The Tithing Issue, Another Perspective Part 2

After the last post, I found that there are still some brothers and sisters out there who are still doubtful about the teaching behind the tithing issue

Let me quote a long section of a book by Robert Morris "The Blessed Life"

"It is amazing to me how many people try to overlook this Scripture (Mal 3:8-9) or explain it away. Some say, "Well, that's in the Old Testament." But in the very same chapter of Malachi, God says, "For I am the LORD, I do not change" (v. 6).

We have already seen that the Lord clearly says that the firstborn belongs to Him (see Exodus 13:2) and the firstfruits are His (see Exodus 23:19). We also just heard Him say that the tithe belongs to Him (see Malachi 3:8-9).

Here is my question to those who contend that the principle of the tithe is no longer active: If God declares, "I do not change" (Malachi 3:6), then when did those things supposedly change? When did God change?

The tithe, the firstborn and the firstfruits all belong to the Lord. This isn't a law! It's an unchanging principle established by an unchanging God.

Many people say, "Well, tithing was under the Law, so I don't have to do it. We're under grace now." They need to know that there are many things that were under the Law that continue to be principles with God.

Would you believe anyone who asserted that because adultery was forbidden under the Law, it is now acceptable under grace? Would you accept the argument that stated that because stealing was forbidden under the Old Testament law, it is now acceptable under the New Covenant grace? Of course not.

There are eternal principles throughout the Word of God, and tithing is clearly one of them. It is a principle that runs from Genesis to Revelation.

The tithe belongs to God. The firstborn belongs to God. And firstfruits belong to God."

Taken from The Blessed Life, Robert Morris, Chapter 2: God Must Be First, Page 37-38

Here are some examples from the book of Genesis that speaks of tithing and the principle of firstfruits/firstborn

a) The tithing of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:16)
b) Abel tithing of the firstborn sheep (Gen 4:4)
c) Abram tithes to Melchizedek (Gen 14:20)
d) Abraham sacrifice of Isaac as firstborn burnt offering to God's promise to Abraham being the father of many nations (Gen 17:5).

Even in the new Testament other than the book of Hebrews there is a mention of giving that reflects the tithe (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).



(NIV) Now about the collection for God's people; Do what I told the Galatian Churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. (NIV)

(NLT) Now about the money being collected for the Christians in Jerusalem: You should follow the same procedures I gave to the churches in Galatia. On every first day of the week, each of you should put aside some amount of money in relation to what you have earned and save it for this offering. Don't wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once (NLT)

(NKJV) Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each on of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. (NKJV)

(ASV) Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.

(BBE) On the first day of the week, let every one of you put by him in store, in measure as he has done well in business, so that it may not be necessary to get money together when I come.

(CEV) That is, each Sunday each of you must put aside part of what you have earned. If you do this, you won't have to take up a collection when I come.

(CUV-S) 每逢七日的第一日，各人要照自己的进项抽出来留著，免得我来的时候现凑。

(ESV) On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

(GNB) Every Sunday each of you must put aside some money, in proportion to what you have earned, and save it up, so that there will be no need to collect money when I come.

(ISV) On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside and save some of your money in proportion to what you have, so that no collections will have to be made when I come.

(KJV+) Upon the first2596, 3391 day of the week4521 let every one1538 of you5216 lay5087 by3844 him1438 in store,2343 as3748, 302 God hath prospered2137 him, that2443 there be1096 no3361 gatherings3048 when(3752) I come.2064

(KJVR) Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

(LITV) On one of the sabbaths, let each of you put by himself, storing up whatever he is prospered, that there not be collections then when I come.

(MKJV) On the first of the sabbaths let each of you put by himself, storing up what ever he is prospered, so that there may be no collections when I come.

(RV) Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.

(Webster) Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no collections when I come.

(YLT) on every first day of the week, let each one of you lay by him, treasuring up whatever he may have prospered, that when I may come then collections may not be made;



Generally speaking, the other more direct way of saying the above is that we ought to put aside more money as our income grow due to God's grace. So as the income grows, so does the giving. The key word here is 'as'.

