Giving vs. TIthing

8/9/2019 Giving vs. TIthing

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The Good News - Home

Giving vs. Tithing

Which is the Will of God?By David A. DePra

If Christian people understood the New Covenant, indeed, if theyunderstood God Himself, there would be no questions or confusion overthe issue of GIVING. For example, TITHING would not even be on thetable for discussion. We would know that it is NOT required of Christians.Likewise, we would not be manipulated and deceived by the continualpromises made by so many today to the effect that if we give money toTHEM, that God wil l bless us financially. Yet on this m atter of money andgiving in the church, error continues to reign in so many places. Frankly,

it is nothing more than an outward indication of how litt le we understandof the overall Truth in Jesus Christ.

The Covenants Of course, those who demand that the tithing laws of the OT are

required of Christians today have their, "proof texts." I know them all quitewell, since many years ago, I t i thed religiously. Usually, the passage fromMalachi is used front and center, and the teachers of t ithing wil l l ikewisepoint to Abraham tithing to Melchizedek as proof that t ithing was in effectbefore God formalized it into law through Moses. Somehow lost in all of

these arguments is the bottom line: What reflects the mind of Christ andthe true gospel of grace?

The inerrant Word of God tells the Truth about the mind of God. It is OFHis mind. But you have to take the entirety of scripture on the subject toarrive at Gods mind not just pa rts of it. If you did not have the NewTestament, you could find the whole Truth in the Old Testament theapostles did. The Truth of grace is THERE if not openly, then in theform of the types and shadows. The trouble is, Christian people have thispension for taking a type or shadow OF Christ, and setting it up AS Christ.Would you point to YOUR shadow and say that it was you? No. But that is

what Christians do to the One they are supposed to know. The Old Testament, in so many ways, was a type or shadow of Christ.

That means that the Old Testament was TRUE but it was NOTsubstance. Only the PERSON is substance. Thus, when we look at theCovenants, we MUST understand this one Truth: The New Covenant didnot ADD to the Old Covenant. Rather, the New Covenant REPLACED theOld Covenant. It is vital to see this and to see in what sense this is true.


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The New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant, but NOT because theOld Covenant was error. Neither did the New Covenant replace the Oldwith contradictions to the Old. No. The New Covenant replaced the Old inthe same way that a Living Person could replace his shadow. The shadowDOES properly reflect the Living Person it IS His shadow; it is a TRUE

shadow. But it is NOT HIM. Once the real Person comes, it is t ime tomove on into the REAL relationship with the Living Person, instead ofcontinuing to l ive with the shadow.

So many Christians today, when you begin to talk to them about the factthat the New Covenant is DIFFERENT than the Old Covenant indeed, itREPLACES the Old immediately think that you are doing away with a bigchunk of the Bible. For instance, if you tell them they dont have to tithe,they wil l argue that the Bible teaches tithing, and even though thatteaching is found in the OT, that since the OT is a big part of Godsinspired Word, t ithing must be in effect for today. To them, this is the only

conclusion possible.

The answer to this goes back to seeing the W HOLE of Gods mind andrevelation on these matters. What does the New Covenant MEAN? Andhow does it REPLACE the Old Covenant without contradicting it?

Well get to that in a minute. But f irst, lets address this issue of whatwe need to do about Old Testament commands. The Old Covenant DIDcommand tithing. I m saying that t ithing is no longer for today. Am I notchanging Gods requirements and laws?

No. God changed them at least as to outward practice although notthe spiritual intent. If you doubt that God has made some changesbetween Old and New Covenants, I can point out many that He did make.But the biggest one involves the FOURTH COMMANDMENT. Rememberthat one?

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor,and do all thy work: {10} But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD

thy God: in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thydaughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy

stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heavenand earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:

wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Ex. 20:8-11)

This command is not merely an obscure OT ordinance. Rather, it is oneof THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Yet do YOU keep the SEVENTH DAYSabbath? You probably do not although I do know of a few people whodo keep it. Well, you wil l notice that not only does God command that the


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Sabbath be kept, but He commands that it be kept on the SEVENTH DAY indeed, He links His command to the fact that HE instituted the Sabbathat creation. So if there were one command that we would never be able toCHANGE, it would be THIS command. It states the command, the day,and the reason. It is one of the BIG TEN. Yet you and I know that m ost of

Christianity does NOT keep the seventh day indeed, it is accurate to saythat most Christians keep NO day at all in the way that this commandrequires.

Why are Christians NOT required to keep the seventh day Sabbath?How do we get around one of the Ten Commandments? Well, in theanswer we discover a perfect e xample of how the New Covenant replacedthe Old not with a contradiction to the Old, but with a revelation of thePerson who was represented by the shadow.

God rested when His creation work was done it is upon this that the

entire commandment rests. But notice that this was the first, or OLDcreation God rested when THAT was finished. But are Christians of thatOLD creation? No. Through Christ, the old creation has died. God hasnow made a NEW creation through the resurrection. This is why we nolonger keep a Sabbath that celebrated the completion of the OLD creation

in Christ there is a NEW creation. That is one reason. But there is more. Christ Himself is Gods

completion of His new creation. And it is by f aith that we are baptizedINTO HIM and ENTER INTO HIM in other words, by faith we REST INHIM. Indeed, when we enter Gods true rest IN CHRIST, we cease from all

of our labors and works as far as using them to earn or merit anythingfrom God. This is, of course, the basic gospel. Indeed, we see that thefourth commandment is a type or shadow of the gospel of grace in JesusChrist there it is right in the middle of Gods Ten Commandments!

So what we see here is that the fourth commandment was absolutelytrue from the start as far as the Truth and revelation that it contained.But unti l Christ, it was merely a shadow of things to come it was NOTyet the substance or reality. When Christ came, and ushered in the NewCovenant, and the new creation, everything that the fourth commandmentembodied was revealed IN CHRIST. Thus, we dont have a contradictionto the fourth commandment. No. We have the shadow being replaced bythe Person.

Now, there are people who, despite agreeing with this principle,nevertheless demand that we MUST keep the fourth commandment bykeeping a day indeed, some even demand that it be the seventh day. Ieven know of some who insist that it i s precisely because the fourth


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commandment is a shadow that we are required to keep it they say if wedont keep it we are denying the Person who is the substance.

Actually, the opposite is the Truth. Why? Well, here is the problem: Themoment you say we are REQUIRED to keep the Sabbath, you are putting

yourself UNDER THE LAW. Sure. And in doing so, you are actuallydenying the true meaning of the Sabbath rest in Christ. You really are.The true Sabbath in Christ means that if I enter into HIS rest by faith,nothing is based upon MY WORKS. But the moment I require any WORK, Iam no longer keeping the true Sabbath. Thus, ironically, to require thatwe keep the Sabbath as a day is a denial of everything that day means asfulfi l led in Christ.

Now, I could certainly go on with this. But I ve discussed this issue ofthe Sabbath to establish the fact that things have changed because ofJesus Christ. Can anyone doubt that the New Covenant is different than

the Old Covenant? Are we sti l l commanded to sacrif ice animals, or hasthat been replaced by the once for all sacrif ice of Christ? Do we sti l l keepOT Holy Days, or are they fulf i l led in Christ? Is there sti l l a Leviticalpriesthood, or is there a new priesthood in Christ? If you answer YES toeven one of these questions, then you know something has changed.Indeed, this is exactly what God said has happened:

For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith theLord, when I wil l make a new covenant with the house of Israel and withthe house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with theirfathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the

land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regardedthem not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I wil l make with thehouse of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I wil l put my laws into

their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I wil l be to them a God, andthey shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his

neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shallknow me, from the least to the greatest. For I wil l be merciful to theirunrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities wil l I remember no

more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Nowthat which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away. (Heb 8:8-13) The difference between the OLD and NEW is clear: The Old was

outward, but the New is inward. Or, to get right to the point, the NewCovenant is, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Thus, we are ri ght back toseeing that Christ, the Person, replaces all that merely spoke of Him intype and shadow. For example, we dont need a tabernacle or templeunder the New Covenant. WE are the temple of God because Christ is inus. Neither do we need the sacrif icial system, or any of those other


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symbolic aspects of the OT. Christ is in us. He is the fulf i l lment of all ofthose types and shadows.

