The Laws and Principles of Tithing

By Pastor Jeff Wolfe

Is tithing to be practiced by the N.T. Christian?

Abraham Commenced it. (Ge. 14:18-20)
Jacob Continued it. (Ge. 28:20-22)
Moses Confirmed it. (Le. 27:30)
Malachi Commanded it. (Mal. 3:10)
Jesus Commended it. (Mt. 23:23)
God Commissioned it. (I Co. 9:14)
Paul Conformed it. (I Co. 16:2)

Abraham and Jacob tithed 500 years BEFORE the Law was instituted.

Under the Law tithing was commanded. Under Grace, we do not tithe legalistically, but because we love the Lord (II Co. 5:14). Do you think God would ask less love, less faith, and less cheerful giving from a N.T. Christian than from a Jew under the Law? Tithing, for the Christian, is not a matter of bondage.

Wouldn’t you rather have a blessed 90 cents than a cursed $1.00?

The tithe is the Lord’s (Le. 27:30)

Give the Lord first place in everything (Mt. 6:33). Honor the Lord with your first fruits (Pr. 3:9). This means to set aside the tithe first; before all other bills and expenses.

Do we understand that is why God said in Malachi 3, that His people were under a curse? They had received blessing from God, but withheld from God what was rightfully His.

It is as if God’s people were saying, "God, I will take all the blessings you have for me, but I will not submit myself to you as the One who is greater than me. I will not recognize your rights over my life as the greater. I will take your blessings, but I will not give you tithes.

You see their robbing from God in the tithe was not just a math problem. It was not that they could not figure out what one tenth of all their income was. That was not the issue.

The Issue was a relational one. It was a heart problem... not a law problem. These people had become takers. Their wants, desires, and personal agendas took precedence over God’s will. They lived by human wisdom believing that their needs for self and family would be met as they honored self first, rather than honoring God first. Their rights became more important.

You ask anyone who doesn’t believe in NT tithing how their finances are going, and if they are honest, they will have to tell you that they are barely making it! If at all!

Some preachers will not teach or preach on giving or tithing for fear of ‘offending’ the listners. To that I ask, "Who would you rather offend, the congregation, or God?"

Two-thirds of the parables Jesus taught were about finances! And the reason for this is simple: He chose a topic with which everyone could relate. In His parables Christ was describing a SPIRITUAL kingdom that is actually more real than this material kingdom. But in order to identify with worldly people, He had to use a worldly example; MONEY!

But Christ never said that money or material things were problems. Instead, He often taught that they were the symptoms of underlying problems.

Bring the WHOLE tithe into the storehouse.

Tithing is an act of:

(a) Worship (Ge. 28:20-22)

(b) Holiness (Le. 27:30)

What and when? Tithe on Gross or Net? Exodus 23 refers to the ‘first fruits.’ We are to also tithe on our increase! (That is anything we receive!)

(c) Obedience (Jn. 14)

The fact is that the average church attending Christian gives less than 3% of their income. In fact, if every Christian were to lose their jobs and went on welfare, and tithed from their welfare checks, giving in the American churches would increase over 30%. This just shows that as Christians, we are generally willing to give God credit for everything! But few are willing to give Him cash!

Like it or not, your checkbook is indicative of your priorities. If you would let me review your checkbook for ten minutes, I could get a pretty good idea where your priorities lie. Jesus stated in Luke 12:15, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for a man’s life does NOT consist in the abundance of his possessions."

(d) Love (Jn. 4:19)

John 14:21, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." Paul speaks of excellence in giving is to show love (II Cor. 8:1-9)

(e) Evangelism

Paul continues in his writing in II Corinthians by saying, "Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Chris, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else."

Matthew 23:23, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices; mint; dill and cummin. But you have neglected that more important matters of the law; justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. "

Jesus states that the Pharisees had been careful to tithe, but neglected the more important matters of the law; justice, mercy and faithfulness. But notice how He ends that sentence. He says, you should have practiced the latter (the justice, mercy and faithfulness) without neglecting the former (the tithe)."

The word for 'to prove' is the Hebrew word bachan (Strong's 0974) and it means ‘to try or to test as metal is tested for its purity’.

If gold can be tried by the water displacement method, and your works can be tested by fire, How then can God be tested?

Malachi 3:10, claims that God can be tested by tithing.

Tithing existed prior to the existence of the Law. Tithing is not a Jewish law! It is a Godly principle. If you did not obey a Jewish law, you were punished severely. There was not physical punishment among Jews who did not tithe. The only punishment, according to the Word of God, for not tithing, is the punishment of curse! And, I would rather be punished by man, than to have a curse from God on my life! Wouldn’t you?

Listen to what God says in verse 31, "If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it." If we do not pay our income tax, the IRS adds a penalty. God does the same. In God’s eyes it is, pay the tithe or pay the penalty. (Ge. 13)

I Co. 16:1-2

"Set aside a sum: (vs.2) Who or what determines the size? Notice the rest; "in keeping with his income." In other words, a percentage. How do we determine the percentage? By Scripture. The only percentage taught in Scripture is ten percent.