I’m sure you’ll agree that tithing is a pretty hot and controversial topic in the Church and online these days. I would say it’s one of the top subjects that cause fighting and division in the Body of Christ. But it doesn’t need to be this way. There’s a mature way to handle our differences without stirring up trouble and causing division. It is possible to hold different views on the issue of tithing without needing to split from people who see it different to us. Reacting and being cause driven to make everyone agree with us either for or against tithing is immaturity and leads to divisiveness. We need to respect and honour each other’s faith whether it’s to tithe or not to tithe. Of course there can be healthy debate on the topic, but when there is undermining of leadership and trouble stirring in the Church because of a different view, that is just childish and immature and not what God has mandated us to do.

It’s open to debate.

Tithing is not a heaven and hell issue or a black and white issue and therefore it is open to some differences of interpretation. The problem though, is that some people believe the topic is clearly black and white and are adamant that it is or is not part of the New Covenant. Now it’s fine to have strong convictions. But that doesn’t make you mature. What makes you mature is how you handle people who hold an equally strong yet opposing conviction to you. Calling someone a legalist or still under the law because they believe in tithing is in my opinion on par with having a childish tantrum in order to manipulate. Equally so, calling someone licentious or stingy or robbing God because they don’t believe in tithing is the same thing.

We need to be big enough to accept that when it comes to tithing there are people on both sides who hold very strong conviction that they both claim are based on Scripture. We can still walk in love and unity as long as we walk in honour. If your pastor believes in tithing and teaches it in the church but you don’t believe in it (or vice-versa), you just need to live free and by your own convictions, but don’t go around the church undermining the pastor and spreading division over the issue. Don’t get on a cause to “awaken the church to the truth”. Don’t attack the leader as a legalist or mock him because “he doesn’t have a clear revelation of grace like you do”. Rather be free to live by your convictions, walk in love and keep your words honourable when the issue of tithing is raised.

Do we all have to agree?

We don’t have to all agree on tithing. But we do need to celebrate each others faith to either tithe out of conviction or not tithe out of conviction. If you want to debate it do it in an honourable way. Don’t be vicious, don’t be a jerk. Don’t use intimidation, manipulation, mockery, superiority or any means like that. Just be humble. Present your convictions that are based on Scripture and let the chips land where they land. You can’t bully people into faith. You can only teach the Word and let the eyes of people’s hearts be enlightened to produce faith in them that leads to corresponding actions.

When tithing or not tithing is a sin.

The Bible says in Romans 14:23 that “whatever is not from faith is sin”. So if someone does believe in tithing and practises it, but then someone else puts pressure on them to not tithe and so they stop, that other person has actually caused them to sin. They didn’t stop tithing out of faith, they’re stopped it because they were manipulated and put under pressure. Conversely, if someone doesn’t believe in tithing but are put under pressure to tithe without it being a conviction, that is also a sin because they are not doing it out of faith but manipulation. This is why we need to be wise in how we handle this issue.

I hope you agree with me that I’m not trying to water down the Word or compromise truth. I am seeking to help believers to be able to hold strong convictions and yet continue to walk in love and honour with those who see things differently on these kinds of disputable matters.

Romans 14:1 “Welcome all the Lord’s followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don’t criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours.” (CEV).

“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.” (NIV)

What is your conviction on tithing?

So where do you stand on the issue of tithing relating to the New Covenant? If you have studied the topic and have arrived at a faith-based conviction, then I honour your faith whether it’s for or against tithing. We can walk together in love and unity even if our convictions are different on this issue.

It’s good to have your convictions challenged!

So now I want to give the basis for my belief on the issue of tithing in the New Covenant. If you disagree I hope you’re still able to read what I’ve got to say without getting discombobulated! It’s good to study an opposite view on something as it tests the quality of our convictions and helps us adjust in areas needed. So here we go…

I believe in New Covenant tithing.

