₦airaland Forum

OkaiCorne:
Support for the ministry comes through tithes? Is there any scripture that clearly says this...or is this just your opinion?

Snowkel:
It is a sin for Christians to pay tithe – Pastor Chris (greenbreporters)
What he said.

Pastor posted an article on Twitter where he shed major light on what tithe is really about.

He wrote:

“For hundreds of years, Christians incur the wrath of God by paying and receiving tithe. Though the doctrine of tithe is popular and generally accepted in Christianity, it’s a wrong doctrine. It’s actually a sin to pay tithe and it’s equally a sin to receive tithe in Christianity. The doctrine is generally accepted because of the misinterpretation of some tithe related scriptures.

"A misinterpretation of a scripture can lead many generations astray. In like manner, the misinterpretation of tithe related scriptures has led many Christian generations astray. Before explaining the true meaning of the scriptures, it’s important I first explain what tithe means.

"Tithe as an English word means one-tenth or 10 percent. Tithe in the scripture means a mandatory 10 percent of one’s increase (Deuteronomy 14:22).

Tithing
Tithing (effectualgrace)
"There were basically three types of tithe practised by Israelites.

"First, was the Levitical tithe or the first tithe (Numbers18:21–24), and it was given yearly to the Levites. This first tithe is the doctrine of tithe practised by Christians.

"The second tithe was called the tithe of feasts. In this kind of tithe, the person tithing would eat the tithe himself at a place the Lord will choose for him This tithe was done in the first year, the second year, fourth year and fifth year of the seven-year cycle (Deuteronomy 14:22–27).

"The third tithe was the poor man’s tithe, which was done in the third and sixth year. In this kind of tithe, the person tithing would give the tithe to strangers, widows, fatherless and Levites to eat and be satisfied (Deuteronomy 14:28–29).

Amongst the three kinds of tithe, Christians wrongly practice the first one, which is also called the Levitical tithe. I will quickly show you why it’s a sin to pay or receive tithe in this dispensation."

Here is his proof.

"When God gave the commandment of tithe, He clearly stated who would pay the tithe; who would receive the tithe; and the purpose of receiving the tithe. He said the tithe would be paid by Israelites (except those from the tribe of Levi). He said that only the Levites were permitted to receive tithe and also said it was for their service in the tabernacle of the congregation. God actually gave them the tithe as an inheritance (Numbers18: 21–24).

"For you to be eligible to pay tithe, you have to come from any of the tribes of Israel, apart from the tribe of Levi....

"Though Gentile Christians are children of Abraham, we were not given any tribe. As long as you don’t have an Israeli’s international passport, you are not eligible to give tithe. The instruction was very specific.

"Second, if you are eligible to give tithe, you are permitted to give the tithe only to one set of people called the Levites....

Arguments for tithing
Arguments for tithing (slideshare)
"The Levites are simply those from the tribe of Levi. Even in the New Testament of the Bible, the scripture clearly tells us that only the Levites are permitted to receive tithe (Hebrews 7:5). If you give your tithe to non-Levite, you are going against God’s instruction. And it will be counted against you as a sin.

"I will also like to state that there is nothing like spiritual Levites. We may have spiritual Israelites but not spiritual Levites or spiritual Benjaminite. I will also like to state here that priests did not receive tithe from the Israelites. The Israelites gave their tithe to Levites and Levites would then give 10 percent of the tithe to Priests (Numbers 18:26–28).

"Third, for you to be eligible to receive tithe, you must be a Levite. It’s very clear in the scripture. When a non-Levite receives tithe, the person has gone against the instruction of God. Such person has committed a sin. If you are not from the tribe of Levi, then you are not a Levite.

"There is nothing like a spiritual Levite. This explains why Jesus Christ, who was from the tribe of Judah, didn’t receive tithe from anyone. Apart from the fact that Jesus didn’t ask the Israelites to pay tithe to him, He still encouraged them to continue paying their tithe. In Matthew 22:23, He rebuked the Pharisees that they pay tithe, which is less important, and leave the more important things like justice, mercy and faithfulness. He then encouraged them to do both the less important ones and the more important ones. In other words, He encouraged them to continue paying tithe to the Levites. That was simply the law. Only Levites could receive tithe.

If Jesus Christ who was from Israel couldn’t receive tithe because He didn’t come from the tribe of Levi, how then can a non-Israeli pastor from Africa or America be entitled to receive tithe? This also explains why Apostle Peter, Apostle Paul and the other apostles couldn’t receive tithe from anyone. Though they were men of God, they couldn’t receive tithe because they were not Levites.

