The Sin of Tithing Today

Comment

Comment by Evangelist Johnny J Christen on March 19, 2010 at 10:47pm

Creflo Dollar's Tithing Manipulation Pt. 1
Creflo Dollar's Tithing Manipulation Pt. 2
Creflo Dollar's Tithing Manipulation Pt. 3
Here is another Brother that’s in deep need of prayer!!! Repent of this abomination in the sight of God!!! Brother Creflo Dollar you need to get off that high horse you’re on and humbly yourself before the mighty hand of God before God takes you out!!! And the same offer goes for you to personally contact me at pastorchristen@yahoo.com in you would like to touch base with me on this subject.


I love you Brother

Peace in Christ
Evangelist Johnny J Christen

Comment by Evangelist Johnny J Christen on March 19, 2010 at 8:43pm

Eddie Long on Tithing
This is 100% pure manipulation in its purest form/outright lying and stealing from the sheep by laying a guilt trip on them point blank!!! {Can anyone in here clearly see this now after reading my post}? Please be honest because preachers who preach these things to their congregation will surely answer to God for it, you cannot go back and open up an old covenant that God himself has closed 2000 years ago and pull out OT scripture to threaten NT Christians without answering to God for it...

Can I get a witness in here or not? It’s high time to drop our pride/stop worrying about what everyone else thinks or what all the other preachers are doing out there! They aren’t going to hold your hand in hell Brethren.

Start standing on NT truth or get out from behind the pulpit before you bring the judgment of God upon yourselves and your congregations! Please pray for this Brother and others like him.

I love you with all my heart and soul but I charge you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ/Yeshua the Messiah to Repent of this manipulation Brother Eddie Long!!!

You can write to me personally at pastorchristen@yahoo.com and I would love to share my thoughts with you on this subject.

Shalom
Evangelist Johnny J Christen

Comment by Evangelist Johnny J Christen on March 19, 2010 at 5:21am

The Sin of Tithing Today

The Bible defines "sin" as the transgression of law (1 John 3:4)—any law! And in the Bible the use of the word "sin" has to do with violating any law of God that God has given for people to observe. Another way of defining "sin" in the Bible is to apply the verbal elements of the word "sin" itself and we arrive at the phrase "to miss the mark" as its dictionary meaning. In common parlance "sin" simply means to miss the "bulls eye" in the center of a target and this means to violate any standard of conduct that God has decreed for people to observe. God has given certain positive laws to particular people to perform as well as certain negative laws telling people to refrain from practicing particular deeds. When one breaks any of these laws that God has ordained for certain people to do (things to perform or not to perform), that person is reckoned to be "sinning."

With this being the definition of "sin," there are multitudes of preachers, priests, evangelists and theologians who are "sinning" on a daily basis in regard to their use (or better yet, their misuse or their abuse) of the biblical tithe. There is nothing more clear in the Bible than the teaching of God about the ordained tithe. The Bible shows who were to pay the tithe, who were to receive the tithe, the types of products that were to be tithed, who was not to tithe, how the tithe was to be used, along with regulations that gave limitations and restrictions on its use, yet these laws of God are being violated wholesale by preachers, priests, evangelists and theologians who want a ready money supply for their religious or church work. In doing so, they are deliberately committing outright "sin."

The truth is, these religious men and women are often quite aware of what the ordained tithe of the Bible was designed to accomplish and to whom the produce or monies were to be paid, but these modern religious authorities have, in many cases, abandoned all sense of God’s directions and laws regarding the biblical tithe and they have appropriated those funds to themselves and for their own use in ways that the Bible never sanctions. Indeed, it is common in ministerial circles and among the church denominations for the religious authorities to demand the full biblical tithe from church members. Some authorities even threaten the plagues of God on those of their congregation if they fail to pay the tithe either in part or in full. Other ministers use the tactic of producing guilt in people’s minds through their sermons in order to extract the tithe from their congregations. It even has become a common notion among many Christian denominational teachings that the matter of exacting tithe from the people is a cardinal responsibility of the ministry in order to gain money to operate the church and its activities. But this is wrong. It is not biblical. And worse, it is "sinful."

Now don’t get me wrong. It is perfectly proper to have funds given to religious organizations (even generously if people so desire) in order for them to perform the works God has given them to do. People who are members of a church or a religious group that is doing a good work in teaching the Gospel or is providing a worthwhile service to the community and the world should be supported by its members. People should not let others pay for the upkeep of the religious work while they reap the benefits of it. But the securing of the necessary funds with which to operate those organizations is not what this book is speaking about. Having funds to operate is an essential factor for any religious organization, but the problem with preachers and church leaders is the manner in which those funds obtained.

