Proverbs 18:9 captures this: “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” Throughout Proverbs it is not just the man who works that is commended, but he who works diligently. In other words, we are to put forth our best effort in our labors.

When one thinks of the enduring legacy of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, there are a number of things that come to mind—things like justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, according to God’s Word alone, and for His glory alone. But there is another Reformation landmark that is often overlooked. It has been preserved in the catchphrase “the Protestant work ethic.” This expression has come to be associated with others like “an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.” But the reason this is called the Protestant work ethic is because one of the things articulated or re-established by the Reformers is the idea that all lawful work (not just religious or church-related work) is sanctified by God. In short, the Reformers recaptured the biblical concept of the dignity of human labor.

To grasp the significance of human labor in Scripture, all one has to do is consider the many passages that denounce idleness and slothfulness in the most severe terms: “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor” (Prov. 12:24). “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing” (Prov. 20:4). “The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor” (Prov. 21:25). “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living” (2 Thess. 3:10–12). As these passages indicate, it is a sin of no small consequence for an able-bodied person not to work. The apostle Paul makes this point in the clearest of terms in 1 Timothy 5:8: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

The Protestant work ethic not only emphasizes the virtue of honest labor but diligence in that labor.

Read More