I personally believe there is a New Covenant basis for tithing. I don’t believe that because of indoctrination or control or fear but because it’s a conviction of faith that I base on the Word of God. I want to make it clear though that I don’t believe in an Old Covenant system of tithing but a New Covenant way. Now while some of you may need to get over your shock and horror that someone who claims to have a revelation of grace could believe in tithing, I want to point out to you that I am in the company of many amazing New Covenant teachers on this issue who hold a strong conviction that tithing is still something we should do today. To name a few, Joseph Prince, Andrew Wommack, Creflo Dollar, Bill Johnson and my father Rob Rufus. Now I know that at the mention of some of these names you may be doing a double choke right now, but can I remind you to please handle this issue in a mature and respectable way. If you don’t agree with me or the people I’ve mentioned, that is perfectly fine. But can you please have a heart of love and honour towards me and an open heart and mind as I share my convictions. Let your views be challenged. If they hold up, great. If not then it would make sense to adjust. And for those who do agree with me, I hope this article blesses you and deepens your revelation on tithing.

What I don’t believe about tithing.

1. I do not believe that the tithe originated under the Mosaic Law but was first mentioned and demonstrated to us under Abraham. Abraham is a picture of grace, and was not part of the Old Covenant. He was actually part of the New Covenant since the Gospel was ‘first preached to him in advance’ and that he is the ‘father of our faith’ (Galatians 3:7,8) and “God credited his faith as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). I believe the account of Abraham giving the tithe to Melchizedek in Genesis 14 and then recounted in Hebrews 7 is very significant and should not be rejected or dismissed so flippantly and so easily as many anti-tithe grace teachers often do. (When I say anti-tithe grace teachers I just want to make it clear that I don’t mean that in a derogatory way or that they are against giving in the New Covenant. Most of the anti-tithe teachers I’ve heard actually have amazing teaching on giving and generosity that I really enjoy and a number of my good friends in grace don’t believe in tithing.

2. I reject any kind of Old Covenant principle or practice of tithing being applied in the New Covenant. Malachi 3 is an Old Covenant context of blessings and curse, based on performance of law keeping, and has nothing to do with the New Covenant. If it does then the Cross counts for nothing, for it was at the Cross that all curse was broken. Therefore if failing to tithe causes curse to come upon you then your failure to tithe has nullified the power of the Cross. Or if your tithing causes blessing to come upon you then again it has nullified the power of the Cross. The promises of Malachi 3 concerning tithing are only applicable within the context of the covenant that those promises are made. The New Covenant is an entirely different context that has different promises and different conditions. It is at the Cross that curse was broken and blessings were released to us, not on the basis of anything we do but on the basis of what Christ accomplished for us.

The most important question to ask regarding tithing.

I believe the most important question to ask about tithing is ‘does the tithe still belong to God?’ So many grace teachers get caught up in all the detail of Old Covenant tithing and trying to show how that could never relate to us today as it’s a completely different administration of covenants and only related to Israel. I totally agree with them on that. Unfortunately many of them refuse to acknowledge that tithing did in fact exist outside of the Law. Their arguments are highly dependent on showing that tithing originated under the Law because then they can say that it is therefore no longer for us today. Yet I contend that tithing did not originate under the Law but before the Law and therefore the Cross did not do away with it and Christ did not fulfill it when He fulfilled the Law for us. The question is not about are we to tithe like Israel tithed under the Law? The answer to that is so obvious, no. The question is rather, “Did the tithe belong to God before the Law, and does it still belong to God today?” This is what we will be looking at in depth in the rest of this article. So buckle up and put your theology caps on!

Where’s the evidence for tithing in the New Covenant?

People say there’s not enough New Covenant evidence that tells us to tithe. The way I look at it is that there’s not enough New Covenant evidence that tells us not to tithe. If the tithe belonged to God before the Law and also during the Law, why wouldn’t it still belong to Him after the Law? I don’t have faith to stop giving God what belongs to Him because there isn’t enough Scriptural evidence to show me that it doesn’t. It’s got nothing to do with blessings or curse. It has to do with a deep personal conviction that 10% of what I earn has never belonged to me but always to God.

The Importance of Abraham’s tithe.

Genesis 14:18-20 (NKJV)

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High… And he (Abram) gave him a tithe of all.”

Hebrews 7:1-3 (NKJV)

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all.” (Also read from verse 4-10).

I am amazed at how quickly people try to dismiss the account of Abraham tithing to Melchizedek as though it were of no significance. It has absolute significance to New Covenant believers as Christ is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek and the only time Melchizedek is mentioned in the Old Testament is in this account or referring to this account. Surely there is a reason for that? I would like to suggest that the reason anti-tithers dismiss the Genesis 14 and Hebrews 7 account is because it undermines their argument that tithing was only under the Law. Genesis and Hebrews clearly show that tithing began long before the Law and was given to a high priest of grace called Melchizedek who was and is none other than Christ Jesus.

