TITHING - "Do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Ephesians 5:17, NKJV).
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Beloved,
Beware of pastors who are willing to tell you what your itching ears want to hear.
Pastor Chris Ojigbani and his like contradicted themselves in many places from his submission. Two examples will suffice to prove him wrong. I will give two instances of his many contradictions and sorry to say, "lack of knowledge and understanding".
First, he mentioned that Apostle Paul did not receive Tithe because he was not a Levite. But Paul the apostle wrote that he deserved to receive his entitlements, but he doesn't want to be a burden to the congregation (2. Corinthians 11:9-13).
According to 1. Timothy 5:18b, "The worker deserves his wages".
Secondly, he mentioned that Jesus did not receive any Tithe, but asked the people to continue to pay Tithes. For him, this is another justification for not paying Tithe. Time will not allow me to expatiate on this, but I will try to give a summary. What the Pastor does not understand is the fundamentals. Four fundamentals will suffice in this case:
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1) Christians generally believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God in essence, but three personalities - the Holy Trinity. The Father decrees, the Son carries them out, and they are done through the power of the Holy Spirit. "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26).
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2) Jesus came to this world as the second person of God - God the Son. First, to redeem us by paying the price for our sins (John 1:29).
"For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16).
Secondly, to prove to us that all what the first person of God - God the Father, expects from us are humanly possible, because he came to us with both human and divine attributes.
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3) If we wrongly understand "Obligations" in the Bible as applying only to the Israelites, then, Christians should also stop claiming all the "Benefits" applying to the Israelites in the Bible. Some Pastors are misleading their congregations by asking them to claim all the benefits but pick and choose from or reject all the obligations, this is wrong. It becomes very obvious when they sing: "Abraham's blessings are mine..... ".
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4) Principally, whatever is not forbidden is allowed. We have been sufficiently informed in the Holy Bible about all what we are not supposed to do (Old and New Testaments). We are told: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2. Timothy 3:16).
The only argument which all those misleading people on Tithe Payment could not provide till today - is where it is written in the Bible, where God says: "Thou shalt not pay Tithe".
On the other hand, we must remember that Jesus is God, and He said that we should continue to pay Tithe (Mathew 23:23) and His words are eternal. "For the word of God is alive and active." (Hebrews 4:12). These pastors are only saying what the itching ears of those who don't want to pay tithes want to hear. "For the time will come when the people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." (2. Timothy 4:3).
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THE ULTIMATE TRUTH:
As far as true Christians and theologians are concerned, the contents of the Bible are not contradictory, but complementary.
Therefore, the easiest way to fully understand the will of God is to rely absolutely on what the Lord Jesus Christ said on any subject, because that is the ultimate. But if Christ Jesus is silent on any subject, we may then pray to God to direct us.
Once Christ Jesus has spoken on any subject, His words are final, and it is without any' controversy because it is the ultimate.
Jesus spoke on tithing in Matthew 23:23 and that is final. THAT IS THE ULTIMATE.