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The Post That Will Not Stand Long Here (Tithing)


The Glory Land

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Here's something interesting concerning 2 Corinthians 9:7....

Paul was telling the Corinthians that God did not want them to give if they were in need themselves of the money.

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

As I pointed out previously, the word purposeth in that verse is speaking of one choosing for oneself what one gives.

But now, let's look at the word "necessity" in that verse.  The word "necessity" is translated from the Greek "anangke" and it's primary definition is distress.

God does not want us giving if our giving will put us in financial distress.

We are told elsewhere that we are to be faithful stewards.  If we have needs at home, our home needs should not be neglected.  If we have bills, our bills should not be neglected. 

The meeting of household needs come first before giving to others.  God does not want our giving to be such that we end up not having the means to meet our own needs.

Correct, SFIC.

SFIC said:

"God does not want us giving if our giving will put us in financial distress.

We are told elsewhere that we are to be faithful stewards. If we have needs at home, our home needs should not be neglected. If we have bills, our bills should not be neglected.

The meeting of household needs come first before giving to others. God does not want our giving to be such that we end up not having the means to meet our own needs."
__________

Yes, I agree.  So, does my husband for that matter.  God has blessed us so much, so we give to further His Kingdom.  We are of a few people in our church that can afford it.  I am not trying too brag, either.  Jesus has blessed both my husband and I, all the days of our lives.  We cut back from 20%, to 15%, and now 10%.  My husband has taken some cutbacks at work, this year.  However, we are still doing better than a whole lot of other saints.  That is all I am saying.  God bless, brother:) 

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Here's something interesting concerning 2 Corinthians 9:7....

Paul was telling the Corinthians that God did not want them to give if they were in need themselves of the money.

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

As I pointed out previously, the word purposeth in that verse is speaking of one choosing for oneself what one gives.

But now, let's look at the word "necessity" in that verse.  The word "necessity" is translated from the Greek "anangke" and it's primary definition is distress.

God does not want us giving if our giving will put us in financial distress.
 

 

I'm not going to argue with you about the merits of tithing, but this statement is 100% false. I'm not sure what Greek lexicon you're using but EVERY lexicon I have has the definition as "compulsion" or some derivative thereof with no indication of personal need. Further, it's use in the genitive form in 2 Cor 9:7 grammitcally connects it to the conditions of giving, not the conditions of the giver which renders the whole of your analysis inaccurate. You're either using bad sources or you're deliberately stretching the passage beyond what is intended to support your point of view. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're misinformed based on bad source data, but this is not a point you want to hang your hat on.

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I'm not going to argue with you about the merits of tithing, but this statement is 100% false. I'm not sure what Greek lexicon you're using but EVERY lexicon I have has the definition as "compulsion" or some derivative thereof with no indication of personal need. Further, it's use in the genitive form in 2 Cor 9:7 grammitcally connects it to the conditions of giving, not the conditions of the giver which renders the whole of your analysis inaccurate. You're either using bad sources or you're deliberately stretching the passage beyond what is intended to support your point of view. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're misinformed based on bad source data, but this is not a point you want to hang your hat on.

Sorry you disagree, Sword.  But the fact is, the necessity there is the Greek word "anangke".  It is speaking of the needs of the person, not of others.  When speaking of the necessity of other's, an entirely different Greek word is used... the Greek word "chreia."


To say that "necessity" in 2 Corinthians 9:7 is speaking of the needs of others doesn't make sense.  If it meant needs of others, then the verse is saying

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or because others have need: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

I only changed the word "necessity" to "needs of others".  But notice how dramatically the verse meaning changes.  Then, it means one is not to give to those who are in need.  Of course, this would contradict the writings of the Apostle John, who wrote:

1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

There is why anagke is not speaking of other's needs, but one's own needs.  The necessity is that of the giver.  He is not to give and put himself in financial distress.  And the Apostle said basically the same thing in the previous chapter, where we read:

2 Corinthians 8:13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:

We are not to give in such a way that it will cause us to be burdened.
 

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Sorry you disagree, Sword.  But the fact is, the necessity there is the Greek word "anangke".  It is speaking of the needs of the person, not of others.  When speaking of the necessity of other's, an entirely different Greek word is used... the Greek word "chreia."
 

 

That's not a disagreement. It's just fact. Those two words are not limited to who or what they are applied to. ἀνάγκε is a noun that literally means force, constraint, or necessity (as in an imposed requirement). χρεία is a noun that means a literal need or a want. Greek does not use different words with the same meaning to apply to different entity. It inflects the same word differently based on the intended use. When the word is inflected (with prefixes or suffixes normally) it tells who or what is it applied to and in what manner.

 

In 2 Cor 9:7, ἀνάγκε (force, constraint, compulsion) is inflected to ἀνάγκες which puts it in the genitive case which makes it descriptive of the the previous action and is literally translated with a preceded "of." Thus, the rendering of the single word makes it "of necessity/compulsion." The preceding action that it modifies is the giving; therefore, it tells that the giving is necessary or compulsive. If the verse were intended to convey the financial need of the giver, it would use χρεία in the accusative form (χρείαν). An example of this can be found in Matthew 3:14. 

 

Have you actually studied Greek or are you just looking up words in a concordance? You are in major error here.  It would be best for you to leave this passage out of your argument because your exegesis is wrong and you're reading too much into the text (an fallacy known as eisegesis).

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As I said, to make it a matter of the needs of others; i.e., giving because someone else is in need, really takes away from what the Christian's attitude towards others in need should be.

No, Paul was clearly saying not to give it it was going to burden you.  Just as he said in the previous chapter.

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Matthew 3:14 does not use the word "anagke".  It uses the word "chreia." Your lexicon is trying to equate Mathew 3:14 with 2 Corinthians 9:7. 

It fails.

 

That's exactly what I'm saying. Matthew 3:14 shows the proper use of χρεία which should give context how they have different meanings altogether. My lexicons aren't equating anything. My TR Greek New Testament and interlinear tell me what words are used where and the lexicons tell the semantic ranges for the words in various forms. My Greek textbooks tell me how the inflections and usage affect their meaning and how Greek grammar is used. ALL of them are clear that ἀνάγκες means compulsory giving in 2 Cor 9:7. If you're too prideful to see that then there's no helping you.

 

If you want to assert that people shouldn't give/tithe when they can barely pay the bills, that's fine; but you are mishandling the Word of God in trying to force that interpretation on this text. There are other passages on stewardship that would offer a much sounder basis for your argument.

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No, your intentions is to stir things up, its very easy to tell, by the topic you chose, & what's in your post.



I post openly and friendly, everyone is doing just fine here. They are opening their hearts, just like you and happy christian are doing. Many here as my self are learning.
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Close to it for sure.

I'm not going to follow the topic any longer, when topics like this are started they should be ignored.



I agree, lets avoid that TGL He talks about to sensitive topics. Like tithing, Hell, the gay movement, false teaching, false preacher and preaching. He hurt my feeling, and he have a very poor grammar. We should have TGL banned.
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