An Unabashed Look at ~The Tithe

My Tithe Story
I want to be clear when I say 'Tithe because I don`t want to conIuse it at all with giving.
Within the NT we see many diIIerent reIerences to giving and how we should give as Christians.
2 Cor 9:7 is the verse that is written, at least in part, on many oI the envelopes used to collect
tithes and oIIerings. And it states: ..Ior God loves a cheerIul giver.` In essence, I believe that
we as NT Christians are to give to the needy and such, Iirst to those in the body oI Christ then to
the community around us, all as the Lord purposes in our hearts.

I was raised in a church pew and I hold many oI those church memories dear to my heart.
I do not apologize Ior the many things I still believe concerning God and his statues that came
Irom my church upbringing. My Iocus in this article is to bring to light one subject that is learned
and taught in many churches. This is the teaching oI the tithe as a biblical principle Ior the New
Testament body oI Christ.

As young children in church we are taught to give and this I believe is one oI the basic
Christian principles and Ioundations oI Iaith. It should be practiced and all the more as we
continue in these wary times. Many people are hurting and when you give Irom your heart it
opens many doors Ior the gospel to prosper in a soul. As many people grow into adulthood in the
church, the tithe starts to become more the norm with oIIerings encouraged but the tithe being
more essential. Several reasons Ior your tithe are stressed, Irom having the ability to vote in
business meetings to a heavy dose oI teaching your place in eternity based on whether you tithe
or not.

I used to be a IaithIul tither, with no lapses that I can recall, until I got into my sixth or
seventh year oI marriage and my wiIe and I were struggling Iinancially. I was involved in the
music ministry and I Ielt terrible that I was struggling to pay my tithes. I knew the rule was that
in order to be involved in any ministry you had to pay your tithe. I approached my pastor and
told my situation and was told to get my house in order concerning my Iinances and start tithing
again. With that promise made I was able to continue on in the music ministry but I still had a
heavy heart Irom Ieeling like I was in over my head with my Iinances and really unable to tithe
as instructed. TruthIully my pastor was correct, I was not a being a good steward oI my Iinances.
But the idea oI me being a good tither was not the way to correct my stewardship.

During this time oI heaviness I was introduced to a website indicating that tithing was not
scriptural Ior NT believers in Christ. At Iirst I was completely Ilabbergasted that someone would
have the audacity to write something like that and truthIully it scared me that I had even read it.
It was easy to discern the author had a vindictive spirit and this truthIully turned me away Irom it
Ior a while. But he had too many scriptures that I was unable to dispute and had never heard
beIore concerning the tithe. He also had answers to the popular scriptures given to support the
tithe. It bothered me and I thought this guy could not be the only person that had this thought
process so I did a search on the internet Ior tithing. I spent over two years dealing with the tithe
and making sure that I understood what I was being shown. The Iollowing is a condensed
version explaining why tithing ended at Calvary.



Abrams' 1|the or a k|ngs 1r|bute?
Gen 141423
Cen 1414 When Abram heard LhaL hls relaLlve had been Laken capLlve he led ouL hls Lralned men born ln hls
house Lhree hundred and elghLeen and wenL ln pursulL as far as uan
Cen 1413 Pe dlvlded hls forces agalnsL Lhem by nlghL he and hls servanLs and defeaLed Lhem and pursued
Lhem as far as Pobah whlch ls norLh of uamascus
Cen 1416 Pe broughL back all Lhe goods and also broughL back hls relaLlve LoL wlLh hls possesslons and also Lhe
women and Lhe people
Cen 1417 1hen afLer hls reLurn from Lhe defeaL of Chedorlaomer and Lhe klngs who were wlLh hlm Lhe klng of
Sodom wenL ouL Lo meeL hlm aL Lhe valley of Shaveh (LhaL ls Lhe klngs valley)
Cen 1418 And Melchlzedek klng of Salem broughL ouL bread and wlne now he was a prlesL of Cod MosL Plgh
Cen 1419 Pe blessed hlm and sald 8lessed be Abram of Cod MosL Plgh ossessor of heaven and earLh
Cen 1420 And blessed be Cod MosL Plgh Who has dellvered your enemles lnLo your hand Pe gave hlm a LenLh
of all
Cen 1421 1he klng of Sodom sald Lo Abram Clve Lhe people Lo me and Lake Lhe goods for yourself
Cen 1422 Abram sald Lo Lhe klng of Sodom l have sworn Lo Lhe LC8u Cod MosL Plgh possessor of heaven and
earLh
Cen 1423 LhaL l wlll noL Lake a Lhread or a sandal Lhong or anyLhlng LhaL ls yours for fear you would say l have
made Abram rlch

