To Tithe or Not to Tithe?
To Tithe or Not to Tithe?
by Ps De Wet Steyn
Warning! A bit longer than normal but I believe it is worth the read.
Over the last couple days, social platforms were flooded with conversations, comments, teachings, debates and controversies about the topic of tithing. All of this happened after Pastor Creflo Dollar shared in his church that tithing is not New Testament.
He repented for teaching wrong about tithing. While I think it was courageous of him to humble himself before his church and an international audience, even in our repentance on doctrinal issues we must continue to accurately divide the Word.
Let us take a look on what God has to say about the way we spend our money. As we begin, I would like to suggest two reasons why this is an important subject.
1. It is important to talk about because there is so much confusion over this issue.
You listen to one Bible teacher, and he says one thing. You listen to another Bible teacher, and he says something else. You go to one church and the pastor says one thing. You go to another church and the pastor says something else. It’s the same way with the commentators. One commentator says one thing and another commentator says something else. In fact, all the way along the spectrum there is confusion. We find people who would say that the tithe is binding upon Christians today and that all Christians without exception are to tithe all the time. On the other extreme there are those people who say that tithing belongs under the law and has no relevance whatsoever for Christians today. And you will find people all along the spectrum in between those two positions. So, it’s important for us to know about this because there’s so much confusion.
2. It is also important because of the doctrinal issues involved.
The real question is this: since we know that tithing is an Old Testament teaching, what relevance does it have to New Testament Christians? Since we know it comes from the Old Testament, how do we apply tithing in the New Testament era? Or to put it another way, since tithing was given to the nation Israel, what relevance does it have to those of us who are not Jews?
Obviously, there is an even bigger question lurking behind these smaller ones. Tithing belongs to the age of law, and this is the age of grace. How do you relate those two concepts? Is there a place for tithing in the age of grace? That’s the key question I want to ask and answer in this blog.
This issue is so important that you do not have to take my word for it just because I am your pastor. You don’t have to believe it just because I write it down in my blog. You have the freedom to come to your own conclusion. After all, it’s your money I’m talking about. If tithing is a biblical concept Christians should follow, then you need to be able to see it for yourself and not just believe it because your pastor tells you to believe it or not to believe it.
3. Definition - A Tithe = One-Tenth
Let’s begin with a definition of tithing. It will help you to know that the word tithe is a Hebrew word. The word tithe comes from the Hebrew word which means one-tenth. Literally, a tithe is one-tenth of anything. In the Old Testament a tithe was more than just giving one-tenth of your money to God. If you had ten cows, you gave one out of the ten to God. That one cow that you gave was your tithe. If you had ten pounds of grain, the one pound that you gave to God was your tithe before God. So, the definition of a tithe is that it is one-tenth of anything. That’s what the word itself means. To tithe your income is to give one-tenth of your income to God.
With that definition, let’s go to the Old Testament. Let’s survey the Old Testament teaching on tithing. There are dozens of places in the Old Testament where tithing is mentioned. I am going to bring to your attention the four that I consider the most important.
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High, and He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand.” – Gen 14:18
If you know biblical theology, you know that Melchizedek appears in the Old Testament in two places—Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. He also shows up again in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is clear in the Epistle to the Hebrews that Melchizedek in the Old Testament is a type or pattern of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Now who was Melchizedek? We don’t know for sure. He just shows up on the stage of history and interrupts Abraham as he is coming back from war. He introduces himself as a priest of God Most High, he blesses Abraham and then he blesses God. It’s most instructive to note Abraham’s response at this point. Then Abram gave him a tenth (or a tithe - it’s the same word) "of everything.” That meant a tenth of the slaves, a tenth of the soldiers, a tenth of the food stuffs, a tenth of the garments, a tenth of the gold, a tenth of the silver, and a tenth of everything else he had taken from the enemy in his great victory.
Why did Abraham do that? Well, he did it as an act of submission to the God whom Melchizedek represented. Who told Abraham to do that? We don’t know the answer to that question because this is the first time tithing shows up in the Bible. This is not a commanded act. This is a voluntary act of tithing in which Abraham gives a tenth of his plunder to Melchizedek because he understands that Melchizedek represents God, and it was God who gave him the victory.
