Tithe

[Evan57]

I am new on this.

About the issue of tithe and offering.
There is tithing and offering in Malachi which it is in the Old Testament. it is possible that people in the O.T. have enough money to be able to tithe but they withhold the tithe, they rob God for withhold money.
Way back up in the O.T. God told the leader (I think Moses) that the rich people give much offering and poor people give small offering. I am typing about sacrifice offering.
In the New Testament said, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God liveth a cheerful giver" II Cor. 9:7. Now I believe that we should give tithe with a cheerful, not grudging. But if you cannot afford to give tithe then give much as you can afford and ask the Lord to help you to tithe as long you give with cheerful. If you feel force to tithe or grudging then don't give until you turn to God and ask Him to not to feel force and grudging but be cheerful before you give. The Lord would bless you.
Don't you agree with this?

Evan57 :ears: [I am all ears without hear :cool ]

[Madeline]

[quote="Evan57"]
I am new on this.

About the issue of tithe and offering.
There is tithing and offering in Malachi which it is in the Old Testament. it is possible that people in the O.T. have enough money to be able to tithe but they withhold the tithe, they rob God for withhold money.
Way back up in the O.T. God told the leader (I think Moses) that the rich people give much offering and poor people give small offering. I am typing about sacrifice offering.
In the New Testament said, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God liveth a cheerful giver" II Cor. 9:7. Now I believe that we should give tithe with a cheerful, not grudging. But if you cannot afford to give tithe then give much as you can afford and ask the Lord to help you to tithe as long you give with cheerful. If you feel force to tithe or grudging then don't give until you turn to God and ask Him to not to feel force and grudging but be cheerful before you give. The Lord would bless you.
Don't you agree with this?

Evan57 :ears: [I am all ears without hear :cool ]
[/quote]

Very well said!! I absoultely agree.

[dwayner79]

[quote="Evan57"]
I am new on this.

About the issue of tithe and offering.
There is tithing and offering in Malachi which it is in the Old Testament. it is possible that people in the O.T. have enough money to be able to tithe but they withhold the tithe, they rob God for withhold money.
Way back up in the O.T. God told the leader (I think Moses) that the rich people give much offering and poor people give small offering. I am typing about sacrifice offering.
In the New Testament said, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God liveth a cheerful giver" II Cor. 9:7. Now I believe that we should give tithe with a cheerful, not grudging. But if you cannot afford to give tithe then give much as you can afford and ask the Lord to help you to tithe as long you give with cheerful. [b]If you feel force to tithe or grudging then don't give until you turn to God and ask Him to not to feel force and grudging but be cheerful before you give.[/b] The Lord would bless you.
Don't you agree with this?

Evan57 :ears: [I am all ears without hear :cool ]
[/quote]

The bolded is where you run into problems. For those who feel tithing is a "rule" you give whether you feel like it or not. Much like not having an affair is pretty well defined as a rule, so we do not let our feelings dictate how we act.

I agree though that tithing is NOT a rule placed on NT Christians, and therefore should be done with thr right attitude.

Ultimately everything in our lives boils down to motives. All of our actions should stem from pure motives, however, that does not mean in every case we should follow our feelings. There is a balance. It is a tough one to completely define.

[Madeline]

[quote="dwayner79"]
Ultimately everything in our lives boils down to motives. All of our actions should stem from pure motives, however, that does not mean in every case we should follow our feelings. There is a balance. It is a tough one to completely define.
[/quote]

And this 'balance' can only be successful if the new nature is growing. Because it is the new nature that 'balances' the old nature. And yes, the balance is tough and it is required for godly living. That's why I don't agree with legalistic lists of things to do and not do. Life is just not that pat.

[Evan57]

I read the tithe in http://www.bible-truth.com. I can sense and see some mixed the truth and lies in it. I want you to be aware of the bible-truth.com is not independent fundamental baptist website because my brother in Christ just found out about it:

"www.bible-truths.com I checked the home page and saw its hatred of the doctrine of trinity, so I am aware that anyone who oppose to 1 John 5:7 as one of best verses proving the trinity, more likely they are antichrists, I reject http://www.bible-truths.com as a pure Christian website because I recognized L.Ray Smith taught that the doctrine of trinity is not found in scriptures, he is a liar."

So, therefore be aware of his theology. He may mixed truth and lie as most religions do. Also, I found out he does use RSV bible in Bible-Truth.com. Be aware of the wolves in the sheep.

So, study the scriptures according to II Tim. 2:15.

So, What I believe: tithe is not required but giving with cheerful because I could not be able to find requirement of tithe in the New Testament except there are several occasion of tithe in the Old Testament and Pharisees tithe with wrong attitude in the N.T.. I could not find Apostles nor Jesus gave tithes. But I find is cheerful giver in II Cor. 9:7 and help your pastors in I Cor. 9:9; I Tim. 5:18 and churches. It is not wrong to tithe. You can give less, even or more than tithe.
Those who gives tithe, keep it going. There is no reason to stop tithing. Those who can not be able to give tithe but to give small, that is great! As long they give with cheerful :smile , not grudge. If they give with grudge then don't give because God is not pleased those who are grudging. God bless those who give with cheerful without grudge whether give less, even or more than tithe. If you have trouble to give with cheerful or want to give tithe then ask the Lord to help you :pray .

Evan57 :ears: without hearing

[Samer]

Welcome to OnlineBaptist, Evan!

I believe Jesus certainly would have tithed, as He was under the law.

[Evan57]

Jesus fulfilled the law and now we are under God's grace.

