Articles
What does the Bible say about tithing?
Question- What Does the Bible Say about “tithing” today? Am I bound to give 10 per cent of my income weekly to God?
Answer- The first reference to “tithing” in the bible is in Genesis 14:20 where Abram tithed a tenth of all he gave to the high priest Melchizedek. This is verified in Hebrews 7:2 where it says Abraham gave a tenth of all he had to God. There is no commandment to “tithe” until Leviticus 27:30-32 and this is also repeated in Deut. 14:22-28. Throughout the Old Testament people were to keep the law of tithing. In Matthew 23:23- we see Jesus referring to this practice. He does not condemn them for tithing but for leaving other things undone. In Hebrews 10:9-10 we read that the Old Law or first covenant has been taken away, so we are no longer bound by the Law of Moses. That is also why we are not bound by the dietary laws of the Old Testament and why we do not offer animal sacrifice among many other things. The Old Law was “nailed to the cross.” (Col. 2:14). Do we have a command under the New Testament law of Christ to “tithe?” Quite plainly no, but there are principles we are to consider in our giving to God.
The New Law is a higher standard than the Old. It is broader in its scope of people included (not just Jews or proselytes).
The Following passages are ones we should keep in mind when we give of our funds to God’s work today. 1 Cor. 16:2- “on the first day of the week let every one of you lay by in store as God has prospered him…” Our giving today is to be weekly and in accordance with what we have prospered. This includes more than just our paycheck. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 it says- “but this we say that the one who sows sparingly will reap sparingly but he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully, so let each one of you give as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver…” Here we see that we are to give generously in all circumstances, not simply in the collection. In Prov. 3:9 it says, “give honor to the Lord with your wealth, and with the first fruits of all your increase. God wants our best, not our leftovers. He deserves it. In Mark 12:41 is the example of the widow who gave all she had. Jesus praised her attitude or faith and trust in the Lord that she would be provided for and her heart for being in the right place. Others were giving more but they were not doing without to do so. God does not want us to be paupers, but neither does He want to give to him only that which we do not need anyway. Choices have to be made and priorities have to be set in order to give to God. We are to follow Matt. 6:33 and remember that the kingdom comes first. No Christian today is to seek to serve God by asking “how much do I have to do?” Our life as Christians are to be lived with a “how much can I give and do for the one who died for me and gave His life for me” attitude. All of our blessings come from God. We work to have things so we can raise our families and take care of ourselves, but our first consideration is to be how much of our funds we can give to God and His kingdom and still be able to live a quiet and peaceable life here. Remember it is about how much not how little (2 Cor. 8:5). We must first give ourselves to God through obedience to His will by hearing the gospel (Rom. 10:17), Believing it (Mk. 16:16) Repenting of our sins (Acts 2:38) Confessing Christ (Rom. 10:10) and being baptized for remission of our sins (Acts 2:38) and living faithfully until death (Rev 2:10). There is no command to tithe today but that does not give us the freedom to give nothing or minimum amounts to God in anything we do. He gave it all for us.