The Bible has a clear and easily understood manner in which the teaching of the Gospel ought to be supported (and funded adequately) and all people who subscribe to those teachings should have their part in financing it, but in no way should the ordained tithe of the Bible be used (in the slightest capacity) in providing that support. That is what we are talking about. In simple terms, the biblical tithe should not be the means that Christian and/or Jewish religious organizations obtain their funds with which to function. Indeed, if a church or a synagogue uses such tithe, everyone who is party to such a scheme is sinning in the eyes of God! That is a fact, and this will be shown in this book.

These are strong words (and they may be shocking to some who have not studied the Scripture on the matter of tithing), but they can be shown to be true. When the tithing laws recorded in the Bible are really comprehended, it will be seen that their misuse by ministers today has degraded those sacred laws into a monstrous system of money gathering which can only be called (by its proper title) "The Sin of Tithing Today."

All credit goes directly to Dr. Ernest L. Martin's THE TITHING DILEMMAA.S.K http://www.askelm.com/tithing/index.asp

Chapter 2

The Real Tithe of the Bible

Tithing is a biblical law. But so is circumcision and so is the sacrificing of animals. Does this mean that Christians today should ritualistically circumcise their children or sacrifice animals because these laws were once ordained in the Bible? Most Christians would not think such Old Testament legislation is obligatory for Christians who live in this age. And the Bible makes it clear that such ritualistic practices are not required any longer.

Tithing, however, has been looked on differently by many people, especially by certain Christian ministers who need a ready money supply to operate their organizations. It is often argued that God still demands tithing and that a person who does not give a tenth of his income for the maintenance of a Christian ministry is stealing from God. [By the way, the word "tithe" is an old English word which simply meant "tenth."] But ministers who use such threats do not have the slightest biblical authority to sustain their dogmatic assertions. The tithing laws of the Bible are no more valid today for Christians than the act of offering animal sacrifices. Indeed, even if all the legal factors governing the tithing laws were in force today, Christian ministers would still not have any authority from God to use a penny of such tithe for their ministerial functions.

Let us face the issue squarely without beating around the bush. The Bible makes it clear (from the time of Moses onward) that Israelites were to pay tithe. But in doing so, they were strictly ordered by God to pay the tithe (the tenth) to one group of people, and one group only. To whom was the tithe to be paid? They were the Levites who (among other things) ministered in the Temple. Note Numbers 18:21,

"And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service of the tabernacle of the congregation."

It was made abundantly plain that the biblical tithe was to be paid to the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel. In this initial law of tithing, no one else had the slightest authority to receive that tithe. Even Christ Jesus, while he was teaching on earth, did not use (nor did he demand) a penny of biblical tithe to fund his preaching activities or those of his apostles. After all, our Lord was descended in an adoptive way from Judah (Hebrews 7:14). He was not a Levite. This made him ineligible to receive any part of the biblical tithe that was ordained for use by the Levites at the time of Moses. For this reason, Christ did not use any tithe money to support his ministry.

The central fact was this: Only members of the tribe of Levi were at first ordained in the Bible to receive the tithe (the tenth). The Levites in turn were to give one tenth of that tithe to the Priests (Numbers 18:25–28) who did not tithe at all. In our modern age, however, even the Levites and Priests are disqualified from receiving any biblical tithe because there is no official body of men functioning as Levites.

Since there is no Temple in existence, there are also no Levites and Priests serving in the Temple. The tithe at first was brought into play by Moses to maintain the service of the Temple. With no Temple, the major factor for tithe paying does not exist as far as the biblical laws of tithing are concerned. For preachers and church leaders to change the direction of paying the tithe from that of the Temple to the service of a Christian ministry is to do so without any authority whatever from God. In fact, to use the tithing laws in a manner not sanctioned by the Word of God is to sin against biblical law. And that is what the preachers, priests and evangelists are doing today.

Let me give a modern example of how they violate the law of God. Now we are told in the Bible to pay all our debts to whom any debt is due. Suppose a person bought a refrigerator from Sears and Roebuck and was presented with a bill each month to pay on his debt until it was paid. This would be a reasonable thing to do. But suppose the person had a falling out with Sears half way through the payment schedule and the person refused to pay them what was owed to Sears. In fact, on one of the bills he might write: "I am trading at K-Mart from now on and I will be paying them the remainder of the money I owe you for that refrigerator." Not only would Sears not like that, but they could take the person to court and make him pay off his debt to the party to whom the debt is owed.

It is precisely the same thing in paying the biblical tithe. A person must pay the Levites the debt owed to them, and not to pay it to K-Mart! No one has the right to choose to whom they pay the tithe that God has ordained to be paid to the Levites. Recall that a squabble came up in the time of Moses over who were to be the Priests. Korah and his group felt they had the right to be Priests just like Aaron and his sons, but God made Israel see very plainly that when He chooses people to perform a job and to be paid for it, no other person has the privilege to claim that right (Numbers 16:1–50). Korah and his group found out that God does not like other people usurping the role of his ordained Levitical Priests. It is time that the preachers and evangelists today ought to heed the teaching of this example of Korah and refrain from collecting tithe that belongs to the Levites.