A tr|bute (from LaLln conLrlbuLlon) ls wealLh ofLen ln klnd LhaL one parLy glves Lo anoLher as a slgn of
respecL

l make a polnL Lo use Lhe name Abram lnsLead of Abraham here because l belleve LhaL hls name change
Lo Abraham colncldes wlLh a name change LhaL a ChrlsLlan recelves when he repenLs and follows afLer
ChrlsL Laklng on Lhe name of !esus Abram was a sLlll ln all lnLenLs and purposes a pagan and made
many mlsLakes on hls [ourney especlally before hls dlrecL encounLer wlLh Cod and colncldlng name
change uo we emphaslze anyLhlng else LhaL Abram dld (Cen 12 Cen 16) llke we do wlLh Lhe LenLh he
gave Melchlzedek?? l am noL lndlcaLlng LhaL Lhe LenLh he gave Lo Melchlzedek was wrong before Cod
8uL Lhe quesLlon ls was lL Lo Cod??

1he prevlous passage of scrlpLure ls used by many Lo lndlcaLe LhaL LlLhlng ls prelaw buL Lhls lncldenL of
LlLhlng does noL follow any porLlon of Lhe Law deflned laLer ln scrlpLure lurLhermore Lhe concepL LhaL
we use Loday ls LhaL 10 belongs Lo Lhe Lord and Lhe resL ls ours for our pleasure 8uL we also read ln
Lhls passage LhaL Abram gave Lhe resL of hls lncrease (90) away Lo Lhe klngs LhaL had been plllaged by
Lhe group LhaL Look LoL capLlve So Abram reLalned noLhlng from Lhe whole ordeal excepL LoL and hls
household lL ls noL recorded anywhere ln scrlpLure LhaL Abram LlLhed any porLlon of hls lncome asseLs
or acqulred goods agaln afLer Lhe sLory wlLh Melchlzedek ln Cen 1420 Who would he have LlLhed Lo
slnce Cod or Lhe Law had noL compleLely been revealed yeL??


Iacobs' Vow
Gen 282022

Cen 2820 1hen !acob made a vow saylng lf Cod wlll be wlLh me and wlll keep me on Lhls [ourney LhaL l Lake
and wlll glve me food Lo eaL and garmenLs Lo wear
Cen 2821 and l reLurn Lo my faLhers house ln safeLy Lhen Lhe LC8u wlll be my Cod
Cen 2822 1hls sLone whlch l have seL up as a plllar wlll be Cods house and of all LhaL ?ou glve me l wlll surely
glve a LenLh Lo ?ou

lL's lnLeresLlng LhaL Lhls scrlpLure ls noL Lalked abouL ln Lhe LlLhe Leachlng l would surmlse LhaL Lhe
Leachers Lhlnk some folks would use Lhls as a means Lo noL glve Cod anyLhlng unLll Lhey were
#esLabllshed" 8uL Lhls ls noL anyLhlng Lhe 8lble Leaches And #esLabllshed" means dlfferenL Lhlngs Lo
dlfferenL people and how are we supposed Lo govern LhaL??
1haL ls a good quesLlon and l Lhlnk LhaL ls a ma[or polnL ln Lhls whole debaLe My answer ls LhaL we are
nC1 Lo govern whaL people dlscern ln Lhelr hearLs we only can look for Lhe frulL of Lhe Poly SplrlL lf Lhey
have none or Lhe frulL ls bad Lhen Lhe Word already declares Lhem Lo be ln Lhe wrong place splrlLually
Cod knows and Lhey know Cur deslre should be LhaL we pray for Lhem Lo produce good frulL and allow
Cod Lo work


1he 8|b||ca||y Def|ned 1|the (Law)
Agr|cu|tura| roducts

Lev 27:30 oI the land, |whether| oI the seed oI the land, |or| oI the Iruit oI the tree
Lev 27:32 oI the herd, or oI the Ilock, |even| the tenth oI whatsoever passeth under the rod
Deut 1423 Lhe LlLhe of Lhy corn of Lhy wlne and of Lhlne oll and Lhe flrsLllngs of Lhy herds and of
Lhy flocks
Matt 2323 mlnL and dlll and cumln

1hose LhaL Leach Lhe LlLhe lndlcaLe LhaL we use money Loday lnsLead of agrlculLural producLs because
Lhe producL of Lhe land was Lhe commerce Lhen and Lhey dld noL use/have money as we know lL Loday
8uL money clearly ls menLloned ln Cen 1712

And he that |s e|ght days o|d sha|| be c|rcumc|sed among you every man ch||d |n your generat|ons he that |s
born |n the house or bought w|th money of any stranger wh|ch |s not of thy seed