Now, of course, someone wil l always object and say, "Well, then youcan just sin because you think grace abounds." I m not getting into that

here. The Truth is, if you know Christ, you wont want to sin, for evenGods law wil l be written on your heart, which is e xactly what the passagefrom Hebrews says is the essence of the New Covenant.

Under the Law But again if I dont understand the covenants, I wont grasp much

else. In fact, I might walk through my Christian l ife keeping all of these OTlaws and ordinances, thinking that this is somehow keeping me in rightstanding with God. Yet all the while I am, at best, carrying on arelationship with a SHADOW. The real Truth is, if I know Jesus Christ, I

am not going to put m yself under the law.

To be under the law does NOT mean to KEEP it. That is secondary. No.To be under the law means that the law i.e., my keeping or breaking ofit determines my standing before the Lord. If I keep the law, I deemmyself r ighteous. If I break it, I deem myself unrighteous. You wil l notethat I did not say GOD deems me as such. No. For He has already saidthat there is only one means of righteousness that which is imputed andimparted through Christ.

I know of a group of people, for example, who today continue to keep all

of the OT Holy Days, including Saturday as the Sabbath. They wouldprobably tell you that they do not believe that they a re saved by suchconduct. They might even deny that they are KEPT saved by it. But this isexactly what they believe. For the moment you make YOUR WORKSdetermine your eternal destiny, or ma ke YOUR WORKS determine Godsgrace towards you, you are, b y definit ion, preaching salvation by works.You may not use those terms, but in the end, it is the same thing.

Do we realize that the Galatian church believed, "salvation by works?"Sure. If you, as they did, believe law-keeping is what keeps you righteous,then you believe law-keeping keeps you saved. And if you believe that,

then you believe that you can lose your salvation through your inadequateworks. No other conclusion is possible once you so much as try to KEEPsaved by your works. But this is, according to Paul, "another gospel." It isheresy. And yet thousands of professing Christians believe this today.They may not state so outright, but once I demand that my works and law-keeping on even a single point such as tithing is necessary to keepme right with God, I am walking in this error.


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The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ states that solely on the basis ofChrist which is completely independent of ME I am made righteous byfaith. I am declared legally righteous before God by faith i n Christ therighteousness of Christ is imputed to me and likewise I am impartedwith Righteousness Himself because through faith I have Christ in me.

The OUTCOME of this new birth is that I wil l do good works. But thoseworks do not save me, keep me saved, or change anything about mystanding in Christ. Rather, those works are the result of loving God, andof the continual work of the Spirit of holiness.

But again there are thousands who sit in church each week who neverhear this, do not understand it, and there are even m any who demandotherwise. What a sorry thing that is since this is the very gospel of JesusChrist. We would do well to once again read the first chapter of Galatians:

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the

grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there besome that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But thoughwe, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that

which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we saidbefore, so say I now again, If any m an preach any other gospel unto youthan that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade

men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, Ishould not be the servant of Christ. (Gal 1:6-10)

You wil l note that the false gospel Paul repudiates, and to which heattaches a very serious warning, is not a gospel that promotes immorality.

It is not a gospel that denies that Jesus is God, or one that suggestsChristians should not obey God. No. The false gospel of Galatians is onethat preaches law-keeping and supposed obedience front and center. Andyet it is a f alse gospel because of what it makes those things mean itmakes them be the means by which we are saved, keep saved, andcontinue in right standing with God. This false gospel is, in fact, a denialof the Truth, and of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Today many preach LICENSE in the church. That is heresy. But just asbad, many continue to preach LEGALISM. They threaten people withpunishment for failure, and offer them rewards for obedience and claimto speak for God. Others present the false gospel of Galatia in the f orm ofnice, religious principles and yet attach the SAME kind of threat,although perhaps in less obvious form. But all of it is HERESY. It is thegospel of UNBELIEF, for it substitutes for the gospel of grace for whichPaul continually strove, and for which Jesus died.

The Truth of God wil l result in f reedom from sin and a l ife ofprogressive holiness and yet one that is free of condemnation,


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manipulation, and fear tactics. People wil l NOT need to be kept in l inewith a threat of punishment or curse. Rather, people wil l obey Godbecause they want to despite the fact that their works have NO EFFECTupon their salvation or standing with God. Does that sound impossible? Itis, unless we are talking about a new birth. Again, read Galatians. This is

Pauls conclusion:

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, noruncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to

this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. (Gal6:15-16)

Losing Yourself All of this is necessary background if we are to see the NT Truth about

giving. In order to see this Truth, we have to completely eradicate

ourselves of any thinking that suggests that, "we must give to get." Or,that we must, "give to avoid the curse." We have to STOP bargaining withGod on all fronts, whether it be money, works, or service. The plain andsimple Truth is this unti l we l ive for God to the complete disregard ofrewards or punishments we are NOT living in the Truth. W e are fall ingshort of it.

This is a radical statement, of course, for many Christians. ThousandsGIVE, do good works, and serve God at church thinking that they areearning something from Him. Some think that are earning a greaterreward in heaven. Others think they are keeping in His favor, or a voiding

His displeasure. Sti l l others do these things out of mere duty. But it is anabsolute fact that if we are walking with Christ for those kinds of personalbenefits we are NOT seeing the Truth. We may, in f act, be more deceivedthan we suspect is possible.

If you and I cannot give all of ourselves to God even if there would beNO reward for doing so we cannot say we love Him. Indeed, I dont thinkwe KNOW Him. What? Do we think that the Christian l ife is some kind ofbargain or deal we have worked with God? such that we are in this thingonly if i t PAYS us to be in it? Read the Bible. Did it pay the apostles inthis l i fe to f ollow Christ? No, it cost them their l ives. W hy do we think itwil l cost us less?

Jesus once said: Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man wil l come after me, let

him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoeverwil l save his l i fe shall lose it: and whosoever wil l lose his l i fe for my sakeshall f ind it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,


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and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels;and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Mat 16:24-

27) There is NO middle ground here not according to Jesus Christ. Goddoesnt want, or need, your money. He wants YOU. But not just a verbal

commitment. Not just IF it pays you. He says that you absolutely, in everyway, must LOSE your l i fe to Him you must completely relinquishownership over yourself. Then you wil l f ind true l ife you wil l f ind realTruth. But notice: If you do lose your l i fe to Christ, and find real l i fe, thenthis wil l govern everything including your money, and your giving. If youdont lose your l i fe to Him, you can give unti l you are broke, but you wil lNOT be a disciple, and you wil l NOT find true l ife.

There is a Truth in this that is vital to see. If I lose my life into the

hands of Jesus Christ, it means that I can no longer serve Him for what Iget out of it. I say this despite the fact that I might get something out of it.But I wont serve Him because of that this wil l not be in my thinking ormotivation. In fact, to emphasize this Truth, we might paraphrase thewords of Jesus and apply them to our t hinking about rewards andpunishments for works:

Whoever would LOSE his reward into My hands wil l f ind it. But whoeverwould seek to EARN his reward wil l lose it.

The Truth here is really not complicated. We are to get to the point

where we live for Christ without reservation and leave any rewards toHim. We are to completely LOSE ourselves to Him leaving it to Him tofind us, and to give to us what pleases Him. This wil l set us free toabandon ourselves to God. And it wil l set us free f rom the delusion ofthinking what we do for God is equal in importance to what He has for us.

If I am serving God for a reward, blessing, or even to establish myrighteousness in my own eyes, then I have NOT lost myself into Hishands. No. In that case, I am very much in charge. But unfortunately, thisattitude which is UNBELIEF is the very thing that is going to make meunable to find true l ife in Christ, and it is the very thing that wil l disqualifyme for any reward or blessing. It is only if I completely abandon myself toChrist, and give my all to Him to the disregard of self-gain, that I can findreal l i fe in Christ. Only then can God trust me with any real blessing orreward that might suit His purpose.

Now, you wil l notice that at the end of the above passage about losingyour l i fe, Jesus says that God wil l reward everyone according to theirworks. Doesnt this seem to contradict everything else in the passage?


