The Gospel Coalition, which has a substantial problem differentiating between law and gospel, also has a difficult time differentiating between justice and mercy. The parachurch organization led by Marxist, Tim Keller, is a recipient of funds from both George Soros and James Riady (two powerful globalist and socialist billionaire financiers) and serves the purpose of changing the way a formerly conservative evangelical demographic votes. The Gospel Coalition (TGC), as we’ve explained many times before, is a political rather than a religious organization. Most recently, TGC has begun to tweet things that exude textbook Marxism.
They tweeted this on Monday.
There are a number of problems with this tweet.
First of all, there is nothing uniquely in the Gospel that opens our eyes to the fact that God is the source of all blessing. Certainly, Old Testament saints ascertained from both natural and special revelation, short of an explicit Gospel, that God was the source of blessing. 1 Samuel 2:7 says, “The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and exalts.” Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth…” Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “…it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth.” Proverbs 8:21 says, that it is God who “bestows wealth on those who love [him].”
In other words, you don’t need a crucified, buried and resurrected Savior to understand that our wealth is a grace of God. While the notion is true, it is not inextricably tied to the Gospel.
Second, it is a jump of logic to presume that because God gives us wealth it is our obligation to give our wealth away. Certainly, New Testament giving would require regular, sacrificial, and joyful offerings to the Lord’s work. There is a transcendent principle we see modeled for us in the Old Testament of alms-giving to the poor. However, there is zero indication in Scripture that God requires us to give away the whole or bulk of the wealth he’s bequeathed us.
Third and finally, there is no connection whatsoever between alms-giving and “justice.” As I laid out in this post, giving to the poor is not a matter of justice, but a matter of mercy. Justice is what is required, and mercy is what is charitable. Charity is not justice. Those are two entirely different things.
Justice – “Getting what one is due, what they deserve, or that to which they are entitled.”
Mercy – “Compassion toward one in a lesser estate, particularly done without obligation, but with empathy.”
No one is “entitled” to the wealth of others. This is the principle undergirded in the eighth commandment, which is premised upon the right of private property ownership. To believe that one must give away their wealth as a matter of “justice” is a thoroughly Marxist idea.
Tim Keller is a millionaire. The Gospel Coalition receives millions of dollars in donations per year. I would love to see them give it all away to the less fortunate.
