Tithing and Systematic Proportionate Giving

“The Jews were constrained to a regular payment of tithes; Christians, who have received liberty, assign all their possessions to the Lord, bestowing freely not the lesser portions of their property, since they have the hope of greater things; as that poor widow acted who cast all her living into the treasury of God.” Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202) in Against Heresies 

A few hundred years later, Augustine indicated that tithing was still practised --

“Tithes are required as a matter of debt, and he who has been unwilling to give them has been guilty of robbery. Whosoever, therefore, desires to secure a reward for himself . . . let him render tithes, and out of the nine parts let him seek to give alms.”

Note the clear distinction between the mandatory tithe and the voluntary offering of almsgiving.  Alms were to be given -- above and beyond the tithe.

Jerome said --

 “If anyone shall not do this [pay tithes] he is convicted of defrauding and supplanting God.”

Like Augustine, Jerome believed and taught that it is possible for New Testament Christians to “rob God” by withholding the tithe, just as it was for Old Testament believers. For the first four hundred years, the Church often, if not normally, considered the practise of tithing a minimum standard for giving.

And all the tithe (tenth part) of the land, whether the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. - Leviticus 27:30

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings [you have withheld].9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, this whole nation! 10 Bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the [a]storehouse, so that there may be [b]food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you [so great] a blessing until there is no more room to receive it. - Malachi 3:8-10

There were three tithes for Israelites.  One tithe supported the the priests and Levites, another provided for a sacred festival and the third tithe supported orphans, widows and the poor.

The practise of tithing began long before the law of Moses.  Abraham tithed to he high priest Melchizedek.  Jacob promised a tithe to the Lord.

Honor the Lord with your wealth
And with the first fruits of all your crops (income) - Proverbs 3:9

Reconstructing a Biblical Model of Giving: a Discussion of Relevant Systematic Issues and New Testament Principles

A BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TITHING: TOWARD A THEOLOGY OF GIVING IN THE NEW COVENANT ERA

Understanding the Grace of Giving

THE TITHE IN SCRIPTURE

Christian Proportionate Giving

Proportionate Giving

7 Biblical Guidelines for Giving to God

Should Christians Tithe?

Our identity and our role

But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ - Philippians 3:20

So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:20

All these died in faith [guided and sustained by it], without receiving the [tangible fulfilment of God’s] promises, only having seen (anticipated) them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. - Hebrews 11:13

 These passages seem to pit themselves against a large proportion of evangelical teaching, preaching and literature that is geared toward making us more at home in this world.

You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. - James 4:4

If you address as Father, the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in [reverent] fear [of Him] and with profound respect for Him throughout the time of your stay on earth. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges [those dishonourable desires] that wage war against the soul. - 1 Peter 1:17; 2:11

 We must not become too much at home in this world or we'll become useless to our true kingdom.

Our earthly bodies are called tents, temporary dwelling places for our eternal soul. Paul contrasts our brief time on earth with what he regarded as the real life, of which this is but a foreshadow --

For while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened [often weighed down, oppressed], not that we want to be unclothed [separated by death from the body], but to be clothed, so that what is mortal [the body] will be swallowed up by life [after the resurrection]. - 2 Corinthians 5:4

Here is what it means to be a pilgrim --

By faith Abraham, when he was called [by God], obeyed by going to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land, as in a strange land, living in tents [as nomads] with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.  For he was [waiting expectantly and confidently] looking forward to the city which has foundations, [an eternal, heavenly city] whose architect and builder is God. - Hebrews 11:8-10

 Abraham didn't know where he was going, but he knew with whom he was going.  Some of the greatest Old Testament saints were those who ultimately saw beyond the temporal to the eternal becoming models for faith --

All these died in faith [guided and sustained by it], without receiving the [tangible fulfilment of God’s] promises, only having seen (anticipated) them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own.  And if they had been thinking of that country from which they departed [as their true home], they would have had [a continuing] opportunity to return.  But the truth is that they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. For that reason God is not ashamed [of them or] to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]; for He has prepared a city for them. - Hebrews 11:13-16

Because they lived on earth in light of their fixation on heaven - God was not ashamed of them.

Moses also lived with an acute awareness of the eternal --

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 because he preferred to endure the hardship of the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.26 He considered the reproach of the [a]Christ [that is, the rebuke he would suffer for his faithful obedience to God] to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt; for he looked ahead to the reward [promised by God]. 27 By faith he left Egypt, being unafraid of the wrath of the king; for he endured [steadfastly], as seeing Him who is unseen. - Hebrews 11:24-27

 Moses could let all of these pleasures and possessions go because how could they measure up to those anticipated pleasures and possessions that would last forever.




Bible Verses about Our Identity in Christ

Four Ways Our Identity in Christ Changes Our Lives