A Rebuttal of TITHE AND OFFERING SCRIPTURES.COM
10 Reasons to Tithe!
by Russell Earl Kelly, PHD, July 20, 2015
TOS: 1. To Honor the Creator.
“Render… unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
“Everything we have belongs to God, and we are stewards of His goods.’”
God owns the entire world and its substance. “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1).”he tithe… is the LORD’S”! (Leviticus 27:30).
Kelly: a) No Bible texts tell the Church or Gentiles to honor the Creator by tithing. b) The HOLY tithe of Leviticus 27 and 15 other texts is always only food from inside God’s HOLY land of Israel. c) While it is true that God owns everything, He only accepted as legitimate tithes FOOD from His holy land; the description never changed from Lev 27:33-34 to Mal 3:10 to Mt 23:23. d) God only commanded OT Israel to tithe to support its Levites and priests; in the NT all believers are priests.
TOS: 2. To Acknowledge My Heritage.
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
Kelly: Not everything Abram did was by faith. The Bible does not tell us why he gave pagan spoils of war; he could have been obeying the law of the land.
TOS: Jacob paid tithes (Genesis 28:22).
Kelly: Jacob the plotted and set the conditions for God to bless him. Not a good example. He was not yet Israel.
TOS: Scripture says that Levi, Abraham’s descendant and the father of the tribe from which the priesthood came, paid tithes in Abraham (Hebrews 7:9).
Kelly: Tithes in Hebrews are used to illustrate that Christ’s Melchizedek priesthood was superior. The tithing law of Hebrews 7:5 was changed (7:12) by being “annulled” (7:18). It was not transferred to gospel workers.
TOS: My heritage of paying a tithe precedes the law of Moses.
Kelly: Tithes existed in most pagan cultures before Abraham. Being old and pre-Law does not mean being an eternal moral principle; the same is true of idolatry and child sacrifices. Abram’s pre-law pagan spoils-tithe is not used by Moses, Malachi, Jesus or Paul to teach tithing to the church. O. T. tithes were never used to evangelize. And non-food producers did not tithe.
TOS: 3. To Fulfill the Covenant.
Kelly: Second Corinthians 3:11 does not teach that! Paul did not teach any Gentiles to tithe. Give me one verse in the NT after Calvary where God commanded the Church to tithe.
TOS: The new covenant stands supreme … If the law demanded tithes, then how much more should we who are under the “perfect law of liberty” give our tithes willingly.
Kelly: There is no precedent for comparison. The law only demanded tithes from Hebrew food-producers who lived inside HOLY Israel before Calvary.
TOS: If the law is written in the fleshly tables of our hearts and we follow God’s commands not from outward rules but because of our new nature
Kelly: See Romans 2:14-16. That part of the Law which is eternal for all mankind is written in the heart by nature and conscience and enlivened by the Holy Spirit. Resting and worship are; 7th day Saturday Sabbath is not. Sacrificial giving is: 10% is not.
TOS: “not was under the law.” If that is a sufficient reason for not paying tithes …
Kelly: You misunderstand the nature of the law of the spirit of Christ (Romans 8:2). The “thou shalt nots” have been replaced in new creations by “you will obey.” You misunderstand and misuse the word “law.” Tithing was never part of the eternal moral nature of God.
TOS: We give willingly and liberally because the Spirit motivates us to give what God has said is His.
Kelly: Correct. Why cannot you leave it at that?
TOS: 4. To Show My Love.
“Neither will I offer…unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing” (II Samuel 24:24).
Kelly: For some 40% is not sacrificial; for others 2% is sacrificial.
TOS: Someone should print a sticker that says, “If you love Jesus, pay your tithes!”
Kelly: Jesus, Peter and Paul did not pay their tithes. Carpenters, fishermen and tentmakers did not qualify as food-producers inside Israel.
TOS: … the tithe is only the beginning of his giving.
Kelly: Wrong. Since non-food producers inside Israel and everybody outside God’s HOLY land were dis qualified, there is no precedent. Your statement is based on a false assumption.
TOS: 5. To Fulfill an Obligation.
“Ye pay tithe…: these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).
