What goes mostly overlooked is our primary, biblical responsibility toward one another’s needs in the body of Christ, and the needs of the needy in our local, respective communities.

The OT tithe was used ONLY for the purpose of meeting needs, apart from the sacrifices. It was never used to support the temple structure’s upkeep. The OT tithe was never required of any wage-earner’s salary. Monetary income was never a titheable item.

NT giving once again exemplified the meeting of needs from believer’s primary giving, not the upkeep of luxuries such as so-called church buildings and their professional staffing and hirelings.

Modern and traditional teachings along this line have enjoyed the lime light for far too long, having become a centralized, idolic paradigm. It’s high time that believers wake up and read their Bibles for what’s actually written rather than blindly following after what’s regurgitated to them from pulpits, Sunday school teachings, TV, radio and written media….many of which spew the traditional falsehoods that have grown roots that are too deeply entrenched into the soils of our spiritual identities.

Greg, do you keep follow my contents reg giving? I hope more clearer if you do.

God loves cheerful giver!

Shalom,
David

As for Russell’s comment on Abraham, I do not agree with him. The bible listed a lot of imperfect men who walked with God, fallen away in sin but the most beautiful part of all is their repentance in returning to God and setting right what was wrong. Abraham may have sin along his walk with God, do we not sin too, got back on our feet, fallen again, got on our feet and still persist on?! We are holding on to a God who is gracious and forgiving. Moreover, I do not think the great men of God, like Moses, Abraham, Jonah, and David took God’s grace and forgiveness for granted. They make mistake and they repent by doing what was right and not repeating the same mistake again.

1. “Abraham tithed only pagan spoils of war.”
The bible did not say that Abraham tithed only pagan spoils from the war. The Bible said he tithed a tenth of all he has – Genesis 14:20

2. “Abraham only tithed once.”
The bible mentioned only once about Abraham tithing but it does not necessary mean this is it. The point is not how many time he tithed but rather the purpose behind his tithing to Melchizedek. It is an acknowledgement of Melchizedek being a great king and also a priest of God – Genesis 14:18

3. “Abraham gave the 90% to the king of Sodom.”
Abraham did not give 90% to the king of Sodom. The king of Sodom asked for the people in exchange for the spoils from the war for Abraham. But look at Abraham’s response to the king in Genesis 14:21-23. He took nothing from the spoils and not because Abraham was already very rich. It is simply that he didn’t want the king and the people to think he was made rich by the king. Moreover, Abraham was not willing to exchange for the souls of the men under him with things of the world.

4. “Abraham lied about his wife twice.”
As I mentioned before, no men is perfect. God uses only those whose heart is for Him. Abraham’s heart is definitely for God. We follow what is right and throw out what is bad. But we do not condemn any man for his sins otherwise we make ourselves out to be God, judging men. Have you considered Abraham’s faith in God that he sacrified his only son, Isaac, to God when he was told to do so? In Hebrew, Abraham was deemed righteous before God because of his faith. His faith pleased God. I do not know about anyone but I sure would like God to be please with my faith like He did with Abraham.

Abraham was also given the promises of his descendants like the stars in the sky and like the sands on the beach. His descendants will receive the blessings that God has promised to him and his descendants. The bible tells us that we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham and what he received from God, we receive it, too. Do you not want to receive the blessings that Abraham has for all his descendants?

I like what David has written here about tithing, and the attitude of our hearts in bringing our first fruits to God. I like and agree with what Tom has said in explanation to Greg. I am a faithful tither and I have seen God’s hands move in my life as I tithe knowing that what I bring before God was His in the first place. Also, there is a debt that I cannot repay to God, and that is the sacrifice of His Son on the cross for my sins.

It’s good that you understand that the New Commandment removes the hypocritical interpretation from the Old Testament Mosaic Law. Of course, this is no condemnation of Moses. Moses did the best he could with what he was given to understand. We must remember that what was going on then in the area known today as Palestine was often horrifying even when compared against the mass killing done by the followers of Moses. Moses was moved to rid the place of what he considered unspeakable evil. Jesus though showed us that killing is hypocritical (no calling down the wrath) even when applied to those who were doing the wicked deeds some were doing in and around Palestine (Canaan). Jesus came to further enlighten all the way to perfection.

As for a denomination, if you follow the link that is my name in this comment, you should arrive at the Real Liberal Christian Church site. I don’t create links in comments on David’s site here, because such comments go to spam and that just makes more work for David.

God bless,

Tom Usher

P.S. If you enter your website’s address when entering your comment, your name will be a link too. Perhaps you knew that or don’t have a site. I mention it for the benefit of the many.