When you speak of how we "fulfill the law in tithing," that's the problem. We are not commanded anywhere in scripture to do so. That was aimed at Israel. I am an Israeli, and I know the Law of Moses no longer applies to us today. Because Abraham chose to give to Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils of war that he was intentionally returning to the rightful owners, other than the portion for his fighting men, with his own personal wealth still located in northern Canaan so that he had nothing of all that wealth to give to Melchizedek, that is not reason to spiritualize the tithe as some sort of fulfillment for today.
If I may, this practice that I've seem among some hyper-charismatics who lean somewhat in the direction of legalism, my dealings with them have been pretty much along this line where they spiritualize their legalism to try and bolster their stance upon the alternative means for fulfillment of the Law. We are not called to do that. The believing Jews in Jerusalem were big on the Law of Moses, which Acts 15 gives ample evidence, but when we ignore the instruction to the Gentiles, which was a denial of any requirement for them to have to adhere to the Law of Moses, this spiritualization of the Law is troublesome. It tends to try and circumvent the determination that James himself issued as the decision point in that disturbance with the Judaizers.
You see, the Judaizers were not wrong in their beliefs about the Law of Moses in relation to them. Where they went wrong is thinking that they were authorized to enslave the Gentiles to that yoke, and this avenue of "spiritualizing" the Law of tithing, that has the distinct ring of some preacher who has influenced you into some odd departures from scripture in this push to try and "define" Holy Spirit.
People constantly refer to Holy Spirit as a thing rather than a Person. They love keeping their speech patterns along the lines of "THE Holy Spirit" and calling Holy Spirit an "it." To me, that's just wrong. You and I would not ever feel right about others referring to us as "it" or "the." We simply don't do that, right?
Anyway, Holy Spirit came down upon Christ in the FORM of a dove, which is an entire dissertation in itself, but etherealizing the nature and Person of Holy Spirit in an attempt at reinvigorating the Law of tithing, that's got the distinct aroma of some charismatic, legalistic preacher who who wants to leverage the word of God to his favor in acquiring wealth for himself and his churchianity organization that he has built up around himself as his pathetic little empire on some street corner.
So, what's the gist of your beef about this topic? If you choose to tithe because that's the measure and guide you choose for yourself, no problem. You are free to do so, for that's between you and the Lord. If you're teaching others on the basis of requirement laid upon them, that's where you're going astray as a departure from scripture and Holy Spirit. Emotions are a powerful force in many people, tricking themselves into thinking they're more spiritual than they really are. That's the beauty of the written word as an acid test and moderator to our emotions. Ignoring the written word for what it says, by spiritualizing it, that's the weaponry of vagabonds who love wrestling the word of God into saying what THEY want it to say. That's the fodder of whacko preachers of the charismatic stipe whose conscience has been seared so badly that they feel nothing of the prick to that scar tissue for them to return to letting the Lord lead as He will.
MM