Kelly: You are dishonest when you omit the context of “matters of the law.” Of course Jesus did not criticize tithe-teaching; this was before Calvary when the law was still in full effect. Jesus would have been sinning had He not taught tithing to the Levitical system!
TOS: … it was something they “ought” to have done.
Kelly: “You” refers to “scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites” — “teachers of the Law.
TOS: To pay tithes is something every Christian ought to do.
Kelly: This is wrong. It is not taught to the Church under the New Covenant after Calvary. Tithes primarily supported Levite servants to the priests (Num 18:21-24; Neh 10:37b); those jobs are now down by deacons, greeters, singers, musicians, etc. and every believer is a priests.
TOS: It is desirable for the Christian to pay his tithes, he is expected to pay his tithes, and he has a duty to pay his tithes.
Kelly: Notice no verifying texts are given.
TOS: 6. To Escape Condemnation.
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me… in tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8).
Kelly: (1) Malachi is addressed to Old Covenant Israel and Judah (1:1). (2) It is specifically addressed to dishonest priests (note the “you” of 1:6; 2:1 and Neh 13:5-10). It is in the context of the Law (Mal 4:4; Neh 10:29). (3) Tithes are still only food from inside God’s HOLY land (3:10).
TOS: How sad it is that people who are honest in business and who pay their debts to the bank, the store, and the government will not pay God what belongs to Him!
Kelly: How sad it is when people to teach tithing of income increase (1) ignore the description of food, (2) ignore the context of Old Covenant, (3) ignore the prohibition against owning property and wealth (Num 18:20) and (4)teach New Covenant stewardship from the Old Covenant.
TOS: God does not give us the authority to use His tithes for other purposes
Kelly: The clearly-stated Old Covenant purpose was to support the Old Covenant Levites and priests who forfeited property and wealth (Num 18:20-28). O. T. tithes were never used to support missionaries to the Gentiles. There is no precedent.
TOS: 7. To Spread the Gospel.
“So hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (I Corinthians 9:14).
Kelly: This TOS writer ignores the context of the chapter. 9:14 does not teach tithing. First Corinthians 9 is a list of vocations with each having its own principle of support.
9:7 soldiers are paid and receive spoils
9:7 vineyard workers also eat the grapes
9:7 goat herders drink goat milk
9:8 mill-grinders eat from what they grind
9-11 gospel workers deserve support
9-12 Paul refused financial support
9-13 OT temple workers received numerous kinds of support from the Law
9-14 gospel workers deserve support from gospel principles of grace and faith. If 9:14 only draws from 9:13 instead of from 9:7 to 9:13, it must allow every kind of temple support into the Church.
TOS: Tithing is God’s way of supporting the ministry.
Kelly: No texts. Why do ministers own property and accumulate wealth? What happened to Num 18:20?
TOS: In the New Testament, God has called people to minister the gospel.
Kelly: Although I am in favor of full-time gospel workers supported by New Covenant principles, the Bible does not teach that gospel workers must be full-time and fully supported. Paul is the prime example of this view in 1 Cor 9:12 and Acts 20:29-35.
TOS: God’s plan is for those who preach the gospel to live of the gospel.
Kelly: From gospel principles of stewardship: freewill, generous, sacrificial giving motivated by love.
TOS: The application of this [ox grinding] principle is that the minister of the gospel should earn his living from his ministry. (See I Corinthians 9:9-14).
Kelly: That makes no sense whatsoever in the context of 9:12. You have disobeying his own principle and boasting about such. Again see Acts 20:29-25.
TOS: It is a disgrace to a church if the pastor has to take a secular job to supply his family’s needs when there should be sufficient tithing income available to allow him to do God’s work on a full-time basis.
Kelly: Not Paul’s opinion. He worked night and day to supply his own needs and the needs of those who helped him spread the gospel. We are not promised a bed of roses without the thorns.
TOS: 8. To Avoid a Curse.
“Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me” (Malachi 3:9). Compare Mal 4:4.
Kelly: Jesus removed that curse
Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:
The blessings of OT tithing are connected directly with the blessings of the law of which it is a part. Only obedience to the whole law could bring tithe blessings.
Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
TOS: 9. To Enjoy God’s Blessing.
