“Private Property”

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. —Romans 8:16-17

Private property is certified by God as an ethical and godly concept because God Himself legitimized the idea by owning all things. When the Scripture states in Psalms 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains,” private ownership, as a stewardship under God, is forever sanctified, even if it can be misused like all other stewardships. Private property is not “theft” as Marx or others would have us believe. Indeed, it is not an historic accident that, wherever communal ownership of all things is advocated and practiced, it almost always leads to the habit of common wives and common children, a practice rejected by Jesus Christ Himself as He upheld the prohibition of adultery.

Again, as Romans 8:17 says, Christ’s family inheritance of caring for God’s creation is to be overseen by the redeemed family of man. Eternal economics, like temporal earthly economics, is a family affair. Indeed, the skills of stewardship for eternity are in the process of being developed and refined in our earthly journey now. As you may be aware, Jesus gave us more parables on the subject of stewardship than any other parabolic subject. Why? Because stewardship skills take us into the mind and disciplines of God and His love and care for what He has created.

To become God’s friend, we must take upon ourselves His point of view and labor with Him, as Adam did, in the care of those people and things He has entrusted us to nurture and help release into their destiny. Of all our economic stewardships, none is so important as our spouse, children, and extended natural and spiritual family. Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf as His family is “Exhibit A.” Managing both people and things is ultimately all about the same thing: positioning them before God for His purposes. Ultimately, salvation is about the Father’s family business and its growth throughout His created order. And that, my friends, is…

THE BOTTOM LINE.