The Truth About Gambling
adapted from an outline by Joe Price
- Gambling Violates Legitimate Economy
- Three Legitimate Means of Transferring Property:
- Law of labor: Money is earned by the effort expended
- Law of exchange: Buying and selling, investments, etc.
- Law of love: Where money is given without expectation or desire for return.
- Gambling does not qualify in any of these
- God Recognizes These Principles of Economy and Authorizes Them
- Labor - Ephesians 4:28; II Thessalonians 3:12; Luke 10:7
- Buying and selling - Matthew 13:44
- Investment - Matthew 25:27
- Giving and receiving - Ephesians 4:28; Acts 2:45 - Voluntary gift to the needy
- Gambling is a violation of all of these
- It is a parasite on a legitimate economy and exists without divine sanction
- Three Legitimate Means of Transferring Property:
- Gambling Violates Divine Law
- "Not specifically mentioned in Bible, how can it be wrong?"
- Not all specific sins are mentioned, such as pedophilia or pornography
- The Bible sets forth principles whereby specific conduct may be discerned as good or evil
- It violates private industry, which God ordained for man and makes him unfit for his mission in life - Genesis 3:19
- One’s income is to come from his own hard work
- I Thessalonians 4:11-12 - Work, having need of nothing
- II Thessalonians 3:10 - If one won’t work, not a charity case!
- The gambler profits solely at another person’s loss (cf. casinos)
- In using money to gamble, one evades his responsibility to provide for himself and his family - Luke 16:10-13 (Involves tragic waste!)
- Gambling perpetuates the "get something for nothing" mentality
- One’s income is to come from his own hard work
- The essential motive for gambling is covetousness (greed)
- It seeks the rewards of another man’s efforts. (Get rich quick!)
- "To fix passion upon," "To long inordinately for"
- I Timothy 6:10 - Love of money is the root of gambling
- Gambling is accompanied by other evils
- Matthew 7:16 - Know by its fruits (James 3:11-12)
- Fruits of gambling: Greed, broken homes, theft, organized crime, murder, drinking, suicide
- Gambling is opposed to the good of society
- Economic liability
- Attracts the criminal element. (Creates a lawless environment)
- Government creates bureaucracy to oversee it - Proverbs 14:34
- Gambling does not promote godliness
- Philippians 4:8 - Can these things be said of gambling?
- l Thessalonians 5:22 - Abstain from the appearance of evil
- Matthew 5:16; Titus 2:7 - To exert a good influence
- James 4:4 - Christians are not of the world
- I Timothy 6:17-19 - Stewards of our money to further the Lord’s work
- Neither the amount of the wager nor who benefits from your losses changes gambling into an innocent activity
- The amount of a wager doesn't change its nature ... gambling is a sin. (cf. Lottery)
- "It’s for a good cause" (cf. bingo for a church, a school, County Crisis Council) does not change that it violates God’s will!
- Gambling is not wrong only for those who cannot afford to lose!
- Whether for large amounts or the price of a cup of coffee it remains wrong!
- "Not specifically mentioned in Bible, how can it be wrong?"
- Conclusion
- Gambling is evil for secular and spiritual reasons.
- The child of God must not practice gambling in any way, shape, or form!
(Adapted from an article by Gene Frost, GOSPEL ANCHOR, Vol. 7, No. 8, pages 25-27)