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse… and prove me now herewith, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it ” (Malachi 3:10). (See also Luke 6:38).
Kelly: Shame on you. You deliberately omitted with three dots “that there may be food in my house.” HOLY tithes were always only FOOD from Leviticus 27:30-34 to Moses in Deuteronomy to Nehemiah (10:37-38) to Jesus (Mt 23:23).
TOS: “And prove me”
Kelly: Again I urge you to ponder Galatians 3:10. The whole law was a test, not merely tithing.
TOS: God blesses the people who pay tithes. They do not always have the most money or the best clothes, but they are blessed.
Kelly: You are a deceiver. Is that why you deliberately omitted the rest of the verse? Mal 3:10 “… prove me now herewith, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
If tithing really worked, Christians would be the richest persons alive and every Christian would follow their example and tithe and become wealthy.
TOS: 10. To Be Consistent.
“Be thou an example of the believers” (I Timothy 4:12).
Kelly: I implore you, please, please, please study Acts 20:30-35. Paul boasted that he had spent 3 years in Ephesus not accepting any help. He told the assembled church elders to follow his example, work and give to the needy. You, my friend, have reversed this.
TOS: How could I receive tithes and not pay tithes?
Kelly: O.T. priests were exempted from paying tithes (Num 18:25-28). They gave freewill sacrificial offerings (Mal 1:6-14) and even then robbed God.
TOS: The Levites, who received tithes, also paid tithes on what they received (Nehemiah 10:38).
Kelly: Levites were not ministers at the altar. Read Num 18:25-28.
TOS: Paying tithes will not save a person-everyone must be born again to be saved. But paying tithes will reap a blessing.
Kelly: You have mixed together Law and Grace, the Old and New Covenant.
Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
Please enter open dialog with me or close your site. Be bold in what you publicly teach.
In Christ’s love
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
Leon: Your response is too late.
Russ: Why? Have you died to truth?
Leon: I have been tithing since my first job at 16 years of age.
Russ: No. Not unless you are an O.T. Hebrew living inside Israel and tithing food. You have never tithed at all. You probably give sacrificially and generously but you give by a command of the law and not of grace.
Leon: I already know the blessings of obedience to God on the issue of tithing.
Russ: So Galatians 3:10 is not in your
Bible; better get a better version. God doesn’t bless New Covenant givers according to O.T. laws which demanded 100% obedience to all 600+ laws before blessing could come.
Leon: I know how wonderful it feels to help others through the tithe to my local church.
Russ: I know how wonderful it IS to give freely, sacrificially and generously out of love for my Savior.
Leon: I know how great it is to be part of the Great Commission through the support on my local church through tithing.
Russ: You have no validating text to support your claim. The O.T. tithe was never used to send missionaries to Gentiles. You have no precedent.
Leon: I know the blessing of seeing the homeless and suffering blessed when I tithe to my local church.
Russ: “Church” is not a building in the New Covenant. You should help the needy as a joyful generous giver who loves Christ.
Leon: Mr. Kelly your greed concerning giving and tithing is terrible.
Russ: Now you resort to name-calling when you know nothing about my personal giving. I probably give a larger percentage than most “tithers”.” I am just honest enough not to call it tithing.
Leon: Your selfishness is NOT what being a Christian is all about.
Russ: Being a Christian is about holy boldness to know and live the truth as it is found in context from God’s Word. Where are your texts? Are you going to enter an open dialog with me or not?
Leon: You are a sad case indeed.
Russ: I am at peace with God (Rom 5:1). I am growing in my knowledge of Christ (2 Cor 3:18). I love His Word (Jn 17:17). And I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ (Rom 1:16).
Leon: As for me I will keep tithing and enjoying the blessings of helping others as well as seeing God bless me because of it.
Russ: You will keep on hiding your head in the sand and fearing to openly defend your faith. How sad.
Leon: You my friend will remain under the curse.
Russ: And you my friend need to get a Bible version that does not delete Galatians 3:10-13. Spirit-filled born-again children of God cannot be cursed. They are indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Leon:
Russ: Be a lion and study God’s Word.
In Christ’s love
Russell Earl Kelly