Bible Studies

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Redefining the Tithe to Take off the Cross
By Patricia Backora, author of the book
Tough Love in Christ’s Millennium
Which you can order online from: http:www.publishamerica.com

Oh, how clever theologians and churchmen of Christendom can be when it comes to preserving their pet traditions from the scrutiny of believers who know God has set them free from the Law of Moses! Where it concerns enforcing the edicts of Jewish ceremonial Law, they know they don’t have a leg to stand on. Like a politician spinning away the real truth in order to sell a smelly fish to the voters, the clergy of Christendom will air-brush their own regurgitation of the Law, perfume it in religious mysticism, and sell it to the congregation ever so softly and tenderly...at first. Those erudite Bible scholars are quite subtle about it. The word “law” immediately raises defenses and arouses suspicion toward the preacher. While the word “law” evokes visions of a Wild West jailhouse or a teenager getting grounded, the word “principle” appeals to John Q. Pew’s human pride. Why? Because the minister in the pulpit evidently believes he is smart enough to receive God’s “deeper revelations” (which might be more cotton candy than meat of the Word).

“Law” is the stick approach. “Law” says you MUST tithe or God will run you in. “Principle” is the carrot approach. “Principle” says you OUGHT to tithe, because tithing is one of God’s foundational operating principles, and a vital key for unlocking His blessings. It can also be interpreted as a thinly veiled threat that you’ll be reduced to rags if you don’t fork over ten percent of your milk money to the bully in the pulpit. My dictionary defines “principle” as: “scientific law shown or used in the working of something”. A law by any other name is still a law, “scientific” or not. The inference is that even if God isn’t mad at you for non-tithing, He is BOUND by scientific law not to bless you unless you pay some preacher ten percent of your income. Even if you’re too smart to get the Law of Moses put back on you, who can argue with science?

At various church conferences I attended many years ago, “Brother Stan”, the keynote speaker who hosted the convention, emphasized over and over that we are to live our lives according to the Gospel of Paul. Galatians 5:1 was one of Stan’s favorite Scriptures: Stand fast therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. My, but we loved that, and it is so true. And: Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Such Scriptures as these were the foundation of Stan’s teaching on grace in the New Testament. The paradox is this: Stan spent most of his time expounding on Old Testament Tabernacle ordinances. I took copious notes. I struggled to remember every ritual, every priestly office, stick of furniture and every court in the Tabernacle as if my spiritual life depended on it. Thank God it is so simple to get saved, that all it takes is repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). That’s the Gospel in a nutshell, though it is far more wonderful than any of us can fully comprehend.

Stan spoke of God’s divine order for Old Testament worship and practice being a pattern for today’s church. His examples made sense, such as the brass laver in Exodus 30:18-19 in which the priests washed their hands and feet before going into the Presence of God to offer up sacrifices. “Brass” speaks of our sin nature, and the “laver” speaks of the washing of water by the Word (Eph. 5:26). When applied to our hearts through repentance and faith in Christ, the Word of God does indeed cleanse our outward walk, typified by the feet, and our hands, which perform God’s service. Another picture of redemption was the sprinkling of blood upon the doors of the Israelites’ homes at Passover. That ordinance speaks of the sprinkling of the Blood of Christ upon our consciences to make us blameless before God, so we can be spared His judgment (Hebrews 9:12-14).

Teaching on the Old Testament Mosaic Tabernacle is very beneficial when it is presented as a picture of God’s beautiful plan for our salvation, which, like a photographic negative being developed to a positive, was fully developed when Christ came to earth to make final atonement for us on the Cross. That is how Brother Stan presented the principles of God’s salvation to us. He had a sweet, childlike nature, and I enjoyed his teaching. Even if Stan did teach a Mid-Trib position on the Rapture, which I now disagree with. In his meetings a box was kept in the back of the “Tabernacle”, where you could discreetly contribute any amount, according to how the Lord led you. I don’t remember Stan mentioning it much, but his father taught tithing, which Paul, whose Gospel they exhorted us to follow, never taught. After much study, I found tithing to be a carryover from the Law of Moses, transformed into a tradition of men to be enforced upon New Covenant saints redeemed from the Law.

