AIR POWER DISCUSSION OF THE WEEK - ANSWER! SHOULD A CHRISTIAN CHARGE INTEREST WHEN HE LENDS MONEY TO OTHERS? Dear all, Thanks for your submissions. To answer this question, I will like us to examine two scriptures; one from the Old Testament and one from the New. The word "usury" in both means interest. Deuteronomy 23:20, "Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon USURY; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it." Matthew 25:27, "Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with USURY." From these scriptures, we can draw the following conclusions. 1. God is not necessarily against charging interest. In the parable of the talents, which was narrated by Jesus, The Lord expected the servant with one talent to have lent his money with interest to the exchangers or bankers. He said to the servant, "Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury." The servant was punished for not charging interest, and was thrown into outer darkness. 2. A Christian can charge interest under certain conditions. a. A Christian can lend money with interest to strangers or non Christians; "...Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury.." b. A Christian should not lend money with interest to his brother or fellow Christian; "...but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury..." c. A Christian can lend money to a financial institution or mixed group. Jesus said, "You should have lent to the bank or exchangers." I have asked myself what about if there were Christains who had deposited money in the bank? It seems to me that when you are lending to a mixed group that is made up of Christians and non Christians, you can charge interest. This is because in a bank, you cannot separate Christians from non Christians. d. A Christian who does not lend with interest to his fellow Christian receives blessings from God. I trust you have been blessed. Thank you for reading!
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 22:56:59 +0000
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