http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=34861
Greear: Over the years I have gotten (and had myself) questions about whether or not the tithe (giving the first 10 percent of our income back to God as prescribed by the law) was biblical.
Kelly: Immediately you make the greatest error of your article. True biblical holy tithes were always only FOOD from inside God’s holy land of Israel which God had miraculously increased. While money is very common in Genesis, money is never a tithe-able item. Sixteen (16) texts validate this. Tithes could not come from what man increased, from Gentiles or from outside Israel. Jesus, Peter and Paul did not tithe and nobody can tithe today.
Greear: Tithing is a part of the law, and Jesus has definitely fulfilled it all in our place so that we are free from its bondage.
Kelly: If you stopped here you would be fine. But you then back-pedal and contradict yourself.
Greear: However, the purposes of the law were (generally speaking) 3-fold:
-- to show us what God was like.
-- to reveal how far short we fall of God's character.
-- to show us how to thrive in the creation God has placed us in.
Kelly: This is really a deceptive answer by what you omit. The Law was given as a covenant only to Israel. It was to show Old Covenant Israel that it could not achieve righteousness by obeying God’s commands. It was an object-lesson to teach ignorant slaves about God. The Law was never commanded to “us” non-Hebrews. The Law was temporary (Gal 3:19-26).
Greear: None of those 3 purposes faded with the death of Jesus.
Kelly: As you just wrote “Jesus fulfilled it all in our place so that we are free from its bondage.” It all “faded with the death of Jesus” per Hebrews 7:18; 8:13 and Romans 3:21.
Greear: If anything, Jesus' coming intensified them.
Kelly: You have changed your focus away from God’s Law and to your invented “3 purposes.” This is sneaky. God’s Law was an indivisible whole of Ten Commandments, ceremonial statutes and civil judgments. From the texts quoted in Matthew 5:19-48 all the whole law was fulfilled at Calvary. You word-shuffle is trying to both end all of the law and keep all of the law at the same time.
Greear: We saw more of what God was like, what holiness was like, and what a man acting in perfect harmony with creation was like.
Kelly: And what do we do with the hundreds of laws which were not specifically repealed in the New Covenant after Calvary? Are our women to leave the camp one week per month? Are we to travel to Jerusalem three times a year? Are we not to harvest crops every seventh year? You are playing with words and ignoring the mountain called the law.
Greear: As it relates to the tithe, the law reveals the unchanging character of God and how He expects us to view the money HE has provided for us.
Kelly: That part of the Law which is eternal and moral is also written in our hearts by conscience and revealed in nature. It is repeated to the Church in terms of the New Covenant after Calvary. We all know to give generously and sacrificially but tithing was a special revelation given only to Israel to support its sacrificial system. And you have provided no texts whatsoever to validate your statements.
Greear: A minimum of 10 percent that He has given to us, whether we are rich or poor, is to go back into His work.
Kelly: Pardon me, but you have no idea what you are talking about. Show me from God’s Word where tithing was a “minimum” for everybody. It was only a “minimum” for Hebrew food producers who lived inside Israel. The poor who were not food-producers were never required to tithe and actually ate much of the festival tithe and all of the third-year tithe. Why don’t you provide texts?
Greear: This is how He set up the world order. This is why the "tithe" principle (the first 10 percent of income going into God's work) is taught pre-law (Abraham)
Kelly: You may follow Abram’s pre circumcision tithe all you wish: (1) only spoils of war, (2) keep nothing, (3) give the remaining 90% to the modern equivalent to the king of Sodom (a gay community leader?). Who are you kidding?
Greear: law (Moses), post-exile (Malachi)
Kelly: This tithe of the Law was clearly only food from inside Israel as 16 texts in the law describe it. Be honest.
Greear: and even affirmed under Jesus (Matthew 23:23).
Kelly: Does your Bible not say that Jesus was discussing “matters of the law”? Was not Jesus living under the jurisdiction of the law per Gal 4:4-5? It was illegal for Jesus to command anybody to tithe to himself. Where did you learn these hermeneutics?
Greear: God's purposes for creation haven't changed.
Kelly: Creation? You are playing games with God’s Word. Shame on you. God did not command all “creation” to tithe. The church is commanded to give freely, generously, sacrificially, joyfully, not by command and motivated by love for God and others. If you cannot make that work, then you need to get out of the ministry.
Greear: We are no longer under the theocratic nation state of Israel
Kelly: “We” Gentiles never were “under the law.” You need to spend 13 years like Paul did in re-learning what the law was all about.
Greear: but how God has set up His economy for His people has not changed.
