SPIRITUAL CURRENCY
God is spirit. One of the implications of this truth is that he deals with spiritual currency — not worldly, material currency. The spiritual currency that God recognizes are wisdom, knowledge and understanding. He has no direct need for material currency to accomplish His work. He needs followers with wisdom, knowledge and understanding — not money – to accomplish his will on earth.
God has no need direct need for material currency to accomplish His work. Money is only a vehicle for man to use to demonstrate his obedience to God by spending it to help others. Giving to the poor, is an example of laying down one’s financial life without any expectation of material reward or return.
The reward, if any, for giving to the poor who are unable to pay, is something that God will provide sometime, sooner or later, in a form that may be material or spiritual, but more likely spiritual, and probably not in a way that can be directly tied to the original giving event. Whether material or spiritual, it will be life-giving to us because life is what God breathes into man – not just at creation, but whenever man is willing to pay the spiritual price for it. Then and only then will man receive new life.
God uses worldly terms of buying and selling for our convenience so that we might understand that there is a big price to be paid for spiritual commodities. This currency for a spiritual commodity is different in the paying part of the transaction than it is in the receipt of the product sold. Proverbs 23:23 identifies three kinds of spiritual goods that can be bought from God: Wisdom, instruction, understanding.
Psalms 51:16-17 and 1 Samuel 15:22 tell us that what God does require for payment is a spiritual payment of a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart and obedience. Luke 13:1-8 and Ezekiel 18:32 tell us that repentance is necessary for life.
Repentance is spiritual currency. It is the equivalent of a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart. What we receive in exchange for that payment is spiritual life that is restoration to covenant relationship with God and the ability to stay in that relationship through consistent obedience.
Obedience to the Law is another spiritual currency that we pay. When we are obedient we will receive all the blessings that go with being in that relationship. Blessings are spiritual commodities that we receive in exchange for repentance and obedience.
Life is what we receive when we follow Jesus and life is what we receive when we obediently follow God’s commandments in The Law.
But life is not free. Jesus paid dearly for the life we can enjoy if we are willing to pay the price. Therefore, we also must choose to pay for our new life which is the life of God established in us. Choosing God’s life, however, means rejecting the life of the world and sin (lawlessness). For many, that is a price too steep to pay.