A recent debate...

Recently I debated the subject of tithing with a tither who claimed, and I quote; "your being legalistic. I don't tithe in some legalistic way. I tithe freely and cause I want to."

Ignoring the grammar, I answered this person like this; "Of course I'm being legalistic, because if you are going to tithe God's way, tithe as God commanded, you must do so how God instructed tithing, and that is only found in the Law or references to the Law (i.e., Malachi). There is no such thing as 'non-legalistic' tithing in God's system of tithing. There is no 'Godly tithing' outside of the Law."

I went on to say; "Also, since you must follow the Law to tithe as God commanded to tithe, you are bound by obeying ALL of the Law or be cursed."

I then quoted the following scriptures...

"For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM." Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM." - Galatians 3:10-11

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

Even though I see it constantly, I am always amazed that tithers fail to understand that by being bound up in tithing that they are bringing a curse on themselves. We are redeemed from the curse of the Law, but that doesn't mean that we can't put ourselves back under a curse by disobedience to God's word otherwise Paul would not have warned the Believers at Galatia to NOT be pulled back under living by the Law or bring a curse on themselves by doing so.

"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" - Galatians 3:1

The answer to Paul's question is obvious; by faith, NOT by the Law. We also give by faith, not "tithe" under the Law.

God is a gracious God, and of course looks at the heart; many "tithers" are sincere in their desire to give, though misled, when they cut that 10% "tithe check" and hand it over to a church or other organization. God can and will bless anyone for giving sincerely, but it is my personal point of view that at some point God will require the "tither" to grow up in God's word, begin walking in the liberty we have in Christ (i.e., in this case, liberty from tithing) and walk in freedom paid for at the cross, or the blessings for naive "tithing" might come to an end.

"Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him." - Psalm 128:1

We are called to be blessed free will givers, not tithers.

Jesus said; "Freely you have received, freely give." - Matt 10:8b

______________________________

Copyright 2019, Anthony Todd, All rights reserved. Permission to copy and distribute this article must be obtained in writing from Tithing Study Online.

Permission can be requested at: tithingstudyonline@gmail.com. Upon permission to do so, it is granted under the strict condition that no content of any article be removed or altered, and that all articles are to remain intact as is when used. You must include a notation that any article distributed originated from Tithing Study Online, and include our blog URL as: https://ExaminingTithingDeceptions.blogspot.com.