Kelly: A lot of fancy words, but no texts to validate them from God’s Word. The key is “his people.” His “people” under the Old Covenant was Israel. His “people” in this dispensation is the “assembly of believers.” God does not change his character but he certainly does change from ruling Israel under the Old Covenant and ruling the Church under the New Covenant per Hebrews 7:18 and 8:13.
Greear: God doesn't lay the financial weight of the entire world on any of our shoulders, but He has given His people a plan whereby they do their part.
Kelly: News flash: the wealthy have plenty of money for yachts and booze after tithing but the poor cannot even buy essential medicine, food and shelter after tithing. You are blatantly violating Paul’s instruction in First Timothy 5:8. News flash: tithing and firstfruits were never the same thing in God’s Word per Deu 26:1-4 and Neh 10:35-38.
Greear: The law was given to help people live in the shalom of God. That's what gives the law (principles like taking a Sabbath and the tithe) an enduring effect.
Kelly: Wrong. Do you think it is moral to own slaves? The Sabbath commandment approves it. And, if you receive tithes, you must agree not to own and inherit land per Numbers 18:21-28.
Greear: Thus, the idea that 10 percent of all that God gives to you is given for you to give back to Him remains, I believe, as a good guide to our giving.
Kelly: News flash: God owned everything in the OT also but only accepted tithes from inside His holy land of Israel. You do not and cannot give a biblical tithe today.
Greear: Now, let me be clear -- Jesus left us under NO PART of the law, not the tithe or anything else.
Kelly: Your two “no law” statements at the beginning and end of this article sandwich a whole lot of junk theology in between. Shame on you. You give something away (no law) and then grab it back again.
Greear: But the law, in that it reflects God's character and His ordering of creation, is still good, and still functions as a guide to how we are to live under God in this world.
Kelly: No, the Law is not our guide. No texts validate this. Jesus is the new standard of righteousness per John 16:8-9; 2 Cor 3:10-18; Romans 3:21 and Hebrews 1:1-2. You need to go back to school.
Like a Seventh-day Adventist, you have no idea how to consistently use the word “law.” It is not the Ten Commandments. It is usually everything from Exodus 16 to Deuteronomy. Paul used it in Romans 3 to include the Psalms and Prophets. How do you use it consistently?
Greear: Men and women of God throughout the Bible, including Abraham and Jesus, seemed to recognize that. If anything, the Gospel raises the level of our response to God's laws.
Kelly: Which laws? There are over 600 commands in the law. Am I to show myself to a priest after being healed? Am I to kill my children when they strike or curse me? Tithes could not be used to send out missionaries. Am I to follow that example? Those who received Levitical tithes were to kill anybody attempting to enter the sanctuary. Do you obey that law?
Greear: True obedience, Jesus says, goes much deeper than the behavior standards the law required. For example, the law said "don't murder," yet Jesus said the Gospel demanded we love our brother always and not hate him, not even our enemies. The law said "don't commit adultery," yet Jesus said that the Gospel demanded people not even "look on another woman with lust in our heart."
Kelly: You are deliberately dishonest here because you picked out the 2 reference to the Ten Commandments in Matthew 5:20-48 and conveniently ignored the 2 references to the ceremonial statutes and the 2 references to the civil judgments. That shows you are still confused about the law.
Greear: So, if the law says "give 10 percent," what kind of generosity does the Gospel call for? Would it not be greater generosity than 10 percent, just as the other commands were also intensified in Christ?
Kelly: You are creating a lie using two false assumptions. You falsely assume that the law commanded everybody to tithe and you falsely assume that everybody began their level of giving at 10%. Shame on you.
Greear: In other words, if the people who saw God's generosity in the Exodus responded with giving 10 percent …
Kelly: The cold hard Law commanded tithes whether or not one was in agreement or joyful. Again you are arguing from your own false presupposition.
Greear: … how much more should people who have seen the cross? This is why you see the early church giving far beyond 10 percent. So overwhelmed by the generosity of Christ, they wanted to pour out their possessions for those in need (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Kelly: Now you are teaching contrary to the Southern Baptist Press you are writing in. They teach “tithes PLUS freewill offerings” and quote 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 as instruction concerning freewill offerings –not tithes. You cannot have it both ways. What you said is true but it is not true that the early church was tithing. It was giving SACRIFICIALLY.
Greear: For Gospel-touched people, tithing should never be the ceiling of their giving, but it should be the floor.
Kelly: “It should be the floor”!!! This is an outright deliberate high-handed presumptuous willful LIE without a single Bible text for validation. And it is damming the Southern Baptist Convention to teach it.
Greear: Tithing, in and of itself, is not an iron-clad rule for Christians as it was for Israelites under the law.