"It will also interest you that presently we have some non-Levite Jewish Rabbis who are in charge of synagogues but do not receive tithe. Though they are Rabbis and are “physical” citizens of Israel, they don’t receive tithe because the law does not permit them. Any non-Levite who receives tithe sins grievously against God.

"Finally, tithe cannot be paid or received in this dispensation because the purpose of giving tithe to Levites can no longer be fulfilled now. Why did God command that tithe should be given to the Levites?

"Levites were given the tithe simply because they serve at the temple of congregation. But because the temple has been destroyed, the Levites can no longer serve at the temple. So, even if you are eligible to give or receive tithe, you cannot give or receive tithe now because the temple has been destroyed.

"Do you know that no Israelite pays or receives tithe today? Yes, they have stopped giving tithe until the temple is rebuilt. Please note that when the temple is rebuilt, Christians will still not join the Jews in paying and receiving tithe because the tithe system was not created to cater for Christians. Rather, it was created to cater for Levites. This explains why the early Christians who existed before the temple was destroyed neither paid nor received tithe."

Final words.

"It’s a sin to pay or receive tithe. If you are a Christian do not pay tithe again so that you don’t incur the wrath of God. If Israelites do not pay tithe now, then why should you, a non-Israelite pay tithe. if you are a spiritual Israelite, why should you pay tithe whereas the physical Israelites don’t?

It is a sin for Christians to pay tithe – Pastor Chris
It is a sin for Christians to pay tithe – Pastor Chris (modernghana)
"If you are a man of God, please do not receive tithe again so that you don’t incur the wrath of God. If Jesus Christ, Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, and co didn’t receive tithe, why then should you receive tithe? There are many other kinds of offering you can receive.

"You can receive the regular offering, partnership offering, sacrificial offering, but not tithe. The tithe system is against the poor. Yes, the tithe system takes from the poor to take care of the rich. But we are supposed to take from the rich and take care of the poor. You must stop now! Why am I telling you this? It is an instruction from the Lord. Can the instruction be found in the Bible?"......#reformation

OkaiCorne:
Can Melchizedek be a Levite in the era Levites never existed?

After God clearly spelt out that tithes should be paid to Levites alone...can you point to a Scripture that gives us clear instructions
to pay TITHE to Rabbis, Prophets, Scribes, Apostles and Pastors?

I am still waiting for a Scripture that clearly spells this out. Thank you.

plainbibletruth:
I asked about Jesus, the Apostles and their followers and you still ask me to be specific? Seriously?

This is what happens when you assume an ulterior motive to a question and you now want to answer what you assume the questioner is getting at.

Petra1, I asked about Jesus and the Apostles so how specific do you want me to be?

The issue is, what would Jesus or the Apostles have done?

plainbibletruth:
To generalize means, for example, to apply to ALL. I did not say all pastors.

I believe most, if not all, pastor will readily say they want to PATTERN their ministries after Christ's or at least even the Apostles.

My question therefore is: "How did Jesus's LIFESTYLE or those of the Apostles compare to that of their followers?"

And a follow-up : "Would Jesus or the Apostles have chosen to live in affluence when some in their congregation live from hand to mouth?"

OkaiCorne:
I do not believe in tithe for two reasons:

1) According to the Bible standards and instructions, nobody except the Levites qualify to collect tithes

2) Jesus expects sacrificial giving from the heart from Christians, and tithing is a very narrow view of Jesus expects from His followers.

OkaiCorne:
I totally agree with you on the fact that those totally committed to doing God's work should be taken care of. But that is through welfare offering and other voluntary donations as God lays it upon one's heart....but not through tithes, that's my point.

Candour:
When did God become his God?

OkaiCorne:
The scripture you quoted, does it refer to tithes or offering? I'm still looking for the word "tithe" in there. Thanks

If tithe is given to God, why were the Levites the only eligible recipients in the scriptures? Why not Rabbis, Scribes and Prophets? Abi they are not doing God's work too?

BluntBoy:
Then how come millions are still poor. What stops your pastors from rejecting the gifts and telling the givers to give it to the poor instead?

