Is betting a sin?

[canadyjd]

And these verses have no direct position about gambling.

They certainly speak of the love of money. They certainly speak of the people being led away from the faith by longing after money. They certainly speak of the ruin of people's lives pursuing riches. They certainly tell Christians to "flee" from such things. They certainly tell us we cannot serve two masters.

If you can (drive a car, eat fattening foods, fly on an airplane, etc.), knowing the destruction it has caused in so many people's lives, and not have your conscience troubled, then enjoy.

I could certainly do all those things with a clear conscience, knowing there was no prohibition, directly or indirectly, in scripture against such things. The same cannot be said of gambling, without ignoring many scripture verses on the deceitfulness of pursuing wealth.

On an entirely different note, with this post, I enter the 3000 Posts Club. Wooohooo!!!

congratulations:applause:

peace to youraying:

 

[xdisciplex]

Some have said that gambling is wrong because someone has to lose. If that's true, is playing sports wrong because someone has to lose?

Dooooooooh!!!!!

 

[ccdnt]

Instead of spending the money on gambling or other non-necessities as you call them, why not obey the Word of God with the excess money you seem to have?

Please define "excess money".

 

[xdisciplex]

@ HBSMN

I do not have excess money. I think unless you're Bill Gates you do not really have excess money. But I want excess money and in order to get it I thought about betting. The only problem is that you can also lose money. That's not good.

 

[EdSutton]

Here it is:

Thou shall not bet. (Exodus 32:77) :wavey:

I believe this quote is more likely from Hogwash 2:4, or Calamity 17:35 don't you?

Ed

 

[EdSutton]

@ HBSMN

I do not have excess money. I think unless you're Bill Gates you do not really have excess money. But I want excess money and in order to get it I thought about betting. The only problem is that you can also lose money. That's not good.

FTR, all the "betting games" are predicated upon you or me losing more than winning, such as pari-mutuals which take an average of 20-30% for the handle or your friendly local lottery which, in my state, pays back at a 50% rate.

So, IMO, if you wanna' play the ponies or whatever, feel free to pay for the privilege.

Just realize that all such games are sucker bets, by design.

Ed

 

[rbell]

Q: Is betting wrong?
A: I've put $10 down at 10 to 1 odds it is.



OK, sorry....carry on...

 

[bmerr]

So far I see thirteen posts and opinions, and not one verse of Scripture saying either 'yea' or 'nay'. The only Scripture posted was by one individual and that in no way even touches on the question, IMO.

Ed

Ed,

bmerr here. Good point!

xdx,

bmerr here. While we won't find a "Thou shalt not..." (not even in Ex 32:77), we can see that God expects us to gain money through work, or labour.

Prov 13:11 - Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

Prov 10:16 - The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

Prov 14:23 - In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips thendeth only to penury.

Prov 22:29 - Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Prov 28:19 - He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.

Eph 4:28 - Let him who stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

1 Thes 2:9 - For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

1 Thes 4:11 = And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

On the other hand, we can see what God thinks about those who look to get rich quick:

Prov 1:10-19 - My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not...So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Prov 28:20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

Prov 28:22 - He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

I'm sure there are more Scriptures that could be brought to bear, but these should be sufficient to give us guidance on how we should get money, and how we should not.

And, let us not forget that the soldiers who crucified Jesus cast lots (gambled) for his clothes (John 19:23-24).

In Christ,

bmerr

 

[Rew_10]

I personally don't bet because I see chance as a bad way to make money. On the other hand, I do play poker usually once every few weeks, but poker requires much more than chance.

Basically, betting is not a sin. Some of you obviously have very wide margins for what sin is.

Instead of spending the money on gambling or other non-necessities as you call them, why not obey the Word of God with the excess money you seem to have?

[Personal attack removed]

Debauchery of anything is a sin. Whether its drugs, sex, money, cartoons, or betting. And even then, it's not necessarily the debauchery, but the consequences that are sinful.

 

[His Blood Spoke My Name]

yer contradicting yerself there.

Debauchery of anything is a sin. Whether its drugs, sex, money, cartoons, or betting.

And even then, it's not necessarily the debauchery, but the consequences that are sinful.

The consequences are not sinful, friend. We know this from reading Galatians 5:19-21.

If the consequences was sin, then you are saying God is sinning by refusing entrance into His Kingdom.

 

[I Am Blessed 24]

And I hope you're living in poverty right now because you've given all your money to those less fortunate than yourself.

What a Christian hope to have for someone!

 

[ccdnt]

Instead of spending the money on gambling or other non-necessities as you call them, why not obey the Word of God with the excess money you seem to have?

Are you going to define, "excess money"?

 

[I Am Blessed 24]

Are you going to define, "excess money"?

I don't think "I" can. I've never had any... :laugh:

 

[DHK]

I don't think "I" can. I've never had any... :laugh:

I'll bet you a cup of collee that you have (perhaps an excess "penny").
Oh, but I forgot, I can't becasue I don't bet.

 

[His Blood Spoke My Name]

Excess is anything above one's needs.

 

[Chemnitz]

Excess is anything above one's needs.

Hmmm...
The internet is not a necessity.
You spend time on the internet so logically you have an internet subscription.
Therefore, you are living in excess because you are using the internet.
Maybe that money would be better used by giving it to the poor rather than being wasted so you can spend time surfing the web.

Once you start to define what is excess you are delving into the putrid depths of legalism.

 

[His Blood Spoke My Name]

Maybe the internet is not a necessity for you, but for me it is the only way I can communicate with people the Word of God.

I am disabled and rarely get out, so do not tell me what is excess in my life.

And btw, I do not surf the internet as you say. I have my Church site I visit, I have the BB, and I have hotmail. I hardly call that surfing.

 

[His Blood Spoke My Name]

From webopedia.com...

The term surfing is generally used to describe a rather undirected type of Web browsing in which the user jumps from page to page rather whimsically, as opposed to specifically searching for specific information.

I do not fall into that category by a long shot.

 

[Steven2006]

I have seen many people spend an awful lot of money on things like fishing, and hunting equipment, scrapbooking , antiques, a many hobbies. Now first let me qualify that I am not saying that this is wrong at all. However many people that would easily spend hundreds if not thousands on these things or similar, would at the same time look at somebody who went to a casino spent $50. to enter a poker tournement for an afternnon of fun, as being wasteful and sinful
I do not see in scripture were gambling is a sin, as long as you are not gambling with money you couldn't afford to lose, you are not doing it habitually, and you are not taking advantage of someone in the process.
If you are doing for fun only, just like a night out to a nice restaurant, and you don't care if you win or lose, I don't see the sin in that.

 

[amity]

The historical reason gambling has been viewed as a sin is that it relies on "fortune" (a pagan diety) or "luck" (coming from Lucifer). What evil spirits might we be invoking in a greedy quest for money we didn't earn? If you don't believe this, consider all the superstitions that accompany games of chance.