Kelly: Then WHY did you just tell that tremendous lie? “For Gospel-touched people, tithing should never be the ceiling of their giving, but it should be the floor. For Gospel-touched people, tithing should never be the ceiling of their giving, but it should be the floor.”
Greear: That said, "giving our firstfruits to God" most definitely is a biblical principle, true of God's people in all places and at all times.
Kelly: News flash: tithes are “tenth-fruits” and not “first-fruits.” First-fruits were extremely small token offerings. Read some good Bible dictionaries.
Greear: And 10 percent is a great place to start with that.
Kelly: This un-validated Southern Baptist lie is repeated so much that its people think it is biblical. Some people are so poor that they cannot “start with a tithe” and still buy medicine, food and essential shelter. Thank God that you are not terribly disabled and on welfare yourself; you might change you mind otherwise.
Greear: Should I give the tithe "pre-tax" or "post-tax"?
Kelly: Neither. Nobody can tithe biblically.
Greear: In the Old Testament, God called the tithe a "firstfruit" (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:2). This meant their giving to God came first before anything else. That teaches pretty clearly that our giving to God comes before Uncle Sam takes his share. God gets the firstfruits, not the second ones.
Kelly: This “firstfruit” lie has already been exposed.
Greear: When during the month should I give? The principle of "firstfruits" also shows you, in my opinion, that the tithe check should be written first, and not at the end of the month when you see how much left over you have. If you do the latter, you will inevitably never have enough to give God 10 percent.
Kelly: This is greedy selfish theology which turns God into a monster and gives the church a bad name. Again no texts.
Greear: You're giving Him your scraps. But if you do the former, you will inevitably adjust your lifestyle around what you have left.
Kelly: You can always move into a cardboard box under the expressway after tithing when your house is re-possessed.
Greear: And, God also will find a way to multiply His blessings to you. I've seen that happen in my own life multiple times. It's pretty exciting.
Kelly: Those who tithe all their lives and remain in poverty are never asked to testify.
Greear: Should we give to the church, or other things?
In the Old Testament system, the tithe went to the work of God's institution, the temple. Caring for the poor beyond what the temple did, or funding an itinerant rabbi, etc, all came out beyond the tithe.
Kelly: Yes, there were three tithes of 23%. Why don’t you teach that?
Greear: I believe the implication is that tithing should go to God's new institution, the local church.
Kelly: Again no texts. Hebrews 7:18 says that the system which supported the Aaronic priesthood (7:5) was annulled in fulfillment of 7:12. Explain that please.
Greear: Hopefully you have a church that you feel good about how they spend their money (not all on buildings, entitlement perks for members and pastors, etc.) and you see them working in the streets and unreached parts of the world.
Kelly: Sounds good but not biblical. Tithes never paid for missions in the OT. There is no precedent to follow.
Greear. I'd say if you trust your pastor, however, you honor God by giving to the institution He ordained.
Kelly: Give as the Holy Spirit instructed the Church after Calvary.
Greear: Then, give like a Gospel-touched fool beyond that to all the things God has put in your heart.
Kelly: Give sacrificially as the Spirit convicts and even beyond your ability at times. That is not tithing.
Greear: When my wife Veronica and I first got married, we had to stretch ourselves unbelievably thin to tithe. As God has increased our income over the years, we have yearly increased the percentage of what we give. We now give way above the tithe to our church, and then beyond that to ministries blessing the poor, carrying the Gospel to the world, and some to our church's expansion project.
Kelly: The point is that you are not commanded to begin at 10%. That is not a New Covenant giving principle.
Greear: It really is more blessed to give than to receive.
Kelly: That reference is from Acts 20:35 where Paul told church elders to work to help the needy in their congregations – not the other way around.
Greear: God really has multiplied what we have given to him and given it back to us "in every way" -- financially, in joy, in perspective, etc. (2 Corinthians 8-9). We love it.
Kelly: Yes, but 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are freewill giving principles which propelled the first century church.
Greear: J.D. Greear is lead pastor at the Summit Church in Durham, N.C. This column first appeared on his blog, JDGreear.com.
Kelly: I invite you to enter an in-depth dialog with me on tithing and share the dialog with your congregation. If you are correct, I will be exposed as in error. If you are in error, you can change and teach truth.
THREE MAIN ERRORS:
Defined tithe wrong.
Defined firstfruits wrong.
Uses the word “law” inconsistently.
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Rebuttal of Pastor Dean Shriver
Pastor Dean Shriver, D. Min.
Can We Preach the Tithe?
Intermountain Baptist Church
March 10, 2011
http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/preaching-teaching/138394-can-we-preach-the-tithe.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Update
Church Leaders.com
Shriver: Tithing—I believe every Christian should do it. But can I preach that? Like you, I’m committed to preaching only what the Bible clearly teaches.
