Christians and Wealth, Pt. 2

September 8th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

James 5:2-3 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!

Since the term “riches” is a general term that entails material wealth—abundance of crops, grain, cattle, or money, James is referring to anything that is held in great quantity. Yet saying that they have “rotted” (Gr. sēpō) is likely a reference to the wood on their homes or to the fruits, meats, and vegetables they had stored. After all, neither silver nor cattle rots. The Greek perfect tense of the verb “have rotted” (past tense, ongoing action) means that the rot has already begun. James is either calling attention to the fact that the rich have already lost their food and shelter, or he is using the verb tense as the OT prophets used it—emphasizing the certainty of a prophecy pertaining to the imminent future.

Not only had the rich lost their homes and food to putrefaction, the ostentatious garb with which they normally adorned themselves is said to have become “moth-eaten.” Perhaps James had Jesus’ words in mind when Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19; cf. Job 13:28). How ironic that clothing is nothing more than food for moths, yet the rich adorn themselves with it to display their own rotting bodies that are wasting away due to sin and rebellion!

To make matters worse, James also addresses the transitory nature of gold and silver which he says “have rusted.” Now since real gold and silver cannot rust, James is talking about the short-lived use of money on this finite earth. Since he is speaking of “the last days” (v. 3) when money has absolutely no value, and since God, being eternal, is not limited by time, gold and silver already exist in a state of worthlessness. So, although man sees great and lasting benefits to stockpiling money and possessions, in reality these transitory things have no eternal value. In fact, contrary to how man may view riches as a key to happiness, James says that the rust that eats up riches “will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire.”

Clearly James is speaking of God’s coming judgment upon those who claim to trust in Christ for salvation but who, in reality, trust in their wealth. Ironically, the rot, moths, and rust that devour wealth will also be that which devours those who place their trust in anything other than Christ who said, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted where no thief comes near and no moth destroys” (Luke 12:33). Ezekiel addressed this 600 years before Christ, saying, “They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling” (7:19). Our attitude toward riches is therefore another test of the validity of our faith.

In v. 3b, James speaks of the irony of “stored up treasure” (Gr. thesaurus) in the “last days.” Since the “last” (Gr. eschatos) days are a time just prior to God’s final judgment of sinners, James speaks of the absurdity of thinking selfishly in a time when sharing wealth with others is so critical (cf. Matt. 25:31-46). Like the rich fool in Luke 12:15-21, the rich James had in mind were so consumed with transient things, they were utterly aloof to eternal matters. Being in the “last days,” with the return of Christ looming, these people were not only failing to care for those in need, they were failing to care for their own needs.

Food For Thought
God gives us wealth, some more than others. God already knows how we’ll manage wealth, but He gives us the opportunity to learn about ourselves and how we’ll manage the wealth He has distributed to His glory. It’s all fleeting, and it all belongs to Him. Some hold on to their wealth tightly while others distribute it freely and seem to become more and more wealthy. One thing is certain however: we will all die and give an account for how we managed our God-given wealth. So, in the day of judgment when you stand before Christ, how will your management of wealth affect you? Perhaps in the past you’ve managed it poorly and selfishly. But you’ve still got today! Manage God’s gifts well, for one day we will all give an account for our lives.