If you’re not radically generous, you’re a thief. The Bible is full of this teaching. If the money you have was yours and you’re not generous with it, you’re just being stingy; but if the money is somebody else’s and you’re not generous with it as the owner directs, it’s robbery.
The Bible says your attitude toward your wealth and your possessions is not an incidental or peripheral or optional issue. It’s at the very heart of what it is to be a Christian. A Christian says the money you have is yours to enjoy and take care of as a trustee, but you must give it generously as God directs.
James 2 says real faith inevitably leads to three characteristics: 1) it’s radically generous, 2) it’s radically gracious, and 3) it’s radically practical.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 14, 1990. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: James 2:1-17.
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Released on 28 Jan 2026