In essence, Abraham was saying, “By giving you this I am admitting that I did not win the victory by myself. Victory comes from the Lord alone.” By giving a tithe of the spoils to Melchizedek, Abraham recognized the truth of verse 20, “Blessed be the God Most High who delivered your enemies into you hand.” In my mind it is significant that the first time we see tithing it is not tied up with the Mosaic Law (law given to Moses). The first time we see it, it is a voluntary action.
It is a sign of personal submission to God in gratitude for all his blessings.
4. Genesis 14 was four hundred years before the law.
Now, if we skip 400 years and we’re into the Mosaic Law and here is what the book of Leviticus 27:30-34 says:
“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and the flock – every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed. These are the commands the Lord gave to Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.”
Note two things about this passage of scripture.:
The way they did it in those days was to hold out the shepherd’s rod and count as the cattle came through one by one. One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten. The tenth one belongs to God. Then they would count out ten more cattle and the tenth one went to God. If number 10 happened to be skinny, fine. But if number ten happened to be the best bull in the lot, then God got the best bull in the lot. You couldn’t substitute. The key point is that God is very clear about what he wants. The Jews were to give him a tenth of everything.
Now look a few years down the road. Forty years have passed and the children of Israel stand on the banks of the Jordan River. Moses is about to die. Before he dies, he gives one final message to the people of God.
This is what he says in Deuteronomy 14:22-23:
“Be sure you set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.”
That last phrase reveals the purpose of the Old Testament tithe – “that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.” The Living Bible puts it this way “So that you may learn always to put God first in your life.” Note that very carefully. That’s the purpose of a tithe. It was not a legalistic regulation. God had a special purpose in asking for the tenth. It was to teach his people to put him first.
You put God first in your giving so that he will be first in every area of life. Many Christians have never learned this basic simple secret of giving. They don’t put God first in their giving. When they get their paycheck, they pay everything else first. They pay all their bills and credit cards, buy food, clothes and, finally, if there’s anything left, they give some to God.
Many Christians have never learned that God not only watches what you give; he watches when you give it. Not only does the amount of your giving tell something about your priorities; the order in which you do your giving also tells something about your priorities. The purpose of tithing is to teach God’s people to put Him first in everything.
Now we move to the very end of the Old Testament. We’re a thousand years down the road now. We started back in Genesis and then went to Leviticus and Deuteronomy and now we’ve jumped across 1000 years of Jewish history.
Listen as God speaks to his disobedient people in Malachi 3:8-12:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How do we rob you?” In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it. I will prevent pest from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, says the Lord Almighty. Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord Almighty.”
There are three things to notice in this passage. First, there is a warning to the people of God. You are robbing God. “I told you to give me a tithe and you are robbing me and because you are consuming it all upon yourselves, you are being cursed.” Think of that. God is saying to his own people, “I have cursed you because you have not put me first.”
Secondly, there is a challenge issued to the doubters. God says, “Put me to the test. If you don’t believe me, just put Me to the test. Try me out. Dare to obey what I am saying and see if I won’t open up the floodgates of heaven and bless you.
Thirdly, there is purpose revealed for giving the tithe. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.” That’s a secondary purpose of the tithe in the Old Testament, that God’s house might be fully supplied.
Let me sum up from these four passages with what I see as the three great purposes of the tithe in the Old Testament. First, in relation to God the tithe was meant to glorify God and recognize him as the Lord Almighty and as the source of all human blessing. Secondly, in relation to God’s people the purpose of the tithe is to teach us to put God first in our lives. Thirdly, in relation to the nation of Israel, the purpose of the tithe is to ensure that God’s work may be fully supplied.
That’s the Old Testament. But the real question comes when we move from the Old Testament into the New Testament because we know that the tithe was an Old Testament teaching. What does the New Testament teaching concerning Christian giving?
