Are Christians commanded to tithe?

charles1014 said:

Unfortunately, I do not see any way that the passage in Philippians could ever be misconstrued into giving anyone a belief that that was about tithing.

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Well, once I was asked to teach a Wednesday night class on tithing, and in my research I was led to the Philippians passage. So I'm not the one that invented the idea

That being said, if the Philppians passage isn't teaching tithing, where, in the NT, are we commanded to tithe?

charles1014 said:

I would be careful with that one, because as a steward over those things which God has entrusted into your care, you need to make wise decisions. Wisdom comes from God and His Holy Spirit, so if the Holy Spirit indeed was to lead you that way, then by all means do, but I don't believe the Holy Spirit would lead you to do it if it put your family in the poor house, thus requiring help themselves. Be wise my friend in all your decisions and do not neglect the needs of your own family.

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Well i understand it. Jesus said not all could become my disciples, that to be one you must give up everything. Jesus said not to take light of His words but to make sure you are able to do what is required before you start. This is to be greatest in Heaven, not many can do that. It does not mean a person is less in God's eyes, or not saved. It just means they won't be like say Paul. Me personally I could not do this even though we have little, but on one hand I had everything taken from me, i was once homeless and people stole everything I had and sold what I had left even my car I was sleeping in. It is a hard hard life i would not wish on anyone nor would I ever want to go through that again.

I understand the words like i said it is not for everyone, few in fact.

charles1014 said:

I recently read in a Baptist publication where the author claimed that Christians have a commandment to tithe (even though no scripture reference was given). He also went on to say that tithing should be treated as a doctrine that should be defended just as the doctrine of Salvation.
My issue is, I cannot find any such commandment and therefore question the other aspect of his argument for defending it.

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Basically tithing is a Biblical practise that is first identified by Abraham tithing to Melchizedek. In the OT, Melchizedek is representative of God's High Priest and is also found in the NT as Christ himself.
Jesus confirmed tithing as a requirement in Matthew 23:23 just as He confirmed divorce NOT being allowed in Matthew 5:32.

Awaken4Christ said:

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 ESV / 665 helpful votes

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.



Its a matter of the heart, not some automatic dispensing ritual. As a Christian we should desire to advance the kingdom and magnify his name.

The regenerating heart can give in a multitude of ways, but it is decided in the heart.

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Is that really talking about a monetary tithe or simply giving of one's self and abilities?

Can you show me, in the verse, where monetary funds to the church are referenced please?

Verse 9 refers to Psalm 112:9

Looking at verse 2, what were they ready to give in Achaia and to whom?

Remember Christ and His disciples collected money, and what did they do with it? Did they give it to the temple? Or did they help the poor directly? Look in Mark 14.

I have no qualms with tithing. It's giving to God, and paying for the services and upkeep of the church.

charles1014 said:

You may not have a qualm with tithing, but where is your Scripture that gives you or anyone else the right to demand that others give a tithe to a church?

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Tithing is the same as giving. It should be done with a glad heart.

Tithing is not a commandment of the NT. The main passage in the NT dealing with giving in the church is found in 2 Corinthians 8-9 and Paul says specifically:

I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. (2 Corinthians 8:8 ESV)

Paul himself said it's not a commandment to tithe, rather we should give to those in need to show how much we love them.

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:17, 18 ESV)

John agreed with him. Tithing is not a commandment Christians need follow. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. If He tells you to give something one week and not the other, then obey. Like those in Acts, if He tells you to sell all that you have and give it to the poor, then do so. But following some random 10% nonsense just for the sake of doing so is pointless and fruitless

Thought: If we are cursed with a curse because we do not tithe our money, then both Jesus Christ and His Apostles were also cursed with a curse. They did not tithe their money either.

How do I know this?

Because the Law called for agricultural tithes, not monetary tithes.

Deuteronomy 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

Jesus Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law. Every Mosaic Law that applied to Him as a Jew, He observed and kept. He could not have done what seemed right in His own eyes. The Law said tithes were agricultural, He could not have tithed anything that was not agricultural or He would have been breaking the very Law He came to fulfill.

Of course, since He was neither a farmer nor a herder, (He was a carpenter) He could not have tithed anyway.

Bluelion said:

do you know the first tithe? It was from Abraham to Malkeniser sorry spelling not right, it is the Holy Priest line which Jesus is from. Abraham gave it declared that because God had given him victory in war he would give a tenth of all he received from that day forward.

If the question is should we give to God, yes. If the question is how, there are many ways.

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You may want to go back and read that passage again in Genesis 14. The Bible does not say Abram would tithe from that day forward. You are adding to the Word of God when you say he did.

Also, note that what Abram tithed was not his own property... it was the spoils of war; specifically, Bera the king and citizenry of Sodom. Abram was told by Bera to keep the spoils but to give him the people.

Thought. if the phrase, "to the victor belong the spoils" was true in this instance, why would Bera have told Abram to keep the spoils? They would not have been Bera's to distribute as he will.

