New Covenant Tithing - Will Someone Please Stand Up and Speak the Truth?
Dear Lord in Heaven help me, but I can't take it anymore. I've been trying to keep my mouth shut concerning a topic that I feel very strongly about, but I just can't remain quiet anymore. The light of truth needs to be shed on God's people and for me to know the truth and to remain quiet is just plain wrong, so I'm going to just rip the band-aid off and get it over with.
The topic of tithing is a very important topic to me and one that often leaves me in confusion. I'm not confused about whether or not we should tithe, as you'll see, the conclusions drawn below are firmly constructed using God's Word. Rather, I am confused because so many people, preachers and teachers even, who claim to be deeply entrenched in God's word, seem to completely miss what God's word clearly reveals about the matter of tithing.
Let me make myself clear. When someone questions the scriptural support of new covenant tithing, we should not assume they are doing so in order to make excuses to forego giving. I assure you that is not the what is going on here. But nevertheless, that is exactly what happens to anyone who dares to question whether or not Christians are required to tithe; they are looked upon as though they're stingy and spoken to as though their hearts are not right with God to question such a thing. And this is how the false doctrine continues. Because no one is willing to go against the tithe preachers and force them to really teach about tithing. They (the tithe skeptics) don't want to be looked upon as though they are trying to deny God what's His. But, oh the irony when we're told in other sermons not related to tithing that everything we have belongs to God. If everything we have belongs to God, then it makes no sense at all that congregation after congregation is being told that they will suffer a curse if they don't give God ten percent of something that already belongs to Him. And on the other end of the spectrum, congregations are also being told that if they'll just give that ten percent of the 100 percent that already belongs to God, they'll find a blessing in being so obedient. Does anyone else besides me see the flaws in this logic?
Now, God says that the way to give to God is to give to the poor. (Proverbs 19:17, Matthew 25:34-40) But in the few years that I've been faithfully attending church as an adult, I have yet to hear a preacher tell their congregation that they are robbing God if they're not giving money to the poor. Almost never have I heard a preacher give more than maybe a side note mention to the Christian's responsibility to the widowed, the orphans, and the poor. We are supposed to assume that our tithes to the church are going to the poor, but is your church really committed to helping out the poor in your community, to the same degree that it's committed to paying the church's wages, electric bill, program funding, building fund, and countess other expenses the church takes on that is in no real way related to helping out the local community?
What's shared below is copied from another source, I did not write it. I encourage everyone to take the time to really digest what's being shown below and have the faith and courage to come out of the false tithe teaching and start giving to God in a truly Biblical way.
Again, I must reiterate that Just because we Christians are not required to tithe, as you'll soon see, it does not mean that we are free from the responsibility of giving. Quite the contrary. Our responsibility to give is still in place and, in fact, might even be greater than was expected of those under the old covenant.
But let's move on:
"Amos 3:3 asks the question, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”. An interesting question indeed. A question today could be asked why so many who claim to be walking with God disagree with His Word? Are they truly walking with God?
God said in Leviticus 27:30-33 that His holy tithe is agricultural. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god who says the commanded tithe is money?
God said in Numbers 18:21,24,26,28 that He gave His tithe to the Levitic tribe of the children of Israel. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god who says you are to tithe to people who are not of the Levitic tribe?
God said in Deuteronomy 6:1-3 & Deuteronomy 12:10-11 that one was not to start tithing until one crossed Jordan and entered Canaan. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god that requires tithing on Gentile soil?
God said in Deuteronomy 14:22-27 that a second tithe was to be taken to a Jewish Feast and eaten by the tither before the LORD God. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god that says we must tithe to our Church and nowhere else?
God said in Deuteronomy 14:28-29 that a third tithe was to be given every three years to feed the widows, the orphans, the Levites, and foreigners in Israel. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god that says the tithe must only go to your Church?
God said in Nehemiah 10:37-38 that the firstfruits were to be taken to the Temple storehouse in Jerusalem, and the tithes were to be taken to the Levites. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god that says tithes are to go to pastors on Gentile soil?