And no scrlpLure polnLs Lo changlng from produce and llvesLock Lo a worldly governmenL backed
currency


no|y Unto]1o the Lord

1hls phrase or varlanLs of lL occurs over flfLy Llmes for all manner of Lhlngs LhaL are #holy Lo Lhe Lord"
And we now only use lL concernlng Lhe LlLhe and brlng lL forward Lo Lhe new CovenanL LhaL we
fellowshlp under lndlcaLlng LhaL lL was Lhe mosL #holy Lo Lhe Lord"
Why do we noL observe Lhe SabbaLh as Lhe Law sLaLes?? Lxd 208
Why do we noL brlng anlmals for offerlngs for sln or Lhanksglvlng as Lhe Law requlres?? 1hls and
Lhe LlLhe were boLh pracLlced before Lhe Law was glven
Cen 434 Cen 222 Cen 3314 Lxd 1812
Why do we noL have holy vessels ln our churches as dlcLaLed ln Lhe Law?? Lzr 828

Iesus fu|f|||ed the who|e Law at Ca|vary
We sLlll observe Lhe SabbaLh! 1he SabbaLh ls every day when you are ln ChrlsL!!
We do noL brlng anlmals for sacrlflce because !esus was Lhe flnal sacrlflce and we are Lo dle
dally
Cod creaLed Lhe besL earLhen vessel when he made us and Lhe besL Lemple ls Lhe one LhaL he
now dwells ln our hearLs



s 1he 1|the |n the N1?

1he LlLhe ls never LaughL ln Lhe n1 scrlpLures as someLhlng LhaL Lhe ChrlsLlans dld or were requlred Lo
do l would Lhlnk LhaL aul who sLarLed and admonlshed so many churches on many dlfferenL Lhlngs
would have addressed Lhe LlLhe aL some polnL lL would be amazlng Lo hear LhaL noL one person or
congregaLlon dld noL face Lhe same Lhlng LhaL so many churches face Loday ln Leachlng people Lhe LlLhe
Acts 244 And a|| that be||eved were together and had a|| th|ngs common
Acts 432 And the mu|t|tude of them that be||eved were of one heart and of one sou| ne|ther sa|d any of them
that ought of the th|ngs wh|ch he possessed was h|s own but they had a|| th|ngs common
LeL me clarlfy LhaL Lhe n1 dld noL sLarL unLll !esus dled and Lhe vell was rlpped from Lhe Lop Lo Lhe
boLLom AnoLher slde noLe ls LhaL we never flnd where !esus broughL LlLhes Lo Lhe Lemple 1haL ls
because he was noL a land owner LhaL broughL forLh produce or llvesLock from Lhe land of lsrael Pe also
dld noL recelve LlLhes from anyone noL all of Lhe !ews were requlred Lo glve LlLhes

AcLs 13 ls a good example of people Lrylng Lo lmplemenL Lhe Law on bellevers and Lhey were rebuked
soundly by eLer 1hey also dlscussed whaL Laws were appllcable Lo Lhe church and no menLlon of Lhe
LlLhe ls recorded Lhere We are all a royal prlesLhood and holy before Cod lf we are washed ln Lhe blood
and belleve on !esus Church MlnlsLry ls noL commlssloned as Lhe new hlgh prlesLs as was ln !esus' day
All LhaL are ln Lhe body of ChrlsL are prlesLs accordlng Lo scrlpLure
1e 29 8ut you are A CnCSLN kACL A roya| kLS1nCCD A nCL NA1CN A LCLL ICk CWN
CSSLSSCN so that you may proc|a|m the exce||enc|es of n|m who has ca||ed you out of darkness |nto n|s
marve|ous ||ght
1e 210 for you once were NC1 A LCLL but now you are 1nL LCLL CI GCD you had NC1 kLCLVLD
MLkC but now you have kLCLVLD MLkC

MosL Leachers polnL Lo Pebrews 7 and say here lL ls 8uL lf you really read LhaL chapLer lL has noLhlng Lo
do wlLh LlLhe lL was ldenLlfylng a slLuaLlon Lo relaLe Melchlzdek and !esus lease noLlce verses 3 and 18
19 and focus on Lhe word #commandmenL"
Verse S And those |ndeed of the sons of Lev| who rece|ve the pr|ests off|ce have commandment |n the Law to
co||ect a tenth from the peop|e that |s from the|r brethren a|though these are descended from Abraham
Verse 1819 Ior on the one hand there |s a sett|ng as|de of a former commandment because of |ts weakness
and use|essness (for the Law made noth|ng perfect) and on the other hand there |s a br|ng|ng |n of a better
hope through wh|ch we draw near to God
Also please noLlce Peb 712
Ior when the pr|esthood |s changed of necess|ty there takes p|ace a change of |aw a|so