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Actually, no. It affirms all that we have been seeing. How? Well, f irst ofall, the word translated, "reward," means, "recompense," which couldmean reward or wages, but really refers to Gods giving us whatever is

just and right in response to our works. But our WORKS are not merelythe mechanical actions we DO. The real nature and essence of our

WORKS are found in the motivation behind them. In this passage, the onlywork mentioned is that of losing our l ives f or the sake of Christ. THAT is awork or choice. So, in other words, Jesus says, "Lose yourself in to myhands, and if you do, then you wil l f ind true l ife. Losing your l i fe IS AWORK it is a choice. Lose your l i fe, your reward, lose all of yourself. Ifyou do, then God wil l be able to recompense you accordingly in otherwords, God wil l be free to give you whatever He sees fit is right and goodfor you."

Can we see that if we f reely give without any expectation of reward that if this is our W ORK -- that God can freely give to us that this is His

recompense to us. Sure. It s not so much a PAYBACK as it is a freedomfor God to give to us. If we lose ourselves into His hands, and give freelywithout any expectation and this is REAL then we are doing thisbecause we have seen the Truth and desire it. God is then free to give usanything He chooses in response.

Do you want God to give to you whatever HE chooses, rather than whatYOU choose? If you, then freely give to HIM, or to others, as He directs.Then because you are free, He is free to give unto you.

But here is the danger: To set this up as a law. To m ake a deal even

out of this. People might say, "Oh, I see. If I f reely give, God wil l be freeto give to me. Ok. I l l freely give so that I can get from God." No. This isNOT what it means to lose yourself to God, nor what it means to freelygive. Rather, such nonsense is nothing more than the SAME legalism asbefore, only with different terms.

What we are talking about when we look at the words of Christ is aRELATIONSHIP based upon Truth and grace. It is REAL. You lose yourmotivation of a reward because you have seen GOD! You cannot continuein those old patterns. No. The Truth about God has renewed your mindand you have learned Christ to the point where you are able to leave thewhole reward business in HIS hands.

This is really where LOVE will lead us. Can we see that LOVE doesntkeep a timecard? Or a scorecard? Love is abandonment unto the One Ilove. You cannot walk in freedom, or walk in love much less walk in faith

if you are serving and obeying God for some reward you think you aregoing to get for it! What? If there were NO reward, would you begin to sinand walk away from God?


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I am talking here about seeing the Truth about seeing Jesus Christ.Indeed, this motivation of serving God with abandon which is LOVE -- i sreally the ONLY POSSIBLE OUTCOME of seeing Jesus! If you see Jesus,and come to know Him, and are surrendered to Him in faith, this is goingto be the result. You wil l LOVE HIM. You wil l WANT to lose yourself to

Him. You wil l WANT to serve Him. Indeed, you wil l W ANT HIM!

This is really all about an eternal RELATIONSHIP with God. Jesusdescribed this relationship in one sentence: "Freely you have received.Therefore, freely give." (Matt. 10:8) To, "freely give," means that I giveexpecting NOTHING in return. It means NOTHING ELSE. This is exactlywhere God seeks to bring us. It is really what it means to BE TRUE TOGOD and again, is the only possible result if we see the Truth in ChristJesus.

The Measure Now, before moving on, we must look at one more passage:Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and

shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. Forwith the same measure that you mete withal it shall be measured to you

again. (Luke 6:38) Doesnt this sound as if we are going to receive a one-on-one reward

for every dime we give? Well, not if we look up the Greek. The,"measure," spoken of here does not refer to the AMOUNT you give.

Rather, it refers to the METHOD you use to measure. In other word, Jesusis saying, "The method you use to determine your giving is going to be themeasure God wil l use to give to you." Can we see this great Truth? Jesusis affirming everything we are saying about the motive for our giving. Inshort, if we FREELY GIVE, God will be able to FREELY GIVE to us. But ifwe give only to get, is that what we want God to do to us do we wantHim only to give to us if He knows that He can get something out of us inreturn? Is that grace.

Herein we see a principle. Only if we freely give without any stringsattached is God able to give to us without strings attached only if we

freely give are we able to be t rusted with the fullness of what has for us.This is a principle that not only applies to money, but really, to so muchelse in Christ. If all we do is mechanically give money to people, simplybecause we want a reward for it, we have not seen the Truth. We are notrightly related to God. God has not dealt with our self interest. Therefore,God cannot give much to us. But if the, "measure," we use to give is toFREELY GIVE, then that same freedom that motivates us enables God tofreely give to us freely all the more.


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This is about being rightly related to God not about figuring out aprinciple to follow. If we know God and have given OURSELVES to Him,we wil l more and more be able to give freely. And because of this, God isfree to give more to us. In that case, we wil l revere and value what Godgives and know that it is all by His grace.

But how often have we heard such a message preached? It isntpreached hardly at all. Instead, people are manipulated into giving, orserving they are told God wil l reward them, or that He wil l curse themfor not giving and serving. Or people, in their own pride, serve God to beseen of men, or to f eel good about themselves, or to appease a guiltyconscience. This is a misrepresentation of God. At best, it is legalism,which is a false gospel. But at worst, it is a deception Satan is using tokeep people in bondage to a terrible religious spirit.

Tithing is LegalismOnce we see that it is Gods wil l for us to utterly LOSE ourselves in His

hands, the idea that we can buy and sell with God ought to seem anunholy thing. It actually is. The notion, for example, that God demandstithing under threat of curse, or promise of blessing, should to us beobvious error. The teaching that states that if you GIVE TO GOD that Hewill give to you ought to have no power to move us. Indeed, any teachingthat states that our Christian works earn anything from God ought to bepurged from the Christian church. This is EXACTLY what Paul warningagainst over and over again.

Tithing is an especially good example of where Christians fail to see theTruth on this matter it betrays the fact that we dont understand the NewCovenant, and it betrays the fact that our understanding of the verygospel of grace is suspect. For the law of t ithing, as it is normally taughtin Christian churches, is the very definit ion of LEGALISM. In some ways,it embodies everything that is wrong in our grasp of the Truth.

Normally, Christians are taught that if they tithe, that God guaranteesfinancial blessing. They are l ikewise taught that if they dont t i the, Godwill at least withhold this blessing, and may actually curse themfinancially. They are taught that if they dont t i the they are stealing fromGod. In this one teaching, we see LEGALISM at its height. And completelyignored is whether a person has truly lost themselves in every way intothe hands of God.

Of course, I realize that some teach that IF you have lost your l i fe intothe hands of God, well then you WILL tithe, and you WILL give. But this isnothing more than the same legalistic system of rewards and punishmentsbeing taught on another level. In other words, instead of tell ing people


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that they must do this or that to keep right with God, this error teachespeople that in order to PROVE you are right with Him you wil l do such andsuch. But this is exactly the same error, and e xactly the samemisrepresentation of God.

There is also another side to this error of teaching that t ithing or givingwill ensure Gods blessing. It is actually a way of teaching people how tocontrol God. Sure. If I am in financial hardship, all I need to do is startwrit ing checks. But wait. I forgot. I l l never BE in financial hardship if It i the or give. It cant happen.

What I am saying is this: You and I cannot control God. We cannotcontrol Him by anything we do or dont do. The moment I introduce asystem whereby my works control God even if I say God has put Himselfunder this control by His own promises the moment I introduce this kindof error, I have l imited Gods grace, sovereignty, and abil ity to work in my

life.

This really gets back to what we saw earlier about Gods wil l that wegive ourselves to Him fully. What if, for example, I am in bondage to thelove of money? What if I serve mammon? Christians are very capable ofserving mammon, and of being bound to the love of money. How wil l Godbe able to set me f ree from such a terrible bondage if I can keep themoney roll ing in by Gods own hand by tithing? Can we see a problemhere?

This is the problem legalism creates every time all the time. God wants

US. He wants us to LOSE ourselves to Him. But for some Christianpeople, MONEY is what is keeping them from doing that. They simply wil lnot open up themselves to God in this area, and e xpose all they own toHim. They are afraid to do so and this is unbelief. Because of this, insome cases, God might need to bring such people to the point of losingwhat they own, so that they wil l lose themselves to HIM. But what if t i thing

as usually taught were true? Well, in that case God would have tohonor His promise to bless those who tithe financially, even though theirheart was far from Him. In short, such a person would be kept in bondageto money BY THE VERY TITHING they believe is the key to blessing.

