Bible Study # 13
Stewards of God
Introduction
The Bible teaches that all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are stewards of the mysteries and gifts of God. (1 Cor. 4: 1). The word “steward” (in Spanish, “administrador”) is the Greek word “oikonomos”; etymologically it is divided this way: “oikos” (a house) – “nemo” (to arrange); he was a person, generally a slave, who governed a house or an estate. This term is also translated in the New Testament as majordomo. This word is derived from the Latin “major”: “greater” and “domos” : the house, the chief servant of the great house or of an estate. Jesus Christ is Lord and owner of everything we are and have because He created us (Col. 1: 16-18), He sustains us (Heb. 1: 3), and He bought us with His blood (1 Cor. 6: 20). He gave everything to the church, and now, as chief servants in His house, we administer His gifts of grace faithfully as those who must give account (Heb. 13: 17).
1. Who is the owner of everything that exists, and why?
Ps. 24: 1
“The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and those who dwell in it”
2. For whom were all things created?
Col. 1: 16
“For by him all things were created, those in the heavens and those on the earth, visible and invisible; whether thrones, whether dominions, whether principalities, whether powers; all things were created through him and for him”
3. How should people regard us, and what is required of us?
1 Cor. 4: 1-2
“Let a man so regard us, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that each one be found faithful”
4. Who besides us are ministers and stewards of God?
Heb. 1: 13-14
“But to which of the angels did God ever say: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”
5. In what way should we administer the gifts we have received from God?
1 Peter 4: 10,11
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak according to the words of God; if anyone ministers, let him do it according to the ability which God gives, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen”
6. What are the things that God has put in our hands to administer, and what does He expect us to do with each one of them? There are many other things that God has given us to administer, but these are the most important:
A. In the spiritual life:
1) Grace – Eph. 3: 1,2
2) Salvation – Heb. 2: 1-4
3) The mysteries – 1 Cor. 4:1
4) The Word – Rom. 3: 2; 2 Tim. 2: 15; 2 Cor. 2: 17; 2 Cor 4: 2
5) The gifts, operations, and ministries of the Holy Spirit – 1 Cor. 12: 4-11
B. In the natural life:
1) The body – 1 Cor. 3: 16, 17; 6: 13-20; Rom. 12: 1-2
2) The mind – 1 Cor 2: 16; Eph. 4: 22,23; Phil. 4: 8
3) Time – Eph. 5: 15-17; Col. 4: 5
4) Talents – Matt. 25: 14-30
5) Money – Haggai 2: 8; Lev. 27: 30-32; Mal. 3: 8-10
C. The functions of the church:
1) Worship (“latria”) – 1 Pet. 2: 5, 9; Heb. 13: 15; Luke 24: 50-53
2) Teaching (“didaskalia”) – Matt. 28: 20; 1 Tim. 1: 3; 6: 3-6; Titus 2: 1
3) Service or ministration (“diakonia”) Acts 6:1-7; 13: 2; Rom.15: 16, 25-27; Gal. 5:13
4) Proclamation (“kerygma”) – Mark 16: 15; Acts 5: 42
5) Fellowship (“koinonia”) – Acts 2: 42
7. The Bible teaches us that one day, all of us will appear before God (But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you also, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ”
(Rom 14: 10).
We believers will not have to give account for our salvation because Christ won it through His redemption and it is secure. But there is something, according to Scripture, for which we will give account. What is it? Luke 16: 1,2; Heb. 13: 17; Rom. 14: 10-12
“He also said to his disciples: There was a rich man who had a steward, and this one was accused to him of wasting his goods. 2 So he called him and said to him: What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward”
“Obey your pastors, and submit to them; for they watch over your souls, as those who must give account; that they may do so with joy, and not complaining, for this is unprofitable for you”
“But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you also, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God”
8. What are we believers in relation to the service of God?
1 Cor. 3: 5-9
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but servants through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building”
9. From whom will we receive the reward for our good stewardship?
Col. 3: 24
“knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ”
10. In what way is the Lord going to reward each one?
Rev. 22: 12; 1 Cor. 3: 8
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to each one according to his work”
“Now he who plants and he who waters are one; and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor”
11. With what will each one’s work be tested, and what is the sign that our labor has been approved?
1 Cor. 3: 12-14
“Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become manifest; for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward”
