Must Christians Tithe? - What Does The Bible Say?

INTRODUCTION

Simply put: Is it okay to tithe as a Christian, or better yet practice the principle of tithing in any shape or form, vis-?-vis the immutability of God's Law?

The answer which is a resounding NO is so glaring in the Bible, and I see no reason why there has to be so much controversy about this doctrine - unless one has decided not to study but remain incorrigibly adamant, ignorant, negligent, or even lethargic; the antithesis to Paul's exhortation in 2 Tim 2:15. The Bible also exhorts us to earnestly contend for the faith, standing for it through thick or thin, safety or peril - Jude 3, 4

Notwithstanding, to set the tone of civil debate, I must first indicate that this brief treatise is not intended to denigrate any person or organization, but to present the truth of scripture unequivocally, without having to beg the question - hence, please no rejoinder "ad hominem" attacks, or "red herrings", and lets stick to just the scriptural facts, despite our personal opinions.

In this pursuit, therefore, and for the sake of brevity, I have structured the cruces of this paper in an outlined question-tag-and-answer format, employing the simple but concise universal inquiry method of the journalist's questions - viz. who, what, where, when, why, and how. So, here we go, assuming that we all know that a tithe simply means a tenth:

QUE 1: WHAT WAS REQUIRED TO BE TITHED?
ANS 1: ONLY FOOD

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) The increase of the produce of the land - Lev 27:30 ii) The increase in cattle, herds/flock - Lev 27:32

NOTE: The increase was gathered from what God naturally produced and not by man's craft, proprietorship, or ability, and neither non-food items nor money were tithed on, albeit they used money and precious metals as currency at the time.

QUE 2: WHO WAS REQUIRED TO TITHE?
ANS 2: ONLY ISRAELITES

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) Israelite farmers - Num 18:24-28; Lev 27:30 ii) Israelite shepherds - Num 18:24-28; Lev 27:32-33

NOTE: Non-natural descendents of Israel, the poor, strangers, widows, artisans, fishermen, carpenters, and other tradesmen/women were not required to tithe,

QUE 3: WHY WAS TITHING REQUIRED?
ANS 3: FOR GOD'S GLORY, COMPASSION, PROVISION, AND JUSTICE

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) For Levitical provision - Num 18:21, 24; Deut 14:26-29 ii) For Convocational celebration - Deut 14:22-27 iii) For Compassionate provision - Deut 14:28-29; 26:12 iv) For Dedicational consecration - Num 18:26, 27 NOTE: None of these reasons was for intended for Israel's perimetric expansion, nor for maintaining the temple infrastructure.

QUE 4: WHEN WAS TITHING REQUIRED?
ANS 4: DEFINITELY NOT WEEKLY/MONTHLY AS IS PRACTICED TODAY

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) Annually - Deut 14:22 ii) Every 3rd year - Deut 14:28

NOTE: The time frame confirms the agrarian nature of the tithe, since most crop growth and harvest were within that time cycle. By my conjecture, God in His sovereign and manifold wisdom knew there could not be a crop harvest or herd increase within a short month cycle, so He ordained that annual frequency.

QUE 5: WHERE & HOW WERE THE TITHES GIVEN/RECEIVED?

ANS 5: ONLY IN & WITHIN ISRAEL

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) Given by those required within their gates - Deut 14:28; 26:12-15 ii) Received by the Levites from the people's gates ? Num 18:21-24 iii) Given by the Levites and received by the Priests in the Temple - Num 18:31 iv) Eaten before the LORD at a prescribed location - Deut 12:6-7, 17-19; 14:22-27

NOTE: The Israelites were not allowed to send their tithes to the Temple precincts, and only one-tenth of what was tithed to the Levites was given to the Priests by the Levites. Also note that the Israelites were only allowed to convert their tithes into money for the journey due to proximity, but were required to reconvert the money back into consumables once they arrived at the prescribed convocational location.

NOW THAT WE HAVE FAIRLY EXHAUSTED THE MAIN PRECEPTS OF THE TITHE AS WAS INSTITUTED BY GOD FOR ISRAEL, LETS MOVE ON TO OTHER SALIENT QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO TITHING & GIVING.

QUE 6: IS TITIHING A COMMANDMENT OR AN ORDINANCE OF THE LAW?