Now, let us be clear about something. If the law of t ithing is TRUE ifGod does bless those who tithe, and curse those who dont then therecan be NO exceptions to this law. The law of t ithing in that case has towork all the time every time. If i t is required of Christians under the NewCovenant, then it IS required, and therefore MUST work. You cannot begthe question, and say that if a persons heart is not right with God thentithing wont work because if you say that, then you are saying thatgetting the heart right supersedes the law of t ithing and if that is the


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case then tithing isnt for today getting the heart right IS. Notice howthis would be closer to the Truth. In th e end, you have one or the other.Either God wants us to keep this law of t ithing, or He wants our hearts. Ifi t is the former, than the heart doesnt matter keeping the law does. If i tis the latter, than tithing isnt for today, dealing with the heart IS.

Again, dont say that God wants the heart right, and if i t is, then we wil lt i the. You cannot say that because, as we have seen, if your heart is trulyright before God, you wont need to tithe. All of you wil l belong to Him.And you certainly wont be plugged into a rewards system. Does God needto promise you a reward, or threaten you with punishment, in order to getyou to obey Him? If so, then most certainly, you dont love Him andhavent lost yourself to Him. Do you think that you must keep up Godsflow of blessings by giving to Him? Then you have not grasped the graceof God in Christ.

This issue of t ithing strikes at the heart and core of the grace of God.Any time you introduce rewards and punishments as the motivation forobeying God, you have fallen from grace. Many Christians dont see this,and many object to it. But it is the Truth. The law of t ithing is the verydefinit ion of legalism.

Tithing and the NT Even many who teach tithing admit that t ithing is NOT giving. You

cannot give to God what He says already belongs to Him. Of course, thequestion then emerges as to why God would bless you for giving to Him

what already belongs to Him. Hmmmm.

Of course, once we realize that WE belong to God, which in turn meansall that we own belongs to Him, then our logic holds: God has no rewardfor you because you GIVE. No. You are giving only what belongs to Godto begin with. But here in is a wonderful Truth one to which we havealready alluded. If you give yourself continually into the hands of Godwithout any expectation of reward then it is precisely this attitude thatfrees up God to give to you whatever is in keeping with His presentpurpose. In other words, freely give because you have freely received,and it you do, God is free to continue to freely give. It s all free. It s all ofgrace. There are no deals, bargains, or angles to work.

The NT says that, "God loves a cheerful giver." There is no mentionhere of t ithing. It does not says, "God loves a cheerful t ither." In fact,there isnt a single teaching in the entirety of the NT about tithing. Thesubject, outside of the gospels, is not mentioned once despite the factthat there are entire chapters devoted to giving, and to the support of NTministry. In the gospels, there are a couple of references to tithing. None


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of them remotely suggest that t ithing would carry forward as arequirement upon the NT church.

To me, if the law of t ithing were sti l l in effect for Christians, God wouldhave seen to it that we were given a clear statement to the end.

Especially since God knew there would be controversy over it. But GodHAS given us much teaching that absolutely shows that as part of the OldCovenant, it is no longer required. In other words, our understanding ofthe Truth revealed in Christ is supposed to show us Gods mind on thesethings.

I have found that many controversies and errors -- o ver NT doctrineare over those things which God does NOT mention. The controversyarises because people establish as doctrine those things which areOMITTED from NT teaching. And because people dont understand basicoverall Truth, they stumble on these matters that ought to be easily

grasped. People dont realize that when God is silent, there is a reasonHe is silent. He doesnt make mistakes. This matter of t ithing is a case inpoint. If you understand the New Covenant, and understand the new birth,and KNOW Jesus, you cannot possibly believe we are required to tithetoday. God knows that He knows these matters are covered andexplained if we grasp basic NT Truth, and KNOW HIM. That is why thereis not one mention of t ithing as a requirement in NT teaching.

But there is mention of GIVING. Yet even this is d istorted by teachingtoday. Today many people have turned GIVING into as much of a LAW TOKEEP as some teach tithing. But LAW has nothing to do with giving.

Indeed, if GIVING were a LAW we are commanded to keep, it would notBE giving. By definit ion, GIVING is voluntary, and is outside of anyconsideration of LAW it cannot have attached to it rewards orpunishments.

Now, of course, someone wil l c ite the passage where Jesus says, "Give,and it wil l be given unto you." If there are no rewards or punishmentsattached to our giving, then what does this statement teach? Well, letsparaphrase, and in doing so, go back to what we saw earlier about theneed to give without any expectation of reward. This is really what Jesusis getting at. He is essentially saying, "Give without any expectation ofgetting. Cheerfully and voluntari ly give and if you do, then your freedomin giving makes God free to give to you."

Cant we see that if we obey God for a reward that there is something inus that makes God unable to trust us? Absolutely. For if we are giving toget, or serving to earn a reward, this i s because self interest in the thingsof God is governing us to one degree or another. And where there is selfinterest, there is danger. God cannot bless us too much in that case


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because if He did, our self interest would take charge, however subtlety,and it would be harm to us spiritually. But if we allow God to set us freefrom self interest in these matters, then we can truly GIVE FREELY wecan give without any strings attached whatsoever. And God can then say,"There is no self interest in this person. Therefore, I can trust Him all the

more with My possessions because I know he wil l revere me, andprosperity in material things wil l not do him harm."Law-keeping such a tithing cannot touch such a Truth. In fact, the entire

concept of t ithing, as is the case with all legalism, has l itt le to do with arelationship with God. This is why the issue is not even address in the NT

it cannot fit into the New Covenant of CHRIST IN US. Giving in the NT

GIVING in the NT is voluntary, and is, in f act, a part of FELLOWSHIP.

We need to see this. Giving is not a COMMAND if i t were, it would notbe giving. Once you COMMAND giving, it is no longer giving, because it isneither voluntary, or from the heart. But the giving that is preached in theNT is both voluntary and of the heart. It is, in other words, truly GIVING.And as I said, it is considered to be a normal part of f ellowship betweenChristians.

Tithing, on the other hand, was always COMMANDED. Some peoplemight try to argue that God COMMANDS that we obey Him by tithing fromthe heart. But here is the problem: Obedience from the heart as alreadynoted is voluntary. In other words, by definit ion, obeying from the heart

means we WANT to obey, and we wil l do so no matter what. So whyattach incentives to obey such as the promise of blessing and the threatof curses? These were always attached under the Old Covenant, andcertainly were attached to tithing and many NT preachers continueattaching them today. This is error. This is utterly contrary to the gospelof grace, and to the real essence of NT obedience. NT obedience isabsolutely independent of any thought of rewards or punishments this isthe Truth even if we obey God for a reward. In that case, we aredeceived. It doesnt change the Truth. The point is, once you say that Godcommands something, and attach rewards and punishments, you are nolonger talking about the new birth. You are back under the law this is afact.

According to the NT, a Christian who knows Jesus Christ is going towant to obey Him to the complete disregard of rewards and punishments.We have seen this again and again. Indeed, this is the only kind ofobedience that is truly of FAITH, is truly HOLY, and it is the only possibleoutcome of revering God and walking in Truth. We are here talking aboutwhat happens through the new birth. But unfortunately, mil l ions of


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Christians today have not frame of reference for such a miracle of theheart.

Giving is voluntary. It is a part of Christian fellowship. NT giving is, infact, one of the things that emerges from a right relationship with God.

Several passages teach this Truth:

Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed onthe churches of Macedonia; How that in a great tr ial of affl iction the

abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches oftheir l iberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their

power they were wil l ing of themselves; Praying us with much entreaty thatwe would receive the gift, and take upon us the f ellowship of the

ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but f irstgave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us b y the wil l of God.

Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also

finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in everything,in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all dil igence, and in yourlove to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by

commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to provethe sincerity of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that yethrough his poverty might be rich. (2 Cor. 8:1-9)

I want to look at this passage very closely, because in it we find somany basic Truths about giving. In the first sentence, we see that thegiving of which Paul speaks is said to be the result of, "the grace of God

bestowed." Get that. These people gave, not because of a command theyhad to obey, nor because they wanted a reward for their giving no. Theygave because God has bestowed GRACE upon them and it resulted ingiving.

What we see here is that GRACE defines giving it did in this case,and it does define all true and honest giving. Grace never carries givingunder threat of punishment, nor promise of reward. Indeed, if there wereone verse to describe the grace of giving it would be the words of Jesus,"Freely you have received, freely give." Now, what does it mean toFREELY GIVE? The answer ought to be more than obvious it meansexactly what I mentioned earlier to FREELY GIVE means that you givewith NO expectation of reward, nor fear of punishment. It means that youdo so from your heart, rather than to keep some law. That is what itmeans to FREELY give it is GRACE IN ACTION.

