- Now that we’re in the New Covenant, are we obligated to meticulously tithe if we’re drowning in debt and have to borrow money in order to be able to give a tithe of our income? Is God loving and understanding and able to know when we’re in debt and struggling to pay our bills, and gracious enough to wait until we actually have money to give to Him? Or does He demand a constant tithe of money to be given to the “church” regardless of our circumstances, and will He curse us if we don’t? Or did He ever even request that we give a tithe of our income to a religious organization? We see part of the answer to these questions in 2 Corinthians 8:12-14, “give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some EQUALITY. Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with YOU when YOU need it. In this way, things will be EQUAL.” As will later be elaborated, Scripture teaches that to bear one another’s burdens fulfills the Law of Christ.
- Some American churches still say we’re obligated to give 10% of our income to the church, but what does the Bible’s New Covenant teachings reveal to us? 2 Corinthians 9:7 shows us that, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.” However, in that passage as well as countless others, for whom was the money being raised? Was it for a religious organization, or was it for those who were in need? As will later be elaborated, this was a collection of famine relief for the suffering believers in Jerusalem.
- But some American churches say we’re cursed for being a thief of God’s money if we don’t continually give His tithe back to Him, so what does the Biblical New Covenant teach us? Galatians 3:13-14 says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith,” and verse 29, “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” It’s an insult to Jesus’s finished work on the cross for some churches to attempt to curse Christians who are struggling financially and unable to give 10% of their income. Somehow those churches have missed the very basic message of the Gospel, which is that we’re redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and made righteous by His perfect righteousness.
- Matthew Narramore puts it this way, “The righteous, new-creation man in Christ is a different kind of person than ever existed before the resurrection. He lives in a new spiritual realm with a different relationship to God than anyone had before. He walks with God from the new perspective of spiritual union with Christ. The finished work of Christ is the foundation for everything he thinks and does. No other person in the Bible is an accurate example of how the new-creation man in Christ should live and walk with God. The book of Romans belabors the point that we are now righteous, that it is all through the work of Christ on the cross, and that it is a free gift. It leaves no room for the idea that tithing could be a requirement for receiving anything that God has provided through Jesus Christ. He wasn’t looking for anything from us but faith. Faith pleases Him in a way the natural mind cannot comprehend. Faith is the key to everything we receive from God. The flesh has an unending temptation to latch onto something it can do to gain more favor or blessing from God. The carnal, religious mind gravitates to laws, principles, and systems of behavior that it can perform to maintain its control over the events of life. The doctrine of tithing cannot be held by people without affecting their whole understanding of life in Christ. It colors their view of every individual subject, such as righteousness, grace, salvation, and blessing. It distorts the message of the finished work of Christ. It neutralizes the power of the New Covenant. It detracts from the glory of being a son of God in Christ. It diminishes God’s goodness, it is a hindrance to His working, and it is inferior to the relationship that He expects to have with His sons,” (Tithing: Low-Realm, Obsolete & Defunct, by Matthew Narramore, https://www.amazon.com/dp/0974558702/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Hs0VDb4HPR8T6)
- Galatians 4:7 states, “you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ,” and Romans 8:16-17, “we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” Our righteousness is found only through faith in Christ, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Colossians 1:22 shows us that Jesus has reconciled us, “in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” We also see that Jesus is able to “present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” Jude 24. Regardless of what some preachers might try to teach, those who have been redeemed by Christ are NOT cursed!!!
- Is God pleased when believers who are drowning in debt are taught to sacrificially tithe to a church, while those same believers are then forced to be tightfisted and unable to be generous towards others who are truly in need? Jesus taught this in Mark 7:6-13, “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold THE TRADITION OF MEN… All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep YOUR TRADITION. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God,” then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.” This passage specifically teaches that religious leaders had taught people to give to a religious organization at the expense of being able to help family members, but God is not pleased with that manmade tradition.
