not to amass wealth for ourselves, God does not call everyone to the "minimalist" life. When you put this passage together with the rest of the biblical teaching on money, wealth, and giving, you will see a fuller picture.

Dino246
Far be it from me to be scripture quoting guy as too often these are just proof texts. However your statement "that rest of the biblical teaching on money, wealth, and giving, you will see a fuller picture," invites some feedback on what the "bible teaches" on these subjects:
Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
Timothy 6:10: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
Matthew 19:23-24: Jesus tells His disciples that it is hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, comparing it to a camel going through the eye of a needle.
Luke 12:15: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."
Mark 12:41-44: The account of the widow's mite, where Jesus emphasizes that the poor widow's small offering surpassed the large gifts of the wealthy because she gave from her poverty.
Hebrews 13:5 Advises keeping free from the love of money and being content with what one has, resting in God's promise never to forsake believers.
Matthew 6:19-21: Warns against storing up earthly treasures and encourages focusing on heavenly treasures where the heart truly resides.
Philippians 4:19: Assures that God will supply all needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
In the story about the Good Samaritan Jesus emphasises loving care also includes financial care (Luke 10:25–37)

 

[Churchgoer]

Dino246
Far be it from me to be scripture quoting guy as too often these are just proof texts. However your statement "that rest of the biblical teaching on money, wealth, and giving, you will see a fuller picture," invites some feedback on what the "bible teaches" on these subjects:
Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
Timothy 6:10: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
Matthew 19:23-24: Jesus tells His disciples that it is hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, comparing it to a camel going through the eye of a needle.
Luke 12:15: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."
Mark 12:41-44: The account of the widow's mite, where Jesus emphasizes that the poor widow's small offering surpassed the large gifts of the wealthy because she gave from her poverty.
Hebrews 13:5 Advises keeping free from the love of money and being content with what one has, resting in God's promise never to forsake believers.
Matthew 6:19-21: Warns against storing up earthly treasures and encourages focusing on heavenly treasures where the heart truly resides.
Philippians 4:19: Assures that God will supply all needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
In the story about the Good Samaritan Jesus emphasises loving care also includes financial care (Luke 10:25–37)

financial care is a big part of loving care. If someone selflessly taking care others by cooking, cleaning, building.....that is all nice loving care. Others while might not be on site at the time, giving financial support is very loving caring too.