Over and over again, I heard it preached that you shouldn’t eat the tithe. But during all the years I heard Stan and his dad quote endless passages on Old Testament Law, why did I NOT ONCE hear them bring up this passage on tithing:

Deuteronomy 14: 22-27 deals with the Festival Tithe, one of three tithes brought by the Israelites to their place of worship.

Verse 22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase (harvest) of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.

Verse 23 And thou ( the tithe-payer!) shalt EAT before the LORD thy God, in the place which He shall chose to place His name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thy olive oil, and of the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

Verse 24 introduces the only context in all of Holy Scripture where money is mentioned in conjunction with tithing! Let’s read. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set His Name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee;

Verse 25 Then thou shalt turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shalt choose:

Verse 26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after; for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and THOU SHALT EAT there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household,

Verse 27 And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee (in the Promised Land).

The church system I was affiliated with taught that while it may not exactly be a sin to drink per se, we’d better be teetotallers , even though Old Testament saints drank wine aplenty and so did Jesus, Who was accused of being a winebibber and a glutton (Luke 7:34). One church brother was spotted in a restaurant with his wife, celebrating their wedding anniversary over a glass of wine. The spy told the pastor, who disqualified this brother from being a candidate for church elder, just for drinking one glass of wine. That pastor taught both liberty from the Old Law and compulsory tithing at the same time. But the above passage encourages worshippers to purchase choice foods and strong drink with tithes the tither converted to money, which he would do whenever his tithed farm produce could not be transported over a long distance. The only way legalists could cook up today’s tithing law was to appeal to religious sentiment and mysticism, not early apostolic teaching. If you’re going to lay down the tithing law on New Testament saints, show some fidelity to Scripture, for goodness sake. If one tithing ordinance is binding upon the saints, they ALL are! So let the tithers go out and buy a six-pack with their tithe money and hold a big party of thanksgiving to God in the church fellowship hall.

Yes, we can bring forth both the Old Wine and the New Wine to convey truth (Luke 5:37-39). The danger lies in putting old wine (typified by the Old Covenant) into new bottles (Christians are containers of the New Wine of the Spirit). While the Old Tabernacle System is a beautiful illustration of the spiritual reality of the New Covenant fulfilled in Christ, the danger of focusing too much on the Old Law lies in immersing your mind in mysticism and weaving new doctrines and ordinances from Old Covenant laws you like or find profitable. That denies the foundational doctrine of the New Covenant: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law (which results from imperfect law-keeping):(Gal. 3:13). As many as are under the works of the Law are under this curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL things whch are written in the book of the Law to do them. You can’t just hang onto one law you like and transplant it to the New Covenant of Grace. That is putting old wine into new bottles, and it creates an explosion of confusion. When you covenant with God to keep one of the 613 ordinances of Jewish Law, you make yourself a debtor to keep all the others as well (Gal. 5:3). The Law of Moses is an indivisible unit. You might as well offer up animal sacrifices in the sanctuary if you think any of the Old Ceremonial Law is still binding on us today. If that is true, Christ’s death for us was in vain (Gal. 2:21).

Unscrupulous clergymen who know better because they have studied all the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation will use flowery speeches to sell their own brethren back into the bondage of the Law, even though Christ died to set them free. Like Judas, they sell their own Lord for a big bag of money and make ignorant souls to stumble. Revelation Chapter 18 speaks of “Babylon”, which is thought by many to refer to a false religious establishment which will persecute the Tribulation saints who turn to Christ after the Rapture of the Church. Verse 13 mentions “the souls of men” as being one of countless products bartered by Babylon for gain. I get a shiver as I type this. Souls are being sold down the river by false religious systems of men in order to profiteer off them. In Matthew 18:6 Jesus says: But whoso shall offend (cause to stumble) one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. That is what Jesus thinks of those who deliberately make others stumble in their walk of faith! Their true reward awaits them on the other side, and it sure won’t fill them with jubilation!

