ONE of the areas where there has been much abuse in the Body of Christ is the area of giving. Some of us ministers of the gospel have been guilty of siphoning money from God’s people through the use of fear and intimidation.
I was taught to believe that the tithe is mandatory. We were told that we owed God a tenth of our income and if we didn't pay up, we would be cursed. Not tithing, we were told, is the same as stealing from God. "You're robbing from God," they would tell us, "and God is going to get you (Malachi 3:8-18). This is one of the examples where scripture is misused to achieve a mischievous goal.
"Fortunately, none of that is true. God loves us independent of our performance, which includes whether or not we tithe.
New Testament giving is not a debt or an obligation.
This I say, He who sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:6,7).
I don't know how any Christian can read this passage and still think we are obligated to tithe, or that we are cursed if we don't. It says we're not supposed to give "grudgingly, or of necessity." If the reason you pay a tithe is because you don't want to be under a curse, then you are paying out of necessity and it isn't cheerful.
When preachers say you are cursed if you don't pay the tithe, they are saying you have to tithe to keep the curse off of your life. It's like paying the godfather, instead of God the Father. If that is why you are giving, then you are totally violating the motive given in this scripture.
We just saw that the Word tells us not to give grudgingly or of necessity because God loves a cheerful giver. The dominant motive for giving under the New Covenant should be a cheerful heart. We should be giving because we want to, not to pay God hush money. The apostle Paul ends his teaching on giving in (2 Corinthians 9) by saying, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift" (v. 15).
- Bulls to charge into Zimbabwe gold stocks
- Samaita owes success to God
- ZRC wraps up stakeholder consultations
- Grace Tidings: The grace of God and His unconditional love
Keep Reading
This summarizes why we should give back to the Lord under the New Covenant: because He has already given to us beyond measure. God has provided everything for us, and our giving is an expression of appreciation for all that He has done for us. It goes back to the scripture that says nothing we do is of any benefit unless it is motivated by love. (1 Corinthians 13:3.)
The motive behind our gift is more important than our gift. Some ministers are vicious about the tithe. They harp on the curse of not tithing and talk about the wrath of God. I hate to disappoint those people, but Scripture says we have been "redeemed from the curse of the law" (Galatians 3:13.) God isn't mad at you if you don't tithe. However, I think it's unwise not to tithe, but God will still love you if you don't. Some people, reacting against the curse teaching, have swung in the completely opposite direction and say that the tithe was an Old Testament thing.
They don't think it has any bearing on our lives today. I don't believe that is true. We're not cursed if we don't tithe, but tithing is still in our best interests. The very first time the tithe was mentioned in Scripture was when Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, the king of Salem. (Genesis 14:20.)
This was the same incident where Abraham refused to keep the king of Sodom's money because he didn't want anyone trying to say they made him rich. (V. 23.) Abraham knew that he was rich only because God had blessed him. This incident happened more than 400 years before Moses gave the Law to Israel.
We have been redeemed from the curse of the Law, and we aren't under the bondage of legalism to tithing, but we should also recognize that tithing was a biblical principle before the Law came along.
Abraham wasn't living under the Law, yet he tithed. I believe that we are supposed to tithe too. Actually, I think the tithe is a starting place. Everything we have under the New Covenant is far superior to the Old Covenant, so I think we should be doing more than what was required under the Law. A tenth should be the barest minimum and we should not be restricted to a tenth of our income. One can give double or treble that.
Let's look at the classic passage from Malachi used to teach on the tithe. Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein, have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, says the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:8-11).
Nearly everyone who teaches on the tithe cites this passage. Usually, it is used like a club to beat people into submission. But there is a huge difference between the punishment that came for disobeying the Law under the Old Covenant, and the grace that we live under in the New Testament.
The motivation for tithing today is out of appreciation for what God has done in our lives. It should come as a response of love from the heart, out of a desire to bless people.
We don't tithe in an attempt to keep the Law. In fact, it would be a bad idea to even try. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse for it is written, “Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them (Galatians 3:10).
You are cursed if you don't keep all of the Law. You can't just keep some of it, or do the best you can and God will make up the difference.
No, if you don't keep every letter of the Law, then you are cursed. This is why Jesus came, because we are absolutely incapable of keeping the Law. It's impossible.
The people who are trying to say you are cursed if you don't tithe are missing this point. You either trust the grace of God, or you reject Jesus' sacrifice and put your trust in your own performance and forfeit God's grace. Trying to satisfy the Law by paying a tithe isn't going to help.
No man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for, “The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith but, the man that does them shall live in them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us for it is written, Cursed, is every one that hangs on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:11-14).
We have been redeemed from the curse of the Law This passage couldn't be any clearer. It's true that the verse in Malachi 3 says you "are cursed with a curse" if you don't tithe, but this is exactly what we have been redeemed from. The whole attitude that God is going to punish you for not paying a tithe is completely unscriptural.