So does this reflect the tithe? The tithe means as more is given, the 10% also grows in terms of size. If I earn 100 dollars, then the 10% is 10 dollars; if I earn 10000 dollars, the 10% is represented by 1000 dollars. If we take away the proportion in the scriptures, then it is not in the same nature as a tithe and thus can be construed as an offering since offerings has no "fixed formula" unlike the tithe (which incidentally meant a tenth or 10%). These verses show that as God prosper us, the more is set aside for the giving, thus the spirit of the tithe is presented here.

We must also see that in 1 Corinthians 16 v 1, Paul has already instructed the church of Galatia or the Galatians to do the same as he has instructed the Corinthians. Are the Corinthians and Galatians primarily Jewish believers? Paul has already said that God is also the God of gentiles (Romans 3:29) as He is also the God of the Jews, therefore the teaching about giving even of tithes is applicable since God is unchanging.

So the tithe is not about ethnicity or race or even gender. The issue here is not us humans, the created, but the focus is on the creator. If the creator demands tithes of firstfruits and firstborns, then we who are the created, are to adhere to His principle since He is the one that teaches it in the first place.

With this as the backdrop, it is no wonder that Paul told the Corinthians this

You are so rich in all you have: in faith, speech, and knowledge, in your eagerness to help and in your love for us. And so we want you to be generous also in this service of love.
(2Co 8:7)

But just as you excel in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us - see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
(2Co 8:7, NIV)

So what is this service of love? The clue comes in verse 2 where Paul commended the sacrifices made by the Corinthians that even though they are poor, they are still generous! That's why Paul gave the famous verse (which I think is often misused) in verse 9 to encourage the poor that Jesus through the work on the cross will make them rich (in terms of money)!

*Note: Before anyone says that this 'richness' is spiritual richness, one ought to refer to the strong's concordance with regards to the word 'rich' as presented in verse 9. I have included it here for easy reference:

G4148; to be (or become) wealthy (literally or figuratively): - be increased with goods, (be made, wax) rich.

As the readers can see, the meaning here is literally meant that one would increased with goods! So this is rich in the material sense, not spiritual. Let those who have eyes see!


I think of the same as Paul when the issue of tithing surfaced (2 Cor 8:8), that the matter of tithing is a test of sincerity towards the Lord. It is not for the Lord to test but for our own benefit, to question our own hearts.

I do not speak according to command, but through the earnestness of others and testing the trueness of your love.
(2Co 8:8)

The giving of tithe is not a command but it is also a test of the trueness of your love! How do Paul test the Corinthians? By the giving of money! As one read through the whole of chapter 8, one would have realised that the giving that is presented is about money.

The issue now: Do we need to pass this test to go to heaven? No. Like I mentioned in my earlier posts, we are the redeemed of God through Jesus. We are bound for heaven no matter what since we have received the Lord and being made a new creation therefore there is no more tests involve.

However, how well we live on this earth depends on how obedient we are to the Lord. The principle of tithing is something that the Lord demands that we ought to obey. The reward is that God will bless us more, protect us from the evil of this earth that is controlled by the devil.

The second reward is that the act of tithing frees us from the clutches of the love of mammon.

The third reward is that we are free from worrying about mammon.

Lastly, we are conditioning our hearts to become true to the Lord and the act of giving/tithing is a test to be used for us to strive to become perfect just as our Father in heaven is perfect.

The Tithing Issue, Another Perspective

Being re-reading some notes on tithing and also to reflect the past arguments for and against the act of tithing. Then impressed by God to hunt verses in the New Testament that speaks of tithing.

The first instance is when Jesus reproach the Pharisees. This is what the Lord says

Mat 23:23

(ASV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.

(BBE) A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make men give a tenth of all sorts of sweet-smelling plants, but you give no thought to the more important things of the law, righteousness, and mercy, and faith; but it is right for you to do these, and not to let the others be undone.

(CEV) You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your garden, such as mint, dill, and cumin. Yet you neglect the more important matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the important things you should have done, though you should not have left the others undone either.

(CUV-S) 「你们这假冒为善的文士和法利赛人有祸了！因为你们将薄荷、茴香、芹菜，献上十分之一，那律法上更重的事，就是公义、怜悯、信实，反倒不行了。这更重的是你们当行的；那也是不可不行的。

(KJV+) Woe3759 unto you,5213 scribes1122 and2532 Pharisees,5330 hypocrites!5273 for1063 ye pay tithe586 of mint2238 and2532 anise432 and2532 cummin,2951 and2532 have omitted863 the3588 weightier926 matters of the3588 law,3551 judgment,2920, (2532) mercy,1656 and2532 faith:4102 these5023 ought1163 ye to have done,4160 and not3361 to leave863 the other2548 undone.863

(YLT) `Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye give tithe of the mint, and the dill, and the cumin, and did neglect the weightier things of the Law--the judgment, and the kindness, and the faith; these it behoved you to do, and those not to neglect.

