Personal Finances & God’s Money

Tithing Was Nailed To The Cross — Let’s Keep It There!

Other than love, one of the most talked about subjects in the Bible is money. Actually, the two usually go hand in hand.

Often misquoted as “money is the root of all evil” that much distorted verse in 1 Timothy 6:10 says something quite different: “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” The operative words in this verse is “love of” which brings about the results mentioned in the latter part of the verse — moving away from faith which leads to grief.

Tithing and the Christian

I am not a theologian, but I believe my views on money are biblically-based, although maybe not part of what a significant chunk of mainstream Christianity teaches. For instance, we’re not called to tithe (give ten percent of our income to our church). If I consider tithing lawful, then I might as well try to uphold much of what the rest of the Old Testament requires, laws which were fulfilled through Jesus’ redemptive death on the cross for our sins.

However, we should bring our offerings before God, an amount that the Christian has to determine is what God wants him to give. If that amount happens to be ten percent of what you make, then go for it. But, I also know of Christians who give far more than that amount while others have little to give.  For argument’s sake, I’m not talking about the disobedient servant who chooses not to listen to the voice of God when determining what to give.

2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us how we are to give: “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” The emphasis here seems to be giving as purposed in his heart, not by some Old Testament mandate. I know some believers base their giving on Genesis 14:18-20 where Abraham gave a tenth of what he had, but Abraham’s giving was based on his increase, not on his possessions.

Pointing to Melchizedek or Citing Mosaic Law

Some churches don’t cite the Melchizedek tithe when discussing giving, choosing to go right to the Mosaic law.  There are several aspects of this kind of tithing which you can read about here under Tithing in the Mosaic Law. In support of this viewpoint, I’ve heard sermons where preachers trot out a passage in Malachi to justify their teaching:

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 room enough for it. I will prevent pests 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.

Hearing a verse like this can shake the faith of the young or uninformed believer, causing him or her to give based on a false premise. These same preachers will often affirm that Jesus talked about tithing (see Matthew 23:23), neglecting to mention that Jesus lived and operated under the law as long as He was alive, but fulfilled the law through his death on the cross. The law of tithing, along with all of the rest of the law, was nailed to the cross.

A Heavenly Distraction

I initially set out to discuss money principles from a debt perspective, but got sidelined by the topic of tithing. I suppose that God wanted me to emphasize the foundation of what giving is all about — a matter of the heart and a command from God, but not a specific amount mandated by Old Testament law. I’ll save my comments about Christian money management for a later article, one where I’ll tackle the topic of debt resolution.

Source: Dr. Eddy Cheong

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