Tithe & Offering
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Matthew 6:21
Is "tithing" Biblical?
The short answer is, YES.
There is a lot of arguments for and against tithing the way we often do. Some say that you have to give until you have nothing left. Some say we don't tithe because it was under the law and we're not under the law anymore. And, yet more that will say "give in order to get God's blessings." There are a lot of things to say about tithing, but I'll limit it to a couple.
1. TITHING WAS NOT A LAW THING! It received parameters in the law, but it was established before the law out of gratitude for victory and deliverance.(Gen. 14)
2. IT"S NOT ABOUT % ANYMORE! Throughout scripture tithing was a "tenth." That's literally the definition of "tithe," but the New Testament, without taking it away, adds to what it could be.(Luke 11:42; Matt 23:23; Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4; Acts 4:32-37) There are more verses that could be added, but these show that tithing is still a thing in the establishing of the New Covenant, but it reverted away form just the 10% in the law, back to a position of gratitude for victory and freedom! For the believers in Acts and the widow with 2 mites, it wasn't about a percentage, because Jesus was worth everything.
There is a lot of arguments for and against tithing the way we often do. Some say that you have to give until you have nothing left. Some say we don't tithe because it was under the law and we're not under the law anymore. And, yet more that will say "give in order to get God's blessings." There are a lot of things to say about tithing, but I'll limit it to a couple.
1. TITHING WAS NOT A LAW THING! It received parameters in the law, but it was established before the law out of gratitude for victory and deliverance.(Gen. 14)
2. IT"S NOT ABOUT % ANYMORE! Throughout scripture tithing was a "tenth." That's literally the definition of "tithe," but the New Testament, without taking it away, adds to what it could be.(Luke 11:42; Matt 23:23; Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4; Acts 4:32-37) There are more verses that could be added, but these show that tithing is still a thing in the establishing of the New Covenant, but it reverted away form just the 10% in the law, back to a position of gratitude for victory and freedom! For the believers in Acts and the widow with 2 mites, it wasn't about a percentage, because Jesus was worth everything.
Why we give.
God is generous and so He calls us to be as well. What we do with what God has given us shows the world, and the god of it, where our hearts are, Who our source is, and helps fund the proclamation of the gospel. We want to glorify God with every area of our lives, and that includes what we do with our finances.
As you give.
"Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God."-2 Cor 9:10-11 NKJV
The Bible says that seed was created to reproduce fruit 'after its own kind.' As you sow your seed, it is a biblical concept to add an assignment to it for God to 'multiply and increase' it. Not so that we may boast as if we've done it ourselves, but so that we have more thankfulness and seed to sow! This is a principle, not a doctrine. But, this and other scripture show that God wants to bless His children. It is not 'prosperity gospel' in the sense that we get whatever we want. But, it is a prosperity gospel in the sense that God gives increase to the seed sown with intention, gratitude, generosity.
The Bible says that seed was created to reproduce fruit 'after its own kind.' As you sow your seed, it is a biblical concept to add an assignment to it for God to 'multiply and increase' it. Not so that we may boast as if we've done it ourselves, but so that we have more thankfulness and seed to sow! This is a principle, not a doctrine. But, this and other scripture show that God wants to bless His children. It is not 'prosperity gospel' in the sense that we get whatever we want. But, it is a prosperity gospel in the sense that God gives increase to the seed sown with intention, gratitude, generosity.