Beyond tithing

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:6)

We've now come to the final study in this series, which is on the subject of tithing: one of the most controversial subjects in the Church today. Is it God's will that Christians tithe or isn't it? And by tithing I mean giving a tenth of our income to God, usually through our local church. Some claim that tithing is God's will, and quote scriptures to prove it; others claim that it's not. So who is right? Would it surprise you if I said that both can be right? How can that be? Let me explain.

God's will for his people is revealed in his Word. All Christian doctrine is based on scripture, but it's how we handle scripture that produces differences in doctrine.

Correctly handling the Word

Paul wrote to Timothy:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

It's the aim of every preacher and teacher to handle God's Word correctly so they can present the truth to the Church. The early Church had particular problems in this area. Some Pharisees, having come to Christ, were teaching that Gentile believers had to be circumcised and obey the whole law of Moses if they wanted to be saved. That was clearly wrong, but it was understandable coming from Jews who'd been brought up under the Old Covenant.

What we're taught and what we've come to believe can have a powerful effect upon our lives, even if it's not the truth. Who of us believes it was an apple that Eve took and ate in the garden? The Bible doesn't say it was an apple, it says it was the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that was in the middle of the garden (Genesis 2:17; 3:3). We've been taught it was an apple (perhaps at school or through children's books) and we've believed it, even though the Bible doesn't teach it. We need to find out what the Bible actually does teach, and not what we think it teaches. This is especially true with respect to tithing.

Tithing not taught in the New Testament

Tithing is mentioned only three times in the New Testament and, on each occasion, it refers to Jews who were under the Law.

Jesus told the Pharisees that they were meticulous in their tithing, but they were neglecting the more important aspects of the Law, such as justice, mercy and faithfulness. He said they should have practised the latter without neglecting the former (Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42).

Jesus was talking to Pharisees who were under the Law, as he was under the Law (Galatians 4:4). He said that they should tithe, but there were more important things they should do.
Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee who, boasting about his righteousness, stood up in the temple and thanked God that he fasted twice a week and gave a tenth of all he got (Luke 18:9–12). Again, the Pharisee was a Jew who was under the Law.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews points out that Abraham gave a tenth of his plunder to Melchizedek, who was a pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus. Proponents of tithing claim that this teaches that Christians should tithe. I don't think it does teach that.

The letter to the Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians (Jews who had become Christians) to teach them how important Jesus is. To do that the writer shows that Jesus is greater than the angels (Hebrews 1:1–14); that he's greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1–6); that he's greater than Aaron (Hebrews 5:1–10); and that Jesus (Melchizedek) is so great that even Abraham tithed to him (Hebrews 7:1–10). But he wasn't teaching that Christians should tithe; he wasn't teaching that Jewish Christians should tithe; he was simply showing that Jesus is greater than Abraham.

Those Jewish Christians were no longer under the Old Covenant, they were under the New Covenant, as we are. The Old had gone, the New had come (Hebrews 8:1–13).

Those are the only references to tithing in the New Testament. If tithing is God's will for Christians then why isn't it clearly taught; everything else is? We're told (amongst other things) not to commit sexual immorality, not to get drunk, not to be greedy, not to be idolaters, not to grumble about our circumstances, to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, to give to them when they're in need, to give to the poor and to give to those who feed us spiritually—but we're not told to tithe. Why? If it's so important and really is God's will, then why isn't it taught?

There are two hundred and sixty chapters in the New Testament; there's plenty of room to teach it, but it's not there. Why isn't it there? Don't you think that God is saying something to us by omitting it? And if it's not there then why do we teach it as if it's part of the New Covenant, which clearly it isn't? As a minister of that covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6), I can only teach what is there, not what is not there.

Arguments for tithing

Because tithing can't be justified from the New Testament, some try to justify it from the Old Testament. They say that Abraham tithed before the Law. That is perfectly true. So did Jacob. They then argue that if tithing began before the Law, it must still be in effect after the Law. What the Law didn't bring in, they say, it cannot take out.

As I mentioned in the first study, that may sound a convincing argument, but it doesn't hold water. If that is true then we should still be sacrificing. Noah sacrificed clean animals to the Lord eight hundred years before the Law (Genesis 8:20). The Law didn't bring sacrificing in, so it can't take sacrificing out, therefore we should still be sacrificing today. Is that true? Certainly not.

I've heard that some teach that if you don't tithe God will curse you. They point to Malachi 3:8–9. That was written to Jews, who were under the Law, and not to Christians. Such preachers clearly haven't grasped the gospel.

Any Jew who failed to obey the Law would be cursed by God (Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26). But Jesus became a curse for his people by taking their curses upon himself, for it is written 'Cursed is anyone who is hung on a tree (Galatians 3:13)'. Any Jew (even today) who comes to Christ is released from the curse that has come upon him for failing to obey the Law. But Gentile Christians have never been under the Law so they cannot be cursed for not obeying it.

God is perfectly just; he will not punish someone for an offense they haven't committed. Circumcision is the sign that a person has accepted the Law and must obey it (Galatians 5:3). If a Christian is not a circumcised Jew then they've never been under the Law.

Those preachers don't handle the Word of God correctly. They mix the two covenants. They try to impose parts of the Old Covenant on Christians when it's not God's will. Paul would have pulled his hair out. Paul wrote nearly a quarter of the New Testament. Did he ever teach tithing? No way! He knew the truth. And he was a Pharisee and had tithed meticulously under the Law (Philippians 3:4b–6).

When the Council at Jerusalem met to decide whether Gentile believers should be circumcised and made to obey the Law of Moses, Peter said that the Law had been a yoke that neither they nor their fathers could bear (Acts 15:10). So, after seeking God, they said:

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. (Acts 15:28–29)

Those are the only parts of the Law that God wants us to obey. Tithing, again, is not mentioned. Judge for yourself: if tithing is God's will, then surely the Holy Spirit would have mentioned it at that point.

