What did Jesus Teach about Tithing to Christians ?

[taylor30]

JESUS DID NOT TELL CHRISTIANS TO TITHE.

#1. There were no Christians during Jesus's ministry. Christians didn't technically become Christians until after pentecost.

#2. Tithing was created as a tax for Israel, and has no place in the church.

#3. No command is given christians to tithe in any part of the New Testament.

Don't let slick ministers or greedy churches trick you into thinking a tithe is required of you.

[alien224]

What did Jesust Teach about Tithing to Christians ?

Under the law it was commanded and God loves a cheerful giver, there are so many different opinions about tithing,what do you think and why?

My understanding of scripture is we are required to give 10% of our tithes ( income) and offerings (can be anything church work, gifts monies etc) however when God is 1st in our lives we have no problems in giving. when we give we are supposed to give of our first fruits not whatever is left over at the end.

[L.J.]

First we have changed the meaning of Tithing.

Tithing literally means 10 percent.

So you can't "tithe" 5 percent. You can't tithe 20 percent. And tithing 10 percent is redundant.

Second, in the New Testament, Christians were from a mix culture. Many were not from the Jewish faith so tithing was foreign to them. What you see in the letters from Paul was to help out when help is needed.

Third, there is nothing wrong with tithing. There is nothing wrong with not tithing. Where the blessing comes is giving 100 percent of our hearts. That is what our Father wants.

[JohnD]

Considering the Jewish culture is a good point. Tithing predated Judaism but it could be a prophetic thing (10%) the number arrived at as to what percentage to give... because it is roughly the amount of the priestly tribe of Israel (12-13 tribes depending on how you count them) and the tenth in the amount of giving was to support the priestly tribe which had next to no land grants / inheritance. Point being the Levis were in the world but not of the world yet those who were of the world were to support the Levis. Roughly one tenth of the tribes in Israel was to be supported by one tenth of the increase in Israel.

Exodus 19:6 (KJV)

6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Wait a minute! God wanted the whole nation to be priests to him?

Yes. But the incident in the wilderness when Moses was up on the mountain with God and the Israelis "played and made a calf idol" was more detrimental than recoded Exodus 32.

Nehemiah 9:16-18 (KJV)

16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

17 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

This is why the result of that incident was so bloody back in Exodus. And the Lord who would have killed them all and started over again with Moses (except Moses plead for his people with a messianic heart Deuteronomy 9:14 / Exodus 32:32). This is also why the entire nation would not be the priests God had planned for them to be. But only a portion of them, would be priests... and thus the tithe was to support them.

New Covenant:

All believers are priests of God.

Revelation 1:6 (KJV)

6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 5:10 (KJV)

10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Allowing for the translational variances from Hebrew to Greek to English it is the ideal that we are a kingdom of priests:

Exodus 19:6 (KJV)

6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

1 Peter 2:3-11 (KJV)

3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Setting aside our tendency to hoard wealth and to lavish upon ourselves the riches of avarice (in opposition to Ecclesiastes 5:13, Isaiah 23:18, and James 5:3)... setting that aside for the moment...

As priests of God in the Christian New Covenant we are in effect tithing when we support our family and ourselves. Now again, I say setting aside how we over do this... we are in effect tithing when we take care of our Christian family.

Something else to consider...

We have taken the Church and turned it into a grand cathedral experience. It was intended to be a meeting / meeting place of spiritual healing and education (spiritual hospital and university) both of which we were intended to graduate from or be healed from and then to move on spreading the gospel and building churches and covering the landscape like a cleansing fire conflagration... instead we made it into a country club to belong to and park our lives at and pay "professional" Christians to do all the work for us....

Do we get back on track with God's original program? Or do we just leave it the way it is?

Something to think about, something to pray about.

[Botz]

Interesting John.

I think the main sticking point these days is the unbiblical emphasis so many preachers use to promote a made-up doctrine of make-believe 'tithes and offerings'.

I am sure many are sincere leaders who are not trying to fleece the flock, but try to utilise a methodology.

Some use the teaching to promote a law that they believe G-d can be held to, and call this the law of sowing and reaping...in other words compelling people to

give because if they don't they won't be blessed, and if they do they will be able to accumulate riches and the earthly desires of their hearts.

The fact is that everything we have is the L-rds, and the teachings about giving should be centred on having a pure heart and a generous spirit so that

helping to support those in full-time ministry is a natural outcome, just as it is a delight to give into any area we believe will be effective for the Gospel

or will help sustain other Believers that struggle because of famine or religious regimes etc.

If G-d blesses some of us with wealth, we have a responsibility before Him to use it wisely, and not to store up treasures for ourselves...but even

the poorest person has the opportuity to use what little they have in the best possible way...knowing that what we are looking for is the blessing

of others, and that G-d who sees our hearts lays it to our account.