All credit goes directly to Dr. Ernest L. Martin's THE TITHING DILEMMA A.S.K http://www.askelm.com/tithing/index.asp

Chapter 3

Jews Do Not Tithe Today

Thankfully, Jewish theologians know better than their Christian counterparts. They are well aware that only Levites have the right to receive tithe of the people. After all, the Jewish leaders have the Old Testament as their Scripture and that’s what it commands. And since there is no Temple in existence (and consequently no ordained Levites or Priests serving in a Temple), then a major factor in fulfilling the laws of tithing does not exist in our modern world.

In regard to this, it may be profitable to relate an event that happened to me over thirty–five years ago when I was just starting to study theology in college. A letter had been given to me for answering. It was from a woman who heard that modern Jews were not tithing. She wanted to know whether the information was true, and if so, why the Jews seemingly violated the plain laws of the Bible which spoke of tithing as a law to be obeyed?

Having read the letter, I began to share her concern. To resolve the matter I telephoned three rabbis in the Los Angeles area for their explanation. Much to my dismay, all three independently of each other informed me that no religious Jew should tithe today. I was startled at their replies. This appeared to be evidence that the Jews were so lax with their biblical interpretation that they were abandoning even the simple words of their own Scripture about the laws of tithing.

By the time I spoke with the last rabbi, my youthful indignation was beginning to emerge. But that rabbi then wisely began to show me my ignorance (not his) in the whole matter. First, he admitted that none of his congregation paid one penny of tithe that was demanded in the Old Testament. He then said: "If any member of my synagogue paid tithe in the scriptural manner, he would be disobeying the law of God—he would be sinning against God."

I was staggered by his answer. He went on to inform me that since the Bible demands that the tithe be paid to Levites, he said it would be wrong to pay it to anyone else. And further, because there is presently no official Levitical order of Priests ministering at a Temple in Jerusalem, this makes it illegal at this period to pay any biblical tithe. He went on to say, however, that the moment a Temple is rebuilt, with its altar in operation and with the priesthood officiating at that altar (and the Levites there to assist them), then every Jew who lives in the tithing zones mentioned in the Bible will be required to tithe according to the biblical commands.

This teaching was a revelation to me (as it may be to some of our readers), but the rabbi gave the proper biblical answers. To pay the biblical tithe at this time, without Levites and Priests in their regular ordained offices and doing service in the Temple, would be "sin" both to the giver and the receiver. The rabbi told me: "If we are to obey the law, we cannot pay tithe unless we pay it to the ones ordained by God to accept that tithe."

The rabbi explained that though he was the chief rabbi of his synagogue, he was not a Levite. He said he was descended from the tribe of Judah and was thereby not eligible to receive tithe. The same disqualification applied even to Christ Jesus while he was on earth since he was also reckoned as having come from the tribe of Judah. This same restriction was applicable to the activities of the apostle Peter (because he was as well from Judah) and it applied to the apostle Paul (because he was from the tribe of Benjamin). Neither Christ nor those apostles were Levites so they were all disqualified from receiving any part of the biblical tithe. It is just that simple. And listen, if Christ, Peter and Paul did not use the biblical tithe for any of their work in the teaching the Gospel, Christian ministers today should not use the biblical tithe either. The Jewish religious authorities are wise enough to read what the Word of God states about the tithe and, thankfully, they abide by it. But our Gentile preachers and priests care very little what the biblical texts actually state and go merrily on their way by devising their own laws of tithing which are different from those of the Bible.

The rabbi then gave me some information on the method that many Jews use today to secure adequate funds with which to operate their religious organizations. He went on to say that the activities of his synagogue were financially supported through the adoption of the "patron system" by its members. That is, families would buy seats in the synagogue for various prices each year. The rabbi mentioned that many of his congregation actually paid more than a tenth of their income to get better seats in the synagogue. This method for raising funds is perfectly proper (from the biblical point of view) if Jews wish to use it. This is because the money is paid to the synagogue and not to an ordained Levitical priesthood.

The final rabbi was correctly interpreting the teaching of the Holy Scripture. While many Christian ministers today teach that Christians may be in danger of missing salvation itself if they do not pay tithe to the church, Jewish rabbis know better than to say such a thing. They realize that it is biblically improper (actually, it is a blatant disobedience to the laws of the Bible) for anyone to pay or to receive the biblical tithe today. And any minister or ecclesiastical leader who uses the biblical tithe (or any one who pays to a minister the biblical tithe) is a sinner in the eyes of God.