I Corinthians 16:1-2 contains the most concise teaching on this subject:
“Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the churches of Galatia to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should lay aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”
This is very clear New Testament teaching. First, giving is to be regular, on the “first day of every week”. Secondly, giving is to be personal “each one of you”. Thirdly, giving is to be proportional “set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.” Christian giving is to be regular, personal and proportional.
What is proportional giving? It means the more that God blesses you, the more you are to give. That’s New Testament grace giving. The more you’re blessed, the more you give. If you have little blessing, financially or materially, then you are only able to give a small proportion. But the more you are blessed, the bigger the portion you’re able to give.
5. Grace always exceeds the law.
Which standard is higher? A flat ten percent in the Old Testament or proportional giving in the New Testament? Proportional giving is higher because if you are greatly blessed, you will soon be giving far beyond ten percent. As a matter of fact, if you are in six or seven figures, the tithe is just like pocket change. As someone once said, “for some rich Christians in America, tithing is an excuse not to give generously.”
The standard of giving is higher in the New Testament because grace always goes beyond the law. But that still doesn’t answer the theological question, does it? It still doesn’t tell us whether there is a place for tithing in the age of grace.
If grace giving exceeds tithing, does that mean tithing is irrelevant for the Christian? I think the answer to that question is no.
From his book, A Biblical Theology on material possessions, Dr. Gene Getz has to say about tithing:
“God’s plan for Israel in the Old Testament serves as a foundational model regarding the way Christians should view and use their material possessions today. To be “God-fearing Jews” simply meant that these people were committed to doing everything they could to keep the Old Testament Laws. We can certainly assume that most of them, before they became Christians, practiced the Old Testament regulations regarding tithing.
When these Jews became Christians, they would have naturally transferred their economic loyalty from Judaism to Christianity. It is no wonder that we see such generous people among these Christians in Jerusalem. They were in the habit of giving regularly and systematically. It was a part of their religious training and commitment. Furthermore, when they understood the grace of God, it appears that they not only calculated tenths, but on occasion they generously gave their total profits from the sale of certain properties.
Though the tithe system is never mentioned in the New Testament, it certainly influenced these Jewish Christians. In turn, church history reveals that these Old Testament giving patterns influenced the Gentile community as pagans also became Christians. Though the tithe laws were never perpetuated in Christianity as they were in the Old Testament, they have served as a model to Christians for regular and systematic giving. We cannot ignore this model when we evaluate Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians: “On the first day of every week each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.” (I Cor. 16:1) Today’s Christians should consider this Old Testament model when determining their own giving patterns.
I would summarize it this way. In the Old Testament we have a command. In the New Testament the command becomes a model. In the Old Testament we had a flat ten percent; in the New Testament we have unlimited proportional giving. What was a percentage now becomes a proportion.
What about the blessing that’s promised in the Old Testament? Malachi 3 said, “Put me to the test and see if I will not open up the windows of heaven”. Is there any blessing promised to generous givers in the New Testament?
Consider these words of the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 9:6-7:
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves the cheerful giver.”
That’s fairly clear, isn’t it? You sow little, you reap a little. You sow a lot; you reap a lot. He’s talking about giving.
Notice what he adds in verse 8: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
There are four “Alls” in that verse: All grace, All things, All times, All that you need.
6. But that’s not all.
Drop down and read verses 10-11: “Now he who supplies the seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous in every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
That sounds to me like what Malachi 3 was saying. I think that we have the same basic promise in the New Testament as we do in the Old. God promises to abundantly bless believers who practice generous giving. Please note. The blessings are not always material. Sometimes Christians who give very generously undergo great suffering. Giving is no guarantee that your life will suddenly become a bed of roses. But don’t let that fact mislead you. Anytime you dare to give generously to God you will never regret it. You will never regret it because God will be no man’s debtor. He will pay you back, pressed down, good measure and running over. How he does it is His business.
Here is my summary of the New Testament teaching concerning tithing in the age of grace. What was a command is now a model. What was a percentage is now a proportion. What was a promise is still a promise. Those who “put God to the test” in the area of giving will never be disappointed.
Summary and conclusion:
There are two extremes we need to avoid when we think about tithing.