Kelly: You should stick to this approach.
Shriver: Unfortunately, I’ve always found the Bible’s teaching about a believer’s responsibility to tithe to be fuzzy around the edges. Off the top before taxes? Off the bottom after taxes? All to the church (ours in particular!)? Off of income or off of possessions? Of course the problem isn’t with Scripture. The problem is me.
Kelly: The problem is with your misunderstanding of Scripture.
Shriver: When it comes to giving, my own preferences, opinions, and training make it hard for me to approach relevant texts with a clear and teachable mind.
Kelly: And proper hermeneutics.
Shriver: On the one hand, I know that the tithe is “law” and that, in Christ, we’re no longer under the Law.
Kelly: You make the same mistake I made for decades. In fact, we Gentiles and the Church never were “under the law.” We were always excluded from the law. God commanded Old Covenant Israel NOT to share its covenant (law) with us.
Shriver: Still, it’s hard for me to fathom how anyone can honestly taste the sweetness of God’s grace only to turn around and “Scrooge” God by giving Him less than 10%.
Kelly: You are coming from a false definition of tithe and are falsely assuming that everybody in the OT was required to begin a level of giving at 10%.
Though money was common, the true holy biblical tithe of the Old Covenant Law was always only food from inside God’s holy land which He had miraculously increased. Tithes never could come from what man increased, from Gentiles or from outside of Israel. Not even Jesus, Peter or Paul qualified as tithe-payers. Tithing was only a minimum for food producers living inside Israel. Sixteen texts validate this biblical fact.
Shriver: The very idea makes me want to raise my voice, pound my pulpit and thump my Bible! Which is exactly why I’m not yet ready to preach that sermon on tithing. But I’m getting closer.
Kelly: Perhaps you will allow me to help you clarify the issues.
Shriver: On a recent jog, I began to think again about the issue of tithing. It occurred to me that there’s more than one way to tithe. In fact, three distinct forms of tithing are practiced in the Bible. Only one is legitimate for the believer.
Kelly: There were three distinctly different tithes for 3 different purposes for 3 different locations. See http://www.tithing-russkelly.com/id29.html
Shriver: The form of tithing most often addressed in Scripture is “tithing as covenant.” This practice of tithing was specific to Israel as the covenant people of God. It was part of the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:21-32; Deuteronomy 14:22-29). Under the Covenant, God promised to materially bless Israel for obedience [to the whole law] and, conversely, to judge them (strip them of their prosperity) for disobedience [to any of the law; Gal 3:10] (Deuteronomy 28 and Malachi 3:8-12). This model for tithing has no direct relevance to us as New Testament believers.
Kelly: Very true. Tithing was to support the Levites who were only servants to the priests. And the Levites tithed a tithe (1%) to the priests who gave freewill sacrificial offerings (Mal 1:13-14). Those Levites and priests who received the first tithe were not allowed to own holy land inside Israel. This is not obeyed.
Shriver: In Christ, we live under a new covenant. Our lives are not governed by the written code but by the indwelling Holy Spirit who writes His “law” on our hearts (Galatians 5:18; Hebrews 8:7-13).
Kelly: The New Covenant replaced both the old Temple and priesthood with the priesthood of all believers. Tithes are never commanded to the Church or Gentiles after Calvary. They are replaced with freewill, generous, sacrificial, joyful offerings motivated by love for God and lost souls. For many this means MORE than 10% but others are already giving sacrificially even though less than 10% per 2 Cor 8:12-14.
Shriver: The Bible also describes a second kind of tithing that is both condemnable and, I fear, far too common—“tithing as legalism.” In Jesus’ day, it was the religious leaders who practiced this perversion of Israel’s covenant tithe. Christ’s condemnation of legalistic tithing was absolute,
“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel” (Matthew 23:23-24)!
Kelly: True. The context was “matters of the law” and was addressed to “you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.”
Shriver: In His relationship with Israel, God intended the tithe to be an avenue to blessing. The religious manipulators of Jesus’ day turned the blessing into burden. Instead of expressing faithfulness to God—and oneness of heart with God for ministry and the poor—the tithe became little more than a means to satisfy “religious obligations.” Such satisfaction leads to pride (Luke 18:9-12) and, in the end, restricts giving. After all, once our “obligation” is satisfied, what more could God want? It’s no wonder Jesus so strongly denounces legalistic tithing.
Yet, how easily the sin of the Pharisees can become our sin too!
Kelly: Very good.
Shriver: Effective ministry requires money—money that comes from God’s people. Believers need to give—both for their own sake and the sake of the Kingdom. Since they need to give, we need to preach about giving. When we do, however, we must be careful not to turn blessing into burden.
