So...Jesus said "tithing is something we ought to do". Let's see if He did...WITH SCRIPTURE.

>>> Jesus' Words in Mathew 23:23 

If Jesus instructed the New Testament Church to tithe based on Mathew 23:23, the Church has a big problem, and here is why... 

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." - Mathew 23:23 

1. To men with a lot of personal wealth, a lot of money, the Pharisees, Jesus confirmed that tithes were to be surrender as fruits, vegetables...(and in the case of herdsmen, clean livestock); "ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin..." Jesus did NOT instruct them to stop paying tithes from "mint and anise and cummin" and begin paying tithes in monetary form (money). 

Those Pharisees could have easily paid tithes in the form of money, but they and Jesus knew that tithes were ordered by the Law to be paid in fruits, vegetables, etc., NEVER money. 

2. Jesus clearly defined ALL TITHING that God had established as a "matter of the Law;" that is to say; God's one and only tithing system was commanded, established, organized, defined and regulated IN THE LAW, and in NO WHERE ELSE except for scripture referring to the Law... Jesus said "and have omitted the weightier matters of the law," tithing was described firmly by Jesus as "matters of the Law." ...NOT a matter of Abraham tithing, or even Jacob promising to tithe, which Jacob never did, Jacob never tithed. 


Tithing being a matter of the law (The Law of Moses) is also confirmed in Hebrews 7:5 - "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:" 
NOTE: "according to the law," 

3. According to Jesus in Mathew 23:23, not only were those He was talking to required to tithe as the Law commands, the "weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith" were to be obeyed also. That is to say the person tithing under the Law (God's ONLY system of tithing) was required to do ALL that the Law commanded them... " these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." That "OTHER" is the whole Law. 

> As James wrote in Scripture... 

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend on one point, he is guilty of all." - James 2:10 

> Also, Deuteronomy tells us... 

"Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen." - Deuteronomy 27:26 

> And, Paul wrote in scripture... 

"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." - Galatians 3:10 

The conclusion is obvious; if you tithe GOD'S WAY, you must do so based on the Law, God has called no one to tithe because either Abraham or Jacob did, therefore you, by tithing under the Law, are cursed. 

> Fortunately, we are NOT under the Law, and we are NOT instructed by God to tithe... 

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." - Romans 10:4 

"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." - Romans 6:14 

Romans 7:6 - "But now we are DELIVERED FROM THE LAW, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." 

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." - Galatians 3:24-25 

>>> Jesus was talking to Jews, Pharisees, who were at that time, under the Law (there was NO New Testament at that time, Jesus had not gone to the Cross yet), and He was calling out their hypocritical tithing practices, Jesus was NOT instructing Christian to tithe. To conclude that He was is taking scripture out of context and is blatant foolishness. 

>>> The bottom line is this; under the New Testament we are to be free will givers giving from what God has freely given us, and as GOD directs us to give... 

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." - Luke 6:38 

And... 

>>> Misuse of Matthew 23:23 by Deceptive Tithing Teachers 

Tithing teachers often refer to Matthew 23:23 claiming that Jesus instructed tithing for New Testament Believes in this verse of scripture. This claim is utterly false and a clear misuse of the scripture. 

>>> The passage of scripture; 

"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." - Matthew 23:23 

>>> The false claims; 

1. Jesus was instructing New Testament Christians to tithe. 

2. Jesus said that tithing is something you (Christians) "ought to do." 

3. Jesus validated tithing for Christians in Matthew 23:23. 

4. Jesus spoke Matthew 23:23 in the New Testament gospel of Matthew therefore tithing is a New Testament principle and instructions for Christians to tithe. 

>>> The facts; 

1. "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees" ...Jesus was talking directly to Scribes and Pharisees, Jews who were at that time under and subject to the Law of Moses. Jesus did not make His statements under the New Testament / New Covenant era which instructs NO ONE to tithe. 