Most of the teachings around the subject of Tithes and Offerings are not strictly biblical, and either place burdens on people or add unnecessary

confusion, especially when they imply that it is essential a person gives at least 10% or they will incur some sort of spiritual penalty...it is

not a pressure found anywhere in New Covenant Teachings, and the freedom we have in Jesus actually holds us to a higher standard but

is all the more powerful because it come from a generous and re-generated heart. Liberty in being liberal (with our time, money and giftings).

[JohnD]

Interesting John.

I think the main sticking point these days is the unbiblical emphasis so many preachers use to promote a made-up doctrine of make-believe 'tithes and offerings'.

I am sure many are sincere leaders who are not trying to fleece the flock, but try to utilise a methodology.

Some use the teaching to promote a law that they believe G-d can be held to, and call this the law of sowing and reaping...in other words compelling people to

give because if they don't they won't be blessed, and if they do they will be able to accumulate riches and the earthly desires of their hearts.

The fact is that everything we have is the L-rds, and the teachings about giving should be centred on having a pure heart and a generous spirit so that

helping to support those in full-time ministry is a natural outcome, just as it is a delight to give into any area we believe will be effective for the Gospel

or will help sustain other Believers that struggle because of famine or religious regimes etc.

If G-d blesses some of us with wealth, we have a responsibility before Him to use it wisely, and not to store up treasures for ourselves...but even

the poorest person has the opportuity to use what little they have in the best possible way...knowing that what we are looking for is the blessing

of others, and that G-d who sees our hearts lays it to our account.

Most of the teachings around the subject of Tithes and Offerings are not strictly biblical, and either place burdens on people or add unnecessary

confusion, especially when they imply that it is essential a person gives at least 10% or they will incur some sort of spiritual penalty...it is

not a pressure found anywhere in New Covenant Teachings, and the freedom we have in Jesus actually holds us to a higher standard but

is all the more powerful because it come from a generous and re-generated heart. Liberty in being liberal (with our time, money and giftings).

Yeah, organized religion (denominational splits etc.) would all vanish if the Body of Believers realized who we really are. Keep us (the Church organism) dumb and hand fed by the task masters of the Church organization.

[Bocan]

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel."

Jesus shows here that it is important to give, including the practice of giving.

No one should feel forced to give. But when we have the spirit of our wonderful Lord in us, we desire to give. We know that God will always provide for us and the more we give (which should never be limited to money), the more we get back. As people have said in previous posts, it all belongs to God!

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "Truly I tell you," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

How beautiful is that faith the woman showed. Do you think God let her go unrewarded?

Perhaps tithing is an acceptable method if you want to give and don't know where to start. You shouldn't be agonizing over how much to give. The more important matters are giving mercy, justice and faithfulness. Giving is more than money. Give as the Spirit guides you and be happy.

Edited February 4, 2012 by Bocan

[year2027]

God first

thanks everybody

Hebrews 7:1: For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

2: To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

the tithe

3: Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

4: Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

5: And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:

of the law but we under grace

6: But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

7: And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

without contradiction the being the less and love being the better

8: And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

9: And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.

10: For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

11: If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

if law priesthood was perfect there need of another

12: For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

there a change from law to love

13: For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.

the tribe of Christ

14: For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

15: And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,

was made after the similitude Melchisedec

16: Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

carnal law or flesh law but

17: For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

18: For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

unprofitableness

19: For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

better hope

20: And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

21: (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

22: By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

better testament

with love and a holy kiss Roy

23: And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:

24: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

25: Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

26: For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

27: Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

28: For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

[Holy Joe]

What did Jesust Teach about Tithing to Christians ?

Under the law it was commanded and God loves a cheerful giver, there are so many different opinions about tithing,what do you think and why?

God doesn’t want our lil ole 10% man wants that, God wants your 100%.

Joe

[Guest yod]

What did Jesust Teach about Tithing to Christians ?

Under the law it was commanded and God loves a cheerful giver, there are so many different opinions about tithing,what do you think and why?

Yeshua (aka Jesus) never spoke to a christian. They were all jews.

EVERY SINGLE PLACE where an offering was taken in the Newer Covenant writings, it was to help the poor jewish saints because the Gentiles owe them. How many times have you heard that in a sermon?

Romans 15: ²⁷ For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

Nothing about tithing anywhere outside of Israel because it was done to maintain the Temple.

You give because you are a giver like your Father in heaven. To be stingy is called an "evil eye" in the KJV translation and Yeshua compare it to the worst kind of sin.

Mark 7:21-23

²¹For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

²²Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

²³All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.