Jesus Never Received Tithe

The life of Jesus should be an example to us on giving. If He collected tithes, perhaps, a minister could make a reasonable argument for collecting tithes, but He did not. "Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (2 Cor. 8:9) "Freely have ye received, freely give." (Matt. 10:8) There are some who reason that since Jesus is the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and since Abraham offered him tithes, ministers should receive tithes because they, being a part of Christ, are part of that priesthood. Therefore, they should receive those tithes. While on the surface that may have a ring of reasonableness to it, there are enough holes in this line of reasoning to sink a ship.

As mentioned before, Abraham tithed only the spoils of war, and he did not keep the rest. He gave it all away, much of it to the king Sodom. Furthermore, Christian “ministers” today cannot be called a Melchizedek priest. This priesthood is "unchangeable." (Hebrews 7:24) The literal rendering of this passage in the Greek means "a priesthood which passeth not from one to another." There can be no successor to Melchizedek. Jesus Christ is the only One Who can fill that position. “Ministers” here on earth, even good ones, die, proving their priesthood here on earth has an end. To make the matter even more difficult for those who refuse to let go of their lust for money to finance their kingdoms, Peter tells us that the called-out ones, the ekklesia, the church, is a "chosen generation, a royal priesthood ..." (1 Peter 2:9) That's all of us! You are a priest. Are we all supposed to tithe to each other? I am sure that is not what tithing ministers want. They want your tithes given to them, but according to their own reasoning, you have just as much right to demand that they tithe to you, since you are a part of the same priesthood.

It was mentioned at the beginning of this article that those teaching tithing as a New Covenant Law, or principle, are actually the very ones who are robbing God. How so you ask? Well, as many passages of Scriptures make abundantly clear, under the New Covenant, there is a new temple, new priesthood, and a new law. The Old Covenant had Levites and priests, the New Covenant has apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. The New Covenant has "gifts of men." (Eph. 4:8) It also gave, through the Holy Spirit, gifts to men. We find some of them listed in 1 Corinthians 12. This is the main list Pentecostals and Charismatics use to prove supernatural gifts are for today. Unfortunately, too few are aware of another list of gifts equally needful and equally New Testament. We find that list in Romans 12:4-8. Non-Charismatics and Pentecostals are probably more familiar with this list. One of the gifts listed is the gift of giving. "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophesy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

If the Holy Spirit divides the gifts as He wills, then different members of the body do different things, and are equipped differently to do their job. The tithe demands, according to tithe proponents, 10 percent off the top from everyone, but there are those who are specifically given the "gift of giving." What if God blesses a man in a business venture that makes that man a billionaire. What if God has given him the gift of giving and he is to give away 99 per cent of what he earns? However, when he is taught that if you are a tither, you are doing great, he will not actually give the full amount of what God called him to give! The man then ends up boasting in giving his ten percent, is nominated to be treasurer of the church, and yet is not bearing the fullness of the gift he has been given to bless the body of Christ and the world.

Remember the parables about the talents distributed unevenly among people? I believe there have been men and women in the body of Christ who should have given billions of dollars away who, because of this false teaching on tithing, have fallen short in fulfilling their giving. Therefore, those who teach the tithe have lead many to live by the Mosaic Law instead of being lead by the Holy Spirit. Many, not all, Christians who do tithe are also self-righteous. Why? Because mixing law and grace produces self-righteousness, the spirit of the Pharisee. "I thank God I am not like them. I fast twice a week and tithe even the smallest of seeds. Surely God must be pleased with me." What should our attitude be like? "And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.' So the Lord said, 'If you have the faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat.'? But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterwards you will eat and drink.'? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'" (Luke 17:5-10)

When we truly understand "grace," when we really understand that everything we have, our material goods, our spiritual gifts, our very lives are but a gift from God, then we cease our boasting. Show me a Christian, minister or layman, who mixes the Mosaic Law with Grace, and I will then show you a Christian Pharisee. Tithing, because it is not for the dispensation of grace, (and the tithing modern Pharisees preach is not even Biblical) can only produce self-righteousness. Grace-based Christians give because that is their nature, the nature of our Father Who rains on the just and the unjust. He is the sustainer of all, and we are conforming to His image. Those who teach the modern-day tithe rob God's people of the rest He promised them. Christians striving to keep the Mosaic Law, while at the same time trying to live the life of Grace, are the most miserable of creatures. The torments to the soul are endless.

"Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter the rest, as He said: 'So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." You see, Christians lead by the Holy Spirit cease from their works and enter into the works of the Lord prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Any work our Father gives us to do, He also gives us the means to do it. They are His works, and we are blessed to partake in them. There is no striving even though the works may be difficult. The works, (which come from this law and grace mixture, of which this modern tithing teaching is certainly a part) — these works are laborious indeed - except perhaps for the one who is collecting the proceeds from them and using them for their own kingdom building program - a kingdom made in the image of man that is destined to fall. Babylon is not being built by ancient Babylonians any more. The building of the tower of Babel has been taken over by Christendom. Most born-again Evangelicals, Pentecostals, or Charismatics, feel they are being "led by the Holy Ghost." There are more traditions of men and doctrines of demons in this camp than can possibly counted! Religious spirits and the Holy Spirit are not the same thing!

