I believe in tithing and have been a tither. A friend however, strongly does not and asked me a load of questions on the subject. I'll post his comments here and seek answers from those who believe in tithing. thanks...
----------------
he wrote....
.... I've realized that it is largely due to ignorance of the difference between the tithe and the firstfruit....the tithe and the firstfruit are different...
The meaning of the first fruit is simple. It simply means that which comes first. A tithe on the other hand simply means the tenth part, or ten percent.
The difference between these two terms is illustrated in scripture in Leviticus 27:26-32.
In the church I attend, they understand this difference and so they say that the first fruit (in terms of financial income) of our increase is not the tithe, but for example, if we have just landed a new job, then that "whole" first months salary is the first fruit of our increase, and we honour the lord with that, according to Proverbs 3:9
The same applies for our raises at work.It is an increase and if it is the first, then that is counted as the firstfruit.
The logic goes like this: If you get your months salary, it all comes to you at the same time. How can you then determine which part of that salary came to you first. It is surely not by calculating ten percent, because that wouldn't be the first fruit, because you received it all at the same time, but would simply be the tithe of that salary. Therefore the tithe is not the firstfruit.
This puts a big hole in the whole message, because it is based on Christ being the firstfruit (which is true) and therefore "the tithe".
Christ is the firstborn of the church and therefore the firstfruit and we all who believe in him are a kind of firstfruit of God's creatures as the scripture says.
If Christ was the tithe (or the tenth part) then that would mean that there were only nine of us who were saved.
I don't dispute the fact that the Holy Spirit convicted you to tithe. But perhaps He was convicting you of a far deeper truth that tithing represents, (because He would never go against His Word) that one should abound in the grace of giving to support those who preach the gospel.
And when the Apostle Paul talks of the rights of those who preach the gospel, he says that "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel"...(1Corinthians 9:14)
His justification for this statement does not come from the principle (read as:law) of the tithe, but instead he quotes an obscure proverb from the Jewish law to put forward a principle that should be followed.
"For it is written in the Law of Moses...
.........Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox..that treadeth out the corn......
......Doth God take care for oxen? or saith He it altogether for our (preachers) sakes?.....for our sakes (preachers) no doubt this is written"
Isn't it a wonder that Paul should take an obscure old testament saying (Deuteronomy 25:4) to support his claim to financial support, and not threaten and accuse them of God robbing if they didn't pay tithes to him?
And in his second letter to the same people Paul writes:
"Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us see that ye abound in this grace also (he is talking about supporting the gospel)................I speak not by commandment...For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich. And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. Now therefore perform the doing of it ; that as there was a readiness to will so there may be a performance also out of which ye have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according ! to that he hath not......(2 Corinthians 8:7-11)
"Everyman according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity (like tithing), for God loveth a cheerful giver.......(2 Corinthians 9:7)
And I know of only one formula in the New Testament that guarantees material blessing for the one who practises it, and it is not tithing, but encapsulated in the preceding verse to the one above.....
"But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully"....(2 Corinthians 9:6)
There is no need to hold a gun to believers heads and threaten them to tithe. This formula should be enough to cause any believer to abound in the grace of giving, for whatever cause.
Just as now we are circumcized inwardly (Romans 2:28-29) and not outwardly (circumcision was also given before the Law) so also with this outward show of tithing. It is a matter of the heart as Paul makes so clear in the verses above. And if I may hasten to add; the early church (where there was no mention of this) excelled at this grace of giving...Acts 4:32-35
----------------
he wrote....
.... I've realized that it is largely due to ignorance of the difference between the tithe and the firstfruit....the tithe and the firstfruit are different...
The meaning of the first fruit is simple. It simply means that which comes first. A tithe on the other hand simply means the tenth part, or ten percent.
The difference between these two terms is illustrated in scripture in Leviticus 27:26-32.
In the church I attend, they understand this difference and so they say that the first fruit (in terms of financial income) of our increase is not the tithe, but for example, if we have just landed a new job, then that "whole" first months salary is the first fruit of our increase, and we honour the lord with that, according to Proverbs 3:9
The same applies for our raises at work.It is an increase and if it is the first, then that is counted as the firstfruit.
The logic goes like this: If you get your months salary, it all comes to you at the same time. How can you then determine which part of that salary came to you first. It is surely not by calculating ten percent, because that wouldn't be the first fruit, because you received it all at the same time, but would simply be the tithe of that salary. Therefore the tithe is not the firstfruit.
This puts a big hole in the whole message, because it is based on Christ being the firstfruit (which is true) and therefore "the tithe".
Christ is the firstborn of the church and therefore the firstfruit and we all who believe in him are a kind of firstfruit of God's creatures as the scripture says.
If Christ was the tithe (or the tenth part) then that would mean that there were only nine of us who were saved.
I don't dispute the fact that the Holy Spirit convicted you to tithe. But perhaps He was convicting you of a far deeper truth that tithing represents, (because He would never go against His Word) that one should abound in the grace of giving to support those who preach the gospel.
And when the Apostle Paul talks of the rights of those who preach the gospel, he says that "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel"...(1Corinthians 9:14)
His justification for this statement does not come from the principle (read as:law) of the tithe, but instead he quotes an obscure proverb from the Jewish law to put forward a principle that should be followed.
"For it is written in the Law of Moses...
.........Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox..that treadeth out the corn......
......Doth God take care for oxen? or saith He it altogether for our (preachers) sakes?.....for our sakes (preachers) no doubt this is written"
Isn't it a wonder that Paul should take an obscure old testament saying (Deuteronomy 25:4) to support his claim to financial support, and not threaten and accuse them of God robbing if they didn't pay tithes to him?
And in his second letter to the same people Paul writes:
"Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us see that ye abound in this grace also (he is talking about supporting the gospel)................I speak not by commandment...For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich. And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. Now therefore perform the doing of it ; that as there was a readiness to will so there may be a performance also out of which ye have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according ! to that he hath not......(2 Corinthians 8:7-11)
"Everyman according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity (like tithing), for God loveth a cheerful giver.......(2 Corinthians 9:7)
And I know of only one formula in the New Testament that guarantees material blessing for the one who practises it, and it is not tithing, but encapsulated in the preceding verse to the one above.....
"But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully"....(2 Corinthians 9:6)
There is no need to hold a gun to believers heads and threaten them to tithe. This formula should be enough to cause any believer to abound in the grace of giving, for whatever cause.
Just as now we are circumcized inwardly (Romans 2:28-29) and not outwardly (circumcision was also given before the Law) so also with this outward show of tithing. It is a matter of the heart as Paul makes so clear in the verses above. And if I may hasten to add; the early church (where there was no mention of this) excelled at this grace of giving...Acts 4:32-35
The widow was not giving a tithe when she cast in her mite - she gave a tithe +.