ANS 6: POSITIVELY YES

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) Ordained by God for Israel - Num 18:21-24

NOTE: The tithing ordinance that was instituted for Israel was very different from what was practised by Abraham on the spoils of war, which was also practised by pagans in Mesopotamian region. Likewise, the promise of a tithe as was made by Jacob could not have been fulfilled under the correct auspices of tithing that was ordained for Israel, since there was no Levitical priesthood then.

QUE 7: AS NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS, ARE WE UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW TO EMBRACE TITHING?

ANS 7: THAT'S A DEFINITIVE NO

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) Change of priesthood necessitates a change of the Law of the letter and death to the Law of the Spirit and life - Heb 7:12-28 ii) Christ nailed the ordinances of the Law to His cross - Col 2:14-22 iii) We are justified by faith and not by the works of the Law - Gal 3-5 iv) The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees us from the Law of sin and death ?

Rom 8

NOTE: That is not to say that the Law was not good, or its inherent precepts has been thrown out of the window, but that it has been totally fulfilled in Christ. Therefore, to be in Christ is not to live in careless abandonment of God's moral code, but to abide by the new Law of Christ, which operates by faith and not of the letter and definitely does not include tithing as was clearly spelt out for Israel.

QUE 8: IS IT OKAY TO TITHE ANYWAY AS A NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVER WITHOUT CONTRAVENING THE LAW OF GRACE IN CHRIST? ANS 8: THAT'S DEFINITELY NO AND IS SELF-INCRIMINATING

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) The Law of the Old Testament is like a chain; guilty of one is guilty of all ? James 2:10 ii) The Law of the Old Testament requires total obedience; practising one requires practising all - Gal 3:10; 5:3 iii) Subjection and disobedience to the Law of the Old Testament is a curse from which Christ has redeemed us - Gal 3:13 iv) Justification by the works of the Law of the Old Testament renders Christ's death and grace of none effect - Gal 5:1-4

NOTE: If after being saved by grace, we are still willing to live and operate under the bondage of the Old Testament Law, then we become like the Galatians whom Paul called foolish in chapter 3 of his letter to them.

Moreover, the real danger of tithing anyway is the consequential curse if one does not take heed to comply with all of the Law as well - effectively prohibiting pick-and-choose; as strongly exhorted in Gal 3:10.

QUE 9: AS CHRISTIANS ARE WE BLESSED BECAUSE WE TITHE?

ANS 9: THE BIBLE SAYS NO

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) We are blessed by grace - 2 Pet 1:2-8 ii) We are blessed because of Christ - 2 Cor 1:20 iii) We are spiritually blessed in Christ - Eph 1:1-8 iv) We cannot manipulate God's righteousness - Luke 18:12 v) We cannot manipulate God's mercies - Rom 11:33-36 vi) We cannot manipulate God for His gifts - Acts 8:20

NOTE: If we did not have to obtain the greatest miracle and blessing in our lives which is our salvation by playing quid pro quo with God, why do we need to do so for even lesser blessings from Him? Your guess is as good as mine.

QUE 10: ARE WE CURSED/CONDEMNED IF WE DON'T TITHE?

ANS 10: GOD FORBID

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) We are no longer under the curse of the Law - Gal 3:13 ii) There is no condemnation if we are in Christ - Rom 8:1 NOTE: If refraining from practising the letter of the Old Testament Law condemns us, then Christ's vicarious death is of none effect. In fact, we rather stand to be cursed as aforementioned in question 8's notes if we do tithe without complying with all the other 613 tenets of the Mosaic Law.

QUE 11: CAN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH FLOURISH WITHOUT TITHES?

ANS 11: OF COURSE YES

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) The Old Testament Law cannot control the Spirit' fruits - Gal 5:16-23 ii) The New Testament is more glorious than the Old Testament - 2 Cor 3:7-11 iii) Principles guided by love, grace, and faith are better than mandatory giving ? 2 Cor 3:5-18; 8:7-8

NOTE: After all, the early churches of the Apostles of Christ did flourish without tithes, in spite of persecution.

So did the earlier century churches until A.D. 777, when emperor Charlemagne legally allowed the Roman Catholic Church to collect tithes, in his bid to gain political favour with the then Pope - according to the history of tithing found in the Encyclopaedias Britannica, Americana, and the Roman Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Moreover, there are several flourishing modern day churches today in the States and elsewhere which operate without the legalism of tithing.