Fact: The spoils were the possession of Bera. Abram had promised God he would not keep any of the spoils as his own lest he give Bera reason to say he had made Abram rich. In other words, what Abram tithed to Melchizedk was not his own property... it was the property of Sodom.

Notice in Genesis 15:1, that God said that He was Abram's exceeding great reward. The spoils were not Abram's reward. He didn't want them. He didn't claim them.

Also note that in the entire account of Abram's tithe to Melchizedek, the story is descriptive, not prescriptive. One cannot find a single command to tithe in that entire Chapter... nor to continue tithing. As a matter of fact, in Numbers 31, we see that what God required from the spoils of war was far, far less than ten percent.

Will A Man Rob God?
by Ronald W. Robey

On any given Sunday, there will be Pastor’s who will stand behind the pulpit and will preach a well-known message out of the 3rd Chapter of the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi.

“Will a man ROB GOD?,” will boom through the air with emphasis on ‘rob God.’ Many preacher’s will put the emphasis on ‘rob God’ to instill an automatic fear into the very minds of the hearer. It causes the automatic cringing of the people the preacher wants to put in a spirit of condemnation.

“Yet YOU HAVE ROBBED ME. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for YE HAVE ROBBED ME, even this whole nation.”

Every single believer in the congregation who is not placing money in a tithe envelope and placing it in the offering plate is automatically pointed out by this man (figuratively) who is supposed to be speaking for God as being robbers and are therefore under a curse which will NEVER BE LIFTED as long as one is disobedient to God.

This is why it is important for each and every person who has been adopted into the family of God by faith in the substitutionary blood of Jesus Christ on the cruel cross of Calvary to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Jesus said in John 17 during His prayer to His Father acknowledging all that the Father gave Him these wonderful words that we all need to embrace and realize that He wants us to study diligently; “Sanctify them through Thy Truth; Thy Word is Truth.”

Once we learn that it is God’s Holy Word that sanctifies, that sets us apart from the world, that separates us from false teachings, then we have a responsibility to study that Word and begin to apply its truths to our walk. When we walk according to the Word of God, we will not be so easily swayed by preachers who do not study as they should.

Oh, but the preacher has doctorates given him by a famous seminary that has turned out many wonderful men of God! Don’t be fooled, Brethren. The only thing that will turn out a wonderful man of God is God Himself.

And the best place to go to learn who God is and what He expects of man is to the very Words of God… The Holy Bible.

In the accusation of man robbing God in today’s Christian community, a charge is generally given out of Malachi that not only was not speaking of money, but it was not speaking of the Gentile nations at all.

The Gentile nations were not required to tithe according to God’s Word.

Let’s begin to look into the passage and learn what God is truly addressing when the prophet Malachi said “Will a man rob God? But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”

First off, we must address who is being spoken to in the passage. It will shock many to realize that it was to the Israelite’s.

Look at verse five:

Malachi 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

Clearly, God is speaking about specific people here that are doing the robbing! Those who oppress or defraud their employees (servants), those who defraud the widows, the orphans, and that turn aside the stranger from his right. To see exactly what is meant here since it is speaking of tithes, we must go into the Book of Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 14:22-29 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

Here, we learn more than just one wonderful truth.

1. We learn that the tithe was “all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.” The tithe was a yearly event, not weekly.

2. We learn that the tithe was to be eaten.

3. We learn that the purpose of the tithe is that the Israelites learn to revere the LORD their God.

4. If the tithe was too heavy to carry to the destination that the Lord had chose to place His name, the tithe could be sold for money. This tells us the tithe was not money as many have been taught in many Churches across the world.

5. Once the tither arrived at the destination that the Lord had chose to place His name, the money was to be used to buy the tithe that was to be eaten there before the Lord.

6. On every 3rd year, the tithe was not to be taken to the Levite’s who worked in the Tabernacle, but rather, the tithe was to be kept on one’s own property to feed the Levite that was living on one’s property, the widow, the orphans, and any stranger that happened to be on one’s land at the time of the tithe. These people were fed the third year tithe.

7. The Levite’s that worked at the Tabernacle were the only one’s who were qualified to receive the tithe of the tither for the sole purpose of their sustenance. The tithe was to be given to them because they were not allowed to own their own any property on which they could raise crops or herd livestock.

If the principle set forth in the Book of Deuteronomy was followed, the LORD God promised to bless the one who tithed of the work of his hand.

When one reads Malachi 3:5 in light of Deuteronomy 14:22-29, we see that the Levites were not following God’s command concerning the 3rd year tithe.

They were not allowing the tithe to go toward feeding the less fortunate!

When God said, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it, He was telling the tither to take his grains and meats, his foodstuff, into the barn so that there would be food for the Levite, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger living on the tither’s land.

If the tither would do this, God would cause the windows of heaven to open, the rain to fall, and the crops to increase in such a way that the tither would have more than he needed for his own self.

Will A Man Rob God?

standingfirminChrist said:

Thought: If we are cursed with a curse because we do not tithe our money, then both Jesus Christ and His Apostles were also cursed with a curse. They did not tithe their money either.

How do I know this?

Because the Law called for agricultural tithes, not monetary tithes.