Kelly: Very good.
Shriver: We must refuse to preach “tithing as legalism.” So what’s the alternative?
Kelly: The alternative is the truth as taught by the Holy Spirit to the Church after Calvary. And that does not include tithing.
Shriver: Tithing as worship!
Kelly: Text please.
Shriver: In Scripture, “tithing as worship” was practiced prior to both the establishment of “tithing as covenant” and the perversion of “tithing as legalism.” The principle of “tithing as worship” is “pre-Law.” It’s established in Genesis 14:17-24 where Abram gives a tenth of his plunder to Melchizedek, King of Salem.
Kelly: Texts please. Genesis 14:17-24 does NOT tell us that (uncircumcised) Abram tithed “as worship.” In fact it does not tell us WHY Abram tithed. Since he was born and raised in Babylon where tithing existed, it is possible that he tithed for a different reason. Many commentaries suggest that an Arab tradition or law of the land controlled the 90% of 14:21. You simply cannot add to God’s Word and conclude that Abram either gave freely or in obedience to God.
Shriver: Melchizedek, in turn, blesses Abram.
Kelly: Any king-priest of Abram’s day would have done the same thing after receiving tithes from spoils of war.
Shriver: Hebrews 7:1-10 defines the significance of these acts declaring that it is the superior who blesses the inferior and the inferior who pays tithes to the superior.
Kelly: The purpose of Hebrews is not to teach the Church to tithe. It uses tithing as a vehicle to prove that Jesus has replaced the Aaronic priesthood. The tithing “commandment in the law” from 7:5 was “of necessity changed” in 7:12 and that “change” was its “annulment of the commandment going before” in 7:18. While 7:18 refers to all statutes relating to the Aaronic priesthood, it must also include the statute of tithing found in Numbers 18.
Shriver: “Tithing as worship,” then, is first an act by which we acknowledge that God is both our superior (the Sovereign Lord) and the source of all blessing.
Kelly: You are twisting God’s Word to make it say what you want it to say. The “we” of Genesis 14 was not the church.
Shriver: But “tithing as worship” does more than acknowledge God. It expresses our personal allegiance to Him. We see this in Genesis 28:10-22. Here, God reveals himself to Jacob in a dream. In response, the patriarch vows, “the Lord shall be my God…and of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” For Jacob, the “tithe as worship” became a natural expression of his decision to follow the God of His Fathers.
Kelly: Shame on you. You again twist and pervert God’s Word by conveniently omitting the key “if” of verse 20. The schemer Jacob was telling God what to do! This tactic is unchristian. Far from “worship,” Jacob was black-mailing God and you are joining in his deception by twisting this Scripture!
Shriver: In the same way, the “tithe as worship” becomes an almost instinctive way for us to express our allegiance to the God of our Salvation.
Kelly: Texts please.
Shriver: A third, and critical, element of “tithing as worship” is thanksgiving. “Tithing as worship” expresses overflowing gratitude towards God.
Kelly: Texts please. The first Levitical tithe was cold hard Law and was commanded whether one was grateful or not. A second festival tithe was for rejoicing but you do you teach that tithe and you do not eat it in the streets of Jerusalem.
Shriver: It breaks free from guilt as the motivation for giving.
Kelly: Texts please.
Shriver: Its ultimate focus is the condition of one’s heart—not the percentage of one’s income.
Kelly: Texts please.
Shriver: On the topic of percentages, I find the words of John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill to be practical. They write, “How are we to show our gratitude to God other than by giving back a portion?
Kelly: O.K. so far.
Shriver: If 10 percent was considered an acceptable portion by God as an expression of gratitude then, why should we view it any differently today?
Kelly: Texts please. The first Levitical tithe was cold hard law – not gratitude – like taxes today. The government does not care for gratitude.
Shriver: We might consider 10 percent as a benchmark just as we consider 15 percent a benchmark for tipping. The extent of the customer’s gratitude and appreciation is demonstrated in the size of the tip.
Kelly: You cannot compare a cold hard law with a freewill choice.
Shriver: It would be considered the ultimate rudeness or the consummate insult to leave no tip at all.
Kelly: The merchants and tradesmen such as carpenters, fishermen and tentmakers gave no tithe at all; they gave freewill offerings. Why not follow this example?
Shriver: So it is to God if we return no portion to him. In addition, there are occasions when the situation calls for a contribution exceeding the benchmark” (Old Testament Today; Zondervan: 2004, 270-271).
Kelly: You are mixing Law and Grace and reintroducing the thought of Malachi after rejecting it earlier.
Shriver: Again it must be said—ultimately, “tithing as worship” isn’t about percentage of income.
Kelly: It has no biblical support.