Any doubts about this are cleared up once we see how GOD the Godof all grace gives to us. He FREELY gives Jesus said so. And we aresupposed to do the same.


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Now, along the l ine of giving being a part of fellowship, we begin to seehow this is so. Christians are supposed to fellowship in Christ, andcertainly one of the dominant characteristics of this fellowship is going tobe a, "sharing in common," the grace of God. Isnt this the basis forforgiveness? Sure. And it is the basis of GIVING.

The saints at Macedonia are said to have actually begged Paul toaccept their gift. Note that this church wanted Paul to, "t ake upon him thefellowship of the ministering to the saints." Get that here giving iscalled, "the fellowship of the ministering to the saints." So right hereGIVING which is the ministering to the saints spoken of is calledFELLOWSHIP. Why? Because it has emerged, first, f rom fellowship withGod, and secondly, from fellowship with each other.

Paul then makes a statement that states clearly the root of all God-ordained giving. He says that these people, "First gave their own selves

to the Lord, and unto us by the wil l of God." Can we see FELLOWSHIPhere? And that all GIVING is supposed to be the result of our FIRST beingrightly related to God? This giving was the result of FIRST belonging toGod. Then, because of that, they were able IN THE WILL OF GOD to giveto others.

So many today teach the opposite. They teach that you must give INORDER to get right with God, or IN ORDER to keep right with God. Butthis is error. It is exactly what it means to be under the law. No. Paul saysthat if you give yourselves to God and thereby become right with Him that it wil l result in you doing the wil l of God, which, in this case, was

giving.

God wants US He wants us to give ourselves to Him, yes, in theoverall sense, but regardless specifics. If there were a law that mandatedthat these saints give, it would not have been necessary for them to firstgive themselves to God. They could have just obeyed the law.

You wil l notice that Paul makes sure they understand that he is notdemanding that they give to follow a law. He says, "I speak not bycommandment." Could anything be clearer? Do we think that God has thispassage as part of His inspired Word for no reason? Is it possible thatthis passage which reveals so much Truth could say what it says ifTITHING were sti l l commanded, or if we were under any law about givingas NT saints? No.

There are other passages which affirm these Truths about giving in theNT:


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But this I say, He which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; andhe which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according

as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or ofnecessity: for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make allgrace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all

things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hasdispersed abroad; he has given to the poor: his righteousness remainsforever. Now he that ministers seed to the sower both minister bread foryour food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of yourrighteousness;) Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which

causes through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of thisservice not only supplies the want of the saints, but i s abundant also by

many thanksgivings unto God; While by the experiment of this ministrationthey glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ,and for your l iberal distribution unto them, and unto all m en; (2 Cor 9:6-

13) From this passage, we are able to glean a number of Truths. First, we

are never to give, "grudgingly," that is, we are never to give all the whileresenting it. So another words, we see once again that true giving is fromthe heart we give because we WANT to give. Closely related, Paul sayswe are never to give, "of necessity," which means we are never to giveBECAUSE WE HAVE TO GIVE. No. Again real giving is voluntary, andnot to obey a commandment. All of this is wrapped up in the term,"cheerful giver."

Now, lets face it, i f this passage is about tithing, or any other

commanded giving, we WOULD give because we have to! But no. Paul notonly says that God loves a voluntary, cheerful giver, but he says NOT togive resenting it, or because you have to give. To do so would be contraryto the Truth of God.

Now, there are those who try to say that, yes, this passage is talkingabout giving, but that t ithing is nevertheless commanded. They say thatPaul takes for granted that we know we must tithe, and so this passage istalking about giving that is beyond that. Well, i t s nice to make the Biblemean what you want it to mean. The entire spirit of this passage ought toprove to anyone with any sense of the Truth that t ithing cannot possibil i tybe a requirement upon NT Christians.

A second principle we see is that any blessings that come our waybecause of our giving go far beyond that of money. This is all through thepassage. Sure. This only makes sense because our giving is to be out ofour relationship with God we give money because we have alreadygiven ourselves to God. We are rightly related to Him with regards to


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money and so He is f ree to give to us anything He chooses. This couldinclude money, but any other blessing.

This goes back to the principle stated earlier: God can only trust us withMUCH blessing if we have been faithful in the LITTLE only if we are free

to give without self interest as the motive is God free to give to us,because it wil l be for our good, and not to our harm. This brings us to the principle of SOWING and REAPING. There has

probably been no other principle with regards to giving that has beenmore distorted and perverted than this one. Many today teach that if you,"plant a seed," into their ministry, that God has promised that you wil lreap a great f inancial harvest. Is this what God is teaching us in thispassage?

No. First of all, even those who teach this error tell you that you must

SOW into good soil. Of course, they claim THEY are good soil. But theyare almost never good soil and they prove it with their attitude towardsmoney. So right off the bat we see that God is never obligated to blessanything expect His own Word and His Truth in Christ. You could give allyou want to those who teach error and God is NOT going to bless youbecause of it.

It would be humorous if i t were not tragic. Do we realize that everyCULT on this planet uses all of the same passages of scripture to prove totheir members that they must give them money for the support of thechurch? And do we realize that many of those members who do give, or

tithe, wil l tell you with a straight f ace that God has blessed them becausethey have been faithful to give? But I say a gain God does not bless usbecause we affirm or finance heresy and error. We are, in that case,helping promote that which keeps people in bondage and deception. Soobviously, it DOES matter to whom we give. Yet even more, it mattersWHY we give.

To truly SOW bountifully, you have to do so FREELY, and voluntari ly,without any expectation of a reward. We have already seen this, and thisis certainly built into the passage as a given. W hen you SOW a seed, youwill notice that it passes OUT of your hand in the ground. You no longerown it. Thus, you are relinquishing any demand or expectation of apayback. The only thing that God says that you can expect is to REAP in some way. And if you read the passage, while f inancial blessings arenot EXCLUDED from this reaping, they are barely mentioned. Rather, thereaping that is mentioned is mostly spiritual. Paul mentions grace,righteousness, and thanksgiving.


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But we must ask: Why is there a connection between sowing money bygiving, and reaping in a spiritual way? That is really what the passage isgetting at and we are going to see that this is what many otherpassages teach. What is the connection, and why does it work that way?

It works that way because if we have lost ourselves to Christ,everything we are, and everything we own, belongs to God. And when weGIVE, or SOW, we are not only giving what belongs to God, but if we do itin the right spi rit, we are actually FELLOWSHIPPING together. Thisfellowship with God, and with each other, opens the door for otherblessings to flow in that same fellowship. Read the passage again. Youwill see that this is the Truth behind the entire issue of giving.

Now, if giving is a form of fellowship, then can we see that it can nomore be governed by a law than fellowship is governed by a law? ImagineGod saying, "I command you to fellowship in the Spirit, or else!" That just

doesnt f i t, does it? It is nonsense. God does not offer rewards orpunishments for FELLOWSHIP in the Spirit. But that does not mean thatfellowship doesnt result in blessings.

Think of the blessings of God, including material blessings, in the termsthat Jesus outl ined in John 15, where He said, "I am the Vine and you arethe branches." If that is the case, then as we abide in Christ, there aregoing to flow certain blessings from Him to us. But this is not because weare keeping laws it is because we are l iving OUT FROM HIM. When abranch abides in the Vine, there are LIFE results including fruit. Thus,the blessings or fruits are NOT the thing we work for. No. We are told to

abide in Him and these things wil l come. Or, to go back again to theprinciple we saw earlier, if we lose ourselves in the Vine, and simplyabide in Him, we wil l f ind LIFE in Him and IN that l i fe wil l be all theprovision that God has for us.

This is exactly the same principle as Jesus taught when He said, "Seekyou first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things wil l beadded unto you." (Matt. 6:33) Is there any room in this statement fortithing? Jesus did not say, "Tithe, and all you need wil l be added untoyou." He did not say, "Seek the kingdom by giving money, and all wil l beadded unto you." No. Rather, He told us to seek the kingdom of God which means to seek Gods rule and Gods wil l over us r egardingeverything and if we do, then because God wil l then be in charge ofeverything, God wil l be free to add to you everything we need.

