Is God commanding us to tithe?
I am asked this question often. My reply is no, He is not. If you should ask me if I tithe my answer would be yes, my wife and I tithe. However we do not tithe because we think it is required of us but because we choose to. The verse in 2 Cor. 9:7 we find what it is that pleases God. ”Every man according as he purposed in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
Many zealous preachers are insisting that you must tithe and they
take offering, after offering. Many of them speak more about money
than they teach the word of GOD. Jesus didn’t say, if you love me,
collect a lot of money. But He said if you love me feed my sheep.
They usually read from The book of Malachi 3:7-10 “Even from the
days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and
have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith
the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein
have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a
curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all
the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will
not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Then they proceed to say if you are not giving God tithes,
you are a thief robbing from God. The truth is they are not
teaching the whole council of God. The Prophet Malachi
was not speaking to born again Christians but to Israelites
who were living under the Law of Moses. Most of the
pastors today readily say we are not under the law of Moses
for Christ Jesus came to save us from the curse of the law.
This is explained in Gal. 3: 8-11
“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So
then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are
under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book of
the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law
in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by
faith.”
They seem to forget this when it comes to money. They
want to go back to the law to try to enforce the need for
giving offerings and tithes to God. Instead of trusting the
Holy Spirit to move his people to give of their own will,
cheerfully. We are no longer under the old covenant. In
the New Testament in Heb.10:16,17 it says.
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those
days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts,
and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more.”
Those who seek to be justified by the law have fallen from
grace. Gal. 5: 4 The people of Israel were indeed robbing
from God and were under the curse of the law. The
judgment of God was upon them and their land. If they
would repent and obey God He would bless them. If you
choose to try to keep law, you may try it but remember how many
times they failed to keep the law. If we go back under the law we
have to keep all the law and if we fail in one point we are guilty of
all. (See Gal.2:3 and James1:10)
The reason there is such a temptation for pastors to insist
that we keep the law is because under the law the
priests who were of tribe of Levi were taken care of by all the
other tribes. The other eleven tribes were commanded to
take care of the priests. That of course is a good thing if you
were a Levite and if the people were walking in obedience to
God.
The law was a schoolmaster that would show us how
sinful a people that we are. “I had not known sin, but by the
law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou
shalt not covet.” Ro.7:7
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that
faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus.” Gal.3:24-26
The law was weak because of the weakness of man. Sinful man
cannot be saved by the keeping of the law because it is not in his
heart to do the will of God. “Knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have
believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law
shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. 2:16
When the gospel of Christ is preached in Spirit and truth the sinner is transformed into a new creature by faith in Christ Jesus. What we could never do under the law is now become our new life, because our Father writes in our hearts the desire to walk with Him.
If our leaders have left the way of faith and want to put us back under the law, I must say no, excuse me, but I will follow Jesus, for I know without faith I cannot please Him. (Please read Heb.11:6)
Let us pray for a revival in the church so that the way of faith is restored. We don’t want to go back to the law for we must go forward following the faith of Christ with all our hearts.
We need true shepherds and not hirelings. Those who come into the ministry simply because they want a good job or profession and expect to get paid are hirelings. Jesus said;
“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life
for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the
shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf
catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth,
because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.”
John 10:12- 13
Those who are truly called of God walk by faith and trust
God to supply all their needs, they seek first the Kingdom
of God and His righteousness and the things that they need
are added unto them. (See Ma.6:33)
Those who are called of God are men of faith, and men of
Faith, do not beg. King David said: “Ps 37:25 I have been young,
and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor
his seed begging bread.”
How can I tell you to trust God for the forgiveness of sins and eternal
life if I cannot trust God to supply my earthly needs. Is that the
example that you want?
All believers are called to trust God and learn how to give for it is
more blessed to give than to receive. We need to follow the faith of
our Father Abraham who gave a tithe unto God. He lived four
hundred and thirty years before the law of Moses came. He gave the
tithe however there is no record that God ever asked him for a tithe.
He gave it voluntarily . Please read Gen. 14:
In the book of Acts we see a good example of true Christianity in
action.
‘And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart
and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the
things which he possessed was his own; but they had all
things common. And with great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great
grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among
them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands
or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things
that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles’ feet:
and distribution was made unto every man according as he
had need.” Acts 4: 32-35
When men of faith are following in the footsteps of Jesus
others will do the same. If we want to see the grace of God
in action, we must not try to enforce the law; but we must
live lives that demonstrate our love and faith in the our
Lord Jesus Christ.
