As a New Covenant believer. What is your take on what the Bible says about Tithes and Offerings?
Please comment and support your opinion with scripture.
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Romans 3:21-25
21But now the righteousness of God (1)apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God, (2)through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on (3)all who believe. For there is no difference; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 (4)being justified (5)freely by His Grace (6) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God set forth(7) [as] a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
16 comments:
I'm sorry, but giving scripture for New Covenant Tithing is like giving proof that a pink spotted green flying unicorn exists. LOL :)
But really, how much time do you have? I could make this very long. Haha! Seriously though, in short my thoughts on New Covenant giving are summed up in 2 Cor 9:7. "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver."
In the past, I've looked up all forms of the word "tithe" (tithe, tithing, tithes). In one instance (Gen 14:20), Abram had gone to battle and had brought back "Lot and his goods" that had been taken in battle by five kings. Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe of all. I have no clue how the church of today uses this as one example of why people should give a tenth of their gross income each week to their "local church." I'm puzzled and perplexed. There's no real correlation.
All of the other Old Testament instances of the tithe are in Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 2 Chronicles, Nehemiah, Amos and Malachi. And they're all part of the Old Covenant Law and ordinances. I have no clue how the church of today uses all of this as another example of why people should give a tenth of their gross income each week to their "local church." I'm puzzled and perplexed. There's no real correlation.
The Malachi verse is the chief culprit! Who is Malachi speaking to? Who is he rebuking for "robbing God?" He's speaking to those under the law who knew the law and yet didn't follow the law. It's as simple as that. I have no clue how the church of today... well, you know the rest... :)
"But Jesus taught the tithe!" That's another one I've heard. The references are Matthew 23 and Luke 11:42. But is Jesus teaching the tithe as a New Covenant doctrine? No. Rather, He's calling the Pharisees on their self-righteous hypocrisy for keeping parts of the law (such as the tithe), and therefore having the appearance of holiness in front of others... but yet lacking in their keeping of other laws!
This is not a New Covenant teaching. Rather, I believe Jesus is using the Law for its true purpose... to condemn, to stop mouths and to hopefully lead people to Himself.
Finally, there's the tithe as mentioned in Hebrews 7. This explains what Abram's tithe to Melchizedek really signified. I've gone on too long here, so I won't get into it all.
Really, I don't have an opinion on all this. LOL. :)
Bottom line... Give as Christ gave to us. Cheerfully, liberally. Not "to" a church, but "as" a part of "the" church.
But each one of us is in different shoes. Sometimes we need to receive as well.
Not that my opinion on this is "the" right one, but just because this topic cuts to my heart so much, I'd like to share a particular blog on which I commented on this subject. This isn't a "grace" blog, but the topic of stewardship and giving came up and I commented 4 or 5 times in the course of the conversation, and I think that the things I said really relate to your question here. Check out the comments on this blog if you wish:
http://tinyurl.com/26cb2d
Hi Joel
Thank you for that, my brother in Christ. I really appreciate your wisdom and humility.
I look forward to listening to your latest recording "Imputed with righteousness" which I have just downloaded from http://gigcast.graceroots.org/
Bless you guys big time
Do you think Tithing is under ethical or ceremonial law?
I'm thinking that before classifying the tithe, we need to first look at its purpose and function.
Looking at the tithe in Numbers, here's the purpose: "Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle meeting. I'd say this is "practical" more than anything else. :) Under that system (under the Old Covenant), the Levite priests were neither farmers nor did they have "regular" jobs. The Lord set up the tithe as their inheritance and as payment for their work. I can't fail to mention Numbers 18:26, which I've never heard preached, which commands the Levites themselves to offer up a tenth of the tithe they receive to the Lord!
The tithe mentioned in Deut 14 has always intrigued me, as far as how the 'tithing' church has ignored it. Verses 22-23 say that they are to take the tithe to the place the Lord chooses, and eat it! Then the next few verses say that if the journey is too long so they can't carry the tithe, they "shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires." It goes on to tell them to eat before the Lord and rejoice! And then they're told that every third year they are to store up that year's tithe, and it's to be used for the Levite, the strangers, the fatherless and the widows.
How we ever turned this into giving 10 percent of our gross income to a local regular gathering of believers in Christ --- I'll just never understand!
2 Chronicles 31 tells the story of the Israelites following through on the above commands. Nehemiah 10 - same thing, including mentioning the Levites offering up a tenth of the tithe they received.
Now, Malachi... Oh how we've ripped this one right out of scripture and desecrated it! I know I've gone long here, so in short... apparently the Israelites had come to a point in which they weren't following through with these tithes. The prophet Malachi came along and rebuked them with the word of the Lord. It's that simple, as far as I see it.
The bottom line, as I see it, is that the tithe was used for 1) the people themselves. 2) the Levites. 3) strangers in the land. 4) the fatherless. 5) widows.