Whlle Lhere ls noLhlng wrong wlLh a fullLlme pald clergy supporLed from freewlll offerlngs Lhe orlglnal
advocaLes of LlLhlng ln Lhe church LaughL on Lhe false premlse LhaL Lhe new church mlnlsLry ls Lhe
equlvalenL and replacemenL of Lhe Cld 1esLamenL prlesLhood


Stewardsh|p

1lLhlng ls now lawfully fulfllled afLer Calvary lf ChrlsL ls dwelllng ln a hearL LhaL person should noL have
Lo be compelled Lo glve by someone else A ChrlsL fllled person wlll glve naLurally especlally when Lhey
have good lnfluences and are LaughL correcL sLewardshlp CorrecL sLewardshlp ls noL glvlng Lhe 10 and
Lhe resL ls mlne Lo do whaLever wlLh CorrecL sLewardshlp ls LhaL Lhe 100 belongs Lo Lhe Lord and l am
a vessel for hls purpose So many parables LhaL !esus Lold and sLorles of hls encounLers when he walked
Lhe earLh back Lhls LhoughL process up 1he 8lch ?oung 8uler 1he 1alenLs
1lLhlng has morphed lnLo a work LhaL we do Lo galn heaven no one LhaL l know preaches lL blaLanLly llke
LhaL buL Lhe prosperlLy gospel ls blaLanL abouL lL and l belleve LhaL Lhe so called prosperlLy gospel has lLs
maln foundaLlon ln Lhe Leachlng of Lhe LlLhe
Accordlng Lo 1Cor 1613 we are Lo seL aslde a porLlon Lo glve Lo Lhe churches and salnLs LhaL need
asslsLance lL has no menLlon of collecLlng for Lhe church or #sLorehouse" llke Lhe conLexL LhaL ls
preached from Malachl 310 lL was a dlfferenL sysLem Lhan whaL ls now esLabllshed ln Lhe new
covenanL
As l sLaLed before 100 of our lncome belongs Lo Cod We are Lo Lake care of our famlly Lhose ln need
ln Lhe church and oLher falLhful churches Lhen Lhose ln our communlLy Pow can we show forLh Lhe love
of ChrlsL by meeLlng oLhers needs lf we neglecL flrsL our famlly? WhaL klnd of wlLness ls LhaL?

11| S8 8ut |f any prov|de not for h|s own and spec|a||y for those of h|s own house he hath den|ed the fa|th
and |s worse than an |nf|de|

lL's sllly LhaL a LlLhe ls demanded of Lhose LhaL can barely meeL Lhelr needs and someone LhaL ls well off
ln Lhe church can LlLhe buL doesn'L have Lhe hearL of Cod Lo mlnlsLer Lo Lhelr broLhers need MosL ofLen
Lhe aLLlLude of Lhose ls LhaL l pald my LlLhe and l am ok wlLh Cod now 8ologna! 1hls ls exacLly
counLeracLlve Lo Lhe polnL LhaL !esus made abouL Lhe harlsees glvlng ouL of Lhelr wealLh when Lhe
wldow gave from her hearL

1here |s no cons|stency |n the examp|es of t|th|ng we read or are taught Iacob's t|the d|d not
match what Abram d|d and ne|ther of the|r examp|es where adopted |nto the Law A|so
churches today do not observe the t|the |n any form that the C1 teaches

1|th|ng |s NC1 fa|r to a|| part|es
1hat |s why a|| were not requ|red to t|the |n the C1

Iam||y #1 S|ng|e ncome Iam||y #2 S|ng|e ncome
Marrled w/3 klds Marrled w/3 klds
Salary $30000 Salary $100000
1lLhes $3000 1lLhes $10000
1axes 20 $6000 1axes 3S $33000
Not even our government requ|res the same percentage of both fam|||es
8emalnlng lunds 8emalnlng lunds
$21000 $33000

lf you have read all Lhe way Lo Lhe end of Lhls arLlcle l wanL Lo Lhank you and l really hope LhaL lL blesses
your splrlL l really do noL seek Lo cause dlssenslon amongsL Lhe breLhren buL l belleve Lhe Leachlng of
Lhe LlLhe ls noL blbllcal 1hls ls only a small porLlon LhaL has been researched on Lhls Loplc
A much more lndepLh flndlng ls avallable aL hLLp//wwwLlLhlngrusskellycom/

A DI book that fee| na||s how Chr|st|ans shou|d g|ve |s found here
hLLp//wwwsalvaLlonbygraceorg/uc/sub/docs/grace_glvlngpdf

Cne lasL polnL l would llke Lo suggesL anoLher blble Lo have for reference lf you are uslng Lhe k!v 1he
nAS8 ls a greaL verslon Lo have around Lo help clarlfy Lhe #klngs Lngllsh" ln Lhe k!v

lf you run across Lhls leLLer and have furLher quesLlons please feel free Lo conLacL me aL prwllll73[msncom