Chapter 21: Dominion and Inheritance
Updated: 1/13/20
Christian Economics: Teacher's Edition
The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever (Psalm 37:29).A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous (Proverbs 13:22).
These passages are aspects of point five of the biblical covenant: inheritance. Inheritance in history is governed by God’s laws of inheritance. Inheritance is covenantal. These two passages are not limited to inheritance beyond the grave. The Old Testament does not speak of any inheritance beyond the grave. It is almost silent on life beyond death. The first three verses of Daniel 12 are exceptions.
At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:1–3).
Another passage is in the book of Job.
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25–27)
The first five books of the Old Testament are silent on this. There is nothing in the Mosaic law on this. Therefore, we can be certain that the passages in the Old Testament that deal with economic inheritance deal with inheritance in history.
The heart of Christian economics is the doctrine of God’s original ownership of the creation. He created it; He therefore owns it. This is point one of the biblical covenant: sovereignty. Second is God’s dominion covenant with mankind. He delegated authority to mankind to act as His trustee or steward. This is point two of the biblical covenant: representation. Third is biblical law. There are biblical laws of economics. They are at bottom ethical. Fourth is sanctions: to these ethical laws are attached sanctions. Causation is ethical. Finally, there is historical succession. In economics, this is inheritance. In all these matters, ethics is dominant. Economics as a separate intellectual discipline is inherently ethical. In no sense is it value-free. Nothing is value-free. The creation reflects God, who is not value-free.
Inheritance is inter-generational. Each generation is supposed to leave an inheritance to the next generation. This inheritance is comprehensive. It involves worldviews. There is competition in history among people who hold rival worldviews. One way that adherents of a worldview can increase the influence of their worldview is to build an economic inheritance. The heirs will be able to use this capital asset to extend the worldview. This means that every inheritance is supposed to be confessional. Covenant-keepers are not supposed to subsidize rival worldviews with the capital they leave behind. Inheritance should be covenantal, not biological.
This is why the doctrine of adoption is central in Christian economics. Salvation is always by adoption. God adopts recent covenant-breakers into His covenantal family. This family is confessional. God is the father of all mankind, but the rebellion of Adam led God to disinherit Adam and all of his covenantal heirs. So, there are two families in history: the disinherited sons and the inheriting sons by adoption.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:3–6).
God’s dominion covenant with mankind (Genesis 1:26–28) defines man. There is no escape from the requirement of dominion. It is inherent in all mankind. This is why men seek to extend their influence and the influence of the organizations they belong to.
It is a mistake to regard leisure as the default setting for mankind. Men do not normally choose to do nothing. They choose to do something. In their sin, covenant-breaking men pursue evil. This was why God cursed men’s labor and their environment (Genesis 3:17–19). This forced them to work in order to keep themselves and their families alive. This redirected their dominion impulses away from power-seeking to customer satisfaction.
The Bible makes it clear that righteous men leave an inheritance to their grandchildren. It also says that wealth is accumulated in order for righteous people to inherit it. The righteous will inherit the earth (Psalm 37:29). This means that they will inherit enormous responsibility. This is eschatologically certain. It is a prophecy. Jesus confirmed it. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). The meaning is not that wimps will inherit the earth. It means that people who are meek before God will exercise dominion. This means that covenant-keepers must strive for mastery in their fields. They must therefore strive for success. This is a moral requirement. It is not optional.
History is a covenantal battlefield. This means that it requires well-armed, well-trained soldiers of the cross. The stakes are high: conquest in history. This has not been the attitude of the vast majority of those who call themselves Christians. They have been taught that the kingdom of God will fail in history. There will never be a worldwide Christian civilization, they believe. They have also been taught that poverty is a valid way of life for covenant-keepers. Yet ever since the 1850s, Western Christians have lived in the richest nations in history. They have been debt-burdened middle-class people who are richer than 90% of the world’s population. They live in homes that would be considered mansions by most people. Yet they have the mentality of beggars. They see themselves as eschatological also-rans in a world in which covenant-breakers control most of the world’s wealth and political power. They think this is what God wants for His people. They believe that the righteous will inherit the leftovers. They read the story of Jacob and Esau, and they somehow conclude that Esau was the big winner in the economic competition with his brother.
Inheritance and dominion are linked ethically and also eschatologically. Capital accumulation is a moral obligation for covenant keepers. Why? Because capital is a tool of dominion. Covenant-keepers, not covenant-breakers, will be the big winners in history. Preparation for dominion must begin in youth. This involves education in the broadest sense. It also involves money management.
A buyer possesses capital: money. He can invest it, donate it, buy long-term consumer goods, or spend it on amusements. He must also transfer it to his heirs at his death, either with a written document or by neglect. He adopts this outlook: “You can’t take it with you.” Jesus said that this slogan is incorrect. Covenant-keepers can take it with them.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19–21).