Shriver: It’s about the overflow of one’s heart. 2 Corinthians 8:5 is clear. When we first give ourselves to the Lord, any act of giving pleases him—whether above or below the “benchmark.” “For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12).
Kelly: You are playing games with God’s Word again. Second Corinthians is NOT discussing tithing. It is discussing freewill generous sacrificial giving – the kind of giving which propelled the early church. Paul and Jewish Christians knew very well that tithes could not come from Gentiles or from pagan lands and did not teach tithing.
Shriver: How then, can we preach the tithe? First, we recognize that “tithing as covenant” has no direct relevance to New Testament believers. Second, we acknowledge that “tithing as legalism” is just plain sin—both for those who practice it and those who preach it.
Kelly: Correct. Stick to the simple truth. Merely saying “tithes PLUS offerings” reaches into the realm you just rejected.
Shriver: Only the principle of “tithing as worship” remains. That’s the tithing we can preach!
Kelly: No, it does not remain; it never existed except in the Old Covenant festival tithe which was EATEN. You have no texts to preach this.
Shriver: “Tithing as worship” is our opportunity to acknowledge that God is God. He is ruler over our lives. He is the source of every blessing we enjoy.
Kelly: You can do that without teaching error.
Shriver: More than that, “tithing as worship” expresses our allegiance to God in a very personal and concrete way. And finally, “tithing as worship” manifests a heart overflowing with thanksgiving towards God.
Kelly: Sounds good, but it is still unbiblical. The SDAs make the same kind of argument to prove Saturday Sabbath observance to worship and honor God.
Shriver: With this in mind, perhaps we should be less concerned with whether people tithe and more concerned with why they tithe.
Kelly: This totally ignores the true biblical definition and purpose of the tithe.
Shriver: Ultimately, tithing isn’t about percentage of income or money in the plate. It’s about worship!
Tithing as worship—I think that will preach!
Kelly: Preach it as your theory. Be sure to tell your congregation there are no texts to validate it. I would appreciate an extended in-depth dialog.
There are now at least 7 SBC theologians who are writing against tithing and for grace giving. In May 2011 the SBC will publish Perspectives on Tithing, Four Views. The false doctrine is being exposed.
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
Can We Preach the Tithe?
Intermountain Baptist Church
March 10, 2011
http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/preaching-teaching/138394-can-we-preach-the-tithe.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Update
Church Leaders.com
Shriver: Tithing—I believe every Christian should do it. But can I preach that? Like you, I’m committed to preaching only what the Bible clearly teaches.
Kelly: You should stick to this approach.
Shriver: Unfortunately, I’ve always found the Bible’s teaching about a believer’s responsibility to tithe to be fuzzy around the edges. Off the top before taxes? Off the bottom after taxes? All to the church (ours in particular!)? Off of income or off of possessions? Of course the problem isn’t with Scripture. The problem is me.
Kelly: The problem is with your misunderstanding of Scripture.
Shriver: When it comes to giving, my own preferences, opinions, and training make it hard for me to approach relevant texts with a clear and teachable mind.
Kelly: And proper hermeneutics.
Shriver: On the one hand, I know that the tithe is “law” and that, in Christ, we’re no longer under the Law.
Kelly: You make the same mistake I made for decades. In fact, we Gentiles and the Church never were “under the law.” We were always excluded from the law. God commanded Old Covenant Israel NOT to share its covenant (law) with us.
Shriver: Still, it’s hard for me to fathom how anyone can honestly taste the sweetness of God’s grace only to turn around and “Scrooge” God by giving Him less than 10%.
Kelly: You are coming from a false definition of tithe and are falsely assuming that everybody in the OT was required to begin a level of giving at 10%.
Though money was common, the true holy biblical tithe of the Old Covenant Law was always only food from inside God’s holy land which He had miraculously increased. Tithes never could come from what man increased, from Gentiles or from outside of Israel. Not even Jesus, Peter or Paul qualified as tithe-payers. Tithing was only a minimum for food producers living inside Israel. Sixteen texts validate this biblical fact.
Shriver: The very idea makes me want to raise my voice, pound my pulpit and thump my Bible! Which is exactly why I’m not yet ready to preach that sermon on tithing. But I’m getting closer.
Kelly: Perhaps you will allow me to help you clarify the issues.
Shriver: On a recent jog, I began to think again about the issue of tithing. It occurred to me that there’s more than one way to tithe. In fact, three distinct forms of tithing are practiced in the Bible. Only one is legitimate for the believer.
