Godly giving through grace doesn’t seek self-reward or payback, but expects nothing in return. But our desire to give isn’t based upon religious requirements which preach you are to “give everything” or “surrender all to God.” It comes from within a new nature and a clean heart, gifted to us and received as a new creation in Christ.
We’ve communicated many times over the years about giving generously, born out of the same love God has shown to us. But when believers haven’t been told about their identity in Christ or have failed to grasp they are the righteousness of God by faith, then sometimes ministers will use various Bible verses out of context to try and motivate them into giving. It can come from a place of guilt or greed while convincing people it’s a part of the gospel. We look at a couple of examples of more verses without the context from 1 Corinthians 16 and Luke chapter 6.
In the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, we’re in a very different paradigm where God’s Spirit lives in us, leading and guiding us as individuals. As a new creation in Christ, it’s within our new righteous nature to desire to give willingly. The Apostle Paul provided a summary of giving under grace:
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Religion will use all kinds of manipulative methods to motivate people into “paying” their 10% “to God” as they teach a false notion with their hand out. They may even tell you the cash tithe of 10% is a minimum. Does God want us to give? Of course, but He won’t nudge you to do so through fear or legalistic requirements.
And what about the misleading use of some verses in Hebrews Chapter 7 … where the writer intersects Abraham, Melchizedek and Jesus. Manipulators will abuse and misuse the passage as an argument for tithing and miss the bigger picture of context—which was the fact that Jesus Christ was superior to Abraham, as well as the Old Covenant and the old priesthood … and He replaced them both with something more excellent.
The tithe was part of that old law. The Jews were still under it when Jesus walked the earth. The purpose of Jesus coming was to free Israel from that law and to tear down that wall of law so Gentiles could also experience freedom and life. We abide in a different covenant and are not under any of the old law. And yet, church incorporated can’t resist cherry picking a few of their chosen favorites from that obsolete package. The tithe is usually one of them. Even Jesus stated the tithe was about food—not money and not all of your income.
Under the law, tithing was a requirement for the sake of the priestly Levitical tribe, as they received a tenth of the food from the other tribes of Israel. Now in Christ, we freely give as motivated by perfect love.
The tithe became part of the Mosaic law, which has now been replaced by the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. The priestly tribe of the Levites did not receive the inheritance of land to grow crops and tend to animals as the other tribes from Israel, and were not allowed to work and toil for their food. Instead, God set up the system of the tithe for the other tribes to provide for their needs when it came to food, as they gave a tenth of their produce.
The Levites were to stay focused on the work of the ministry via the priesthood. What about Abraham? It is recorded that he (once) gave a tenth to Melchizedek and that was before the law. With that argument, we should also follow his example of sacrificing animals for a sin offering … but it’s part of our conversation on this week’s program.
A couple of tithe-related articles written by Joel are mentioned on the program:
1. Freed from Tithing, Free to Give - 10 part series, with an alternative 4 part audio/video series.
2. Abraham Gave Melchizedek a Tithe of ALL? - An article debunking the silly notion that Abraham gave a tithe of everything he possessed to Melchizedek.
