A dear saint emailed and asked a great question on this verse in Luke 16 so I thought I would share it with everyone.
See my explanation below....
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What does Jesus mean in this verse:
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Luke 16:9
Answer:
The key to understanding this is to read the parable above it.
verses 1-8 / It is about corrupt men who mis-use money / mammon and we know we are NOT to be like them.
I think another key is to understand / focus on a few key words and their meanings.
*Mammon of unrighteousness... is the goods/things of this life...money.
*fail... in this case is to die
*ever lasting habitations.... is heaven
Jesus is saying use earthly money well and for Gods glory NOT like the men in the parable.
To prove this... read verse 11
If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
The important part is "faithful to unrighteous mammon"
It is like the term "friends of it" in verse 9 ... it means to use earthly things well for God so when we die; we are received for righteous ways. It goes with Matt 25 as there is teaches those who do righteousness going into eternal life and those who do not into damnation.
Remember to always read the verses around a troubling verse to help you. Then we must take the words apart in the Greek and Hebrew to get at the deeper meanings. Like a car engine, we can look at it all day but once we take it apart, then we start to understand how its inner functions work. This is called rightly dividing it.
The Lord says seek Him and via the spirit John 16, we can know all truth!
God be praised
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