The fact is, even with fewer churches today practising abstention from tithing; one cannot make the fallacious ad populum argument that another should practise tithing because everyone else supposedly does.

QUE 12: ARE WE DECEIVED IF WE DO NOT TITHE?

ANS 12: DEFINITELY NO

SCRIPTURAL BASIS: i) We are rather deceived by following man-made traditions, which includes the modern day principle of tithing money - Mark 7:5-9 ii) We are rather deceived by not living/acting in Christ - Col 2:8 iii) New Testament tithing is an invention of man. Therefore, we do not honour God by tithing in direct disobedience to His Word; if we do not do it exactly as He commanded which is obviously not feasible today - 2 Tim 4:2-4; Titus 1:10-14, Gal 5:1-4

NOTE: Again, God's Old Testament Law is immutable, so if we want to practise it, we must do so in obedience to its entirety and prescription, rather than picking and choosing which one we will practise.

That is why Jesus died, because of the impossibility of obeying the whole Law. In Him we become righteous and justified before the Father. Therefore, if we choose to serve under the Mosaic Law, then we also bound by and subject to the consequences of the Law even if we violate just one of them - 2 Sam 6:6-7; Gal 3; James 2:10

MY OPINION

It is rather baffling why some Christians have difficulty in accepting the efficacious covenant wrought in Christ as being superior to the Mosaic covenant wrought by the sacrifices of bulls and goats, which the Bible has categorically defined as unable to propitiate for our sins. What makes it so difficult for some Pastors and Ministers of the Gospel to abide in faith? Rom 3:26-28; Heb 9:11-16; 10:4

The answer is anybody's guess. But if the truth must be told, it is quite obvious that the proponents of the tithing doctrine for Christians have one thing in common, and that is the fact that they cannot afford to abandon themselves by faith into the capable hands of Jesus Christ to determine how He Jesus will build His Church. The just shall live by faith the Bible declares! Gal 3:11-12

So, unable to biblically teach and encourage their congregants to give freely from their hearts by the ?unction? of the Holy Spirit, many Church leaders have to resort to the legalistic tactic of instilling compunction and fear into their members' minds to abide by this practically untenable and abolished doctrine. Eph 2:15

You see, my friend, the fact that Christ abolished the Mosaic Law does not mean the Law is void or inapplicable. But, rather, the Law no longer has dominion over us, just like Christ abolishing death; we still die, don't we? But the sting of death and the victory of the grave has been overcome in Christ, praise God! 2 Tim 1:9-10; 1 Cor 15:54-57

In short, the Law is still in force to show us our sins, but we are no longer susceptible to its condemnation, penalty, or dominion: Thanks to Christ! Rom 3:31; 6:14-18; 8:1

As such, one may foolishly choose to be re-entangled with the yoke of bondage of the Law even after receiving liberty in Christ. It's your call. Gal 5:1

Nevertheless, it is antinomian for anybody to hold that faith frees Christians from the obligations of God?s moral laws, which are clearly reinstated by Jesus in the New Testament. Tithing is not a moral but an ?agro-sustentative? law, so we cannot incorporate it into our regimen of faith to practise it. Period! Matt 22:35-40; Gal 3: 31

Jesus said He will build His Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This writer does not see any indication that Jesus intended to use tithes to achieve that. Because, in doing so, Jesus will be contradicting His own Word. He said "I", in case someone was confused who the builder would be. Matt 16:18

Christians embody the Church, and the Church is the household, a holy temple, and a habitation of the Lord. God in the Old Testament dwelt in the Tabernacle and Temples, none of which were built with tithes but with only freewill offerings, to the tune that there were even surpluses of giving. Why then would the same God in a superior covenant try to build His temple and holy habitation, which is now the temple of our hearts with tithes? Gal 2:19-22

EPILOGUE

The Church is the Body of Christ, and it is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit to convict the hearts of her members to give, not by compunction and compulsive machinations, but by cheerfulness and love for the Lord.

God has been dealing with man's heart since creation, and He is an expert witness to the fact that men, when given free unction, are better cheerful givers of both their lives and substance, than when compelled. That is why salvation is not forced, and neither should giving be forced. Anybody catch my drift?

MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU AND YOURS AS YOU DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.