Originally posted by norey:
Perhaps you should check out whether your friend who tithes 90 cents out of his $1 left in his pockey has anymore than $1-
Also check out if he's expecting charity from Christians brothers and sisters who will want to help him out when he's broke
Tithes are for Jewish believers, Christians give cheerfully, it's not how much but the inside feelings that count! One may give 99 cents, and done it grudging too!
In the bible, Jesus says this: Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Hebrews says this of Jesus: Hebrews 5:9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
Also Jesus says this in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Question: was Jesus a Jew? Much of what Jesus and the Apostles taught were directed to the Jewish people so in order to understand about the tithe, we have to accept it in the correct context. We have to be very careful about the correct teaching in the bible. Because we all follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself says that He comes not to abolish the law but to fulfil it. So this law of tithing is still in place. We are also commanded to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect and that we are to obey Jesus.
What is a tithe? The word "tithe" is simply an old English word meaning "tenth." It refers to the giving of a "tenth" of one's income to God. And Almighty God directs that this tenth be given to Him-to His true ministers to do His Work-not just to be handed out anywhere.
Long before the "law of Moses" was ever codified, Abraham-the father of the faithful-was faithfully paying TITHES to God! We read in Genesis 14:17-20 how Abraham honored God's High Priest Melchizedek after God had delivered his enemies into his hand, "And he gave him a TITHE of all."
Later, Jacob promised to serve the God of Abraham and stated: "Of all that You give me I will surely give a TENTH to You" (Genesis 28:22).
What else does the bible say about tithing?
Malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
Malachi 3:6-9 6 “ For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the LORD of hosts. “ But you said, ‘ In what way shall we return?’ 8 “ Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘ In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
Proverbs 3:9 says “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase.
1 Corinthians 10:26 says this, “For the [whole] earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it”
Leviticus 27:30 says “And all of the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.
Leviticus 27:31 “And if a man wants to redeem [or keep] any of his tithe, he shall add a fifth [or 20%] to it.
From these verses we see that:
1) God does not change. So God is the same today as He was in the OT.
2) Tithing is a command from God.
3) If we do not tithe, we are robbing God and we come under a curse.
4) We are to honor the Lord with our possessions and with the firstfruits of all our increase.
5) Everything belongs to God.
6) If you want to keep the tithe you have to add 20% to it.
7) If we tithe, we will be blessed.
In the New Testament, God inspired the Apostle Paul to show that the law of tithing is now altered or changed so that the tithes are once again to be paid to God's spiritual priesthood-as that of Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes. This account is found in the seventh chapter of Hebrews. Paul describes how Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek (v. 2). Next, he describes how GREAT Melchizedek's priesthood must have been (vv. 3-4). Then Paul shows that the Levites themselves-through their ancestor Abraham-paid tithes to Melchizedek, obviously a GREATER priest in view of this fact. In verses 11-12, Paul shows that the Levitical priesthood was only temporary and never brought perfection. Therefore, once again the spiritual priesthood of Melchizedek has been re-instituted through Christ and the tithing law is again CHANGED so that God's tithes revert as before to the spiritual priests-the true ministers of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul was writing to Jewish Christians who understood at least the letter of God's Law and had no "argument" about the FACT of the tithing law. While his main emphasis is the greatness of Christ's spiritual ministry, nevertheless, it is important to realize that throughout the above New Testament passage Paul definitely speaks of tithing as a LAW! And he shows that it is a law, which has existed since antiquity, from the days of Melchizedek-and STILL EXISTS-although now changed so that the tithes revert once again to God's spiritual ministers who are doing His work today! So anyone who fails to tithe is breaking an important LAW of the Creator God!
Also in Hebrews 7:8 is says “Here [on earth] mortal men receive tithes, but there [in Heaven] he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. In Hebrews 3:1 it says that Jesus is the High Priest of our profession and in Hebrews 8:1 it says “… We have such a High Priest, One Who is seated at the right hand of the majestic [God] in Heaven” Hebrews 8:3 goes on to say “For every high priest is appointed to offer up gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this [High Priest} to have some offering to make also”
Thus Jesus as our High Priest reveives our tithes and offerings and presents them to the Father.
Jesus himself speaks about tithing:
In speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, who often made a self-righteous display of strictly keeping some of the smaller points of God's Law, Jesus said: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done [these weightier matters], without leaving the others [carefully tithing] undone" (Matthew 23:23).
From this verse as well as Luke 11: 42 Jesus said that spiritual qualities such as mercy and faith ought to be put ahead of carefully and strictly paying tithes on every little plant that might grow in your garden-especially when that strictness leads to self-righteousness. But Christ said "NOT to leave the other undone"-NOT to fail to pay your full tithes as God has commanded!
Man would like to regard God's tithing law as of least importance. But speaking of even the smaller points of God's Law, Jesus stated: "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and TEACHES men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19). How plain! If we are looking for an argument, we will always find one. But if we are willing to "hunger and thirst" for righteousness, to obey even the smaller points of God's Law, we will be BLESSED for so doing.
In John 14:15 it says “If you love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands” and in 1 John 5:3, it says “For the [true] love of God is this: that we do His commands [keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and teaching]. And these orders of His are not irksome (burdensome, oppressive, or grievous).
