Prosperity: Tithe

This is the most perverted aspect of prosperity today. First what is tithe? It has been defined as tenth of one's earnings.

Who is it for?
The tithe is God's, "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD." (Leviticus 27: 30-32).
According to the Bible, tithe is to be paid to the Priest of God. In the Bible, Jacob/Israel had twelve children; and these children are referred to as the twelve tribes of Israel. Among the twelve tribes of Israel, there are the levites : the children of Levi. And these children of Levi God chose them to be Priests over the other tribes of Israel(Numbers 3:12). They were not like every other tribes of Israel. They were totally consecrated unto God, "Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine."(Numbers 8:14). Somethings God would tolerate from the other tribes of Israel were not considered normal among them, they were under a special law (Numbers 8:1-26). And because they were not part of the inheritance among the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 18 verse 1), every other tribe is to pay tithe unto them."But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe" (Numbers 18: 23-26).

Is tithe part of the law?
Well, some people have tried to explain it not to be a part of the law; because Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek a priest of God before God gave the commandments/and laws to Moses. Nevertheless, tithe is under the law. Let me divert a little, is circumcision part of the law? If you know the Bible, I guess you know the answer is yes. Now, the same Abraham made a covenant with God and that every of his male child should be circumcised; this was still before the commandments/and law was given by God to Moses( Genesis 14: 17-20 and Genesis 17: 9-12). So the claim that Abraham been the first person to pay tithe that has been used by some to justify their claims that tithing is not under the law is not biblical. Hebrews 7 verse 5 tells us more " And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:" In here tithe was classified under the law by Apostle Paul. Jesus Christ in Matthew 23 verse 23 also referred to tithe as under the law.

Should one pay tithe?
In a move to support the claim to pay tithe, many pastors have used Matthew 23 verse 23 as a back up verse in the New Testament since many people say tithing is a Old Testament principle. Well, as at the time Jesus Christ made that statement, there were still priests of God. John 1:19 " And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?" The father of John the Baptist the forerunner of Jesus, Zachariah happened to be a priest( Luke 1verse5); hence the need to pay. And also, at that time Jesus Christ whom brought grace unto us have not sacrifice Himself for us which ultimately signify the end of the law( Ephesians 1:5-7, ). So as at that time, mankind was still somewhat under the law.
Since we are no longer under the law, man is not mandated to pay. Many have also used the word Old Testament Principle rather than classifying it as under the law. Jesus Christ in many instances complained about the Pharisees, the teachers of the law whom so much love to follow the law than live by God's grace. Apostle Paul is another fellow that also complained about the desire of the people whom they(the apostles) preached the gospel of grace and afterwards preferred to live by the law. "O foolish Galatians " is a popular quote, Apostle Paul used these words to express his anger and disappointment when he discovered that the Galatians whom he had preached the gospel of grace to decided to go back to the law, study Galatians chapter 3 verses 1 to 3; and if you can the whole of Galatians. "But now that you know God --or rather are known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. " Galatians chapter 3 verses 9,10 and 11. Living in the law to obtain righteousness in this present grace is self righteousness before God.

Is there curse not paying
I was actually surprised when I heard a man I respect so much said Christians should continue to pay tithe to avoid divine curse. Well, there is a curse for disobedience to God (hell fire); but the curse is still on hold till the judgement day ( Revelation 11:18, John 8:5; 2 Peter 2:9-13). Since we are no longer under the law, there is no curse or whatsoever upon mankind. What can only go wrong is that some natural principles must follow. "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22). This is an example of a natural principle that would remain for ever. Another example, a young girl not yet married decide to have sex(which is fornication) she is definitely going to be pregnant if she is okay medically ; this is a must. But in this God has not judge/condemn her. It is nature taking its place. However, there is no curse for not living according to the law. Galatians 3:13-14 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

New era
Since Jesus Christ died for our sins and grace given to man, a new began. We now have only one priest which is the Great High Priest /Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:14 ). And no more priests as the order of Levi, although there are still priests that preach the law today just like some do not believe Jesus Christ has come and died for mankind. Something new has taken over ; Ephesians 4: 7 and 11-13 " But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:" . This new era is anchored by pastors, teachers, prophets, evangelists and apostles. This new era does not leave these vessels of God empty handed. Jesus Christ in Matthew 10: 5-10 said " These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat."
A "workman is worthy of his meat". This new era operates on free giving unto men of God / work of God(this is what many churches collect as offerings), and collective contribution towards one another.
(1) Collective contribution towards one another: Acts 4: 32 to 37 extensively talk about this. The story of Ananias and Sapphira in the Bible is because they wanted to contribute towards the body of Christ but somehow ended up lying to God/ Holy Spirit.
(2)Giving unto God/men of God/work of God: 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 extensively talk about this. "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" (2 Corinthians 9:7-. In missions work, there is this classification we use to group missionaries: the goers(those who go to preach the gospel), the groomers (those who teach the missionaries), those who pray and the givers(those who give provide financial aid and non financial assistance to sustain the propagation of the gospel. Those who justify the need to give tithe by saying it is used to propagate the gospel lack the true knowledge. Jesus Christ did not collect tithe yet He fulfilled His ministry here on earth, the apostles did not but they fulfilled their ministries here on earth. There are many people today that give more than half of their earnings towards missions work. The Catholic Church today for example, basically do not collect tithe (although some branches do collect, and I'm not going to talk about their doctrines) but still they are more financially buoyant and involved in community services.

The church and financial controversies
The church has always been in a financial mess. People have always used the Bible to extort money. One of the most perverted was the doctrine of indulgence by the Roman Catholic Church to raise money for the church. It got worsen when the Catholic Church wanted to construct the popular St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City today and Johann Tetzel was appointed grand commissioner for indulgence in Germany. Martin Luther whom was a Catholic priest began to confront those in authority, and different false doctrines in the church at that time. This was actually the movement that gave birth to the Pentecostal churches today. However, it is a shame that some of these Pentecostal churches today are somehow in some false doctrines to extort money from congregations.

© Jokpa Ishaka

We are under grace , but are we lawless ?

babytoun:
We are under grace , but are we lawless ?

Never