Deuteronomy 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

Jesus Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law. Every Mosaic Law that applied to Him as a Jew, He observed and kept. He could not have done what seemed right in His own eyes. The Law said tithes were agricultural, He could not have tithed anything that was not agricultural or He would have been breaking the very Law He came to fulfill.

Of course, since He was neither a farmer nor a herder, (He was a carpenter) He could not have tithed anyway.

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Jesus being God was not required to tithe anything, nor to pay the temple tax which he did. He said the fact He is God is the reason His disciples did not fast in His company. Can the guest of the wedding fast while with the bride groom, but the bride groom will be taken from them in that day they shall fast.

It is also wise to fast, but most people do not.

Bluelion said:

Jesus being God was not required to tithe anything, nor to pay the temple tax which he did. He said the fact He is God is the reason His disciples did not fast in His company. Can the guest of the wedding fast while with the bride groom, but the bride groom will be taken from them in that day they shall fast.

It is also wise to fast, but most people do not.

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Actually, Jesus, in His flesh and bone body, was required to keep all laws that pertained to Him. Had He been a farmer or herder while here on Earth, He would have been required to tithe of the increase of His crops, herds & flocks like all other Israelites.

But, because He was a carpenter, He was not required to tithe. His being God in the flesh had no bearing on whether He had to tithe or not. Remember, the Jews did not see Him as Deity.

charles1014 said:

Here is a list of 50 facts that I have come up with that cannot be refuted by any tithe promoting preacher or by one of his 'yes' men:

1. Before Abraham we saw no tithe practiced nor a commandment from God to do so.
2. The commandments given to Noah, for all men did not have a call for a tithe to be paid to God.
3. Abraham received no command from God to give a tithe to Melchizedek.
4. God never once recorded any motive as to why Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek.
5. Abraham was a type of Christ and not Christ Himself.
6. Abraham never gave a tithe to anyone from his own personal wealth.
7. All Scriptural evidence emphasises the Priesthood of Christ and not the tithe.
8. The validity of Melchizedek's order only required one tithe.
9. All of the Seed of Abraham, paid this tithe to Melchizedek.
10. Abraham shared no altar with Melchizedek.
11. Abraham never paid a tithe from the wealth he received from Abimelech.
12. Abraham's tithe did not make it into the Great Hall of Faith chapter.
13. Abraham never commanded any of his children to tithe to God.
14. God never memorialized Abraham's tithe nor was it declared to be a church ordinance.
15. God's promise to Jacob and his seed were unconditional and did not require a tithe.
16. Jacob's vow to tithe was conditional.
17. Although God kept His end of the bargain, it was impossible for Jacob to keep his.
18. There is no record of Jacob keeping his vow, nor a record of God punishing him for not keeping it.
19. The Vow fell upon Jacob's children for them to keep.
20. The first fory years of the tabernacle and the priesthood, no tithe was collected.
21. The tithe was only to come from their inheritance and nothing else.
22. The tithe was from the fruit of the land and not from man's hands.
23. A penalty of 20% was added to any tithe that was redeemed.
    
24. Only the children of Levi had a commandment from God to collect tithes from the people.
    
25. The tithe was not from the best but from the tenth.
    
26. The tithe was never the first part but the tenth part.
27. The poor, the stranger and the widows never paid a tithe but were partakers of it.
28. The book of Malachi was written in condemnation of the priest.
29. The priest during Malachi's were stealing the tithe and putting the whole nation under a curse.
    
30. Jesus never paid a tithe.
    
31. The Pharisees were obligated to pay the tithe.
    
32. Jesus had every right to be a partaker of the tithe.
    
33. Jesus made no commandment for anyone in the church to tithe.
    
34. The rich young man that confronted Jesus had no problem with the tithe but he did with giving to his brethren.
    
35. There are only two ordinances for the church and tithing is not one of them.
    
36. No Apostle gave any commandment for anyone in the church to tithe.
    
37. All examples of giving in the NT by the church was about meeting the needs of the brethren.
    
38. The Apostles condemned those teaching the Gentiles to follow the Law of Moses.
    
39. The Law of Moses was described as a yoke of burden that no man could bear
    
40. Giving to others did not always include money.
41. The only Law that Christians are to follow is the Law of Christ.
    
42. No man in the church was ever given the authority to change the makeup of the tithe.
43. No where do we find a command that all giving go through the church.
    
44. This world is not our home; we are just passing through it.
    
45. Storehouse tithing is not taught in the Word of God.
    
46. The minimum gift to give any man is determined by Holy Spirit only.
    
47. Like all hirelings, the clergy in the church deserve payment for their services.
    
48. No pastor has ever been denied an inheritance amongst his fellow brethren.
    
49. Pastors are not our priest and not the gatekeepers of priestly duties.
    
50. Brick and mortar church buildings are not God's responsibility to maintain or build.

I am still working on the list and trying to get them all explained at THE TITHE - A PRIMER ON BIBLICAL DOCTRINES

If you have any more reasons, please share them with me and I'll get them posted on my site.

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Great points i do believe you have changed my mind about it, but i need to research it before I can defend it.