Can God curse beleivers

[Russ Kelly]

Peter wrote "Supporting the ministry is required. Supporting fellow believers in need is required."

Yes, but not necessarily full-time. Although it is good when we can afford full-time pastors, the Bible does not command it. Otherwise Paul was wrong in refusing it in 1 Cor 9:12-19!

When is the last time you heard a sermon on the last half of Acts 20? Paul told PREACHERS to follow his example in getting a job to support the poor in the church.

Like Jewish rabbis, Paul considered it a sin to be paid full-time for teaching God's Word. He accepted limited help because he was very poor. For the first 300 years of the church most pastors worked to support themselves. This is evident in every seminary textbook on early church history. They preactices extreme ascenticism.

How can a dead Law curse a dead Christian? Compare Romans 7:3, 4 with Hebrews 7:5, 12-19.

 

[AresMan]

Mal 3:10 Bring ye [1. who?] all the tithes [2. what?] into the storehouse [3. where?], that there may be meat [4. what?] in mine house [5. where?], and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven [6. what?], and pour you out a blessing [7. what?], that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

1. Israel/Judah/priests/Levites/people (the nation) (Mal 1:1, 1:5, 2:1, 2:9, 2:11, 3:4, 3:9, 4:4)
2. A yearly tenth of crops/livestock from agricultural areas ("cities of tillage") (Num 18:32; Deu 12:6-21; Deu 14:22-29; Deu 26:10-13; Neh 10:37-38)
3. Chambers in the temple; not technically commanded in the Law, but instituted by Hezekiah when reinstituting the Law to avoid street jams (2 Chr 31:4-21; Neh 10:37-38; Mal 3:10)
4. Food (tithes), as clearly defined in all the tithe passages
5. Temple chambers; see 3.
6. Rain in abundance (Gen 7:11)
7. Prosperous and delightsome land (Mal 3:11-12)

It is funny how that many "tithe"-supporters often seem to just ignore exegesis of the passages on this subject and just restate the same verses. Please tell me what these verses mean and give your Scriptural support to prove your point. I have quoted the same verses that you use to push so-called church "tithing" and have attempted to explain from contextual, historical, and parallel Scriptural settings what many of these terms mean. Until you can clearly demonstrate from Scripture that the "tithes" and "offerings" from the Old Testament Law mean today

1. 10% of one's paycheck to a local church
2. monetary amounts given in excess of the former

respectively and not

1. 10% of the increase of one's yearly agricultural produce
2. various forms of things burned upon altars as codified in the Levitical laws

then your mere interjectional quoting of the same verses that I quote and explain do not reinforce to me what you think (want?) it to mean.

 

[AresMan]

Originally posted by mountainrun:
It seems that people who pick out certain laws from the Old Testament to place themselves under also pick out certain laws to ignore that do not particularly appeal to them.

It seems more like "place others under" as in my experience, the most ardent and unwavering defenders of the church tithing myth are pastors who will simply argue and refuse to actually study the passages with an open mind. Some laypersons at least are willing to study and change their point of view if Scripturally compelled.
If we were supposedly under the Levitical tithing laws and the church parishoners were the Levites of today, do they obey the tithe command themselves? Levites were supposed to tithe of their tithes, as the end product of tithes ultimately went to the poor, the fatherless, the widows, and the strangers within the gates (Neh 10:38).

 

[AresMan]

Me4Him, I am especially convinced by all of the words you put in "quotes" to "support" that "we" are "required" to "tithe".