The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Since we're talking about money

I feel about the tithe much the way I feel about the Sabbath, having said often that I see no specific passage in the New Testament that lays the tithe upon Christians as legal obligation. But as I said before, that is not the whole story. It is true that Christians are not under the specifics of the Old Testament legislation, but where ethical issues are concerned, it is always the case that when you pass from the Old Testament to the New, the standard goes up rather than down. The Old Testament Jew was to give a straight 10 percent of his income to the Lord. It was a simple matter in order to avoid any manipulation of the angles, prevarication, or confusion. It was 10 percent of everything he received: wages, tips, gifts, an inheritance, a lottery! And it was for everybody: the young, the old, wives, husbands, students, the rich, the poor. It was the minimum. That much was owed to the Lord. The Jew was to “pay” the tithe. After that, if he had been particularly blessed and wanted to, he could give additional gifts and offerings.

What is our principle today? It is higher, as I indicated. It is not 10 percent but 100 percent. All we are and have is the Lord’s. Our question is not how much we are required to give but rather how much it is proper to keep for ourselves for our maintenance.

Jesus stated the principle in the Sermon on the Mount:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, your heart will be also . . . No one can serve two masters . . . You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:19-21. 24

I call this “lifestyle stewardship,” a pattern of life in which we have first given ourselves to the Lord and then regularly give ourselves to others in His name (cf 2 Cor. 8:5).

“Beloved of God, do see what love Christ has shown you? See what great sacrifice He has rendered in your place. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2Cor 5:21) For in Him and through Him we have been made beloved of God (1John 3:1). "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isa 53:6 )

Dear sinner, do see the mercy and love of God in the Lord Jesus. There is none so sinful that He cannot save; none so polluted with sin that He cannot cleanse. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Heb 7:25 ). May God in His mercy show you your true condition; that you are full of leprosy and that you shall surely die in your miserable condition lest you come to the Great Physician to be healed. The Lord Jesus Christ, the "Great Physician" is ever able and willing to receive all who will come to Him for healing. "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:17) Go to Him! Go to Him now, acknowledging your helpless guilty condition and your need of Him! And in doing so, He will "touch you" and cleanse you of all your uncleanness and clothe you with His perfect righteousness. "For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2Cor 5:21)

Amen