So if you want to know what God says is the key to provision from Him,right here we have it see f irst His kingdom and His righteousness. If wedo, God wil l take care of material provision.


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Can we see that to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness isexactly the same as losing ourselves in full abandonment to Him? thatthis is equal to relinquishing our self ownership and self rule to Christ?Sure. We MUST relinquish self rule if we are to be rule by Jesus as Lordin HIS kingdom. Thus, this again is the same principle. In one single

verse, Jesus makes it clear that if you want God to be free to add to youall that you need, you must surrender to Him as Lord of those things. IfJesus is Lord of you, and it is real, then the result is that He wil l blessand provide.

So again, Jesus says to abide in Him and you wil l partake of Him. Hesays to seek Him first as Lord and He wil l provide what you need. Hesays to lose your l i fe and you wil l f ind it. The focus for the Christian is theLord to the complete disregard of any benefit or blessing. But if we dothat, this ensures blessing because how can you abide in Christ or l ivein His kingdom and NOT be blessed?

How ironic are the things of God. You have victory through surrender;l i fe through death; you find by losing; and God is f ree to give you blessingonly if you obey without the motive of one. And yet what else couldpossibly speak of GRACE? This is God. He is the God of all grace.

Here is another passage having to do with giving: Now ye Phil ippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when

I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me asconcerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye

sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire a gift: but Idesire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all, and abound: Iam full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from

you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrif ice acceptable, well pleasing toGod. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in

glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:15-19) Notice that Paul said, "Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that

may abound to your account." How many TV preachers can honestly saythis today? Not one, I should think although some of them try to fake it.But think about what Paul is saying here. He is saying that he wants themto give, but not so he wil l have the gift, but so that they wil l have the fruitthat results of their giving. Despite the fact that some people try to saythat Paul is talking about financial blessing, I dont think so. He is talkingabout fellowship and the flow of something more than money.

Lets put aside, for a moment, any ramifications of giving to theunsaved, and focus just on saints giving to saints. By the way, God tellsus that it is His wil l to help the poor and needy, even if they are NOT


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saved but you cannot escape the fact that it is His wil l for us to give tothe saints FIRST. It always amazes me when Christian people easily giveto a worldly charity, but ignore widows and those in their o wncongregation who cannot even afford to pay their l ight bil l . It is anabsolute disgrace that widows especially have to l ive the way they do,

when their brethren have much. But that aside, lets talk about the realmeaning of saints giving to saints i ncluding saints supporting theministry.

When I give money to someone, or to a ministry, I am saying that Iaffirm and support what them, in ways that go beyond the mere act ofgiving. For example, if I give money to a ministry, I am entering into afellowship with them and my giving is an embracing of the Truth taught.Now, it is possible to do this without giving but if you see what Imsaying, giving requires cost. You are going another step.

Even false teachers know and teach this. They teach that if you,"partner with them," that the blessings of God that are upon them will beupon you. Well, they had better be careful, because if they are teachingerror, then the opposite could be true. In the very least, it is a f act thatthe Christian church produces as a witness exactly what they finance. Thereason error prevails on Christian television today is because professingChristians have paid to keep them on but is this not a fellowship? Sure.

I dont believe that MONEY can substitute for the LIFE of Christ.Ultimately, God doesnt need money to promote the gospel. He never did.But it is nevertheless a fact that the m oney trial does often indicate what

people VALUE. Jesus Himself said, "Where ever your treasure is, therewill your heart be." In other words, whatever you VALUE, there you wil ldedicate your heart, and often, this wil l mean that you wil l invest yourmoney. Thus, it is a f airly accurate snapshot of the spiritual condition ofthe church to see what is being financed by Christians today. Christiansgive their money to what they believe in, and to what they value. Theygive, or neglect to give, in accordance with the value they place upon themessage. Because ultimately, all of this is t ied back to the value we placeupon God Himself it is t ied back to whether we know Him.

If I know God, and have truly entered into fellowship with Him, I amgoing to slowly learn Christ in such a way that I wil l VALUE and REVEREaccording to the Truth. This is just another way of saying that I wil l exhibitthe fruits of the Holy Spirit. Well, i f this is so, then it must, at some point,result in works it wil l result in giving or not giving. Now note: It is notthe giving that produces a knowledge of God, or the fruits of the Spirit.No. It is my knowledge of God, and my relationship with Him, that resultsin the giving because I wil l value what HE values. Thus, my giving is anextension of my fellowship with God. And so is my receiving from others


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which is just as important. Therefore, giving and receiving is a part offellowship a part of our, "having in common." This opens up much in theway of blessing.

We saw this earlier if I f irst give myself to the Lord, then it is going to

result in my giving to others according to the wil l of God. But again, dontmisunderstand. I dont make myself r ight with God, or enhance myfellowship with Him, by giving. No. I f irst give myself to God, and then theRESULT is often giving as God directs, and makes possible.

This is how fellowship in the Spirit works. I cannot f ellowship with otherChristians if I am not f ellowshipping with Christ FIRST. But if I amfellowshipping with Christ, and others are fellowshipping with Christ, thenwe are going to fellowship with each other IN CHRIST. This echoes downthrough our conduct, including giving.

When the early church began, you wil l remember that one of the firstthings that God did was bring them into a time where, "they did notconsider anything as belonging to themselves." It says, "they had allthings in common." This was not merely a religious ritual to follow, or alaw that was commanded. In fact, you wil l f ind NO command that they dothis. Rather, this entire perspective was the result of these peopleSEEING JESUS CHRIST. They saw Christ, and had experienced Him, andall of a sudden, none of these things mattered anymore.

Since then, many people have tried to duplicate this as a pattern tofollow. You cannot. You cannot duplicate the results of seeing Christ if

you have not seen Christ. If you try, it wil l be of the flesh. This event inthe book of Acts is not a command to give everything away and go l ive ina commune. Rather, it is a revelation of Gods mind, and of what happensto people who actually see the Truth.

Front and center in this matter was COMMUNION or FELLOWSHIP.They had fellowship in Christ, but now it had come to govern theireveryday l iving and possessions. This was a completely voluntary andfree expression of Gods grace. In fact, even when Ananias l ied and stoodbefore Peter, he was told, "The land, and the money, were always yoursto keep. You were never required to give a nickel of it to the church. Sowhy did you LIE about it?"

If we learn nothing from this event in the book of Acts, we certainlylearn that the result of seeing Jesus Christ is GIVING. Not a mandatedgiving. But a voluntary giving. It is not only the act of giving, but thefellowship that is behind it. Fellowship with God means everythingbelongs to Him and not me. And at some point, the spirit of that is goingto be seen in my relationships with others.


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Back to Paul. He said that he wanted fruit to abound to the Phil ippians.This would happen because they GAVE. And that fruit involved more thanmaterial provision. It involved fellowship and spiritual blessings. In fact,you cannot find a single passage in the NT with regards to giving thatdoes not in some way mention that the result is going to be SPIRITUAL

blessings.

Give Until It Hurts?There are a lot of clever, catchy phrases used today on Christian

television if we dare sti l l call i t Christian phrases intended to getpeople to send money into the ministry using them. "Give unti l i t hurts," isone phrase. Aside from the fact that this phrase is totally unbiblical afact we wil l see in a moment -- it is probably one of the less clever onesused today. Some of the better ones are, "You cannot out give God,"meaning if you give everything to me, God wil l out give you and give to

you. Another one is, "God cannot let go of what is in His hand, unti l youlet go of what is in yours." I especially l ike that one, because it exposesso much about the corrupt minds of those who state it. I mean, if God hasall this stuff for you, but wont let go of it unti l you give money to aministry, then what could be a more clear definit ion of buying a blessingfrom God? Furthermore, if we really understood our own heart, we wouldrealize that if we give in order to get, we really havent let go ofANYTHING. We are just, "trading up."

The fact is, God isnt in any of these things, phrases, or gimmicks. Hedoesnt play psycho games with people to try to get them to give. He

doesnt need to beg, borrow, or steal. Mil l ions of souls a rent going to goto hell unless I write that check. Can you imagine it? A poor soul, say, inAfrica, stands before the Lord at the last judgment, having never heardthe gospel, and God condemns them to hell for all eternity. They ask why.And the Lord says, "Because David didnt write a check and send it intoBenny Hinn, so that he could come and preach to you!!!" Well, at least I msaved, even if they arent, r ight? Im being a bit sarcastic, I know, butthink these things through and you wil l end up seeing the utter nonsensein them.

