Genesis 14:18-20 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he
was the priest of the most high God.
19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed
be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Hebrews 7:4 Now consider how great this man
was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Hebrews 7:1-28
1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
2and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”
3Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.
4Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils.
5Now the Law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people (that is, their brothers), even though they are descended from Abraham.
6But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
7And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater.
8In the case of the Levites, mortal men collect the tenth; but in the case of Melchizedek, it is affirmed that he lives on.
9And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham.
10For when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor.
A Superior Priesthood
11Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (upon which basis the people received the Law), why was there still a need for another priest to appear—one in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron?
12For when the priesthood is changed, the Law must be changed as well.
13He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.
14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.
15And this point is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears,
16one who has become a priest not by a law of succession, but by the power of an indestructible life.
17For it is testified:
“You are a priest forever
in the order of Melchizedek.”
a
18So the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless
19(for the Law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20And none of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath,
21but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him:
“The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind,
‘You are a priest forever.’”
b
22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
23Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.
24But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.
25Therefore He is able to save completely
c those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
26Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
27Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.
28For the Law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
So when we see Abraham's character and heart, we see he did so out of believing God, not bound by a law. Thus it was accounted as righteousness.
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 18:9-14
9To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:
10“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
12I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I receive.’
13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
The question thus remains, does it really grieve you that much to give to the church? Do you really believe that money has any real power?
Let me give you a testimony to faith and the fallacy of money.
I moved into my house with my dad where we were led by God to reside. The purchase of the house put us strapped for finances and were struggling. Among the first things to happen was the a/c went out and we were looking at a hefty situation that financially we could not afford. Having faith in God, God put a man in our path who fixed us up for under a hundred bucks.
Not long after, our sewer backed up due to heavy rains and were told our main line was busted and would need 9k worth of work and we could not afford it. Rather than succumb to the unsurmountable mountain that lay before us, having faith that God would move it, a guy came out and re-assessed the situation and fixed us up for under 400.
So you see....trust in God, not your money.
You miss the point of tithing.
Matthew 23:23
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.
Make sure to read that last verse there....Jesus did say tithes should be done. And lookie lookie...New Testament?!!!!???
Destroy that.