Friday, February 22, 2008

God is a Giver Not Because Gave First

"You may wonder why certain things happen to you, or why some things promised you in God's word, seem to be missing from your life. Is it possible that you haven't been obedient in your GIVING ?" Art Beebe.

My response:
God's promises can never be broken in view of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Not all of us are givers, that much we know because in our sinful flesh, we give out of expectation, we give out of selfish reasons.

However we as Christians should not present Abba Father as a conditional God. If He has unconditionally gave His Son for our sins in exchange for Abrahamic Blessings, then it is not through our works that we are saved; in the same vein, it is not through our efforts that we get God's Promises as well. It is given to us because God deemed it fit to give His promises based only on one criteria: believe!

For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

So when it comes to the issue of tithing, the tithe comes because we are blessed by God first (or else how do we pay the tithe in the first place?). We tithe because we believe that we are tithing to Him who is alive in Heaven therefore the tithe is our testament of our faith in the risen Christ.