Tithing. Is it Biblical?

[Pbminimum]

New covenant tithing isn't 10% . It's everything if that's what God requires of you. You give as there is need. So, where are the needs you're giving to ? Are there none ?

[Brother Mark]

New covenant tithing isn't 10% . It's everything if that's what God requires of you. You give as there is need.

Are you sure? The way I read it, NT is about giving as you determine in your heart.

So, where are the needs you're giving to ? Are there none ?

It would stand to reason that people who have been helped by God will help people in need.

[LastSeven]

Ah yes. I checked the scripture link you provided. Thank you! But your assumption is that 3rd year would yield the same as the each of the other 2 years. It is a reasonable assumption. But it would not surprise me if Israel saw an increase yield in that 3rd year as they did in the year before the Jubilee and Sabbath years.

Yes. Of course each year's crop yields could be different, so 10% of the third year could be very different from 10% the previous year, so dividing 10% into three years is never going to be exactly correct, but for the purposes of calculating an annual percentage that's the best we can do.

[LastSeven]

You could be right. I can see it both ways (i.e. any man or a priest). I'll look at it some more. Thanks for this note.

No, you were right the first time. It was directed at the entire nation, not just the priests.

Malachi 3:8-9
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.

But that was a curse to them because the entire law was a curse. Jesus has taken away the curse.

[LastSeven]

New covenant tithing isn't 10% . It's everything if that's what God requires of you. You give as there is need. So, where are the needs you're giving to ? Are there none ?

You're confusing tithing with giving. Two very different things. Tithing is a command to give 10%, so technically a tithe could never be 100% as the word "tithe" literally means 10%.

Secondly, the Lord loves a cheerful giver, so if giving 100% of your possessions away is going to make you miserable, God doesn't want that from you. If however you're happy to live in a cardboard box, go for it.

[Pbminimum]

Are you sure? The way I read it, NT is about giving as you determine in your heart.



It would stand to reason that people who have been helped by God will help people in need.

Exactly. The church in Acts is our basis. They gave as there was need. They sold possessions , lands , and gave. And yes, as the Holy Spirit determines in your heart. Remember the Good Samaritan, and many other instances in scripture where there was a need ? In James , where on would tell the needy "be warmed" "be filled" etc.. And not lift a finger ? There are some things that aren't necessary to be determined. We meet the need because there is one and it's right in front of us.

My former pastor had a cannonball in his office to give people who needed to "feel led" to do the obvious.

[Pbminimum]

You're confusing tithing with giving. Two very different things. Tithing is a command to give 10%, so technically a tithe could never be 100% as the word "tithe" literally means 10%.

Secondly, the Lord loves a cheerful giver, so if giving 100% of your possessions away is going to make you miserable, God doesn't want that from you. If however you're happy to live in a cardboard box, go for it.

No, I'm not. I tithe, and I also give. My point was that there are needs to be met by those who don't believe in the tithe which would greatly exceed 10%.

[Stew Ward's Hip]

We are bought with a price.

We are not out own.

We don't own anything.

We are stewards of the 100% that God puts in our care.

We do what He says to do with it, when He says to do it.

We don't have anything to give or tithe.

[Brother Mark]

Exactly. The church in Acts is our basis. They gave as there was need. They sold possessions , lands , and gave. And yes, as the Holy Spirit determines in your heart. Remember the Good Samaritan, and many other instances in scripture where there was a need ? In James , where on would tell the needy "be warmed" "be filled" etc.. And not lift a finger ? There are some things that aren't necessary to be determined. We meet the need because there is one and it's right in front of us.

Not always. Paul saw a great need for Israel to be saved. But he was called to be a missionary to the Gentiles. God himself sees physical needs but still stops the rain from coming and creates drought, or famine, because there is a greater need to be addressed.

The Father did not go and relieve the suffering of his prodigal son even though there was great need.

My former pastor had a cannonball in his office to give people who needed to "feel led" to do the obvious.

Yea. Heard that quote before. Never liked it because it is too easy to misuse. If someone had given help to the prodigal son when there 'was no one to help him', would he have come to his senses and repented?

Luke 15:16-17
16 "And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
NASB

There may be a bigger need that keeps us from giving to someone in financial need. Rare? Probably, but still a possibility. Also, we should be cheerful givers. If we are giving grudgingly, then perhaps we are giving more than is in our hearts.

None of this nullifies what James said. Like you pointed out, if the love of God is in us, we will help those in need. I just think that sometimes, we need to be discerning when we help. Its not always obvious.

[Brother Mark]

We are bought with a price.

We are not out own.

We don't own anything.

We are stewards of the 100% that God puts in our care.

We do what He says to do with it, when He says to do it.

We don't have anything to give or tithe.

Except that God doesn't always call us stewards. He says we own it. When Ananias and Sapphira were killed, the Holy Spirit, through Peter said they had lied to the Holy Spirit. He also said they owned the land. It was theirs. Not that they were stewards, but they owned it.

Acts 5:3-4
3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God."
NASB

He was wrong to pretend to have given all and thus lie. That is clarified later...

Acts 5:7-9

7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter responded to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?" And she said, "Yes, that was the price." 9 Then Peter said to her, "Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test?
NASB

What God has given to us, we own. It is ours. Yet, when one is in covenant with another, they freely give. God is a cheerful giver and gave His Son for us. We too can give cheerfully back to the Lord all He has given to us and blessed us with.

[Brother Mark]

No, I'm not. I tithe, and I also give. My point was that there are needs to be met by those who don't believe in the tithe which would greatly exceed 10%.

A biblical tithe doesn't involve money. It was never money in the old testament or the new testament. It was always either from plants or animals. Even when Jesus spoke of the tithe in the NT it was not about money. Never has been.

I agree with you that the church (by that I mean me and you and all saved people) should be giving to each other and to the poor and to the lost. But especially to those in need within the church.

[LastSeven]

My point was that there are needs to be met by those who don't believe in the tithe which would greatly exceed 10%.

Your point is valid, but "tithe" is not the right word for that kind of giving. So yes, you were confusing the two.

[Pbminimum]

Your point is valid, but "tithe" is not the right word for that kind of giving. So yes, you were confusing the two.

Not the way I see it. But hey, maybe I could communicate better ?

[Reynolds357]

The entire topic boils down to legalism vs liberty. The New Covenant standard is cheerful giving. I think preachers who need the bills paid harp on the tithe.

[mailmandan]

Many churches teach that we as Christians, under the New Covenant, are commanded to give a minimum of 10% of our income to our church. Others teach that preachers of these churches are turning the 10% tithe from the Old Testament for Israel (in regards to food) into a monetary, legalistic prescription for Christians under the New Covenant. I even heard a Pastor make a challenge to his congregation to give 10% of their income for 90 days and if God does not bless them then he will give them their money back.

In 2 Corinthians 9:5-7 we read: Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

I don't see a "specific percentage" given anywhere for Christians to give "under the New Covenant," but I certainly believe in giving and not just to our church. I also believe that everything we own belongs to God.