tithe

[Kerry]

Paul said "the preacher should live of the Gospel." Just like the priest lived of the tithes given by the people. In this world it takes money to live and operate a church. If people do not give, it's very difficult to operate a church. our entire education system was built from the tithe. Because at that time 80% of church goers tithed. Today that number is around 20%. If we were at 50% we could take our schools back. Many preachers have to hold a job to support his family. I would much rather him have his time devoted to study and prayer, But he can only do that if the majority of the congregation tithes.

Tithing is the only thing that God challenged us on and said test me and see. Satan has always tried to stop the tithe, because it can limit the preaching of the gospel.

 

[StandingFirmInChrist]

Paul said "the preacher should live of the Gospel." Just like the priest lived of the tithes given by the people. In this world it takes money to live and operate a church. If people do not give, it's very difficult to operate a church. our entire education system was built from the tithe. Because at that time 80% of church goers tithed. Today that number is around 20%. If we were at 50% we could take our schools back. Many preachers have to hold a job to support his family. I would much rather him have his time devoted to study and prayer, But he can only do that if the majority of the congregation tithes.

Tithing is the only thing that God challenged us on and said test me and see. Satan has always tried to stop the tithe, because it can limit the preaching of the gospel.

You are so far off in your theology, I am not sure where to start. But I will try to address each point.

Paul did not say the preacher should live of the Gospel. He said certain preachers should live of the Gospel; i.e., "they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. This was not speaking of the pastor of a Church, but rather of traveling ministers of the Gospel. The Pastor of the Church is not told to Preach the Gospel. He is told to Preach the Word and to feed the flock/Church of God. Why would the pastor preach the Gospel to the Church? The Church members have already heard the Gospel and Believed. They don't need the basics anymore. They need milk and meat to grow. Preachers of the Gospel are separated from the local body and sent out to preach the Gospel... "separate unto me Barnabas and Paul to preach the Gospel." "How can they hear except one be sent?" "Jesus went about Preaching the Gospel." Everywhere you find the Gospel being preached, it is by traveling ministers, not Pastors of the Church.

The Priest did not live of the tithes given by the people. Scripture is clear, the farmers and herders in the land of Israel took 10% of their crops and livestock to the Levites in the 48 Levitical cities. The Levites took a tithe of the tithe to the Temple Storehouse chambers. Only 1% of Israel's total produce and livestock went to the Temple... not 10%. And it was not the people who were responsible for taking that tithe to the storehouse... it was the Temple staff... the Levites who were required to tithe to the Temple. God never told the Congregation of Israel to tithe to the Temple storehouse at all.

I am not sure where you got the idea that 80% of churchgoers tithed at that time. Scripture does not say such a thing. There is no teaching of tithing to the Church anywhere in the New Testament at all.

Actually, according to a Barna Research conducted two years ago, only 4% of church members said they paid tithes to their local Church. I pray that number gets lower and lower. The Bible does not teach the Church that tithing is for today. That is a man-made doctrine totally foreign to Scripture.

I am glad for those preachers that have jobs outside of the Church. Paul told the Elders of the Church that they should work. So those pastors that are working are doing what the Word of God instructs them to do.

God never told us to test Him in the tithe at all. He told the Priests to test Him... not the Church. There is not one verse in the entire New Testament epistles that instructs the Church members to tithe their money.

 

[Kerry]

Paul didn't say what?

1 Corinthians 9:14Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

 

[Kerry]

You should read malachi

 

[StandingFirmInChrist]

Paul didn't say what?

1 Corinthians 9:14Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

Paul was speaking of traveling ministers there... not Pastors of Churches.

 

[StandingFirmInChrist]

You should read malachi

I have. Malachi was written to a people who were under the Law. The Church is not under the Law. We have been brought into a New Covenant.

The tithe ordinance was abolished in the first Century A.D..

You should read Galatians. Specifically chapter 3 and verse 10. There, you will see that when one submits oneself to the Law, he must keep the whole Law. Do you keep the whole Law?

 

[Kerry]

I have. Malachi was written to a people who were under the Law. The Church is not under the Law. We have been brought into a New Covenant.

The tithe ordinance was abolished in the first Century A.D..

You should read Galatians. Specifically chapter 3 and verse 10. There, you will see that when one submits oneself to the Law, he must keep the whole Law. Do you keep the whole Law?

Tithing predates law.

 

[Kerry]

Paul was speaking of traveling ministers there... not Pastors of Churches.

Read the verse carefully ( even so hath the Lord ordained) traveling or not.

 

[StandingFirmInChrist]

Tithing predates law.

Abram did not tithe his own property. He tithed the spoils of war. He promised God he would not take any of the spoils unto himself... meaning, he did not even see that which he tithed as belonging to him.