Reasons why we can’t dismiss Abraham’s tithe.

1. People try to dismiss Abraham’s tithe by saying that it wasn’t his money. But that’s not even the point. The point is the Bible says that Abraham tithed. That shows tithing existed before the Law. It was a very different kind of tithing to the Law but the Bible calls it a tithe. We can try to dismiss Abraham’s tithe as much as we want but we can’t deny the fact that Abraham indeed tithed.
2. People try to say that it wasn’t Abraham’s money that he tithed. Let me ask the question, “Is it okay to just give away money that isn’t yours?” No, you only give away money that belongs to you. The point is that if that wasn’t Abraham’s money then he had no right to give it away. That money used to belong to others but it was taken from them in battle and therefore they no longer owned it. Then Abraham went in battle and got it for himself. It now belonged to him to do whatever he wanted with it. The kings, in this account, had no right to demand it back because they had lost it. So when Abraham tithed, it was from his processions.
3. People try to say, “Well he gave the other 90% back to the kings so that means if we follow that sort of tithing then we must give our other 90% away”. Hey, you can do whatever you want with the rest of your money just like Abraham did whatever he wanted. Just because he decided to give it away doesn’t dismiss the fact that he tithed. The reason he gave it away is because he trusted God’s ability to make him wealthy and not man’s. This is actually a picture of New Covenant giving. We give without fear because we know that our source is not man but God.
4. People try to say, “Well Abraham was still under God’s laws and so his tithing was under Law”. Well the Bible says in Galatians 3:17 that Abraham lived 430 years before the Law came and God credited him with righteousness based on his faith and not his keeping of laws.This is grace! Also Abraham is the ‘father of our faith’ according to Galatians chapter 3, so if his faith and actions were faulty then so are ours and what hope do we have.
5. People try to say that it wasn’t really tithing, Abraham was just paying the usual king’s tax of 10%, that was customary after war, to Melchizedek instead of the 5 kings of Genesis 14. Yet Hebrews 7:9-10 says that ‘Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek’ through Abraham since he was figuratively in the loins of his forefather. This shows that what both Abraham and Levi were doing was not king’s tax but tithing. It just so happens that Jesus is the King of kings and the only one truly worthy of the tithe.
6. Some say that God also commanded Abraham to kill his son Isaac, and was commanded to circumcise his children and offer sacrifices so if we are to follow Abraham’s example of tithing we must also do these other things. Their logic is that these were all specific things only for Abraham and not for us and if God doesn’t require us to follow them then He also doesn’t require us to follow Abraham’s tithing. The reality is that God didn’t command or require Abraham to tithe. He tithed out of his own decision and it had no relation to any instructions God gave him later.
7. Some people say that Abraham’s tithe was just a once off event so how can that apply to us continually tithing from everything we earn today? Firstly, it says that Abraham gave a tithe of all. Who is to say that this didn’t refer to Abraham giving a tithe of all that he ever earned? Secondly, Abraham’s grandson Jacob also decided out of his own free will that whatever God gives him he would continue to give to God a tithe of all (Genesis 28:20-22). Jacob wasn’t commanded to do this, he did it after encountering God just like his grandfather. Was it a random figure that Jacob plucked out the air? I doubt it. He either learnt it from Abraham or instinctively knew the tithe belongs to God after his encounter.
8. Finally, some people say that we can’t tithe today because we can’t give to Melchizedek or to the Levitical priests anymore. The reality is we are giving it to Christ when we give it to His Body, the Church. And more specifically our local church. In 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 Paul speaks about ministers of the Gospel and equates them to the priests of the temple. Then Paul says that God has ordained that those who minister the Gospel should live from the Gospel, and from the context he is clearly speaking about financial provision. Now how is it that God has ordained that ministers of the Gospel should be taken care of financially? Through the believers regularly giving financially into their local church and to ministries preaching the Gospel. When you give into Christ’s Body and into His Gospel you are giving to Christ.

 

6 New Covenant pictures of tithing in Hebrews 7.

1. Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, who is Christ.