Much of what was written and recorded in the four Gospels takes place in the Old Testament period. The New Testament era did not begin until the death and resurrection of Jesus. Some scholars believe that the New Testament / New Covenant era did not officially begin until the day of Pentecost. Either way, when Jesus was addressing the Scribes and Pharisees in Mathew 23:23 it was a time when they were under the Law of Moses, not the New Testament. 

To whom Jesus was addressing and under what circumstances He was doing so is vitally important in properly establishing the facts and avoiding the conclusion of false and misleading claims. 

2. "hypocrites!" ...Jesus was addressing the hypocrisy of their actions of paying tithes, which was not an act of hypocrisy in itself, but in the case of the Scribes and Pharisees Jesus was talking to, the manner and motivation in which they were paying tithe was in question by Jesus who called out their hypocrisy. 

The primary point of Matthew 23:23 is not to command tithing, but rather to expose the error of keeping the letter of the law and at the same time failing in the spirit of the law, which is in the end the real point of the law. 

> This same principle is seen here in Jesus' statement... 

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28 

3. "for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, "...The scribes and Pharisees were in fact paying tithes (this will become important later). 

4. "and have omitted the weightier matters of the law" ...Jesus included tithing as a matter of the law, but went on to state that tithing was not as important a matter of the law as was other more important (weightier) matters of the law such as judgment, mercy, and faith. 

It is clear that He did so, included tithing as a matter of the law, by stating immediately after speaking of tithing Jesus said "and have omitted the weightier matters of the law." That is to say... 

a. Tithing was a matter of the law, codified in the law, regulated in the law and was a part of the law. 

b. Tithing was not the most important part of the law, leading to... 

c. There are more important matters of the law which the Scribes and Pharisees failed to obey. The point being was that the Scribes and Pharisees were keeping to the letter of the law by tithing, but entirely missing the deeper meaning of the law, that is to say proper judgment, mercy, and faith, that they should have understood and acted on. Because of not doing so, their tithing was hypocrisy. The word "hypocrite" means "actor," as in they were outwardly acting out the law, but inwardly rejecting the more important subjects of the law. 

d. In short; you Scribes and Pharisees tithed based on the law, but fail at the more important matters of the law. 

5. "and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done," ...After stating that they fell short of the more important issues of the law, again; judgment, mercy, and faith, Jesus stated that "these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." 

6. "and not to leave the other undone." ...Continuing from point 3 above; Jesus was NOT instructing the Scribes and Pharisees to do something, that is to say "not to leave it undone," that they were ALREADY DOING; namely tithing. They were already tithing, there was NO NEED to tell therm to tithe by saying "THESE THINGS you ought to have done." 

> Note: "THESE THINGS" (plural), not "THIS THING" (singular)... 

"THESE THINGS" "judgment, mercy, and faith," ...three items, three subjects. 

Not "THIS THING" as in a single subject of tithing, as it would be stated if Jesus was referring to a single subject such as tithing. 

Jesus did not waste His time instructing someone to do something He knew they were already doing, but He did call out and expose the fact that their reason and motivation was wrong and hypocritical in what they were doing. 

The phrase "these ought ye to have done," is clearly referring to "judgment, mercy, and faith," not tithing BECAUSE they were already tithing. No one tells someone to do something they are already doing unless they do so in ignorance. Jesus was not speaking in ignorance. It is NOT, as many tithing teachers claim, referring to tithing as something we "ought to have done." 

Also, notice the PAST TENSE of the phrase "these ought ye to have done," NOT "these things you must continue to do as New Testament Believers." Jesus was clearly referring to something they, the Scribes and Pharisees, had not done in the past, something He was commanding that they should do. 

7. The "tithing principle;" as some tithing teachers are now claiming; Jesus spoke of NO "tithing principle" or "universal tithing principle" in Matthew 23:23. There is no "tithing principle" apart from actual instructions for tithing found in the law or scriptures referring to the Law of Moses. We are not under Law of Moses. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." - Romans 6:14 

>>> Closing Comment... 

"Text taken out of context is a pretext to deceptive text." 

Three words for proper scriptural interpretation... 


Context, context, context. 




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