Tithing does predate Law. And a different tithe was seen in the Law. After the Law, the Scripture tells us that tithing was abolished. Can you provide Scripture that states it was reinstituted after it was abolished?

 

[StandingFirmInChrist]

Read the verse carefully ( even so hath the Lord ordained) traveling or not.

Read it in context. It doesn't say what you are wanting it to say. Do a study on those that preach the Gospel.

Everywhere you see people preaching the Gospel in the Bible, they are not in the Church setting... they are traveling.

 

[Kerry]

Read it in context. It doesn't say what you are wanting it to say. Do a study on those that preach the Gospel.

Everywhere you see people preaching the Gospel in the Bible, they are not in the Church setting... they are traveling.

Well I would rather tithe and have my pastor free to study and pray and seek the Lord. Rather than to have him laying carpet all day and then get a hour to study and pray. Its up to you, its not a requirement for salvation. Just think if 80% tithed like in the 17 & 18 hundreds. The church was the school and the welfare system.

 

[Linda70]

Tithing was a custom before the law, a command during the dispensation of the law, and a curse after the law was fulfilled in Christ.

Abraham only tithed once...Isaac never tithed and Jacob made a vow to give a tenth (Genesis 28:22) and Scripture never says that he fulfilled that vow. There is nothing in Scripture concerning tithing, from Jacob's vow until Mt. Sinai, when God gave the law to Moses. So to base today's teaching of the monetary tithe on the fact that it "predated the law" is nonsense. There were many things that "predated the law"...for example, the Levirate marriage and polygamy...do you practice those because they "predate the law"?

Malachi has NADA to do with the Church. The popular passage of Malachi 3, which is ALWAYS pulled out of context, was written to the Levitical PRIESTS not to the Church.

The born again Christian is not under a curse because he/she does not tithe. (Galatians 3:10-13)

Galatians 3:10 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.
Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Therefore, according to Scripture, those who teach that a Christian must tithe or be cursed of God, is putting himself back under that law. And by putting himself back under the law (and leading others to do the same), that person is cursed because he/she is not keeping the entire law and is "guilty of all" (James 2:10).

 

[StandingFirmInChrist]

Well I would rather tithe and have my pastor free to study and pray and seek the Lord. Rather than to have him laying carpet all day and then get a hour to study and pray. Its up to you, its not a requirement for salvation. Just think if 80% tithed like in the 17 & 18 hundreds. The church was the school and the welfare system.

Since God's Word says Jesus Christ abolished the tithe, when you say "I would rather tithe" you are acting in rebellion to God.

 

[john832]

It's all his isn't it AMEN!

Hag 2:8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

 

[john832]

Since God's Word says Jesus Christ abolished the tithe, when you say "I would rather tithe" you are acting in rebellion to God.

Says WHAT?

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.


Luk 11:42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

 

[john832]

Tithing was a custom before the law, a command during the dispensation of the law, and a curse after the law was fulfilled in Christ.

Before WHAT?

Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

And the word for Laws there is...

H8451
תּרה תּורה
tôrâh tôrâh
to-raw', to-raw'
From H3384; a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch: - law.

 

[nl]

1) Jesus affirmed the tithe to the Pharisees (Matthew 23:23) but higher principles are that it all belongs to God and God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

2) Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. Abraham lives several centuries before Moses and the law of Moses. Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 7:1-3)

3) The law is a schoolmaster to lead people to Christ. Use the law. Lead people to Christ. Repentance is a gospel grace. Repent, believe, follow Jesus Christ, have eternal life is better than sin, be cursed, die and suffer eternally.

 

[john832]

1) Jesus affirmed the tithe to the Pharisees (Matthew 23:23) but higher principles are that it all belongs to God and God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

2) Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. Abraham lives several centuries before Moses and the law of Moses. Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 7:1-3)

3) The law is a schoolmaster to lead people to Christ. Use the law. Lead people to Christ. Repentance is a gospel grace. Repent, believe, follow Jesus Christ, have eternal life is better than sin, be cursed, die and suffer eternally.

What Law is a Schoolmaster that brings us to Christ?

 

[nl]

One source for those searching for answers: The Uses of the Law - A sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon. Link: The Uses of the Law

Conscience and law both provide standards by which guilt is identified. When people sin, God is dishonored and people can get hurt.

Jesus Christ is the only Savior from guilt and its consequences.

 

[StandingFirmInChrist]

Says WHAT?

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.


Luk 11:42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Nice try. Jesus was addressing a people under the Mosaic Law system who were required to tithe. We are not under the Law, but under Grace.

The Word of God reveals to us that Jesus Christ abolished the tithe.Malachi 3:7-8 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.

Here, God told the Priests that tithing was an ordinance.

Ephesians 2:14-15 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Here, God tells us the ordinances were abolished.

Tithing was abolished by Jesus Christ along with all the other ordinances written in the Law.