Someone sent me a piece which says: “God requires everyone, from prisoners to pensioners, to tithe.” I’ll believe that when I see it written in the New Testament Epistles which were written after Christ rose from the dead, and the Church was born. Other Scriptures might edify us, but these Scriptures carry the weight of apostolic authority and they, along with the teachings Jesus Himself imparted to His Church, should have the final say where it concerns a Christian’s faith and practice, not the Old Mosaic Law. How can any preacher stoop so low as to take away a poor prisoner’s weekly candy ration, to finance more luxuries for himself!

II Corinthians 3:12 says: Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. In other words, Paul wasn’t speaking with a forked tongue, and he wasn’t trying to slip something past his hearers. If the early apostles had authorized any official of Christ’s church, past, present, or future, to enact a New Covenant Tithing Law, they would surely have mentioned this in the council they held in Acts Chapter 15. Verses 23 and 24 clearly state, concerning whether Gentiles must keep the Law of Moses, or any part of it: And they (the apostles) wrote letters by them after this manner: The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Forasmuch as we have hear, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying: YE MUST BE CIRCUMCISED AND KEEP THE LAW, TO WHOM WE GAVE NO SUCH COMMANDMENT.

In verse 29 only four (4) restrictions were placed upon the liberty of Gentile believers who walked in the Spirit: To abstain from meats offered to idols, and from the consumption of blood, and from eating strangled animals, and from fornication.

The apostle Peter doesn’t think very highly of those who resort to religious mysticism to filch funds. In II Peter 2:1-3 he says: But as there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily (in a sneaky way) shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and shall bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious (harmful) ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness (greed) shall they with feigned (pretentious) words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

Far from being consigned to hell because we don’t send money in to such preachers, they will be the ones who go there for putting the screws on gullible people to give tribute to them, God’s self-appointed representatives and tax agents. Never before in all the history of man has the way of truth been more evilly spoken of, as TV comedians lampoon unscrupulous fishers-for-funds and mock their mannerisms, to entertain godless sinners.

Based on years of prayerful study, I will go so far as to say that not only is tithing under the New Covenant nowhere commanded by God, it is forbidden by God to preach it or enforce it as an ordinance of faith and practice upon believers in Christ. God will lead each individual in how, how often, and how much he or she gives, but it is a sin to depend on tithing or other religious works to supplement what Christ has done on the cross. That even includes such legitimate works as door-to-door witnessing, teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, or fasting. I Corinthians 13:3 says you could even give your body to be burned, but if your motivation isn’t love, it will profit you nothing. Laws are observed out of fear, not faith. Many wonderful teachers wish they could tell the little children in their classrooms about Jesus. But the law of the land forbids them to proclaim their Christian faith to their students. They would lose their teaching position and probably be unable to teach school ever again. So they obey that law out of fear of the consequences, not because they have faith in this law to impart life eternal.

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). How can you perform any deed in true faith if you are honestly convinced it is not sanctioned under the New Covenant, and yet do it anyway, because of peer pressure or dead tradition of men? Galatians 2:16-19 says: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law; for BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW SHALL NO MAN BE JUSTIFIED. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. FOR IF I BUILD AGAIN THE THINGS WHICH I DESTROYED, I MAKE MYSELF A TRANSGRESSOR. For I through the law am DEAD TO THE LAW that I might live unto God. Lots of preachers admit that we are no longer under the law, but they’ll build again (remodel) their favorite ordinance (tithing) into something easier to swallow.