In the words of Larry Burkett, the first extreme is the danger of “Giving a strict 10% and viewing the remaining 90% as ours.” The other extreme is “Using the lack of a standard (the tithe) as an excuse to give almost nothing while we selfishly hoard the rest.” Let’s avoid those two extremes of either being legalistic about the tithe or saying, “Since there is no standard, I can throw in whatever I want, and it doesn’t make any difference.”
There is no contradiction between the Old Testament and the New Testament so long as we do not apply the teaching of the tithe legalistically and make it a burden around people’s necks. God never meant it to be a burden, he meant tithing to be a way that God’s blessing could flow to you.
The tithe remains the best and most accurate and most effective guide and standard for Christian giving. When all things are taken into consideration, I believe the tithe remains the best and most accurate standard and model and guide for Christian giving and I urge you to practice it in your own personal life.
ONE FINAL THING. What about the theological issue of Law versus Grace?
Let me quote from a noted dispensational theologian, Dr. J. C. O’Hair:
“As to how much any New Testament saint should give, no specific amount is laid down. And to say “tithe” might tend to make a legalist out of the Christian, which is contrary to the will of God. But surely no consecrated Christian will give any less than Israel was required to give under the law.” (The Christian Life, p. 78)
I agree with that. Surely no consecrated Christian will want to give less under grace than the Jews gave under law.
So, I conclude by saying I think the tithe is the most accurate guide for Christian giving. It is the beginning point for Christian giving. But I do not want anyone here to feel under a burden. The tithe is meant to be a blessing, not a straitjacket. If you hear what I’m saying and you feel under pressure, it would be better for you to give one percent with joy than 10 percent under duress. Give the one percent and let God speak to your heart. You are free in Jesus Christ to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Ps De Wet
by Ps De Wet Steyn
Warning! A bit longer than normal but I believe it is worth the read.
Over the last couple days, social platforms were flooded with conversations, comments, teachings, debates and controversies about the topic of tithing. All of this happened after Pastor Creflo Dollar shared in his church that tithing is not New Testament.
He repented for teaching wrong about tithing. While I think it was courageous of him to humble himself before his church and an international audience, even in our repentance on doctrinal issues we must continue to accurately divide the Word.
Let us take a look on what God has to say about the way we spend our money. As we begin, I would like to suggest two reasons why this is an important subject.
1. It is important to talk about because there is so much confusion over this issue.
You listen to one Bible teacher, and he says one thing. You listen to another Bible teacher, and he says something else. You go to one church and the pastor says one thing. You go to another church and the pastor says something else. It’s the same way with the commentators. One commentator says one thing and another commentator says something else. In fact, all the way along the spectrum there is confusion. We find people who would say that the tithe is binding upon Christians today and that all Christians without exception are to tithe all the time. On the other extreme there are those people who say that tithing belongs under the law and has no relevance whatsoever for Christians today. And you will find people all along the spectrum in between those two positions. So, it’s important for us to know about this because there’s so much confusion.
2. It is also important because of the doctrinal issues involved.
The real question is this: since we know that tithing is an Old Testament teaching, what relevance does it have to New Testament Christians? Since we know it comes from the Old Testament, how do we apply tithing in the New Testament era? Or to put it another way, since tithing was given to the nation Israel, what relevance does it have to those of us who are not Jews?
Obviously, there is an even bigger question lurking behind these smaller ones. Tithing belongs to the age of law, and this is the age of grace. How do you relate those two concepts? Is there a place for tithing in the age of grace? That’s the key question I want to ask and answer in this blog.
This issue is so important that you do not have to take my word for it just because I am your pastor. You don’t have to believe it just because I write it down in my blog. You have the freedom to come to your own conclusion. After all, it’s your money I’m talking about. If tithing is a biblical concept Christians should follow, then you need to be able to see it for yourself and not just believe it because your pastor tells you to believe it or not to believe it.