The pastors are just greedy, selfish and materialistic. A minister should never like money or the acquisition of properties. Money should mean nothing to a true man of God. These men are businessmen. They are no different from businessmen like Dangote.

plainbibletruth:
Petra1, How did Jesus's LIFESTYLE compare to that of his disciples? How did the Apostle's lifestyles compare to that of their followers? Do we see the WIDE DISPARITY we see today between many of today's church leaders and followers? If a Pastor is given a billion by members and within his congregation there are those of low means does it make sense for him to live in opulence and those other ones in squalor? Would Jesus or the Apostles have chosen to live on affluence when some in their congregation live from hand to mouth?

OkaiCorne:
The era of Abraham was a precedence. Kindly show me a scripture where God directed us to pay tithes to Rabbis, Prophets and Apostles. These ones were working full-time for God too na

Candour:
In fact, just like i'm a christian because my father has always been since i was born right?

Ken4Christ:
The last phrase says, he gave him tithe of all. It didn't say, he gave him tithe of the loot. If it did, then Abraham would not tell the King of Sodom, I am not interested in the loot.

So, what tithe did he pay. He gave him tithe of all he had. The question is, was Abraham carrying his possession along? Certainly not. But he certainly had knowledge of all he had. As such, he could appoint his servants to deliver the goods or tithe to Melchizedec.

Candour:
Jacob made a vow contingent upon God fulfilling a demand he made which is solid proof that it wasn't a laid down tenet or law his father was abiding by. If tithe was obligatory on him, he wouldn't use it to trade with God since according to you and others, the tithe already belonged to God

felixomor:
I pity your life.
If my tithe makes you so bitter that u can be so foul mouthed at me without provocation on a thread thats not even yours,
Then you must be demon possessed.

May God have mercy on your soul.

Candour:
and like the crafty pulpit crook that you're, you forgot that this same episode was touched on in Hebrews chapter 7

4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils

Spoils of what did Abraham give Melchizedek a tenth of?

akeensbussy:
So there is full time and half time in the work of God..to tell someone God loves and want you to repent of your sin is now a full time job abi.

maybe for those that are making merchandise of it.

betterABIAstate:
stop quoting this your Mathew 23:23 version, Jesus is not a tither

BluntBoy:
Then how come millions are still poor. What stops your pastors from rejecting the gifts and telling the givers to give it to the poor instead? The pastors are just greedy, selfish and materialistic. A minister should never like money or the acquisition of properties. Money should mean nothing to a true man of God. These men are businessmen. They are no different from businessmen like Dangote.

betterABIAstate:
I won't still pay it until you quote the bible where Jesus preached or practised tithing

BluntBoy:
Live by the gospel not get wealthy by the gospel. There are three basic necessities:

Food, shelter and clothing. That was what the ministers should not be denied of.

The ministers of today are wealthy men. They don't need tithes and offerings anymore. They have made themselves stupendously wealthy by the gospel.

akeensbussy:
so pastors are only the one preaching the gospel? what about choirs, deacons, church members etc..they are not preaching the Gospel? they are to fund the gospel. keep deceiving urself

betterABIAstate:
I won't pay tithe until you show me where Jesus and his apostles did it. Don't ask me uncorrelated questions

betterABIAstate:
I can't believe you Sir, cos you want me to pay tithe. Tithing is not Christianity, Jesus never did it

BluntBoy:
What expenses is the Church funding? Was that why God instituted tithe?

And for your information, Church is different from temple. While temple was a building, the Church is an assembly of believers. How did the Church take care of itself in the New Testament. It was by loving itself. People were selling properties to make sure that no one lacked in the Church. Everyone gave to the extent that there was no needy person among them.

Your church will continue to complain of expenses until they cut down on their excesses.

felixomor:
Go and read the life of Jacob from Genesis.
If you cant find it,
Come back and tell me.

LaClicKLaBenDin:
That's where you get it wrong: they are not preaching to the atheists, but only engage them in endless arguments upon arguments.

If the motive was to preach and convert them, it would have been different, but the observed motive is to show intelligence and whatever...

By the way, you don't win someone over by arguing with them constantly, you preach and then allow the Holy Spirit do His work: the Holy Spirit is the one convicts the sinner.

felixomor:
Abraham paid tithe.
Jacob paid tithe

Full stop

betterABIAstate:
I did no do the part that said pay tithe every 3years and burnt offerings

OkaiCorne:
Kindly direct me to a Levite (Not a Rabbi or Pastor o)

I will gladly give him a tenth of my farm produce...but guess what, I'm not a farmer

And Levite Priests are now past tense... so just show me a Levite Priest

OkaiCorne:
My body is a living temple with a functional storehouse. I will use my tithe to maintain the storehouse in this living temple

Period!