Melchizedek was the pre-incarnation of Christ and is The high priest of the New Covenant according to Hebrews 7:14-17. This means Abraham was actually tithing to Christ under grace! It’s important to see that Melchizedek is Christ here in this context because it shows that Christ received the tithe just as today He receives our tithe. Hebrews 7:2-3 refers to Melchizedek as King of righteousness, King of Salem (Jerusalem) and King of peace. These are clear descriptions of Christ. Then, “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.” Who do you know that exists without a father or mother or any trace of descent, that doesn’t have a beginning of days nor end of life, but lives forever? If this Melchizedek isn’t Christ then there is a fourth person in the trinity! No, this Melchizedek is Christ, whom Abraham tithed to. I think it’s amazing that Abraham, the father of our faith, tithed to Christ and yet people say there is no biblical evidence to show tithing belongs in the New Covenant!

2. Abraham tithe after the bread and wine.

Genesis 14:18-20

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him…And he (Abram) gave him a tithe of all.”

1 Corinthians 11:23-25

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

This just can’t be overlooked as insignificant. What is the bread and wine a picture of? It is clearly a picture of the New Covenant being Christ’s body that was broken for us and His blood shed for us. Now look at the sequence, Melchizedek ministered the bread and wine first and then Abram tithed. You might think I’m stretching it a bit, but I believe this is a picture to show that tithing continues after the bread and wine. Or in other words, tithing continues after the body was broken and the blood was shed, in the New Covenant!

3. Abraham was blessed before he tithed.

The significant implication revealed in this sequence is simply the way of the New Covenant. That we are blessed before we give our tithe and not because we give our tithe. We are blessed because of the body and the blood, and giving our tithe is simply a faithful response to who God is and that our hearts are voluntarily surrendered to Him. Abraham wasn’t motivated by a command or the promise of blessing, he was motivated by a response to seeing God and instinctively knowing that the tithe belongs to Him and Him alone.

4. Levi tithed to Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:9-10 (NKJV)

“Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him..”

This is inescapable! Levi, who represented the Levitical priesthood who collected tithes from Israel under the law, actually paid tithes, through Abraham, to Melchizedek! This is not some random irrelevant or disposable scripture. It’s in the New Testament and it affects us. It’s a scripture that shows that tithing is outside of the Law and first came into being through the father of our faith, Abraham. And there are so many implications in this. It shows:

• That Abraham’s tithe, was tithing.
• That tithing preceded the Law.
• That Abraham’s tithe was more significant than Levi’s tithe.
• That the tithe didn’t truly belong to Levi under the law, but always belonged to Melchizedek under grace.
• That tithing to Melchizedek under grace is greater than tithing to Levi under Law.
• That true tithing isn’t fulfilled by giving to Levi, but only by giving to Melchizedek, who is The high priest of the grace covenant.
• That God transcended Levi out of an inferior form of tithing and into the superior form of tithing by causing him to tithe through Abraham his forefather.
• That Christ didn’t fulfill the tithe by fulfilling the Law, because the tithe is outside of the Law and actually belongs to God regardless of the Law.
• Neither Abraham, Levi or Christ ended tithing.

5. The tithe always belongs to God.

The tithe belonged to God under Abraham and it belonged to God under the Law (Mal 3:8, 9 and Deut 26:12, 13). And it belongs to Christ today because He is still the high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. If it belongs to God then we really shouldn’t have any problem giving it to Him.

It’s not anti-New Covenant to say that the tithe belongs to God and that we should give it to Him. I personally have no problem saying that. The fact is if we don’t tithe God won’t punish us or withhold blessings from us. He won’t change His love for us or even His relationship towards us. It just simply means that we are keeping something for ourselves that doesn’t belong to us but to God. People can try and call that legalistic but it’s not. Imagine if you prayed for someone with terminal cancer and they were instantly healed. Imagine if they were so thankful to you and in such awe that they began to worship and glorify you for their healing. What would you do? Would you receive the glory? Would you let them worship you? Or would you stop them and say, “No, don’t worship me! The glory is not mine, it belongs to God. You have to give it to Him.” Now why would you say that? That sounds a bit legalistic don’t you think? I mean we’re in grace. The worship and the glory belonged to God under the Law. Those things originated under the Law right? God’s not going to judge us or curse us or withhold blessing from us because we take some of the glory and worship for ourselves, is He?

