God is NOT a Vending Machine
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I heard a leader in a church the other day bring up the whole doctrine of “you reap what you sow.” Their premise is that the seed is in itself, just as Genesis states. What you sow you reap. You sow discord, you will reap discord; you sow money, you reap money; your sow anger, you reap anger, and so on—for the seed is within itself. How should we view this man’s (and many others’ doctrine)? What does the Bible say?
First, and always the best place to start, let’s look at the two scriptures this man used as his premise in their context: Galatians 6:8 and Genesis 1:11-12:
Do
not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also
reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he
who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us
not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not
lose heart. Galatians 6:8
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12
We’ll take a look at Galatians first. Yes, it does say: for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. But is this the end of Paul’s thought? No, he goes on to paint this scripture in broad strokes. Paul continues: For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Paul is saying that if you live according to your flesh (the natural impulses if mankind without the Spirit) you will live with the consequences of those life choices. The fruit of that lifestyle is death, corruption, destruction, along with many other descriptive lifestyle outcomes, all which are related to death. Think about a garden where anything you plant only bears bad fruit. That is the picture.
The flip side is the life yielded to the Holy Spirit. Earlier in Galatians Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit contrasted to the works of the flesh. What we plant does grow and it produces fruit according to its kind: fruit either in the kind of the flesh or in kind of the Spirit—broad strokes. Galatians 5 clearly makes distinction between the two. If we live by the Spirit we will not need to be governed by a law. The Holy Spirit, as we yield to Him, will produce His fruit in us. A life yielded to the Holy Spirit bares the Holy Spirit’s fruit. Howbeit, if, as a Christian, we feed the flesh by living to gratify the flesh as we see the law of the Spirit as opposed to the flesh, we, aware of that law, will live a life of exhaustive restraint of the flesh. This life of carnal Christianity leads to a circular condemnation/grace pattern. Law must restrain the carnal Christian, while the Spirit-led life bring freedom from law.
The life yielded to the Holy Spirit will produce not only the fruit of the Spirit, but also the works of the Spirit—broad strokes. The life yielded to the flesh will also reproduce after its kind: both fruit and works. Whichever you feed, flesh or spirit (by the Holy Spirit), determines what your life’s garden will grow. So yes, you reap what you sow, but not like a vending machine’s input/output.
Now let’s look at Genesis 1:11-12. In context, the seed is in itself, is strictly talking about seeds—that is plants—not words, people’s actions or intentions. Plants generating seeds, those seeds falling into the soil, sprouting, and growing reproducing seeds according to their own kind, is the intent of Genesis 1:11-12. Though many would like to, we cannot translate this over into a formula for mankind sowing into their lives and reaping what they sow: anger, discord, etc. as stated above. Proverbs 15:1 states that a gentle answer turns away wrath. This person is not reaping what they sowed. They are receiving the opposite. There are many such scriptures. Some could say that Paul reaped what he sowed when he was put to death for Christ due to his previous murderous ways. Yet all the apostles except John were martyred. In reality, Paul received grace, acceptance, and love not only from the Lord, but also from those whom he used to persecute.
Consider that we are dealing with God—a Person—who is not an input/output vending machine. He is a Person. He deals with us according to His nature and not according to what we, in our human understanding, think we deserve:
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:10-12
This
is our God.
So great is His grace!
So willing to pardon and restore. He does not give us what we deserve; He does not make us reap what we sow. Listen to this incredibly glorious truth from Ephesians:
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him… Ephesians 1:7-9a NASB
He made known to us the mystery of His
will, according to His kind intention [!].
He lavished His grace on us [!].
Words do matter. I am not saying they don’t. That words matter is all over the Bible, but just not the way this leader presented them. Jesus Himself said we will be held accountable for every idle word we speak. Thankfully, we are under His New Covenant of grace and forgiveness.
God is not a tit for tat, what goes around comes around, reap what you sow god.
God is not a vending machine!
God is a Person. A loving Father…
and for that
I
am grateful!
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