Where is your treasure my brethren? Are you gathering it here on this earth with your money and property and fame and reputation in the world or do you see all of that is merely God providing you with what you need here in order to serve Him according to His will where He puts you?

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 (NASB) 

The doctrine of imputation is under severe attack in our day. Those who have made the mistake of seeking a peace with those who desire to change or do away with this doctrine have erred egregiously. This doctrine must never be negotiated. Why? The changes certain people desire to make to this doctrine would change our justification from being according to faith alone to a combination of faith and works. According to Galatians 5:3, this would make us obligated to keep the whole law, which none of us can do. Only our Lord Jesus Christ kept the commandments perfectly, therefore, His righteousness is imputed to those who trust in His obedience to be justified.

What has this got to do with treasure and dung? Carefully read the excerpt from our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, which I placed at the top of this post. Those who are resting in Christ’s righteousness are also the ones fully aware of their inability to earn or deserve this gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:1-10). This is why we must teach the doctrine of imputation to the sheep of the Lord’s hand. They must understand that they possess a gift of incredible value in light of which they must see that this life is simply the training ground for the believer not the goal.

Those things that God gives us in this life are blessings, but what we must learn to see and live by is the truth that all we have in this life is nothing in comparison to what awaits us in glory. Therefore, we should live and minister accordingly. We must do all we do with our eternity in mind. The word “treasures” in v19 translates the Greek noun θησαυροὺς (thēsaurous) the accusative plural masculine case of θησαυρός (thēsauros), which describes “wealth.” In this context, it would refer to the accumulation of the things the world values. Our Lord tells us to not put our focus on accumulating the world’s goods in this life, but instead, put it on what has eternal value. If we ignore this and pursue what the world values, including things like fame, recognition, et cetera, then we will make compromises in the truth in order to please the world so we will continue in our accumulation of our earthly treasures.

The doctrine of imputation is vital to true Christianity. If it is compromised then it opens the door to doctrines of demons which teach believers heretical things like a lack of the world’s goods or perceived “blessings” from God in this area means that we are not working hard enough to please God. We have fallen down on the job of keeping the whole law of God so we are being punished. This causes people to place their treasure in what can be seen in the here and now rather than trusting in the promises of God and seeing the truth through eyes of faith.

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