Reasons for tithing

Reading this study you might think that I don't want to give to God at all, but that's not true. I believe in giving generously to God, but not in tithing, because tithing isn't taught in the New Testament, whereas giving generously is (2 Corinthians 8:1–7).

We have to understand why tithing was introduced in the first place. In previous studies we've seen that the tithes that were brought to the Lord were used to support the Levites (those in full-time ministry) and their families. They were also used to supply food for the poor in Israel—both Jews and those who were foreigners (non-Jews). In the New Testament (as we've seen), there are instructions given in respect to those types of giving, but no percentages or amounts are mentioned: it's left to the individual to decide how much to give. Why is that? Why did God quote figures in the Old Testament, but not in the New Testament? The answer is that in the Old Testament his people didn't have his Spirit.

When our Lord's disciples were with him they asked him to teach them how to pray; they hadn't a clue what to say or what to pray about, so he gave them the Lord's prayer. He said: 'When you pray, say this… (Luke 11:1–4)'. Have you ever wondered why you don't pray that prayer? Perhaps you do pray it, but I don't think many of us do.

The reason we don't pray that prayer is because we now have God's Spirit to lead us in prayer, but the disciples didn't have the Spirit at that time. They were Jews under the Law, under the Old Covenant, and without the Spirit, as their forefathers had been for generations before them. The Holy Spirit wasn't given to the disciples until after Jesus had been glorified (John 7:38–39). After his resurrection Jesus appeared to them, breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:19–22).' At that point they were born again; before that time they'd been following him in the flesh.

If God hadn't told his people to tithe in the Old Testament, they wouldn't have known how much to give. That is why tithing is not taught in the New Testament because we now have the Spirit of God to lead us in our giving. Paul taught that everyone should give what they'd decided in their hearts to give (2 Corinthians 9:7)—their hearts having been renewed by the Holy Spirit.

So why, having received the Spirit of God do we still follow the written code—religiously giving a tenth to God like the Pharisees did (and feeling proud of it sometimes like the Pharisees did)? God said that under the New Covenant he would put his laws in our minds and write them on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). How does he do that? By his Spirit.

Galatians 5:18 says that those who are led by the Spirit of God are not under Law. Why is that? Because those who are led by the Spirit of God will fulfil the Law; they will fulfil God's purpose for their lives in every way, including that of giving.

Disputable matters

So, is it God's will that Christians tithe, or not? No it's not, but it is if you think it is. This is a disputable matter in the Church, and teaching on how we should handle disputable matters is given in Romans 14.

Some Christians believe that tithing is God's will and they think they can prove it by quoting Old Testament scriptures. I don't believe their arguments are valid, but they believe that they are. If they believe that tithing is God's will for them, then they should tithe, otherwise they're sinning against the Lord. But for those who don't believe that it's God's will, and don't tithe, then they're not sinning against the Lord.

God allows us to decide for ourselves in these matters and accepts our decision as to what is right and wrong. But, having made up our mind, we should then follow our conscience, otherwise we sin (1 Corinthians 8:1–13).

I tithed for years; I was convinced that it was God's will. I could see it in scripture; I heard that other Christians did it and I thought it was right (and I did it unto the Lord), but I had problems: I wanted to do it correctly. Was it before tax or after tax? I couldn't work it out. I decided in the end that I should be giving to God from the firstfruits (Proverbs 3:9–10), so it must be before tax. But then what was our income? We gave as a family, so our income was everything our family received.

We had two small children at the time and, as I was seeking the Lord about this, people started to give them money—lots of small amounts—so I wrote them all down and it was all tithed. I wanted my children to obey God even from an early age.

Then my mum gave us a brand new fridge. I couldn't tithe that, and I hadn't the money to give a tenth of its value to the Lord. It was income of a sort. If she hadn't given it to us, we would eventually have bought one out of tithed income, so what should I do? I didn't want to rob God (Malachi 3:8–9); I really was in a mess. I so much wanted to obey the Lord in tithing but I didn't know how to.

Some would say that we're not to tithe legalistically like that, it's just a general principle. But if tithing is of God, then what are we to base our tithing on; I wanted to know? I searched the New Testament but it doesn't tell us, because God doesn't tell us.

The Spirit-led life

I sat down at my desk one day and I just couldn't work it out, and the thought came me: 'This is a yoke that I cannot bear. I'm in bondage to this problem. This is not a life of freedom, it's a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). Lord help me!' And immediately the Holy Spirit dropped a figure into my heart that set me free. I just knew in my heart how much to give.

From that day to this I don't bother about how much I earn or what I'm given; percentages have gone out of the window. I ask the Holy Spirit what to give, when to give, and where to give it. And he leads me, as he'll lead each one of us if we ask him, because that is why he's come!

And then I began to see that tithing is not taught in the New Testament, which is why I couldn't work the details out. We're to be led of the Spirit in every area of our lives, including giving. The Old Testament is governed by the written code, but the New Testament is governed by the Spirit—in everything (Romans 7:6)!

That is why I cannot teach tithing because, even though tithing is not wrong, and those who tithe will be blessed by God (by the way Luke 6:38 is the New Testament equivalent of Malachi 3:10), I know there's something infinitely better and more precious than that—the Spirit-led life—and I wouldn't go back to tithing now—ever, on principle—because God has taken me beyond it. I don't want to go backwards; I want to go forwards (Galatians 4:9).

Are you ready to move forward with God? The choice is yours. The Spirit or the written code? It's for you to decide.

Michael Graham
December 2007

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