This was the system that God Himself had set up for His people under that Covenant. When the Israelites, under the that Covenant system, followed through with all this, everyone was fed and was happy!
This system has been done away with. The New Covenant is not "Old Covenant, Part 2." We are now all priests. God has now set up a "body" (the body of Christ), and in Him this body lives and moves and has its being. When we individually and corporately "one another" each other (by grace), this body "system" should work.
Isn't it that we now give not by commands, and not by moral or ethical standards, but rather we give cheerfully from the heart, as we grow in the love of Christ?
I know I've gone long here. I don't mean to 'hog' this. I'm always open for discussion. :)
Hi Joel
I loved your latest program on Grace Roots. It is really helpful to get practical handles on what the Bible teaches. We are really greatful.
Thank you for comments on this post. Your teaching is very welcome and encouraging. I am learning much.
The Father revealed His grace to me less than a year ago, so I still see myself as a baby Christian, even though I know I am complete in Him. There are many of my friends around me that are in the same boat. Hungry for the truth. Feel free to teach to your hearts content.
Please be encouraged. You have an awsome ministry.
Thank you very much for your encouragement. I want to say that I have also been very encouraged by all the things that have been posted on this blog. Encouraging one another in the truth should never end. :)
I've been listening to the mp3's that are linked to here. I thoroughly enjoy them! I had perhaps heard 'of' Rob Rufus before, but it wasn't until Jul mentioned him and I downloaded these mp3's that I actually heard him. Very great stuff!
Keep on growing in grace!
Joel, thanks for helping us through these very sensitive issues. when you have this revelation on the old and the new you are able to clearly see it( Acts 28:27). I would however through the medium of this glog(if hat is ok with grace) to ask you of your views about the sripture we find in 2Tim 2:15. The niv version says "who correctly handles" and The nkjv says " rightly divides" What do you think? Rightly divided we live in the period of grace and that is it. why is it that peopl do not have the eyes to see or the ears to hear.
I agree, there is no scripture to back up tithing under the New Covenant. In fact, Jesus uses an example of a woman who had nothing, but gave all she had in comparison to a tithing, self righteous man. I think that churches use a "tithe" as a general gauge, of course based on OT Covenant. Hopefully believers tithe or give generously as an act of worship, right ?
I came across your blog searching under "Delirious?", nice blog!
Hello David
Thank you for the great feedback and the insight you shared re. the woman who gave all she had. I never thought about it like that. I am definately going to go and re-read that one.
You need some big lungs to play the Digeridoo man.
Pucky,
I like that... "glog." I guess if one of us has a lot to say about grace, it's because we're... "gloggy." :)
Well, the Greek word in 2 Tim 2:15 is "orthotomeo." I'm not a Greek scholar, but looking at Strong's definition, it means "to make a straight cut, to dissect correctly."
I have personally used the KJV term, "rightly dividing," as a way to explain how we need to divide (make a straight cut, dissect correctly) the Old from the New. I do think that is a way to "correctly handle" the word of truth. :)
Why do some people not see? Ooh, a sticky question. LOL. Some people (those who don't see) wouldn't like this answer, but here goes: As 2 Cor 3:14 says, "But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away."
People who are legitimately saved, have of course turned to the Lord for salvation. But yet in living their day to day lives "for the Lord," they aren't looking to the Lord and His grace as the way. Rather, they're looking to their own self-effort. In a sense, then, a veil remains over their heart. I wouldn't go so far as to say it negates their salvation, but it certainly takes away their freedom! As the next verse says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
Hi davidcwelker,
This is just my own personal thought (speaking for no one but myself), but I don't personally like to use a specific general gauge or a general percentage to use as a guideline to help believers decide how/what to give. The abilities, needs, experiences, conditions, circumstances, etc of each and every person in the body of Christ is unique.
My personal thought is that the only true gauge to use is, "let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver."
There may be long periods in someone's life in which he or she simply can't give a whole lot or in which he or she can give abundantly. I even believe that some parts of the body are desperately in need of being given to, never mind being preached at that they should be giving a certain amount. :)
What have you got in store for us on the "Growing in grace" gigcast today? I am very excited.
You'll be happy to know that we mentioned our South African friends and this blog this week. :) We sure appreciate you!
Just briefly, more on "rightly dividing" and "correctly handling," just in case anyone's interested. This issue is always on my heart, and I was reminded that I've blogged about this before, including recently. Also, a post today from Steve McVey of Grace Walk tackles this. I love Steve's story that he shares about his recent encounter with a man who questioned him on this.
Quick links to these posts:
My blog post - http://tinyurl.com/2sqbqy
Steve's blog post - http://tinyurl.com/36s2pu
I agree with you Joel, that really is the only instruction given to us from the NT,isn't it. I know so many who give out of obligation only. Seems to fall short of relationship, doesn't it.
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