Kelly: There were three distinctly different tithes for 3 different purposes for 3 different locations. See http://www.tithing-russkelly.com/id29.html
Shriver: The form of tithing most often addressed in Scripture is “tithing as covenant.” This practice of tithing was specific to Israel as the covenant people of God. It was part of the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:21-32; Deuteronomy 14:22-29). Under the Covenant, God promised to materially bless Israel for obedience [to the whole law] and, conversely, to judge them (strip them of their prosperity) for disobedience [to any of the law; Gal 3:10] (Deuteronomy 28 and Malachi 3:8-12). This model for tithing has no direct relevance to us as New Testament believers.
Kelly: Very true. Tithing was to support the Levites who were only servants to the priests. And the Levites tithed a tithe (1%) to the priests who gave freewill sacrificial offerings (Mal 1:13-14). Those Levites and priests who received the first tithe were not allowed to own holy land inside Israel. This is not obeyed.
Shriver: In Christ, we live under a new covenant. Our lives are not governed by the written code but by the indwelling Holy Spirit who writes His “law” on our hearts (Galatians 5:18; Hebrews 8:7-13).
Kelly: The New Covenant replaced both the old Temple and priesthood with the priesthood of all believers. Tithes are never commanded to the Church or Gentiles after Calvary. They are replaced with freewill, generous, sacrificial, joyful offerings motivated by love for God and lost souls. For many this means MORE than 10% but others are already giving sacrificially even though less than 10% per 2 Cor 8:12-14.
Shriver: The Bible also describes a second kind of tithing that is both condemnable and, I fear, far too common—“tithing as legalism.” In Jesus’ day, it was the religious leaders who practiced this perversion of Israel’s covenant tithe. Christ’s condemnation of legalistic tithing was absolute,
“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel” (Matthew 23:23-24)!
Kelly: True. The context was “matters of the law” and was addressed to “you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.”
Shriver: In His relationship with Israel, God intended the tithe to be an avenue to blessing. The religious manipulators of Jesus’ day turned the blessing into burden. Instead of expressing faithfulness to God—and oneness of heart with God for ministry and the poor—the tithe became little more than a means to satisfy “religious obligations.” Such satisfaction leads to pride (Luke 18:9-12) and, in the end, restricts giving. After all, once our “obligation” is satisfied, what more could God want? It’s no wonder Jesus so strongly denounces legalistic tithing.
Yet, how easily the sin of the Pharisees can become our sin too!
Kelly: Very good.
Shriver: Effective ministry requires money—money that comes from God’s people. Believers need to give—both for their own sake and the sake of the Kingdom. Since they need to give, we need to preach about giving. When we do, however, we must be careful not to turn blessing into burden.
Kelly: Very good.
Shriver: We must refuse to preach “tithing as legalism.” So what’s the alternative?
Kelly: The alternative is the truth as taught by the Holy Spirit to the Church after Calvary. And that does not include tithing.
Shriver: Tithing as worship!
Kelly: Text please.
Shriver: In Scripture, “tithing as worship” was practiced prior to both the establishment of “tithing as covenant” and the perversion of “tithing as legalism.” The principle of “tithing as worship” is “pre-Law.” It’s established in Genesis 14:17-24 where Abram gives a tenth of his plunder to Melchizedek, King of Salem.
Kelly: Texts please. Genesis 14:17-24 does NOT tell us that (uncircumcised) Abram tithed “as worship.” In fact it does not tell us WHY Abram tithed. Since he was born and raised in Babylon where tithing existed, it is possible that he tithed for a different reason. Many commentaries suggest that an Arab tradition or law of the land controlled the 90% of 14:21. You simply cannot add to God’s Word and conclude that Abram either gave freely or in obedience to God.
Shriver: Melchizedek, in turn, blesses Abram.
Kelly: Any king-priest of Abram’s day would have done the same thing after receiving tithes from spoils of war.
Shriver: Hebrews 7:1-10 defines the significance of these acts declaring that it is the superior who blesses the inferior and the inferior who pays tithes to the superior.
Kelly: The purpose of Hebrews is not to teach the Church to tithe. It uses tithing as a vehicle to prove that Jesus has replaced the Aaronic priesthood. The tithing “commandment in the law” from 7:5 was “of necessity changed” in 7:12 and that “change” was its “annulment of the commandment going before” in 7:18. While 7:18 refers to all statutes relating to the Aaronic priesthood, it must also include the statute of tithing found in Numbers 18.
Shriver: “Tithing as worship,” then, is first an act by which we acknowledge that God is both our superior (the Sovereign Lord) and the source of all blessing.
Kelly: You are twisting God’s Word to make it say what you want it to say. The “we” of Genesis 14 was not the church.