What all this means is that the Lord did not discount the importance of tithing but would like us to also put Justice, Mercy and Faithfulness unto the same level as with tithing.

And here's Paul's teaching on tithing:

Heb 7:8

(ASV) And here men that die receive tithes; but there one, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

(BBE) Now at the present time, men over whom death has power take the tenth; but then it was taken by one of whom it is witnessed that he is living.

(CEV) Priests are given a tenth of what people earn. But all priests die, except Melchizedek, and the Scriptures teach that he is alive.

(CUV-S) 在这里收十分之一的都是必死的人；但在那里收十分之一的，有为他作见证的说，他是活的；

(KJV+) And2532 here5602, 3303 men444 that die599 receive2983 tithes;1181 but1161 there1563 he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed3140 that3754 he liveth.2198

(YLT) and here, indeed, men who die do receive tithes, and there he , who is testified to that he was living,



So the act of tithing is a work of faith that testify to the Lord is alive, well and kicking in heaven. If we tithe, although we tithe to our churches here on earth, Jesus received the tithe for us since He is the Priest for us in front of Abba God. And before Abraham, Jesus is the I am, therefore He is the Melchizedek that Abraham gave the tithe to.

The argument that the tithe is no more because it is law can be argues in myrid of ways. However even the act of arguing against the act of tithing show the true intention of one's heart, that one is not convinced that Jesus is alive in heaven receiving our tithes and tithing is not as important as justice, mercy and faithfulness.

Now this has to be taught correctly now. Jesus did not come down here to abolish the act of tithing because the very act of tithing is to show respect for God's property and assets that was given to us as stewards by His Grace. He gave us undeserved favour to let us manage His assets, His property, His money, then out of our own gratefulness we should at least gave the tithe to Him as an act of appreciation.

Now here comes the verse that see the act of tithing from another perspective, that by giving, we acknowledge that there is someone who is receiving the tithe! Now that is very important. If there is no one on earth to receive the money, why would we give in the first place? Of course we have the church to take the money but most importantly, through a mystery of sorts, the money given to the church is received by Christ in heaven. And if Christ received it, then it shows that He is alive.

We give tithe because He is alive and thus able to bless the tithe and the work of our hands and to allow Him to work supernaturally to protect our finances, our well being and our families.

Now that's the reason why in Cho Nam's book "Heaven is so real" on page 21 she wrote

"Those who don't tithe are disobedient children."

Why are those who do not tithe are disobedient? If the Lord puts tithing as important as justice, mercy and faith; then by not tithing, it is equivalent of not doing justice, have no mercy and did not exercise faith.

At first when I read Cho Nam's book page 21 on tithing, I was a bit sceptical why she would wrote that at worse or why the Lord would say that at best. Now with some studies and numerous 'arguments' over tithing, I saw it very plainly...that the giving of the tithe or not giving of the tithe shows the heart truly of things financial.

In short, are we serving mammon or the Lord who created mammon?

Note: There are still some parts of Cho Nam's book that I am not really agreeable. The path to heaven is Jesus for He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to Abba God but through Him alone.

So in the same breath, going to Abba Father in heaven is equivalent of going to Heaven in the first place. It is not what we do that gets us to heaven, it is what Jesus has done on the cross and our reaction to that fact that allow us to touch heaven.

Put it another way. If I have a son, he will always be my son no matter what happened. If I teach him to do something but he is disobedient, by the very fact that he is disobedient, he will suffer needlessly. However, it will not change his status of being my son. He still can come back home.

So the same way...God has teach me about tithing and what tithing can do to me and for me if I tithe (Malachi 3:10-12). If I do not tithe, I will suffer needlessly: The devil can destroy my work's results, the blessings would not come forth, people will see that I am not blessed at all for my land would not be fruitful. Would I suffer by not tithing? Yes!! Because this is what the Lord has taught!