- Throughout history, what God has consistently looked for is faith, and our prime example is Abraham who was made righteous by faith; “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” (Romans 4:3) and through his faith he prospered. Abraham believed God’s word and acted on it, left family and home and followed God. He even had the faith to be willing to sacrifice his son, which is a foreshadowing of what God actually did for us with His Son. In the case of Abraham, God values and rewards faith.
- We who’ve placed our faith in Christ now have what no one else in history permanently had before Jesus’s resurrection and Pentecost, which is the Holy Spirit that now permanently lives inside us, and we are to follow, and be fully committed to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It has been stated that believers who lived before Christ, including Abraham, probably would’ve gladly traded places with us for the opportunity to be permanently filled with the Holy Spirit and to have the righteousness that Christ provides for us. It would be very unfortunate to miss out and not appreciate what we’ve been given, and just how important the Holy Spirit is in our daily life as Christians; He is described as our Helper (John 14:16), our Advocate (John 16:7), and Paul goes even farther and explains the mystery, which is that Christ is also in us (Colossians 1:27). God now expresses His will individually to each believer through the working of the Holy Spirit, and it is the indwelling Holy Spirit that actually gives us the desire and ability to obey. The Holy Spirit is able to give us more power than what we might be struggling with, and He is able to give us victory over our sin. If you believe in Jesus but are unsure if you are completely filled with the Spirit, then it is worth it to daily pray to be filled full of the Holy Spirit, knowing that Jesus taught us how to pray persistently for the Holy Spirit in Luke 11:5-13 (“ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you”). We learn in the New Testament in places like 2 Corinthians 3 that because of what Christ has accomplished, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is greater and more glorious than anything that had ever been given to any of God’s people; greater than any written Law.
- The Mosaic Law is not the Gospel. In fact, the Law was given by God to show men their need of a savior and Redeemer. The Gospel is the Good News that we have salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and we are then redeemed to God, and this is an undeserved gift of grace, so that no one can boast. In the New Covenant there is now no letter of the law to define an exact amount of money to give. Christians led by the Holy Spirit cease from their own works and enter into the works that the Lord prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 2:10), including the giving of money as directed by the Holy Spirit, but there is now no set percentage. To those who are able and are given the specific gift of giving, they might be called to give much more than 10%, but for those who’re unable, there is now no requirement at all to give 10%, or any certain percentage at all. Clearly, Christians are to be known for our love for one another, and we can show this love by giving to help meet one another’s needs, but a question that we will continue to address is this: when we give to God, who are we to primarily give to, a religious organization, or to people in need? Who is the ultimate destination of our giving?
- Matthew Narramore has written, “Tithing is one of the church’s self-contradicting doctrines that is based on Scriptures that are taken out of context. Grace outperforms Law, every time, every way. The focus of the church on tithing is counterproductive. Neither the threats nor promises that go with the message of tithing can motivate people to give as much as love in a heart that is overwhelmed by grace. It cannot be overemphasized that the key to life for a Christian is an understanding of what it means to be in Christ. Most of the church has not been taught that. Some who think they understand that truth are unknowingly negating it with other teachings and practices. Tithing is one of those practices that distracts people’s attention and keeps them from the fullness of life in Christ. The New Testament has much to say about giving that is not based on tithing. Those other teachings are often overlooked because tithing has been adopted as the foundational truth on the subject. In many cases the whole spirit of giving has been distorted and what is being taught is much different than what we see in the lives of Jesus and the apostles. The church is like it is today because of what it has been taught. It has not been taught the strong truth about the glorious relationship we have with God. It’s time that Christians should be given the meat of God’s word (Heb. 5:12–14). It’s time for them to be treated like sons who are capable of growing up into full stature in Christ. Through Christ we are in a place of victory and authority that was unknown to the people of God in previous covenants. God had servants under the Law, and if they kept the Law He could bless them. God now has sons in Christ and expects a different way of living from them. He has given us a staggering amount of authority in the name of Jesus and the responsibility that goes with it.”
“Helping People See Jesus and Exploring All That He Has Fulfilled” 