Shriver: But “tithing as worship” does more than acknowledge God. It expresses our personal allegiance to Him. We see this in Genesis 28:10-22. Here, God reveals himself to Jacob in a dream. In response, the patriarch vows, “the Lord shall be my God…and of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” For Jacob, the “tithe as worship” became a natural expression of his decision to follow the God of His Fathers.
Kelly: Shame on you. You again twist and pervert God’s Word by conveniently omitting the key “if” of verse 20. The schemer Jacob was telling God what to do! This tactic is unchristian. Far from “worship,” Jacob was black-mailing God and you are joining in his deception by twisting this Scripture!
Shriver: In the same way, the “tithe as worship” becomes an almost instinctive way for us to express our allegiance to the God of our Salvation.
Kelly: Texts please.
Shriver: A third, and critical, element of “tithing as worship” is thanksgiving. “Tithing as worship” expresses overflowing gratitude towards God.
Kelly: Texts please. The first Levitical tithe was cold hard Law and was commanded whether one was grateful or not. A second festival tithe was for rejoicing but you do you teach that tithe and you do not eat it in the streets of Jerusalem.
Shriver: It breaks free from guilt as the motivation for giving.
Kelly: Texts please.
Shriver: Its ultimate focus is the condition of one’s heart—not the percentage of one’s income.
Kelly: Texts please.
Shriver: On the topic of percentages, I find the words of John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill to be practical. They write, “How are we to show our gratitude to God other than by giving back a portion?
Kelly: O.K. so far.
Shriver: If 10 percent was considered an acceptable portion by God as an expression of gratitude then, why should we view it any differently today?
Kelly: Texts please. The first Levitical tithe was cold hard law – not gratitude – like taxes today. The government does not care for gratitude.
Shriver: We might consider 10 percent as a benchmark just as we consider 15 percent a benchmark for tipping. The extent of the customer’s gratitude and appreciation is demonstrated in the size of the tip.
Kelly: You cannot compare a cold hard law with a freewill choice.
Shriver: It would be considered the ultimate rudeness or the consummate insult to leave no tip at all.
Kelly: The merchants and tradesmen such as carpenters, fishermen and tentmakers gave no tithe at all; they gave freewill offerings. Why not follow this example?
Shriver: So it is to God if we return no portion to him. In addition, there are occasions when the situation calls for a contribution exceeding the benchmark” (Old Testament Today; Zondervan: 2004, 270-271).
Kelly: You are mixing Law and Grace and reintroducing the thought of Malachi after rejecting it earlier.
Shriver: Again it must be said—ultimately, “tithing as worship” isn’t about percentage of income.
Kelly: It has no biblical support.
Shriver: It’s about the overflow of one’s heart. 2 Corinthians 8:5 is clear. When we first give ourselves to the Lord, any act of giving pleases him—whether above or below the “benchmark.” “For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12).
Kelly: You are playing games with God’s Word again. Second Corinthians is NOT discussing tithing. It is discussing freewill generous sacrificial giving – the kind of giving which propelled the early church. Paul and Jewish Christians knew very well that tithes could not come from Gentiles or from pagan lands and did not teach tithing.
Shriver: How then, can we preach the tithe? First, we recognize that “tithing as covenant” has no direct relevance to New Testament believers. Second, we acknowledge that “tithing as legalism” is just plain sin—both for those who practice it and those who preach it.
Kelly: Correct. Stick to the simple truth. Merely saying “tithes PLUS offerings” reaches into the realm you just rejected.
Shriver: Only the principle of “tithing as worship” remains. That’s the tithing we can preach!
Kelly: No, it does not remain; it never existed except in the Old Covenant festival tithe which was EATEN. You have no texts to preach this.
Shriver: “Tithing as worship” is our opportunity to acknowledge that God is God. He is ruler over our lives. He is the source of every blessing we enjoy.
Kelly: You can do that without teaching error.
Shriver: More than that, “tithing as worship” expresses our allegiance to God in a very personal and concrete way. And finally, “tithing as worship” manifests a heart overflowing with thanksgiving towards God.
Kelly: Sounds good, but it is still unbiblical. The SDAs make the same kind of argument to prove Saturday Sabbath observance to worship and honor God.
Shriver: With this in mind, perhaps we should be less concerned with whether people tithe and more concerned with why they tithe.
Kelly: This totally ignores the true biblical definition and purpose of the tithe.
Shriver: Ultimately, tithing isn’t about percentage of income or money in the plate. It’s about worship!
Tithing as worship—I think that will preach!
Kelly: Preach it as your theory. Be sure to tell your congregation there are no texts to validate it. I would appreciate an extended in-depth dialog.
There are now at least 7 SBC theologians who are writing against tithing and for grace giving. In May 2011 the SBC will publish Perspectives on Tithing, Four Views. The false doctrine is being exposed.
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
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