Since I suffered because I did not tithe does that mean I am disqualified being a son of God. NO!! Of course not! For the blood that was shed for the remission of our sin is everlasting therefore nothing that we do can take us away from the love of God.

How to Get to Heaven...Just Do Good?

Today was passing by the car park like any other days and something caught my eye. Normally I would see a Christian car sticker that shouts Lord's promises but today it is a Buddha image with the words "Heaven? Just Do Good" I wish I can take a picture of it because it really shows the main differences between the teachings of Buddha and Christianity.

As you know, the Book tells us that human nature is already been tainted by sin or similar to bad kharma in some ways and we need Christ to actually meet God's level of holiness before be able to accept Christ to enter heaven. Sounds easy enough yes?

So Buddha teaches that human are by nature, good (anti-thesis of what Christians believe) and thus be able to reach nirvana (their heaven in some ways) by doing more good than bad.

This post reminds me of a book titled "The Lotus and The Cross" by Ravi Zacharias. The book described an imagined conversation between Buddha and Christ. Very interesting read indeed.

Anyway why I am persuaded to be a Christian is strengthened by a study on the claims of Buddhist teachings. The primary reason is the question where how one would know if one has attained enlightenment.

Put it this way: If you go for a test, how would you determined if you pass or fail?

In the same way, life is a test and like it or not, we are told that there is a pass and fail in life...you pass, go to heaven, you fail...go to hell...literally.

So the generally teaching about Buddhism is that there is a system that can determine if one pass and thus reach nirvana, the question is who is the examiner? Who sets the standards? Why I ask this question is that even the Buddha refuses to acknowledge that he is a god but yet he can attain enlightenment (so in another words, a student knows he has passed because he sets the standards himself and yet refuses to acknowledge that he set the standards in the first place).

One thing about Buddha's teachings is that he shows the ability to know right and wrong or in another words we called it conscience. But conscience invoked either joy or guilt when a particular action is done and it requires a yardstick. So where does that yardstick comes from?

I think the answer comes from the Bible...and the 10 commandments is another way to re-interpret the conscience into a form that all can see and read. Ultimately, the 10 commandments shows us something that our conscience already shown but not easily dismissed. We can ignore our feelings and thus conscience...however we can never dismiss a yardstick made known.

Let's just entertain the thought if both Buddha and the 10 commandments are right.

When we are kids, we knowingly cry for food, get into fights or snatch things out of selfishness and self-preservation... karma thus get affected

When we got older, we got angry, seek revenge or just plain nasty...karma affected again and so we feel guilty and then try to do good things to patch up all the bad things.

What if we think we can patch everything up but got angry with someone uncontrollably? Or what if we forgot about something bad that was not patched up at all?

So when will it end? When can we reach nirvana? When can we actually know that we patched up everything and do good beyond our bad things?

Until we die...you say? Isn't that as good as not telling me my exam syllabus and ask me to study only to fail when my results are out? Ain't that a bit too late?

Or what if there's no circle of life (yes yes..from the lion king...a very subtle teaching of buddhism in a cartoon) but that we only have this one and only life? Of if the circle of life is true, then ain't believers ought to do so much good that they will get out of the circle as soon as possible?

Now the bombshell is this. For Buddha to know what is good or bad, and enable him to know how to measure good actions versus bad actions he need someone who knows what is good or bad. In Genesis, man ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (it rings doesn't it)...and that cause us to have a conscience, and conscience demands perfect obedience to the unwritten law in order to get right with God.

Since so many avoid conscience so easily, then the law has to come to shove it in our face to let us know what we do can be right or wrong... so that we know where our passing grades are.

Once we know the perfect adherence to the law is so impossible, then we are doomed to either be in the circle of life (would one go through life on earth again?!?!?!...not me definitely) or face death (I think death is a better choice than to go through the circle of life since the former has an end. Can you imagine going on a road trip with no destination?)

That's where the teaching of the Bible that man has no great future apart from Jesus because of our failure as God's image is so real. To say that we are able to cover all our sins and sin no more so as to earn more credit/karma for the future life just speaks of arrogance in one's flesh. Jesus has taught that the mere thought of sin is sin in itself already.

Just Do Good so I can get to heaven? I think we need something more than our actions...we need a totally new spirit, a new body and a new outlook towards the life that is to come when Jesus comes back.