Hotspots: Malachi 3:10 Part III

Everything in the Bible needs to be taught in the proper light & context = through the finished work of Christ on the Cross. If you take the “text” out of context you're left w/ the “con”. The Bible teaches that tithing does not apply to Christians in the New Covenant relationship we have.   

Romans, Galatians & other NT passages make it clear that Christians are not under the law of Moses, we are under the law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:20-21; James 1:25; 2:8, Rom. 13:8-10). The Ekklesia is never commanded to tithe. If the Early Church practiced tithing, then the concept should surface somewhere but it does not, even though giving was an important part of early Christian worship.

Paul writes about sharing material possessions to care for the needs of the poor ...  to sustain the Christian ministry .... he urges & commends generosity ... but never once does he demand, as a command from God, that any specific amount be given.

It’s easier in some ways to follow a set of rules; just give your 10% &  think all is well but God wants us to be led by the Holy Spirit. The point is we're not living by rules but in a relationship w/ the living God. 

I am definitely a part of Team Free: I haven't tithed in years & you know what? I'm still blessed because I'm in Christ & He's in me. God wants you to pay your bills, rent or mortgage, He wants you to feed & clothe your kids, it's not a good witness if you don't & you know what else? He understands that sometimes things get tight; He's not hard up for money.

Percent is not the issue, it's the motives behind why you give what you give.

I've seen tweet after tweet, post after post, blog after blog from each team defending their respective stances, belittling the other team, duking it out in the ring leaving a bloody mess in it's wake.

Let me just summarize the basics here:

• Abraham tithed from the spoils of war, not his personal possessions
• Abraham tithed once, not weekly, not every time he received a paycheck
• Jacob said “bless me, then I'll tithe”
• The tithe was never, ever money
• Jesus said tithing was a matter of the Law
• Christians are dead to the Law
• Christ is the end of the Law to everyone who believes
• Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law 

I refer you to Acts 15:1, 24

"We have heard that certain people which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised, and keep the Law, to whom we gave no such commandment..."

I'm all for people giving, what I'm against is twisting, abusing & misinterpreting Scripture in view of the finished work of Christ on the Cross. What I take issue w/ is those who say that tithing is a binding requirement under the New Covenant & by not doing so brings a curse or cuts off your blessings.

• Malachi 3:10 = cursed if you don't tithe (observe the Law)
• Galatians 3:10 = cursed if you do tithe (observe the Law) 

Everything comes through Christ now: our blessings, our prosperity. Legalistic tithing has nothing to do w/ it.

Whatever word you use (paying, bringing, giving), if you have purposed in your heart to tithe, then do it & enjoy yourself in Him but please do not hang a legal requirement that Jesus freed us from (& was never written to the Ekklesia) around anyone's necks.

Giving is right, but only as it comes from the heart.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

“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 out of compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work”