Mark 4:22-25 - To the one who has, more will be given

4:22,23

In Romans 1:18 Paul writes that men suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. Part of the purpose of the gospel is to bring the truth into open view. There are two sides to this, one is exposing the sinfulness of man (Eph 5:11,12), the other is to make plain the glorious truth of God’s ways. Most of the time men try to hide evil deeds because they actually know that they are wrong, but things can get so bad that they start calling evil deeds good and approving of those who do them, this is most obvious in the area of sexual sin (Rom 1:32). The real tragedy is that God’s ways are actually good for us, they make our lives better, more enjoyable.

4:24,25

Now these two verses offend anyone with a socialist instinct! But to both the socialist and prosperity gospel merchant, this is not talking about money! It is about spiritual understanding. When we hear the word of God we have a choice, we can look at in the light of humanistic or atheistic thinking. We can come to God’s word looking at through the lens of our thinking, trying to impose our worldview on it. To such a person will get nothing out of God’s word, they only be confirmed in their unbelief. Or we can come to it with humility and faith, seeking to learn from God. Such a person will truly learn from God. The first person has hardly any understanding of God and of life, and what little they have will be taken away. The second person has some understanding of God and of life, and their understanding will continue to increase.