September 9, 2025 –  A Biblical View of Ownership — Acts #12
Acts 4:32-37

Most of the teachings I do are verse-by-verse explanations of scripture, giving you the context for the passage, history, language, and culture.  But today’s is topical.  Something is going on in the community of these early believers that many people find unusual, and it makes some others really uncomfortable.  Today, I want to look at the big picture to explain what motivates these followers to behave this way.  

Acts 4:32-37  Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

The idea that Jesus’ followers shared their possessions bothers some people.  It is especially uncomfortable to many people in the US, where the concept of private ownership is a key element of society.  Our identities are often tied to what we have achieved in life and what we own, such as our house and automobiles.  Some people look at these first-century believers and say that this sharing of possessions would not work in our world today.  Why are they freely sharing everything? ¹ 

It is because their view of ownership, the Biblical view of ownership, is radically different than the prevailing view in our culture.  So we will do an overview of the scripture to make sure we understand their motives.

But first, let’s talk about babies.  It is so much fun when babies start to speak. Those first words are so precious.  (Especially if the first word is dada.)  But it seems it is just a few months when their primary word is “NO!”. And then, a few months later, their primary word when playing with a sibling or friend is “mine.” Children naturally latch onto the idea of personal ownership.  You don’t have to teach them about ownership.  Teaching a toddler about sharing, however, can be a trying experience. 

If you have ever seen the Disney Movie “Finding Nemo,” you know there is a group of characters that provide some comic relief, a flock of seagulls.  Every time they appear on screen, they have one focus.  They are all selfishly trying to obtain that one morsel of food that is available. Like a toddler, they cry out the same thing over and over: “Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!” They are funny characters—but it’s also a little uncomfortable. Because if we’re honest, those seagulls are a mirror of our own hearts.  Think about it:  We see something we like, and our first instinct is, “Oh, I would like to have one of those!”  Someone else gets a new car or a promotion at work, and we think, ” I wish that were mine.”  The latest phone or gadget comes out and we think we’ve got to have it—“Mine!”

This is why advertising is big business.  It is all about feeding the desire for possessions.  Almost $500 billion is spent on advertising yearly in the US.²  Amazon spent 26 million dollars to air one ad during the last Super Bowl.³  How we view our possessions, how we view ownership, makes a difference in how we live,

So let’s look at this from a Biblical perspective.  And the first question is: Do we own anything?

Psalm 24:1  The earth is Yehovah’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

The Bible says God created it.  It all belongs to him.  If you go back to the beginning, in the Garden of Eden…God placed man in the garden to work the land and to care for it.  Man was given dominion over the earth and the creatures in it.  He was to subdue it.   But it is dominion, not sovereignty.   Only God is sovereign.  Man is given dominion.  He is to take care of the land, but is he given ownership?

Who owned the Garden in Eden? Adam did not own the garden. It is God’s garden.  He makes the rules.  It is evident that when Adam and Eve decide they no longer want to live by God’s laws of the Garden, they are banished.  God does not leave; they leave.   Man was the tenant farmer, God was the owner.

But wait… doesn’t God promise Abraham that he will give his descendants land?

Genesis 17:7-8  And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.

An everlasting possession.  That seems to imply Abraham’s descendants will have ownership.  So 400 years later, when they were redeemed from Egypt and had traveled back to the land, it was divided up by tribe, assigned by lots (Joshua 18).  So it would seem that God does endorse ownership of the land.  But let’s look at how God mandated the land be used.  There were a lot of rules.

Every seven years was the Schmita year.  They were not to farm the land.  They were not to till the ground nor plant any crops.  Any crops that grow naturally are available for anyone to take as needed.  Anyone could harvest on any land that year.  Additionally, in this Schmita year, all debts were forgiven.

Land could be bought or sold, but every 50 years, there was a reset. Every 50 years was a Jubilee (Yovel) year; any land that had been bought or sold went back to the original owner or their family.  Additionally, any slaves or indentured servants were freed in that year.  This ensured that the land stayed with the tribes as they were initially allotted, and that no family would be doomed to live forever in bondage.  

And there were rules on how you harvest the crops on your land: 

Leviticus 19:9-10  When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am Yehovah your God.

We see this in the book of Ruth, where the destitute widows can harvest wheat from the edges or corners of anyone’s field.  The land was theirs to manage, but the owner had expectations for how they would use the land.  That included using a portion of the harvest to help the poor.  