Evan57 :ears: w/o hear

[Jerry]

The main philosophy I see many have on this issue is that the tithe was Law and giving of our freewill is NT grace giving - however, that is a fallacy. BOTH were taught under the OT (yes, I can give specific passages if desired) - and both are taught in the NT.

2 points about the widow's mite:
1) The passage makes it VERY clear it was an offering.
2) She was under the Law - Jesus would not have commended her if she ALSO did not fulfill her part to tithe.

She gave got what she was required, then she gave all else she had. That was why she was commended.

Luke 21:1-4 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

As far as tithing in the NT goes, study out 1 Corinthians 9. Paul's argument for taking care of the pastor was based on the tithe (this is the specific law he was referring to) - not some freewill offering:

1 Corinthians 9:13-14 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

[Jerry]

That's why I don't agree with legalistic lists of things to do and not do. Life is just not that pat.

Legalistis list? If it is commanded in the Bible, it is not legalism. There is nothing wrong with having a list of things God wants you or doesn't want you to do. 9 of the ten commandments are restated over and over in the NT - I would say those are lists. Any time the Bible has two or more commands (whether positive or negative) together, that would constitute a "list".

Legalism has two definitions: 1) a works-based salvation. 2) Man-made rules that are enforced supposedly to please God. It is not legalism to teach what God says on an issue - if God commanded something, it is not legalism for US to command or teach it.

[JJJ4given]

I reject http://www.bible-truths.com as a pure Christian website because I recognized L.Ray Smith taught that the doctrine of trinity is not found in scriptures, he is a liar."

This website is disgusting. :gross: This man is calvinistic to the core.

He says:

God never intended for everyone to understand His Word or His Plan except for the few that He calls in every generation. He is not even trying to save the whole world in this lifetime or even in this age.

:puzzled:

[John81]

He says:



:puzzled:

Wow! The first sentence of that quote is EXACTLY what so many Catholics and Orthodox have said to me! They claim only certain church leaders can really understand Scripture and that lay folk shouldn't even try. They also claim all us "Protestants" (They call anyone calling themselves Christians outside of Catholics and Orthdox "Protestants") are all trying to be "little Popes" by determining for ourselves what Scripture actually says or means.

Of course, both these groups also say that Scripture doesn't, and can't, stand alone but MUST be taken along with their Traditions (which they claim were handed down by the Apostles but not recorded in the Scripture).

It's pointless to try and reason with these folks who have hardened their hearts because their arguments are circular and never-ending.

Of course, for those who haven't hardened their hearts, it's always worthwhile to present the Gospel to them.

[LindaR]

I'm asking all present.

I see this issue come up often and many times it seems more of an emotional fight rather than a biblical look at the issue.

I don't recall tithing in the book of Acts and I don't recall Paul teaching the Gentile Christians to tithe.

Even so, I notice many pastors love to quote Malachi, which was specific to the Old Testament Jews.

Some pastors even threaten that the Lord will punish their congregation with financial loss or ruin, poor health and disease, or other calamities if they "rob God" by not tithing. That almost makes God sound like an IRS agent!

I do see where Christians are expected to give out of their abundance, cheerfully, as God prospers them. It seems most often when reading about the giving of the New Testament Christians, they gave out of love, and they would seem to have been giving far above ten percent.

Are we to give as God blesses and leads us or is God standing over us with a rod in hand demanding a tenth of every dollar?

:thumb I agree!

Our pastor teaches that if a person doesn't tithe, that person is "under God's curse"--and my husband and I disagree with him. Believers are not "under a curse". We do believe in N.T. giving--and N. T. giving isn't always 10%. The word "tithe" means "a tenth". That's a good starting point, but there are no percentages given in Scriptures for the N. T. church, on how much to give. Most of the time, it is ALOT more than 10%. And when giving is more than 10%, it is NOT tithing! In the OT, tithing was NOT money--it was the "firstfruits" of flock, grain, oil, wine, etc.

Here's a really good read about the Christian and tithing:

http://www.gotquestions.org/tithing-Christian.html

[John81]

:thumb I agree!

Our pastor teaches that if a person doesn't tithe, that person is "under God's curse"--and my husband and I disagree with him. Believers are not "under a curse". We do believe in N.T. giving--and N. T. giving isn't always 10%. The word "tithe" means "a tenth". That's a good starting point, but there are no percentages given in Scriptures for the N. T. church, on how much to give. Most of the time, it is ALOT more than 10%. And when giving is more than 10%, it is NOT tithing! In the OT, tithing was NOT money--it was the "firstfruits" of flock, grain, oil, wine, etc.

Here's a really good read about the Christian and tithing:

http://www.gotquestions.org/tithing-Christian.html

:amen:

[Julia]

All I know is that if the church I go to needs money to operate and do the service of the King, you can count me in. I wouldn't want to be cheap with Jesus . after all he sure paid a huge price for my soul, which is really what its all about isn't it. I don't think anyone is going to be struck by lightening if they don't give, but they sure are robbing themselves of a blessing I beleive. But I'm not an expert and I myself have been too cheap to give from time to time and I found myself a lot worse off than when I did. So I found out that I can't afford not to. But I don't want to give expecting anything in return cause that aint right either. I want to give to my Eternal king cause I love Him cause he first loved me. whether its commanded or not I'm not sure , and I realize that a lot of preachers do urge us with convicting sermons and I couldn't tell you if its right to do that or not on their part. Maybe God just wants to remind us that he wants a cheerful giver because he wants to bless us.

Julia

[Evan57]

Amen!!

Evan57