The American church system, through its thousands of schemes to gather money, has amassed over a trillion dollars worth of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, insurance programs, real estate, etc. The interest they pay on the mortgages of their buildings could literally feed all the poor in the world! The deceptive means tens of thousands of “ministers” use to raise money, of which the modern tithe is one of them, has drained our country of resources that could tremendously bless the world, but the church is sitting on the money. Now they are beginning to be fleeced themselves.

Hundreds of leading Christian organizations lost millions of dollars investing in a fund named "New Era." It was a scam called a "Ponze scheme." An evangelical, named Bennett, dropping the right names such as Billy Graham and Rocherfeller, convinced most of the leading Protestant ministries to invest as much as over 500 million dollars into a fund that promised them a doubling of their money over a 6 month period of time. Anyone with a little sense should smell something amiss here, especially since conservative Christians should be looking at conservative investments that usually give a low return on investment. However, top Christian ministries invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a fund started by another Christian, whose sole purpose in setting up the fund was to defraud them of their, or should I say "your" money. The federal authorities finally shut it down, but not before millions of dollars were lost. (See Dew from Mount Hermon, issue number 7 for more details.) An encyclopedia could be written on the abuses and misuses of finances by “churches.”

A person who teaches tithing can rob God's people from hearing from God Himself about what and whom to give each and every day. Someone who pays their taxes, and gives ten percent of their income to their “pastor,” plus offerings for missions, building fund, bake and rummage sales, etc., because the law or tradition of their organization pressures them to do so, is likely to develop an attitude that their giving is finished at the offering plate. They are so drained of finances that when Jesus arrives at their door for a piece of bread, their response might be, "Oh, I gave already at the church!" Laws such as the modern tithing law, instituted by either ignorant or deceiving “ministers,” can keep God's children from hearing what they should be doing on a day to day basis! Yes, Mr. or Mrs. or “Reverend” Modern Day Tithing Teacher, you are robbing God's people, God, and the world from the blessings He wants to pour out on them and through us!

"Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them." (Ezekiel 34:2-4)

"My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; they have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them." (Jeremiah 50:6-7)

Does not being under the Mosaic Law and its ordinances free us from the obligation of giving? Yes, and no. If you are giving out of fear placed in you by hard task masters (often in the form of “ministers”), or giving in order to get more back, or a host of other reasons for giving stemming from fear and selfishness, then you are free to stop giving. He can keep this universe going without your help, financial or otherwise. God does not want your money! It is all His anyway. We just keep forgetting that. Perhaps the grave is a good reminder of that fact. See how much of what you think is yours that will still belong to you on the other side of the grave. Some of us will be amazed at our emptiness, how little we actually have gathered in this lifetime. It is not too late to begin gathering things that will be yours to keep on the other side. Begin to ask the Holy Spirit about these kinds of possessions.

He wants our hearts, and when He has our hearts, He will fill them with Himself, and we will give because that is His nature. He is a giver. Apart from His giving, the universe would cease to exist. It is by the giving of Himself that all things are sustained. He wants to give Himself through us. Why? Because He wants to bless us! He wants us to experience what it is to be like Him. He pours Himself out to the object of His love. As we give Him to the world through our obedience to the Law of the New Covenant, the law of Love (John 15:12,13), we give from His will, His gifts, His nature, His fruit, and we partake of it as we give it. He wants you to pass it on... and He wants to give it back. How?

"'I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'"

"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"

When we become the instrument in His hands to bless His creation, we ourselves are blessed. It truly is better to give than to receive. He made it that way. The only way one can be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ is to give. A selfish person is a person who is not growing into Christ.

We pray this publication will be helpful to the body of Christ in discerning the proper way to give and help to discern what kind of Christian activities to support. Much of what goes on in the name of Christ is nothing more than wood, hay, and stubble. May you be found faithful with the talents He has given you. May this publication be found helpful in administering that which He has given unto you.

We realize that those “ministers” who repent and change their methods of fund-raising, will experience some profound changes. An organization viewed as a cult by most Evangelicals has recently changed its teachings regarding tithing. It used to teach the modern-day tithe and in some years, a second and third tithe. It has dropped this teaching. This organization's income dropped thirty percent in the first year of the change. Programs such as their orchestra program had to be dropped. There is the rub. The cost of changing to Scriptural means of support will cost too much. Many “ministers” are not willing to let die the many projects they have begun. They would rather see the world starve to death than to dismantle their Christmas Cantata program, or their new steeple fund. While we may think it is only those who have been teaching this un-Biblical tithe to repent, it is just as important for those who have been tithing to clearly see that much of the fruit of their tithing has not produced good fruit, for much of it has alienated the world from Christianity. In other words, we must all repent - those who teach it and those who give it.

In summary then, because the tithe as taught by modern churches is not the New Testament way of giving, it will not produce the fruit of the New Covenant, neither for the people who tithe nor the "programs" for which the money is used. Should we give? Graciously and abundantly! Should we support those who minister the Gospel? Even to the point of giving "double honor" that includes financial support. They who preach the Gospel have a right to live from the Gospel (1Cor.9:3-13), even though it is often abused. But all Christians must never forget, that those in leadership and those not in leadership are priests, a royal priesthood. You, my dear Christian brother or sister, are to be a blessing to the world because you are ladened with gifts from above which He has called you to manifest in the earth. It is time to stop supporting wolves in sheep's clothing and be about your Father's business. This will restore the joy of your salvation.

Please feel free to send feedback concerning this article. Also, please include the title of this article in your feedback. Thank you for visiting Central Truth Ministries.