In those days, people’s righteousness was judged by how much unharvested crop they left in the corners of their fields.  A person who was not righteous might gather 100% of the harvest for himself and leave none.   If you were a generous person, you would leave large amounts of grain to harvest in the corners and edges of your fields.   Today, we can apply this principle to our budgets, and we must ask ourselves, “How big are my corners?”  How much of what I produce from the resources God has given me to manage is left for the poor?

Why were they given all these rules about how they were supposed to manage their land?

Leviticus 25:23-24  The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.

Because the land is not theirs, it is God’s.  God’s view of land ownership is that God owns all the land.  He has allotted portions of the land to people to use, but he has strict rules on how it is to be used. 

I have a friend who has a beautiful Porsche convertible.  Imagine for a moment that I borrow his car.  Now, when I am driving that car, I know very well that it is not mine (nor, thankfully, the car payment).  And I am not going to be reckless with it.  Before handing me the keys, my friend mentioned that he only uses premium gas and is careful not to exceed a certain RPM.   I would be very careful to follow his instructions.  After all, it is his car and he knows how to handle it.  I would carefully avoid potholes, drive very defensively, and I’d return it with a full tank of premium gas.  Why?  Because he was kind to loan it to me, and I want to be a good steward of what I have borrowed.  

The Biblical view of Ownership is this:  God owns everything.  He has entrusted a portion of his world to us.  It is not our land, but His.  They are not our possessions; they are His. We are temporary managers.  And we have a responsibility to manage God’s land and His possessions according to his rules.   After all, it is his world and he knows best how to handle it.  

The moment we start to think of this world as our property, whenever we forget that it all belongs to God, then we are tempted to misuse what we see as “ours”.   It can lead to selfishness, as we wonder why we should give away anything.  If other people need something, let them work like I did to get it.  Why should I give away what I worked so hard for?  It can also lead to pride.  Look at what I have.  I got this from hard work and smart business decisions.  Look at me.  Look what I have done.  

When Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, God knew this could become a problem.  They had been slaves, and for the past 40 years, were wanderers.  Now they are entering a rich, bountiful land.  So just before they go in, Moses warns them:

Deuteronomy 8:11-14,17–20  Take care lest you forget Yehovah your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget Yehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery… Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember Yehovah your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget Yehovah your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that Yehovah makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of Yehovah your God.

Don’t forget God, who gave you everything you have.  Don’t forget Yehovah and go worship other gods like the god of materialism, or the god of pride, or the god of self.  If you do, you will perish.  This advice was good almost 3000 years ago, and it is good today.  God understands the temptation of ownership, wealth, and false self-sufficiency.  

And ownership can bring other problems. For example, if you are the owner of a business, you have the potential for greater income return, but you carry the full weight of the company.  You have to oversee every aspect, from payroll to market shifts.  You assume the financial and legal risks of the business and must juggle multiple roles. Ownership can lead to much worry and stress.   What if my company has a bad year?  What if the economy crashes?  What if my taxes increase?  What if someone takes what is mine?  What about tornadoes, what about floods?

 An employee can focus solely on their specific area of the business, largely exempt from the broader concerns.   If we view God as the owner and accept our position as a steward, we no longer need to worry about outcomes because God will take care of that.  

But there is an even more important aspect of ownership we need to look at.  This idea of ownership is about more than land and other possessions.  Look back at that verse in Psalm 24:

Psalm 24:1  The earth is Yehovah’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

“And those who dwell therein.”  It is not just our land and possessions that belong to God.   We belong to God.  He created us, he gave us life, and He sustains us.  He gives us every heartbeat and every breath.  And more than that, for those of us who have received the gift of salvation through Jesus, we are “doubly owned” by God.

Jesus said it this way…

Matthew 20:28 “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

He gave his life as a ransom for many.  We understand a ransom as what you pay to release someone who is being held hostage.  The Old Testament view is that a ransom is to buy back people’s freedom who had become slaves.   In Rome, many of their slaves came from lands they had conquered.  But in Israel, the primary reason people ended up in slavery is that they had to sell themselves into slavery for debts they could not pay.   The act of paying the ransom is redemption.  God redeemed the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. 