No, the reason you say that it belongs to God is because in your heart you instinctively (and biblically) know that it belongs to God and not yourself. You therefore don’t have any problem giving to God what belongs to Him. Well in the exact same way if the tithe belongs to God, then why would we think it’s legalistic to have to give it to Him?

The tithe belonged to God before the Law, during the Law and even now after the Law and it’s not legalistic to believe that. It fits perfectly fine into the New Covenant.

6. Tithes were paid under the Law, but given under grace.

Hebrews 7:9

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

(Also see 2 Chronicles 31:5 and Matthew 23:23.)

Hebrews 7:4

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

This shows the difference between Old Covenant tithing and New Covenant tithing. One is commanded and forced and the other is given up voluntarily from the heart. The Law doesn’t have the power to produce genuine faithfulness to God, but grace does because it changes the heart. Under the Old Covenant you are forced to pay tithes, but under the New Covenant you give your tithes to God voluntarily because you’re captured by Him.

 

New Testament Scriptures related to tithing:

1) 2 Corinthians 8:1-7

“Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.”

When Paul writes to the Corinthians about the financial gift they said they would send to help believers in need, he reminds them of the Macedonian Christians who gave an abundant financial gift by the grace of God. He explains to them that they “first gave themselves to the Lord” and then to Paul. This clearly shows they did two things. They gave first to God and then to Paul. Now we can try and say that the first giving was of themselves spiritually to God and the second was financially to Paul, but the words “and then to us” from verse 5 link the first and second giving together to show the context is financial giving.

Now the verse doesn’t say that it’s referring to tithing, but it does seem that the Macedonian church lived by a commitment of giving to God first. Well tithing is a commitment of giving God your first 10%. So though it doesn’t explicitly say they tithed, it quite obviously indicates they were doing something that very much resembled tithing. It’s hard to say that it’s not referring to tithing and I tend to believe it is. If it’s financial giving to the Lord first, well then it would seem very obvious that they still believed in tithing, even though the New Covenant doesn’t explicitly say we should tithe. But God never told Abraham or Jacob to tithe, they voluntarily gave it to God, just like the Macedonian church voluntarily gave to God first, and just like we don’t need to be told to tithe, it’s something we do voluntarily.

2) 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 (NIV)

“Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”

Paul here is speaking to the Corinthian church and asking them to give some money at church when they go on Sunday (the first day of the week), and to do this according to how much income they earn. Now this may or may not actually be talking about tithing but it shows that Paul had no problem asking the Corinthians and the Galatians to do this sort of giving. This is the kind of giving where you give to the church on Sunday every time you get paid and according to how much you get paid so that it can be used for the purpose of taking care of the saints. The only way you can work that out is in a percentage. Perhaps it was clear to all what this percentage was and that’s why Paul didn’t have to say it. But if it was just a free will giving then there is no need to ask people to give according to their income. Just ask people to give whatever they feel to give. Let me ask those that only believe in giving whatever you feel in your heart, have you even taught people to give every Sunday at church in keeping with their income, as Paul freely did? Surely it’s not anti New Covenant for a church to ask its members to give a certain sum of money every time they receive their income and in keeping with their income. Paul, that great apostle of the New Covenant, certainly had no problem in doing that and I’m happy to be in his company.

3) 1 Corinthians 9:13-14

“Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.”

Paul interestingly draws a parallel between New Covenant ministers of the Gospel and Old Covenant Levitical priests who ministered in the temple. He says that just as God commanded (or ordained) the priests to be taken care of, so has He commanded ministers of the Gospel to be taken care of. How did God ordain the priests to be taken care of?

“Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.” (Numbers 18:21).

How does God ordain ministers of the Gospel to be taken care of? It’s pretty obvious, since Paul draws a strong parallel between the two, it’s the tithe.

I believe God has ordained the tithe in the New Covenant to guarantee a continuous provision for the Church and those who are called to minister the Gospel full time. And I believe since we are all called to belong to a local church, this is where we give our tithe to God.