The most powerful t ime the church has ever had came when there wereno computers, televisions, books, or mechanical transportation. Thegospel was spread because it was LIFE. Indeed, we are told that the Truthturned the world upside down. But you see, then people lost their l i ves forChrist and so there was no profit o r gain to pretending you were aChristian. Today, Jesus is big business. It does not yet cost much to be aChristian for many people in fact, for some, they get rich call ingthemselves one.


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Not only did the gospel spread on the basis of resurrection l ife, and thegates of hell could not stand against the Truth, but God waited 1500 yearsto allow the printing press to be invented. Does this sound like God was ina hurry or that He needed those things? Im simply pointing out thatthere is something wrong with the claim that money gives us the power to

preach the gospel. The fact that God grants money to do so, and can usemodern technology, doesnt take away from what the gospel is eternalTruth in Jesus Christ.

Has it ever occurred to us that GIVING to support ministry, or to theneedy among us, is more of a privi lege for the giver than it is a blessingfor the recipient. I know that most of us cannot grasp this. We dont reallybelieve it. But isnt this what Jesus said? He said, "It is more blessed togive, than to receive." Now, that is quite an amazing statement. How canit be the Truth? Can we see that in order for this to be the truth that itmust mean that there really ARE spiritual blessings involved with giving?

What do we think it means to be BLESSED? If we give, we are obviouslyNOT receiving what we are giving. And yet we are MORE blessed than theone receiving. None of this makes sense unless all of it is hooked intoGod, His grace, and the fellowship of believers.

The basic principle here is that if we are an expression of the grace ofGod to others, then we wil l be blessed by that same grace. In otherwords, be a vessel through whom Gods grace flows and you cannot helpbut be impacted. If I give, God is giving through me. How can I notl ikewise BE blessed by God in spiritual ways, if not in material ways?

Well, back to the phrase, "Give unti l i t hurts." Is that the way to getblessed? Well, why dont those who preach this practice what theypreach? Why dont THEY give unti l i t hurts? No. This is n ot biblical, asseen in the passage below:

For if there be first a wil l ing mind, it is accepted according to that a manhas, and not according to that he has not. For I mean not that other men

be eased, and you burdened: But by an equality, that now at this timeyour abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance alsomay be a supply for your want: that there m ay be equality: As it is written,

He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gatheredlitt le had no lack. (2 Cor 8:12-15)

Rather than tell people to give what they dont have to give unti l i thurts -- Paul states clearly that acceptable giving is, "according to what aman HAS, and not according to what he has NOT." He then follows that upby saying, "It is not my intention for you to give so m uch to others thatYOU are then the in need."


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You see, Paul knew that it was GOD who was the source of allprovision. So if God prospers someone, part of the reason is so that theycan give to others. (see Eph. 4:28) Likewise, if someone is left in need,this is so that others may GIVE, and thus be blessed by that giving.

If you read the NT, you wil l see much direction given as to the care ofwidows. You wil l see that God tells us to give to those in need. Well, cantGod just bypass us and someone provide for people? Sure. But often Hedoes not. Why? Because He wants the fellowship of GIVING. He knowsthat it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. There is something inthat which speaks of Gods grace, and the love and fellowship in theSpirit. This is about MORE than the passing of money or goods from thehands of one to another. It is about b e an extension and expression ofGods own grace TO US.

Of course, it is entirely possible to give much, but to do it completely

outside of the grace of God, or to do it out of the wil l of God. There aretimes when it is the wil l of God to NOT give even if i t is so I can get myown perspective and heart right before the Lord. Ultimately, however, Godis a giving God, and we wil l at least WANT to give what we are able togive. Again this is not a law or a command. It is the character of God.

But if we read the above passage, it is clear that is not the wil l of Godfor you to ever give what you cannot afford. W hy? Well, two reasons.First, if you give more than you can afford, then YOU will be in need, andsomeone wil l then have to give to you. Secondly, if you give more thanyou can afford, then you are exceeding what God has provided TO YOU

so that you CAN give.

So the notion that we ought to give money that we dont have to give that ought to be used to support our own family is contrary to scripture.God says "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of hisown house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." (1 Tim5:8) Our FIRST responsibil i ty and the first reason God provides for us is so that we might take care of our own household. If I am giving at theexpense of the needs of my family, I am WRONG. No. It is Gods wil l forus to support our own family FIRST otherwise someone might have tosupport us. Then, once we get that done, we can help those of the faith.After that, we might want to help someone who is not a believer. This isthe basic priority although we dont want to set up a law. It is a simpleprinciple or rule of thumb.

You wil l also notice that Paul says he wants, "equality." The wordmeans, "fairness." This affirms what we are saying. God would not createhardship upon someone because they GAVE more than God supplied forthem to give. But He does say we ought to ease the hardship of others as


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He directs and provides. If we have abundance, one of the REASONS Godhas given it to us is so that we might give. If we do not have abundance,then perhaps God has allowed this so that others can give to us.

Of course, I do realize that l i fe is a bit more complicated than can be

covered by laying down foundational principals. For example, there arepeople who wont work or help themselves, and so, rather than just give tothem, Paul said, "If a m an wil l not work, he should not eat." (II Thes. 3:10)There are also NEEDS, and there are WANTS. And above all, there aretimes when God wil l withhold provision from people not because theyhave sinned but because for a season He wants to teach them theTruth, and build in them the f aith to walk with Him in these matters.

But if you read passages l ike this one from II Corinthians 8, it becomesclear that once again fellowship stands behind much of this giving andreceiving. Fellowship in Christ ends up touching many practical matters.

The Support of NT Ministry So far we have looked mostly at passages that speak of giving to other

saints who are in need. But the Bible does teach that Christians aresupposed to support those who are called to Christ for ministry. Not thatthe one is more important than the other. Both are equal as to importanceand impact. It is somewhat amazing to me that Christians wil l sendmill ions of dollars to keep the worst televangelists on the air because oftheir promise of Gods blessing but that relatively few of these samepeople wil l help widows and the needy in their own church.

There are a number of extended passages on this matter: Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth,

supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. Butgodliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this

world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food andraiment let us be therewith content. But they that wil l be rich fall into

temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, whichdrown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the rootof all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith,

and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Tim 6:5-10)

According to the Word of God, if I teach that godliness is going to resultin financial gain, or if I say that f inancial gain indicates godliness, I am aperson that has a CORRUPT MIND, and I am DESTITUTE or void of theTruth. Do we see what this means? It m eans that anyone who teachesthat GIVING which is a godly act is going to result in f inancial gainfrom God, this person has NO Truth in them. And rather than have the


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mind of Christ, they have a corrupt mind because only a corrupt mindcould embrace and teach such heresy.

This is so serious a thing that Paul actually commands that weWITHDRAW from such a one. Instead, Christians today keep sending

them money. As I said earlier, the Christian church is producing awitness. We are funding and affirming what we believe. And in the end,we are going to get exactly what we have paid f or. I can only suspect thatif someone is sending money to Kenneth Copeland who is the verydefinit ion of the corrupt mind described in this verse I can only suspectthat many of the people who support him are LIKE-MINDED.

Incidentally, if God has set up a system whereby we can GIVE TO GET,then He is violating His own passage for that kind of thinking is exactlywhat is being condemned in this passage. But the question might thenarise, "Doesnt God provide for His people?" Sure He does. We already

read the primary passage on that matter: Seek you first His kingdom andHis righteousness and all these things wil l be added." If we seek first theRULE of God, then God wil l RULE us, and included in this, God wil l ruleour money i.e., we wil l be given exactly what God determines is goodand right for us according to His present purpose in our l ives. The notionthat we can GIVE ourselves into some purpose that circumvents this isnonsense.

By the way, I have come across people who wil l tell you that God hasmade them rich, or blessed them, because they tithed, or gave money totheir church. They are wrong. There are many reasons why people have

money, and many reasons why they dont have money. But according tothe Word of God, gain and godliness are not l inked. God wants US. Hewants to give to us according to His purpose.

