“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith"

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 16:1-13:

There has been much difficulty in studying this chapter of Luke for many. It is very important to understand that the entire chapter deals with one single subject; greed!

The unfaithful steward will act out of greed, the Lord will apply this account to the Pharisees who are lovers of money, and in the end the Rich Man would be an illustration that his wealth did not work out like the Pharisees would have predicted (remember that they attributed wealth with righteousness!).

A quick outline of the chapter breaks out like this:

Vs. 1-8 – Commendation of the Greedy Unfaithful Servant

Vs. 9-13 – Jesus Applied the Story to His Greedy Audience

Vs. 14-15 – The Greedy Pharisees' Reaction and Jesus' Response

Vs. 16-18 – John the Baptist, A Faithful Steward

Vs. 19-31 – The Rich Man and Lazarus

The first segment of this chapter has given much trouble because the casual reader thinks the Lord is commending a crooked and greedy steward. However, if we realize that the parable introduces a “certain rich man” as the master, this is not the Lord! This rich man represents universally the greed the Pharisees sought and they even established traditions in order to promote their seeking it. These Pharisees are thus, stewards in the house of greed!

This should help us now with the text.

Text #1:

Luke 16:1-8 He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2 So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'
3 “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'
5 “So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?' 6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures [a] of oil.' So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?' So he said, ‘A hundred measures [b] of wheat.' And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

Footnotes:

a.  Luke 16:6 Greek “batos ”, eight or nine gallons each (Old Testament – “bath ”)

b.  Luke 16:7 Greek “koros ”, ten or twelve bushels each (Old Testament – “kor ”)

Once again, it is important to realize that the steward is a steward of unrighteous mammon (Vs 11). Thus his master is greed! Mammon is the Aramaic word for “ riches ”. The Lord would use this term as an illustration of a life goal opposed to God, note:

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Additionally, everyone in this story is a peddler of sorts. The steward is like a secretary who has caught wind of his eminent release from his post; his forgiving half the debt of these who owed his master (greed), is merely an attempt to secure himself a position with one of them upon his release. All this effort is given in order to continue to serve greed in one form or another.

In verse eight, we find the steward being commended for pure skullduggery! His predicament has forced this steward to use all of his capabilities in order to shrewdly maneuver a new place of employment. Greed has recognized his skill in manipulating the circumstances in order to work in another house of greed (vs. 13).

This shrewdness as a son of the world was truly necessary to serve greed; as greed demanded this kind of effort to obtain riches. However, the “sons of light” (those who serve God as Master), are not being labeled as unable to be this clever, but rather they are those who do not have to maneuver in order to achieve! The “sons of light” have the realization that their treasure is that which awaits them in the kingdom of heaven and their humility will bring them exaltation in the end!

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Luke 14:11 “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Text #2:

Luke 16:9-13 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. 10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

The Lord opened the parable with the steward as a poor manager of real wealth, finally becoming shrewd when faced with the prospect of being homeless. However, here in the second section; his new home was just as unjust as the first one!

This is being directed now at the greedy audience. Remember the parable opens being addressed to His disciples as something to avoid in their lives and service to God; however, as we will see in verse 14, as was often the case the Pharisees were within ear shod of the teaching of the Lord.

So, not only is the Lord teaching His disciples to avoid at all costs the stewardship of greed; but additionally He is emphasizing to the greedy Pharisees, that they might as well be the best steward of greed they can be, since this is the master they have chosen.

The conclusion should now be obvious; no man should serve money, riches, or any other form of corruptible pleasure which is greed. It does not matter how much or how little one has; he cannot serve two masters. To serve greed is to shrewdly work towards an end of destruction. It is a contrary practice!

In our next lesson, the Pharisees are going to react to the Lord's teaching (they recognized that this was directed at them). Remember that they actually manifested an attitude that implied wealth as a status of righteousness! Additionally, this is why they related the poor and common as sinners.

Next: “The Greedy Pharisees' React”