Giving - Tithing - Donating
Seek the Truth with all your heart.
Tithing is currently based on the following.
BUT, is it scripturally correct under The New Covenant?
GOD no longer requires personal offerings of goods and sacrifices, however HE does require our obedience of sharing a tenth (Tithe = 10%) of our gross income, gross earnings, gross profit or harvest.
GOD owns everything so the least we can do is acknowledge that HE is the Creator, owner and source of everything. We honour HIS law of sowing and reaping, by giving back to Him just 10% of our profit or earnings.
In giving we should be responsible. Some people obediently give into a ministry, with the attitude that what the ministry does with it is up to them. However that could be irresponsible giving if we have reason to believe that the ministry is not applying the funds responsibly.
We need to consciously decide to give with wisdom.
We need to choose good ground, = productive, worthwhile ministry.
Proverbs 3:9-10 ‘Honour the LORD with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.’
Proverbs 11:24-25 ‘ One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.’
Malachi 3:8-10 “Will a mere mortal rob GOD? Yet you rob ME.”
“But you ask, how are we robbing YOU?”
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse – your whole nation – because you are robbing ME. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in MY house. Test ME in this,” says the LORD ALMIGHTY, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven, and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
Matthew 6:19-21 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’
Matthew 23:23-24 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides.! You strain at a gnat but swallow a camel.”
In short, Jesus here is endorsing justice, mercy and faithfulness - that is the spirit of the law, and condemning hypocritical obedience to the letter of the law using tithe as an example.
Jesus didn't come to endorse the letter of the law, He came to introduce the Spirit of the law.
Matthew 25:31- 46 ‘When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My FATHER; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.”
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and gave You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?”
The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.”
Then He will say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.”
They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger, or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?”
“He will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did for Me.”
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Giving to certain charities and ministries who look after poor and homeless people, is a way of caring for poor and needy people.
Luke 6:38 ‘Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’
"GOD is a Spirit and we need to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth."
Jesus is endorsing this idea through all of His ministry as we can see in:
‘The Parable of The 10 virgins.’
‘Preaching on the Mountain – The Beatitudes.’
‘Conversation with Nicodemus.’
To put this sentence into perspective we need to say that Jesus was living during the time of the "Old Covenant" that is the time of the letter of the law.
He established spiritually ‘The New Covenant’ just before His death, so He couldn't say 'do not obey the letter' at this time, but now He is saying;
"Anyone who is obeying the letter of the law is falling off the grace platform" as in the case of circumcision for example.
Also think about who is asking the question and for what purpose.
Pharisees didn't ask Jesus because they were looking for an answer, they asked Him to try to find something they could accuse Him of.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for GOD loves a cheerful giver. And GOD is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result to thanksgiving to GOD.’
Give freely and voluntarily.
Do not give reluctantly, or feeling under legalistic pressure.
The wrong attitude will not be blessed.
Joyful, willing givers are blessed.
Analysis of Tithing.
Objectively researched and compiled by:
Edward Solecki - 0421 891 048
Further analysis indicating that tithing is not required as is thought and taught.