For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the m outh ofthe ox that treads out the corn. Does God take care for oxen? Or says heit altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that

he that plows should plow in hope; and that he that threshes in hopeshould be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things,

is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? (1 Cor 9:9-11)Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor,

especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scripture says,Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that t reads out the corn. And, The laborer is

worthy of his reward. (1 Tim 5:17-18) Many years ago, when I did a study o n tithing, it jumped out at m e that

in both these passages, Paul is talking about the support of NT ministers.In both passages, he quotes the OT indeed, he quotes the same verse


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from the OT you shall not muzzle an ox that is treading your grain. THISverse is THE verse Paul chose, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, toshow that Christians ought to support ministry. Doesnt that seemstrange? Actually, it seems impossible that he would use that verse for histeaching if, in fact, TITHING were a law that was sti l l in effect under the

New Covenant.

If there was ever an opportunity for Paul for GOD HIMSELF to makesure that everyone understood that t ithing was required under the NewCovenant, it was here. Paul is teaching on the exact subject of thesupport of the ministry. Yet he never even mentions tithing. Not a hint. AsI mentioned earlier, always notice things l ike this always notice whatGod does NOT say when He is talking about a particular subject. Theblank spaces mean something and we are to fi l l them in with therevelation God has given elsewhere.

In addition to this glaring omission, we also have a general principlegiven in this passage for giving to NT ministers. Paul says, "If we havesown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap yourcarnal things?" The principle is this: It is good and right and certainlyapproved by God that we give to those who have fed us, and sown intous, spiritual Truth. Note that this is NOT a command or a mandate. All ofthis is governed by the principle of voluntari ly giving, as we saw taughtearlier. But Paul is saying, "We have taught you the Truth. Indeed, wehave SOWN into you that which is of God. So it is perfect acceptable toGod that you share with us material things."

Here once again we see fellowship. But we also see another facet ofthe law of sowing and reaping one that was not mentioned when weread II Corinthians 9. The SOWING is not merely MONEY GIVEN andthe REAPING is not m erely MONEY received. No. Sowing is TRUTHTAUGHT. And REAPING is all of the fruit that comes about includingboth spiritual and material blessings.

The focus here is once again fellowship. It is not that people are to PAYfor the Truth taught. No. But Paul is saying, "W e are all in this together.Thus, it is right that those who forfeit the right to work for a l iving shouldbe supported by those for whom they have forfeited that right. This is themind of God, and it is a part of practical fellowship."

Now, once we begin to see the Truth about this, we see that a teacherof Truth should not be preaching FOR the money. Neither should peoplegive to PAY FOR the Truth. Rather, all of this ought to be unto the Lord.Those who preach ought to do so because of the Lord, and those whogive ought to do so because of the Lord. This is fellowship.


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So what we have is this: A m inister should preach the Truth to thecomplete disregard of whether he is given money as support. Indeed, anyminister who is truly devoted to Christ is going to preach the Truth even ifit LOSES him his position, or l iving. All the while, he must trust God. Thisis the only way possible to obey the exhortation of Christ, "You have

freely received, now freely give." (Matt. 10:8) Look it up Jesus isspeaking directly to PREACHING. But on the other hand, people shouldgive to those who preach the Truth. Not because it is a command, and notbecause of something they wil l earn. They should give because they valuethe Truth, and because fellowship with God wil l tend toward giving as ameans of expressing affirmation of the Truth and of f ellowship. This is allfree. It is all of grace. And it is GODS BUSINESS to look after it. It is ourto believe and obey.

Serving God OR Mammon The Bible is f i l led with teaching and revelation on this matter of money,and giving, and we have touched upon only SOME of these Truths. There

are many other scriptures that God has given. But perhaps at the end ofthe day, we wil l eventually be led back to a passage from the sermon onthe mount from the mouth of Jesus:

No man can serve two masters: for either he wil l hate the one, and lovethe other; or else he wil l hold to the one, and despise the other. Yecannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no

thought for your l i fe, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet foryour body, what ye shall put on. Is not the l ife more than meat, and the

body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neitherdo they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeththem. Are ye not much better than they? W hich of you by taking thought

can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment?Consider the l i l ies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do

they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory wasnot arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the

field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he notmuch more clothe you, O ye of l i tt le faith? Therefore take no thought,

saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shallwe be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for yourheavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seekye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things

shall be added unto you. (Mat 6:24-33) All of these Truths about giving ultimately take us back to the words of

Jesus Christ. He told us, "You cannot serve God AND mammon." (Matt.6:24) Rather, He said that we would either serve God OR mammon. Hewas talking about the motivation behind our l iving indeed, behind


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everything we do. You wil l recall that this declaration is part of the samepassage that is concluded with the statement, "Seek you first His kingdomand His righteousness, and all these things wil l be added." (Matt. 6:33) Ineffect, Jesus was saying, "Serve God by seeking first His kingdom andHis righteousness, and if you do, then everything you thought you would

earn by serving mammon wil l be added unto you free of charge."

It is a tragic irony t hat it is entirely possible for a professing Christ totithe, and give money, but for the tithing and giving to be nothing morethan the means by which they SERVE MAMMON. Sure. If I am giving inorder to get if my giving is something other than free of charge,voluntary, and by Gods grace then it is because I have some selfinterest in mind. In that case, rather than seeking first His kingdom andHis righteousness, I may be seeking first a reward FOR my giving ortithing. In that case, I am actually serving mammon because this is themotive behind my giving. I am linking GAIN with GODLINESS.

Jesus outl ines the mind and heart of someone who has seen JesusChrist, and knows the Truth on these matters. They GIVE but not out ofduty, or out of any command to keep a law. They dont give to earn areward, or to avoid a curse. They dont give to keep right with God.Rather, their giving is because they KNOW GOD their giving is avoluntary act of their free wil l they FREELY give because they haveFREELY received. We are here talking about the fact that something haschanged their entire thinking and motivation the Truth of Jesus. In short,the fact they have freely received translates into them wanting to freelygive. It just does and no law can make this happen. This is the result of

being set free by the Truth.

People can set up laws and principles that m andate supposed giving,and usually these mandates WILL produce a certain amount of prosperityfor the one to whom m oney is given. Entire churches can become rich andprosperous if they demand that their people tithe and those samechurches might even, "give God the glory," for this prosperity. Televisionministries can become rich if they promise people that God wil l greatlybless them if they sow a seed of money into their ministry. Jesus neversaid that if you serve mammon that you would not become rich. Nope. YouCAN get rich serving mammon. Those of a corrupt mind can becomewealthy. Jesus never said that mammon was NOT a master that wouldprosper you. I mean, when the Roman church used to sell indulgences itmade them rich. These things work. Serving mammon may PAY. But noneof this is of God.

It is also a fact that if you freely give that most people wil l not give toyou. But nevertheless, God says to freely give. At some point, you have totrust Him.


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The issue of whether we are serving God or mammon is one that MUSTbe resolved if we are to go on with Jesus Christ. We are here talkingabout basic provision and who we are l iving for in this world. Do we liveFROM above, or do we live FROM below? What do we value?

If you want to know what is the key to financial freedom within the wil lof God, we can now state it: Serve God, and not mammon. Repent ofserving mammon, and seek first His kingdom and righteousness. (You wil lnotice that I did NOT say the key to financial freedom was to have lots ofmoney!) In other words, the key to freedom is to know the Truth about thisissue, and then to be rightly related to God over it. And the Truth is this:Everything belongs to God. That doesnt mean you give it all away I amtalking more about where your heart is, and about your relationship withGod. It is a great freedom to finally realize that if you own nothing, youneed protect nothing, or worry about anything. God is able to look afterthat which is given into His hands.

So regarding giving: For giving to be real, it must voluntary, from theheart, and within the wil l of God. It must be done without any expectationof a reward. This kind of giving is the result of having received from Godin that same Spirit. So we must LOSE ourselves in this matter into thehands of the Lord, and leave any blessing to Him. He is just, fair, andknows what we need.

The New Covenant is the covenant of GRACE. Tithing is not part of it.Giving which is grace -- is front and center. These matters are notmatters merely of theology or of Bible doctrine. They speak directly to the

kind of God we serve, and whether we know Him, and how we must walkwith Him. The Good News - Home

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Giving vs. TIthing

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