ntchristian
Active Member
Do you believe tithing is required of New Covenant believers? I'll give my opinion after others respond.
-
Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!
Tithing
- Thread starter ntchristian
- Start date
I tithe. [and more] I follow God's lead on this. I don't require anyone else to do the same just because I do.
That's between the individual and God.
And I tithe on the gross.
That's between the individual and God.
And I tithe on the gross.
Nope. Tithing is an old testament law. God loves a cheerful giver.
Still, tithing is a great guideline for new testament believers.
Still, tithing is a great guideline for new testament believers.
atpollard
Well-Known Member
Nope.
You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully." [2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT]
We tithe, as a base. More follows for other special programs/conditions, other ministries, or special needs.
The tithe ALWAYS goes to the church; the other, ----!
The tithe ALWAYS goes to the church; the other, ----!
We are to give proportionally, as some cannot afford the tithe, while others can afford way above that!
atpollard
Well-Known Member
I don't believe that anyone is REQUIRED to title, just as there are no "Good Works" required for salvation. However, just as a person that claims to be saved but has no good works in their life to show has reason to be concerned that their "faith" might be "dead" (to borrow from James), so too, a person that claims Jesus as Lord and Savior that spends not-a-penny on the place where they worship, the ministry of the body (we, the believers) and/or reaching the lost ... might have a reason to question just which "god" they really love and serve.
Your comment about "affording to tithe" reminds me of a story that my mother-in-law tells. When her husband first abandoned her to raise 5 children alone, she had $86 left after paying to keep a roof over their head (the Government collected some of her pay off the top for housing and left her with $86 for her to spend). With that $86 she had to buy food and clothing and soap and gas for the car and all of the other living expenses for a family of six people. Everyone told her that she was crazy to tithe $8.60 out of an $86 paycheck because she NEEDED that money. She would tell them there was simply no way to support a family of 6 on $86 and she needed God's blessing far more than she needed that extra $8.60 in her pocket.
God provided, every week, and showed her favor. Soon she had better jobs with higher pay. She tells people that as her salary increased and her tithe started to add up to "real money", she found it harder, not easier, to tithe.
I can believe that. It is easy to think about God when we desperately need him, but the "blessings" of God can be more of a trial to our remembering where our blessings come from. That is a human nature thing.
For me, personally, I always choose an amount to give and a place to give it carefully, then I make DARN sure that I give the "first fruits" of my paycheck to God. It isn't about God desperately needing my money. It is about me desperately needing to remember to place God FIRST. I am more comfortable giving God 1% off the top, then 10% from somewhere in the middle. For me, it is ALL about the heart with the amount being secondary.
Of course, 10% is easy to calculate.
How does the recent performance of the financial markets affect 'tithing?' If you've lost tens of thousands in your IRA's and 401K's, does that have anything to do with tithing (assuming you're not retired)? The answer should be No, as it's not income until you draw it out, and presumably you didn't tithe on the "increase," even though that's what scripture says to base it on. That's just one way biblical tithing is not applicable to modern living. OTOH if anybody did tithe on their increase in such accounts, now you're probably into negative tithing for a while-- but from where or whom are you going to claim you're owed 10% of your losses? The church? No, we can assume there has been no tithing- positive or negative- on our money not available to us except by paying a penalty of-- interestingly-- 10%.
As for our own stocks, we could sell them for losses right now, enough to greatly reduce our income, and therefore owe less taxes-- and less of a tithe, if income is what that is based on, as we've all surely heard claimed in many sermons.
So... Tithing works better as a system of an agricultural people supporting a system of temple sacrifices. Or do you disagree?
As for our own stocks, we could sell them for losses right now, enough to greatly reduce our income, and therefore owe less taxes-- and less of a tithe, if income is what that is based on, as we've all surely heard claimed in many sermons.
So... Tithing works better as a system of an agricultural people supporting a system of temple sacrifices. Or do you disagree?
God loves us to cheerfully give back, out of love and gratitude!I don't believe that anyone is REQUIRED to title, just as there are no "Good Works" required for salvation. However, just as a person that claims to be saved but has no good works in their life to show has reason to be concerned that their "faith" might be "dead" (to borrow from James), so too, a person that claims Jesus as Lord and Savior that spends not-a-penny on the place where they worship, the ministry of the body (we, the believers) and/or reaching the lost ... might have a reason to question just which "god" they really love and serve.
Your comment about "affording to tithe" reminds me of a story that my mother-in-law tells. When her husband first abandoned her to raise 5 children alone, she had $86 left after paying to keep a roof over their head (the Government collected some of her pay off the top for housing and left her with $86 for her to spend). With that $86 she had to buy food and clothing and soap and gas for the car and all of the other living expenses for a family of six people. Everyone told her that she was crazy to tithe $8.60 out of an $86 paycheck because she NEEDED that money. She would tell them there was simply no way to support a family of 6 on $86 and she needed God's blessing far more than she needed that extra $8.60 in her pocket.
God provided, every week, and showed her favor. Soon she had better jobs with higher pay. She tells people that as her salary increased and her tithe started to add up to "real money", she found it harder, not easier, to tithe.
I can believe that. It is easy to think about God when we desperately need him, but the "blessings" of God can be more of a trial to our remembering where our blessings come from. That is a human nature thing.
For me, personally, I always choose an amount to give and a place to give it carefully, then I make DARN sure that I give the "first fruits" of my paycheck to God. It isn't about God desperately needing my money. It is about me desperately needing to remember to place God FIRST. I am more comfortable giving God 1% off the top, then 10% from somewhere in the middle. For me, it is ALL about the heart with the amount being secondary.
Of course, 10% is easy to calculate.
We give to God due to His goodness and grace towards us!