God said in Psalm 147:19-20 that His statutes and judgments were given to Israel and Israel alone. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god that says the Mosaic Law is to be obeyed by all people of every nation?
God’s Word tells us in Acts 15:5,10,19-20,24,28-29 that Gentile Believers are not to be required to keep the Mosaic Law. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god that demands Gentile Believers obey the Mosaic Law?
In the last chapter that tithing is mentioned in God’s Holy Word, (Hebrews 7:5-8 ) we are told that the commanded tithe is the same agricultural tithe commanded in the Pentateuch more than 1500 years earlier. Are you in agreement with God? Are you walking with Him? Or are you following a god that says the commanded tithe is money?
Are you in agreement and walking with God? Or have you rejected His decree and chosen your own path?
There is not one Scripture in the entire Bible where God amended His tithe command to extend to the New Testament Church. Nor is there an amendment in His Word to make the tithe a monetary tithe instead of an agricultural one.
If God didn’t amend the tithe in His Word, how can we, who are supposed to walk in the Truth as it is written in His Holy Word, say He requires tithes of money? There is absolutely no justification for such an action.
Proverbs 30:6 (and about ten other scriptures) tells us we are not to add to God’s Word. For that reason, we cannot change the tithe that He said was to be agricultural into a monetary tithe. We cannot, in good conscience, bring a tithe that was meant for Israel alone to observe to another geographical location.
You see, you cannot just focus on the fact that God commanded a tenth, and then totally ignore what that tenth was to consist of, where it was to be taken to, to whom it was to be given, and when it was to be given. You are picking and choosing that a tithe is required, yet dismissing all other aspects concerning God’s holy tithe.
Those who teach contrary to the written Word of God are not in agreement with God and therefore, can not be walking with God."
On that last part, I will ease the blow just a bit by saying that at least on the issue of tithing they are not walking with God. But then, so many people read the Bible with preconceived notions that they can't and won't see the truth that is right in front of their eyes. It's like they want to believe everything they've been told and so will not behave like good little Bereans and investigate to find whether or not what they've been told is even true. God is very clear on the issue of tithing, but when only a couple of verses in Malachi or Amos are preached on the matter, it's hard to really understand the tithe. There is so much more to it than a simple percentage. Yes, there was a 10% tithe, but there was also a 23% and a 3% tithe! I guess that flies in the face of the whole, "Tithe simply means a tenth" argument, doesn't it? Preachers will say all the time that we need to read our Bibles so we can know what's true, but it's as if they're counting on us not reading our Bibles when they're teaching about tithing! And heaven forbid we might question a tithe teacher on the very things we have read in our Bibles concerning the tithe.
I'll leave you for now to ponder these things, but I hope you'll spend some time in prayer concerning new covenant tithing. If you'd like to dig deeper and really investigate Biblical tithing from top to bottom, I highly recommend you spend some time on Russ Kelly's website. But for now, I will leave you with a quote from nearly every preacher's favorite quote source:
CHARLES H SPURGEON
METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE
APRIL 18, 1880, SERMON 2716
“But you are not under a system similar to that by which the Jews were obliged to pay tithes to the priests. If there were any such rule laid down in the Gospel, it would destroy the beauty of spontaneous giving and take away all the bloom from the fruit of your liberality! There is no law to tell me what I should give my father on his birthday. There is no rule laid down in any law book to decide what present a husband should give to his wife, nor what token of affection we should bestow upon others whom we love. No, the gift must be a free one, or it has lost all its sweetness.”
Do you know, if you were to die today, whether or not you'll go to be with Christ after you die? Are you 100% and completely assured of your salvation? If not, please take the time to read this salvation message today. There is nothing more important than giving your life to Christ and securing your place in eternity. I pray the Holy Spirit leads you to a personal relationship with Christ today, and I pray that you follow where the Holy Spirit leads you.
