Is it compatible with the faith, duty, and belief of a Christian man to insure his life, and to save a sufficiency for his old age?
Also, How can a Christian justify himself in keeping a Sabbath not ordained by God, and thereby seemingly breaking His holy law?
Why should it be wrong for a Christian to insure his life, and yet not be wrong to insure his property or business?
You have asked three questions, but the two relating to insurance properly go together, and I will take them first. The answer to them involves practical, applied Christianity, and I expect that many will say, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" (John 6:60) but if I give no opinion of my own, but simply set forth plain, Gospel principles, the controversy, if anybody has one, will have to be with principles and logic, and not with me. My business is only to declare the Word of God, regardless of custom or convenience; whether it shall be accepted or not rests wholly with the reader.
Is it compatible with the faith of a Christian to insure his life?
That depends entirely on how much faith the Christian has. If he has faith as a grain of mustard seed, that is, faith that lives and grows, and that leads him to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, (Matthew 4:4) he will not insure his life; for such texts as these will be to him reality, and not mere empty sound: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. ... Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. ... The Lord knows the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." (Psalm 37:25-27,3-5,18-19) "Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine." (Psalm 33:18-19) "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfies your mouth [literally, your age] with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Psalm 103:1-5) "The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He helped me. Return unto your rest, O my soul; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." (Psalm 116:6-9) "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. ... You have thrust sore at me, that I might fall; but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord." (Psalm 118:8-9,13-17) "Take no thought [be not anxious], saying, What shall we eat; or, What shall we drink? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought [be not anxious] for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:31-34)
But why should I quote farther? I might go on indefinitely with Scripture to the same import. Take the Book and read for yourself, and then say if those to whom it is said, "You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God," (Colossians 3:3) and, "because I live, you shall live also," (John 14:19) can with faith in God's word insure their lives. Is not life insurance in reality saying that one cannot trust the promises of God? You have asked if a man should not "save a sufficiency for his old age." I have never read anything in the Bible to that effect. Let the texts already quoted answer. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. ... Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:34,19-21) "Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fades not." (Luke 12:33)
I know what you are waiting to say. You would tell me that if I am using these texts against life insurance, consistency demands that I oppose one's working for one's daily bread. There you are mistaken. The same Book that tells us not to be worried over the future, and not to lay up money, also tells us to labor with our hands. But two things must be remembered:
One is that we do not work to earn something for the future, that is, to "earn a living," but we work because activity is the law of life, and as a token of thanksgiving for the living which God has already given us. God gives us a living long years before we could possibly do anything to earn it; therefore we do not have to work in order to live, but live in order to work.
The other thing that must be remembered is that work is not to be compared with gambling. "What!" you exclaim, "You would not class insurance with gambling, would you?"
What else can you call it? Is it not a game of chance, especially property insurance? Only one thing is sure, and that is that the insurance company, like the faro bank, [Faro bank (or Farobank) is a late 17th century French card game involving banking and gambling] always gains. To be sure losses are sometimes paid, and so are all gambling debts paid; but who pays them? If insurance is paid on your property, whose money is it? Do the insurance men take it out of their own pockets? Not by any means, the money paid to you is a portion of that paid in by people who will never receive anything for it, just as in a lottery; and you are taking money which does not belong to you, because you have not given any equivalent for it. These are simple, plain facts; you can settle it for yourself.
Property insurance has even less justification than life insurance, inasmuch as the life is more than the meat, and the body than raiment. But life assurance is far better than life insurance; that is, life assured to one by God, the Author of it, is better than money paid by men after life is gone. "A living dog is better than a dead lion." (Ecclesiastes 9:4)
A live man with nothing is infinitely better off than a dead man with thousands; and they who trust in the Lord have the promise of life not only for a time, but for evermore. Read again the texts already quoted, and tell me what use a man with that Word has for insurance by any earthly company. "Do you seek great things for yourself? seek them not; for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, says the Lord; but your life will I give unto you for a prey in all places whither you go." (Jeremiah 45:5)
There is one objection that I will anticipate, because I remember it was once put to me when I had written something on insurance. Someone thought to rebut the truth, and overwhelm me with confusion, by naming certain Christians with whom I was quite closely connected, who insured. Well, what of it? Truth does not depend on the actions of any man. If I myself practiced insurance, that would not nullify the argument, although it would convict me of inconsistency. If every Christian engaged in it, that would not make it right, nor would it be any valid excuse for you and me to do the same. Our business is not to apologize for anybody, or to condemn anybody, but to set forth the truth, which needs no apology, and which cannot be condemned.
The other question is quickly disposed of. You ask how a Christian man can justify himself in keeping a Sabbath not ordained by God. All I can say is, You must ask those who keep a day that God has not appointed. I do not know.--Present Truth, June 11, 1903.