The way a lot of preachers get around the sticky problem of us not being under the Law anymore is to reclassify their favorite law as a “principle”. Maybe Jesus nailed the Law of Moses to His Cross, but nowhere does it say He nailed God’s principles to the Cross, preachers will craftily insinuate. Even if New Testament tithing isn’t a binding law, per se, it’s still a principle God made part and parcel of nature, like the law of sowing and reaping, and you’d better respect tithing like the law of gravity. After all, prosperity pushers assert, the law of gravity will still kill you even if you don’t believe in it. If you disrespect it and defy it by hurling yourself from a cliff, you’ll die. Notice, a violated principle will exact its penalty. Call the tithe a principle, but if something looks like a law, sounds like a law, barks orders at you like a law, and punishes you for failure to observe it, it’s a law! II Corinthians 3:6 says: Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; NOT OF THE LETTER, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. Behind every bubbly promise of pie-in-the-sky in the here and now for tithing or making “vows” to a TV preacher is the insinuation that you’ll never get blessed unless you buy his rhetoric and cough up the cash.

Preachers might be able to fool other believers by taking the tithing ordinance down from the Cross and disguising it as a principle for positive living, but God isn’t fooled! In I Samuel 15: 3 God orders King Saul to “go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. So what did Saul do, but only partially obey the Lord? He killed all the people except the king of the Amalekites, and spared the best of the livestock. Why did he do this? Because it seemed like a good idea. The best of the livestock was spared “to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God” (verse 15). Saul is the one in charge, but when confronted by the Prophet Samuel, he shields himself by blaming the people for pressuring him to disobey God. Unscrupulous clergymen lie like that today, the way they misquote Malachi 3:8-10 to lay a guilt trip on parishioners for driving away God’s blessings from their church for refusal to tithe. But even when the tithing law was in force, the book of Malachi was addressed mainly to the priesthood, not the people of Israel. Malachi 2:1 says: AND NOW, O YE PRIESTS, THIS COMMANDMENT IS FOR YOU! How convenient, to lay the blame on the “laity”. The Spirit of the Lord departed from stubborn Saul (I Samuel 16:14). When God’s glory departs from a church, blame can be laid at the door of those who obey the will of man rather than God (Acts 5:29).

Instead of agreeing with Saul that keeping some of what God ordered destroyed was a great improvement on God’s idea, the prophet Samuel rebuked Saul and said in verse 22: Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. Carnal ministers of Christendom are doing a similar, but far worse, thing today: they are rescuing their favorite ordinances (mainly tithing) from off the Cross of Calvary to make sacrifices unto the Lord...and themselves! The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

If you depend on tithing to help you stay righteous before God, or practice tithing in observance of the Mosaic tithing ordinance, you are taking down an ordinance which Christ nailed to His Cross (Col. 2:14). In doing so you deny that Jesus’ blood alone is sufficient to maintain you in sanctification after salvation. Tithing is included among the works of the Law which cannot justify a believer in the sight of God. Taken to its logical conclusion, it is a sin to observe the Mosaic tithing ordinance under the New Covenant. In the book of Hebrews the writer strives to reason with Jews who want to turn away from faith in Christ and return to the old Mosaic sacrificial system, thus putting their faith once again in the carnal ordinances of the Law (Hebrews 9:10). Hebrews 10:38-39 states: Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Look twice when some preacher presents you with “principles” of prosperity or any other profitable principles (easy-to swallow laws). As Mary Poppins might sing: “A spoonful of sugar makes the messages go down.” Be wary when preachers use fancy semantics to cloud the issue. That’s a smoke screen tactic to sanctify their highway robbery. Satan doesn’t normally use TNT to blast the door to the sheep cote open. He is a slippery snake who needs just a tiny crevice to creep in. The devil is able to bury God’s simple truth under an avalanche of misapplied Scripture.

For further insights on the tithing heresy, read “The Hallelujah Network” and “Set God’s People Free” on my web site: http://kingdomage.tripod.com

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