So, Jesus warned, men should not accumulate wealth only for history. If they intend to “take it with them,” they must allocate some of their wealth for the world beyond the grave. There is financial continuity between history and eternity. Most people do not believe this. This is especially true of academic economists. Most people choose to allocate their wealth exclusively to history. This is especially true of academic economists.
In his capacity as a buyer of earthly goods, a person focuses on the return on expenditure. What benefits can he gain from specific expenditures? He may have no systematic plan for spending his money. He may go from expenditure to expenditure without a detailed shopping list. But he still buys whatever he buys in terms of a hierarchy of priorities. This list may change from moment to moment in a present-oriented person’s mind. But he must decide: “Is hanging onto this money for a while longer better than buying this item?” The more present-oriented he is, the less attention he pays to his wealth in a year or a decade. He applies a high rate of discount to his expected net income in the future. He cares nothing about any inheritance that he might leave behind. He is not a buyer of future influence. He is a buyer of present consumption. As for income beyond the grave, he has no concern. He thinks he either will not need any or else God will provide it as a matter of course. Paul taught otherwise.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire (I Corinthians 3:10–15).
Paul was clear: there is an inheritance beyond the grave. This is a reward. It is a positive sanction. It is not automatic. There is no equality of rewards, either in history or eternity. The Bible does not teach equality. It teaches inequality as a matter of ethics.
A man should build up an inheritance for his grandchildren in history and for himself beyond the grave. The price of these purchases is reduced consumption in the present. The covenant-keeper must learn to say “no” as a buyer of present goods. Without this self-discipline, he will deplete or consume whatever he has inherited. He will break the chain of compound economic growth. His children will start from scratch.
There are sellers of future dominion. They call on covenant keepers to sacrifice in the present for the sake of the future. There are commissioned salesmen of investment programs. There are preachers of kingdom-building, who cry out for sacrificial giving in church. There are sellers of educational services who promise financial rewards for the investment of money and hard work associated with formal education. There are non-profit charities of many types, all of which promise to improve the world at the margin. They want our time, but above all, they want our money.
They come with a message: “You can’t get something for nothing.” They come also with this message: “You can often get nothing for something.” They sell an idea: sacrifice now, benefit later. This is unquestionably a biblical message. The idea of something for nothing, other than the gift of salvation by grace alone, is anathema. The grace of God was paid for by the historical sacrifice of Christ. The grace of God imparts responsibility to the recipient.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8–10).
We are back to the Christian idea of counting the costs.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:28–33).
Jesus could not have been clearer. This is the cost of discipleship. The gift of salvation is free, but there are no gifts without comparable responsibilities.
And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more (Luke 12:47–48).
So, a man owes an inheritance to his grandchildren in history and to himself beyond history. This requires future-orientation. It also involves the idea of counting the costs. These are aspects of making a spiritual inventory. This spiritual inventory is filled with marketable goods, or should be.
A pencil is a tool of production. Engineers use pencils. Artists use them. I used them when outlining these chapters and marking up my books. The usefulness of this inexpensive tool is not compromised by its low price. On the contrary, its widespread use depends on its low price. A pencil is also a tool of consumption. Children draw pictures with them, or play tic-tac-toe with them. In this sense, a pencil is a multi-purpose tool.
A tool requires knowledge to be effective. Pencils are among the earliest tools children use. Pencils initially are used for play, but play soon becomes a form of work. The child learns what a pencil can do. He becomes familiar with its use. Then parents and teachers show him how useful a pencil is in school work. He learns to appreciate the eraser. A child uses a pencil in early youth, and them as an adult. Few tools of youth are part of adulthood. The pencil is.
Inheritance is basic to every social system. There has to be succession. We are mortal. We will be replaced. The question of who will replace us, and what they will do when they replace us, are major issues.
In the West, the issue of dominion has been a continuing issue ever since the rise of Christianity. History is linear, the Bible teaches. It is not cyclical, contrary to the religions of the ancient world. History is also progressive. Men learn new things. They apply this learning to real-world issues. Christianity teaches that history is a battlefield between two rival worldvierws: Christianity and mammon. There will be a winner and a loser. This is the issue of dominion. In whose name will men take control of nature? God or mammon?
This is the core meaning of inheritance. Whose ideas will prevail? Whose institutions will prevail? Whose capital will compound, and whose will be dissipated? Whose stewardship will be rewarded by God at the final judgment? These are social issues, not just issues of personal regeneration. To confine them to the soul, the church, and the family is to retreat from the great battlefields of life. It necessarily involves surrender.
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For the rest of this book, go here: https://www.garynorth.com/public/department193.cfm