BIBLE: IS BETTING A SIN?

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The Bible does not explicitly mention betting or gambling. However, it does mention events of “luck” or “chance”. Examples of verses where such events are stated below:

(Leviticus 16:8-10 KJV) And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

(Joshua 18:10 KJV) And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.

(1 Samuel 14:42 KJV) And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.

(John 19:23-24 KJV) Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

(Acts 1:24-26 KJV) And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Aside mentioning events of chance and luck, the Bible certainly warned against quick riches and love of money as in the following verses:

(Proverbs 13:11 NLT) Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.

(Hebrews 13:5 ERV) Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee.

However, the Bible does not specifically condemn gambling, lotto/ lottery or betting (including sport betting. Nor does it condemn Stock Market and Forex Trading which are all form of betting. For instance, in Stock or Forex Trading whenever you take a position in a particular Stock or currency pair, you are essentially betting on the price to either go up or down by taking a long or short position. Similarly, in Sport Betting, you are betting on the outcome of football events which could be win, draw or lose. The 3 of them, Sport Betting, Stock Trading and Forex Trading are similar in that they allow you to have historical information which could be assessed prior to commencement. The information could also be used to conduct analysis, models algorithm, research to arrive at a decision.

Having said that, please remember that anything that is not of faith that works by love is considered sin in the New Testament. Read my previous post on What is sin in the New Testament. Therefore, how you bet will determine if it is sin or not.

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