3. Definition - A Tithe = One-Tenth
Let’s begin with a definition of tithing. It will help you to know that the word tithe is a Hebrew word. The word tithe comes from the Hebrew word which means one-tenth. Literally, a tithe is one-tenth of anything. In the Old Testament a tithe was more than just giving one-tenth of your money to God. If you had ten cows, you gave one out of the ten to God. That one cow that you gave was your tithe. If you had ten pounds of grain, the one pound that you gave to God was your tithe before God. So, the definition of a tithe is that it is one-tenth of anything. That’s what the word itself means. To tithe your income is to give one-tenth of your income to God.
With that definition, let’s go to the Old Testament. Let’s survey the Old Testament teaching on tithing. There are dozens of places in the Old Testament where tithing is mentioned. I am going to bring to your attention the four that I consider the most important.
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High, and He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand.” – Gen 14:18
If you know biblical theology, you know that Melchizedek appears in the Old Testament in two places—Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. He also shows up again in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is clear in the Epistle to the Hebrews that Melchizedek in the Old Testament is a type or pattern of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Now who was Melchizedek? We don’t know for sure. He just shows up on the stage of history and interrupts Abraham as he is coming back from war. He introduces himself as a priest of God Most High, he blesses Abraham and then he blesses God. It’s most instructive to note Abraham’s response at this point. Then Abram gave him a tenth (or a tithe - it’s the same word) "of everything.” That meant a tenth of the slaves, a tenth of the soldiers, a tenth of the food stuffs, a tenth of the garments, a tenth of the gold, a tenth of the silver, and a tenth of everything else he had taken from the enemy in his great victory.
Why did Abraham do that? Well, he did it as an act of submission to the God whom Melchizedek represented. Who told Abraham to do that? We don’t know the answer to that question because this is the first time tithing shows up in the Bible. This is not a commanded act. This is a voluntary act of tithing in which Abraham gives a tenth of his plunder to Melchizedek because he understands that Melchizedek represents God, and it was God who gave him the victory.
In essence, Abraham was saying, “By giving you this I am admitting that I did not win the victory by myself. Victory comes from the Lord alone.” By giving a tithe of the spoils to Melchizedek, Abraham recognized the truth of verse 20, “Blessed be the God Most High who delivered your enemies into you hand.” In my mind it is significant that the first time we see tithing it is not tied up with the Mosaic Law (law given to Moses). The first time we see it, it is a voluntary action.
It is a sign of personal submission to God in gratitude for all his blessings.
4. Genesis 14 was four hundred years before the law.
Now, if we skip 400 years and we’re into the Mosaic Law and here is what the book of Leviticus 27:30-34 says:
“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and the flock – every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed. These are the commands the Lord gave to Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.”
Note two things about this passage of scripture.:
- First, this is very clearly a part of the Old Testament Law. What happened in Genesis 14 happened before the Law, but Leviticus 27 is the Law. This is a commandment given by God to the nation of Israel as part of Mosaic Law.
- Second, the tithe in the Old Testament was to encompass all a man’s material possessions. It didn’t include just his money. It included his livestock, his cows, his sheep, his wine, his oil, his grain, and his fruit. A tithe was to be given back to God from everything. It also says that the Jews were to give one out of every ten cattle. It says there are to be no substitutes. They were not to give God the skinny cows and keep the best for themselves.
The way they did it in those days was to hold out the shepherd’s rod and count as the cattle came through one by one. One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten. The tenth one belongs to God. Then they would count out ten more cattle and the tenth one went to God. If number 10 happened to be skinny, fine. But if number ten happened to be the best bull in the lot, then God got the best bull in the lot. You couldn’t substitute. The key point is that God is very clear about what he wants. The Jews were to give him a tenth of everything.
Now look a few years down the road. Forty years have passed and the children of Israel stand on the banks of the Jordan River. Moses is about to die. Before he dies, he gives one final message to the people of God.
This is what he says in Deuteronomy 14:22-23:
“Be sure you set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.”
That last phrase reveals the purpose of the Old Testament tithe – “that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.” The Living Bible puts it this way “So that you may learn always to put God first in your life.” Note that very carefully. That’s the purpose of a tithe. It was not a legalistic regulation. God had a special purpose in asking for the tenth. It was to teach his people to put him first.