(Now just on a side note, some people quote verses 15-18 to say that Paul never received a salary and that he considered that receiving a salary was an abuse of the Gospel. But that interpretation is wrong and painfully out of context. Paul was simply saying that he would never charge money in exchange for preaching the Gospel. That his motive was never money. That’s what he’s saying. Paul was compelled to preach the Gospel and the idea of charging money for preaching it, was for him, an abuse of the Gospel. Paul was not saying that he is against ministers of the Gospel receiving a salary. He just spent half a chapter saying that they should because that is what God has commanded. Paul actually did received a salary for preaching the Gospel! In fact while he was preaching to these very Corinthians he was receiving wages from other churches. Most people who misquote verses 15-18 ignore what Paul later explains these following verses:

2 Corinthians 11:7- 9

“Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you. And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied.”)

Now many could argue and say that 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 could just be referring to people’s free will giving for those who preach the Gospel, and that it doesn’t necessarily mean the tithe. Well fair enough because it doesn’t exactly say that it refers to tithing. However, I do find it interesting that Paul relates these ministers of the gospel to the priests who did receive the tithes. It seems that God has ordained a way of taking care of the ministers of His Gospel by the faithful giving from His people. If the tithe belonged to God before the Law being received and administered by the High Priest Melchizedek, and if it then still belonged to God during the Law being received and administered by the Levitical priesthood, then doesn’t it seem logical and biblical that it still belongs to God now in the New Covenant being received and administered through Christ’s Body here on earth, the Church?

Well from all the scriptures and pictures that I have given you throughout this whole article, I guess it is now up to you to decide where you stand. I for one delight in faithfully giving my tithe to a church that preaches the glorious Gospel of grace and that represents Christ on the earth. It fills me with joy knowing that the ministers of the Gospel can get on with the job and not have to waste the resource of their time and energy just trying to have enough faith for the finances to fund the Gospel. I believe the Gospel would speed up around the world and have a far greater impact if God’s people were faithful and consistent with regular giving into the Gospel.

The appropriate response to all of this.

If all of what I have said has caused you to see something that you have never seen before and brings about a faith in you that tithing is something that belongs to the New Covenant, then the appropriate response is simply to start tithing.

Or after reading this article you still don’t have faith to believe tithing, that is fine. Hopefully you acknowledge that I’ve handled the issue with honour and accept that many people do believe in New Covenant tithing and not dismiss them for that, but respect and honor their faith.

My heart’s desire is that the issue of tithing would not divide the Church but that people would be able to walk together in love while still holding strong, yet differing, convictions when it comes to certain doctrines.

Well I hope this article has blessed you. If you’ve made it this far I really commend you! It was a long article.

Whether it has or not please feel free to comment below.

God bless you, and may His peace fill you in every way.

Ryan and Kylie Rufus.

 

A final note:

Before you teach against tithing in your church.

This isn’t a reason not to do it, but I just want to caution you about something and perhaps be an outside perspective that may cause you to rethink taking your church down that route. I have seen a number of churches go from believing in tithing to then preaching against it in order to “liberate their people and release the grace of giving in them”. I have yet to see one church where the generosity went up. In fact the ones I have witnessed had the opposite effect. Their giving went down dramatically to the point where the church could hardly pay their bills let alone salaries. Staff were let go and the pastors had to go and get full time jobs. Forget about advancement and growth and taking care of needs, they couldn’t even pay their bills which is really sad and stressful. I listened to a pastor who was so big against tithing complaining to his congregation that they don’t give enough to even pay the electricity bill every month. And these are the guys that are big on New Covenant giving and talk about it all the time. Often they have to give big offering speeches every week before the collection whereas the churches that believe in tithing just take up the offering quickly and get on with things. When everyone in the church faithfully gives their tithe the church needs are taken care of and the church can get on with the work of ministry without having to stress over finances. This is the way God provides for His Church.

I really question the integrity of people’s convictions about not tithing when their giving goes down as a result of getting free from tithe teaching. If tithing under the law was 10% how is it possible that people who are free in grace and living by faith and the Spirit would not be generous to give at least 10%, if not much more? To be honest, in my experience the people who are against tithing often give the least. For me that says that they’ll always have a bias against tithing regardless of Scripture simply because they don’t want to give. I’m certainly not judging them for not giving. That’s between them and God. I’m just saying that there’s a conflict of interest in their desire for truth regarding tithing.

Having said all this, if your conviction of faith is that tithing doesn’t belong in the New Covenant but you are a generous giver, and your church gives generously then praise God for your faith. I for one celebrate it!