{All} credit goes directly to Dr. Ernest L. Martin's THE TITHING DILEMMA A.S.K http://www.askelm.com/tithing/index.asp

Passed on by Evangelist Johnny J Christen of the Straight and Narrow Gate Apostolic Ministry of the Philippines, Jibolo Janiuay Iloilo Philippines 5034,
Home Phone # 001-63-351-9045-Cell # 09082275169

May you truly be blessed by this incredible undisputable truth!!!

Knowledge is power and the truth shall set you free

Each and every church leader on the face of the earth that practices NT Tithing is in direct violation of breaking Gods law by both lying to and stealing from their congregations or assembly’s to finance their ministry and personal gain.

This 14 chapter masterpiece called-THE TITHING DILEMMA

Can be studied free on line at http://www.askelm.com/tithing/index.asp

if any church leader continues to practice tithing after earnestly studying this book he is knowing and purposely sinning against God Almighty by breaking Gods law and will be in grave danger of his judgment for deceiving the sheep! Take heed!!!

Matthew 18:6. But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Shalom-Evangelist Johnny J Christen

Comment by Evangelist Johnny J Christen on March 19, 2010 at 4:45am

Tithing is Unscriptural Under the New Covenant

[A Scriptural Exposition on the Fraudulent Fleecing of the Flock]

Since first posting this tithing paper on bible-truths.com, we have had hundreds of thousands of visitors seeking information on this topic. Many have written me personally thanking me for freeing them from this illegal and abusive practice of the Church. I have also received emails from some who are sure that tithing is a bonafide legal obligation for members of the New Testament Christian Church.

Objections to my paper range from simply quoting the prophet Malachi sent to the priests and nation of Israel: "Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse…." While others who can find absolutely no Scriptural authority for Christians to tithe, invent clever little doctrines like this:

"Tithing was a form of worship to God, and since we still worship God, we must still tithe."I will answer this one in one sentence: Since burnt offerings were a form of worshiping God, and since we still worship God, must we still offer burnt offerings to God? ... Ridiculous.

Part II of this paper covers the Malachi prophecy more thoroughly as it concerns the subject of tithing. http://www.bible-truths.com/tithing.html

Tithing and Clergy Salaries
by Frank Viola
Article copied exactly as printed from source:
http://www.ptmin.org/tithing.htm

http://prayershack.freeservers.com/article_Tithing-and-Clergy-Salar...

Tithing Today:
God's Plan or Designs of Man?

http://www.inplainsite.org/html/tithing.html

Tithing Resource Quotes
FORWARD / INTRODUCTION
By David Allen Yeubanks (2001)

http://prayershack.freeservers.com/tithing/intro.html

29. Secular History of Tithing

http://www.tithing-russkelly.com/id15.html

STUDY REFERENCES & QUOTES
(Subject: Tithing)

http://prayershack.freeservers.com/tithing/

{You just have to check this one out}

Bruce White: Jewish and Gentiles Tithed in the Church?

Bruce White Madison Church of Christ: Tithing is a common thing in the first century church.Both Jewish Christians and Gentile converts practiced tithing. Now, tithing simply refers to10 percent of your money, property, wealth, or crops, whatever.

http://www.piney.com/ChTitheChristian.html

Tithing as taught today is modified and NOT the same as Biblical tithing.

God gave the tithes to the Levites as an inheritance in return for their service and to compensate them for having no personal inheritance of land. The Levites gave tithes to the Priests from the tithes they received. Christianity has no agrarian system, no Levites and every Christian is now a priest, the temple and co-workers with Christ. [2 Peter 2:5 & 9, Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6] Every Jew was required by the Levitical law to pay three tithes of his property:

(1) one tithe for the Levites;
(2) one for the use of the temple and the great feasts; and
(3) one for the poor of the land. [Numbers 18, Deuteronomy 14]

Given the above, it is clear that any church mandating tithes should be spending AT LEAST ONE THIRD of their income on the poor since that is what was required under mandated law tithing. How many churches come close to this? I know of none. Yet it is not uncommon for some ministers to call their parishioners thieves if they don't tithe. It's all of the law or none of it. http://richardwaynegarganta.com/tithing.htm

NT Tithing is a stone cold Rip off

Christians often do not realize a major point of the Bible in regard to the laws of tithing, though it is easy to recognize what this significant point is. Even in simple teachings of the Scripture, it is shown that it is not lawful for any Christian to tithe to a church, to a preacher or to a priest today. Not only that, if any preacher, evangelist or priest asks for and receives the ordained tithe of the Bible, those church authorities are guilty of breaking God's law.

We owe {all} we have to God, not even the skin on our backs belongs to us so let’s give God our all {mind body heart and soul}

Praise Him!!! I love you all

Shalom-Evangelist Johnny J Christen

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page