You put God first in your giving so that he will be first in every area of life. Many Christians have never learned this basic simple secret of giving. They don’t put God first in their giving. When they get their paycheck, they pay everything else first. They pay all their bills and credit cards, buy food, clothes and, finally, if there’s anything left, they give some to God.
Many Christians have never learned that God not only watches what you give; he watches when you give it. Not only does the amount of your giving tell something about your priorities; the order in which you do your giving also tells something about your priorities. The purpose of tithing is to teach God’s people to put Him first in everything.
Now we move to the very end of the Old Testament. We’re a thousand years down the road now. We started back in Genesis and then went to Leviticus and Deuteronomy and now we’ve jumped across 1000 years of Jewish history.
Listen as God speaks to his disobedient people in Malachi 3:8-12:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How do we rob you?” In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it. I will prevent pest from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, says the Lord Almighty. Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord Almighty.”
There are three things to notice in this passage. First, there is a warning to the people of God. You are robbing God. “I told you to give me a tithe and you are robbing me and because you are consuming it all upon yourselves, you are being cursed.” Think of that. God is saying to his own people, “I have cursed you because you have not put me first.”
Secondly, there is a challenge issued to the doubters. God says, “Put me to the test. If you don’t believe me, just put Me to the test. Try me out. Dare to obey what I am saying and see if I won’t open up the floodgates of heaven and bless you.
Thirdly, there is purpose revealed for giving the tithe. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.” That’s a secondary purpose of the tithe in the Old Testament, that God’s house might be fully supplied.
Let me sum up from these four passages with what I see as the three great purposes of the tithe in the Old Testament. First, in relation to God the tithe was meant to glorify God and recognize him as the Lord Almighty and as the source of all human blessing. Secondly, in relation to God’s people the purpose of the tithe is to teach us to put God first in our lives. Thirdly, in relation to the nation of Israel, the purpose of the tithe is to ensure that God’s work may be fully supplied.
That’s the Old Testament. But the real question comes when we move from the Old Testament into the New Testament because we know that the tithe was an Old Testament teaching. What does the New Testament teaching concerning Christian giving?
I Corinthians 16:1-2 contains the most concise teaching on this subject:
“Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the churches of Galatia to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should lay aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”
This is very clear New Testament teaching. First, giving is to be regular, on the “first day of every week”. Secondly, giving is to be personal “each one of you”. Thirdly, giving is to be proportional “set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.” Christian giving is to be regular, personal and proportional.
What is proportional giving? It means the more that God blesses you, the more you are to give. That’s New Testament grace giving. The more you’re blessed, the more you give. If you have little blessing, financially or materially, then you are only able to give a small proportion. But the more you are blessed, the bigger the portion you’re able to give.
5. Grace always exceeds the law.
Which standard is higher? A flat ten percent in the Old Testament or proportional giving in the New Testament? Proportional giving is higher because if you are greatly blessed, you will soon be giving far beyond ten percent. As a matter of fact, if you are in six or seven figures, the tithe is just like pocket change. As someone once said, “for some rich Christians in America, tithing is an excuse not to give generously.”
The standard of giving is higher in the New Testament because grace always goes beyond the law. But that still doesn’t answer the theological question, does it? It still doesn’t tell us whether there is a place for tithing in the age of grace.
If grace giving exceeds tithing, does that mean tithing is irrelevant for the Christian? I think the answer to that question is no.
From his book, A Biblical Theology on material possessions, Dr. Gene Getz has to say about tithing:
“God’s plan for Israel in the Old Testament serves as a foundational model regarding the way Christians should view and use their material possessions today. To be “God-fearing Jews” simply meant that these people were committed to doing everything they could to keep the Old Testament Laws. We can certainly assume that most of them, before they became Christians, practiced the Old Testament regulations regarding tithing.