Jesus had an interesting discussion with some of his followers about being set free:

John 8:31-34  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

Jesus said, “The truth will set you free,” to which they responded, We don’t need to be set free; we were never slaves. And Jesus tells them that they were indeed slaves to sin.  Why were they slaves to sin?  The payment owed for sin is death (Romans 6:23).   Because of their sin, they owed a debt that they could not pay.  Jesus is telling them that because of this debt of sin that they could not pay, they had sold themselves into slavery.

So Jesus came to redeem us, to pay the ransom for our release from slavery to sin.  That is why Paul can say things like this:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

You were bought with a price.  Jesus purchased our redemption with his death and resurrection.  He set us free.

Ephesians 1:7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

We have been redeemed from slavery to sin, so we are free.  And what do we do with this freedom?  Paul says when we choose redemption, we choose Jesus to be our Lord.  So we are no longer slaves to sin, but we answer to a different master or lord, Jesus.  

Several times in the introduction of his letters, Paul says he is a slave of Christ Jesus (as do James, Peter, Jude, and John).  

Romans 1:1  Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus….

Paul expands on this thought in Romans 6:

Romans 6:20-23  For when you were slaves of sin…. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you asked any servant in Jesus’ day, “What are you going to do today?” they would look at you like you were crazy.  A servant had no choice.  They did whatever their master told them to do.  There were no discussions or debates.  This slavery to God, becoming his servant, is our voluntary position.  We choose to be his servant instead of serving sin.  We decide to follow his decrees, his direction for what we are going to do today and tomorrow.

But Paul, who multiple times called himself a slave to Jesus, also said this:

Galatians 4:4-7  But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

So are we slaves to Christ or are we sons?  The answer is yes.

Our attitude of obedience to God is like the attitude of a slave to our Lord—complete obedience without question.  We wake in the morning, awaiting God to assign us a task.  

God’s attitude of love and grace toward us, however, is not like a master to a slave but like a father to a child. I think Paul reconciles these two by following the Old Testament idea of children having complete obedience and devotion to their parents (as he restates in Ephesians 6:1-3).  We are the children of God, and our level of obedience as his children should be so complete, such a thorough obedience as if we were slaves to a master.

This concept of ownership is what the first-century followers understood.  This is why they freely shared their possessions with those in need.  Because they understood that the things they possessed did not belong to them anyway, it was not their land, but God’s land they were given to manage for a while.  It was not their donkey or their sheep, but they all belonged to God.  So it is only right they they manage God’s possessions as God would want them to.  

These were people whose fields had big corners.  They left much of what they had for others in need.  Their lives were built on the Biblical view of ownership.  Their lands, their homes, and their possessions were all His.  And they understood that they owed their very lives to Jesus, who had ransomed them from slavery.  So they were willing to freely give that up also if necessary for the Kingdom of God.  And many of them would be called on to be martyrs.

Finally, I can’t talk about slavery without making this point:

When I mention slavery, your thoughts probably go to earlier times in our country, which indeed has a horrific history of slavery, and, sadly, slavery was supported by many churches.  That is our history.  We can’t go back and change that.  But there is something we can change.  Today, there are about 50 million people enslaved in our world.  50 million.   And many of them are children.   Some have been kidnapped, but most, just like in Jesus’ day, ended up as slaves to pay family debts that could not be paid.  Poor people are taken in by predatory loan practices that result in the loss of their children if they can’t repay the loan.  50 million slaves.  In India (which has an estimated 18 million slaves today), the average loan amount taken by the families that may lose their child is $68.  Several mission organizations are working to redeem children from slavery.  My wife and I have been supporters of Freedom’s Promise⁴, which works in Southeast Asia, and Set Free, which works in India.⁵   $ 68, less than many families will spend on lunch today, can ransom a child from slavery.  Preventing child trafficking and redeeming children from slavery are both worthy ways to make our corners bigger.  What would God have you do with His possessions that He has entrusted to you?

1. And some say that what these followers are doing is similar to Communism or Socialism.  That is certainly not the case.  The Biblical model is voluntary sharing motivated by love and unity, as opposed to involuntary redistribution mandated by the state.  God, who has limitless resources and motives of grace and love, directs the management of resources, instead of a government of men, which historically becomes corrupt and self-serving.
2. From marketingcharts.com.
3. From mediaplaynews.com.
4. http://www.freedomspromise.org
5. http://www.setfreealliance.org