Question 41: Why do you tithe?

Answer: Simply because we are commanded by God in the Bible to do so.  Many have said that tithing was an element of the Old Testament Law and is no longer required in our current age of grace.  This line of thinking is definitely flawed.  Several evidences of tithing in the Bible came hundreds of years before the Mosaic law was ever introduced.  In Genesis 14:20, a tithe was given by Melchizedek, king of Salem, in response to a rescue by Abraham.  In Genesis 28:22, Jacob promised to give a tenth of all that God would bless him with.  Tithing is indeed a scriptural principle that should be practiced by all Christians.  Note the following outline that provides the scriptural response to tithing:

  1. Abraham commenced tithing (Genesis 14:18-20)
  2. Jacob continued it (Genesis 28:20-22)
  3. Moses confirmed it (Leviticus 27:30)
  4. Malachi commanded it (Malachi 3:10)
  5. Jesus commended it (Matthew 23:23)
  6. God commissioned it (1 Corinthians 9:14)
  7. Paul conformed it (1 Corinthians 16:2)

Under the Law, tithing was commanded.  Under grace, we don’t tithe legalistically, but because we love the Lord.  Tithing also allows us to show our faith in God by putting Him first in our lives and in our finances.  When we do tithe, God promises to take care of us beyond anything we ever could have imagined or accomplished for ourselves!

 

Malachi 3:10

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith 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.