When these Jews became Christians, they would have naturally transferred their economic loyalty from Judaism to Christianity. It is no wonder that we see such generous people among these Christians in Jerusalem. They were in the habit of giving regularly and systematically. It was a part of their religious training and commitment. Furthermore, when they understood the grace of God, it appears that they not only calculated tenths, but on occasion they generously gave their total profits from the sale of certain properties.
Though the tithe system is never mentioned in the New Testament, it certainly influenced these Jewish Christians. In turn, church history reveals that these Old Testament giving patterns influenced the Gentile community as pagans also became Christians. Though the tithe laws were never perpetuated in Christianity as they were in the Old Testament, they have served as a model to Christians for regular and systematic giving. We cannot ignore this model when we evaluate Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians: “On the first day of every week each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.” (I Cor. 16:1) Today’s Christians should consider this Old Testament model when determining their own giving patterns.
I would summarize it this way. In the Old Testament we have a command. In the New Testament the command becomes a model. In the Old Testament we had a flat ten percent; in the New Testament we have unlimited proportional giving. What was a percentage now becomes a proportion.
What about the blessing that’s promised in the Old Testament? Malachi 3 said, “Put me to the test and see if I will not open up the windows of heaven”. Is there any blessing promised to generous givers in the New Testament?
Consider these words of the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 9:6-7:
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves the cheerful giver.”
That’s fairly clear, isn’t it? You sow little, you reap a little. You sow a lot; you reap a lot. He’s talking about giving.
Notice what he adds in verse 8: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
There are four “Alls” in that verse: All grace, All things, All times, All that you need.
6. But that’s not all.
Drop down and read verses 10-11: “Now he who supplies the seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous in every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
That sounds to me like what Malachi 3 was saying. I think that we have the same basic promise in the New Testament as we do in the Old. God promises to abundantly bless believers who practice generous giving. Please note. The blessings are not always material. Sometimes Christians who give very generously undergo great suffering. Giving is no guarantee that your life will suddenly become a bed of roses. But don’t let that fact mislead you. Anytime you dare to give generously to God you will never regret it. You will never regret it because God will be no man’s debtor. He will pay you back, pressed down, good measure and running over. How he does it is His business.
Here is my summary of the New Testament teaching concerning tithing in the age of grace. What was a command is now a model. What was a percentage is now a proportion. What was a promise is still a promise. Those who “put God to the test” in the area of giving will never be disappointed.
Summary and conclusion:
There are two extremes we need to avoid when we think about tithing.
In the words of Larry Burkett, the first extreme is the danger of “Giving a strict 10% and viewing the remaining 90% as ours.” The other extreme is “Using the lack of a standard (the tithe) as an excuse to give almost nothing while we selfishly hoard the rest.” Let’s avoid those two extremes of either being legalistic about the tithe or saying, “Since there is no standard, I can throw in whatever I want, and it doesn’t make any difference.”
There is no contradiction between the Old Testament and the New Testament so long as we do not apply the teaching of the tithe legalistically and make it a burden around people’s necks. God never meant it to be a burden, he meant tithing to be a way that God’s blessing could flow to you.
The tithe remains the best and most accurate and most effective guide and standard for Christian giving. When all things are taken into consideration, I believe the tithe remains the best and most accurate standard and model and guide for Christian giving and I urge you to practice it in your own personal life.
ONE FINAL THING. What about the theological issue of Law versus Grace?
Let me quote from a noted dispensational theologian, Dr. J. C. O’Hair:
“As to how much any New Testament saint should give, no specific amount is laid down. And to say “tithe” might tend to make a legalist out of the Christian, which is contrary to the will of God. But surely no consecrated Christian will give any less than Israel was required to give under the law.” (The Christian Life, p. 78)
I agree with that. Surely no consecrated Christian will want to give less under grace than the Jews gave under law.
So, I conclude by saying I think the tithe is the most accurate guide for Christian giving. It is the beginning point for Christian giving. But I do not want anyone here to feel under a burden. The tithe is meant to be a blessing, not a straitjacket. If you hear what I’m saying and you feel under pressure, it would be better for you to give one percent with joy than 10 percent under duress. Give the one percent and let God speak to your heart. You are free in Jesus Christ to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Ps De Wet
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