Is Tithing Really Biblical?

“Are Christians really commanded to give ten percent of their income to the church? My pastor says this is an important financial stewardship standard of God, called, tithing.”

It’s true that in the Old Testament, under the Mosaic Law, God commanded ten percent of the animal and agricultural produce of the Israelites (Lev 27:30).

Under the New Covenant, however, we do not live by laws. Instead, the Holy Spirit helps us to make the most unselfish, decisions we can on a case by case basis.

“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they broke my covenant even though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts…” (Jer. 31:31-33).

Jesus has fulfilled the Ritual Law by His death on the cross and the Moral Law by His imparting of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit guides us and inspires us to follow the one law God commands people to obey; the Golden Rule, Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount that tell us to make loving decisions and consider the feelings of others.

“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. For this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).

Jesus is offering a condensed view of the Law and the Prophets. Paul seems to understand this same concept:

Gal 5:14-15

The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

When a church tries to single out a command like tithing as a law that we must continue to honor, they open a whole new can of worms that Paul addressed when he wrote the Galatians. The Galatians had isolated circumcision as a practice to continue even under the New Covenant. Paul told them that if they were going to return to the law they must embrace the entire law. They could not cherry pick the ones they wanted and ignore all the others.

Gal 5:2-4

Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

“But doesn’t the work of God still need finances? Aren’t we supposed to support our pastors and missionaries?”

Yes, we are. It is the legalism, the burden of an exact amount that we are free from:

2 Cor 9:7

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I have heard many a sermon about the blessings that will be withheld if people do not tithe. Call me a romantic, but that sounds like compulsion and Paul is telling us not to give under compulsion.

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with picking an amount of your income for consistent giving and maybe that amount should be ten percent. Or, just to avoid being legalistic you may want to consider giving nine percent or eleven percent and steer clear of the figure ten. The truth is, most churches would not get by and most pastors would not be able to do ministry full time if people were not giving ten percent and feeling obligated to do so. Therefore, even though I am trying to be theologically honest, I am not eager to see Christians embrace this new freedom with too much enthusiasm. I myself could have made ends meet far more easily as a pastor if I had taught tithing in my church and my current radio ministry could use more money right now. But I still have to be true to myself.

If you have been giving ten percent to ministry, that is not a bad discipline. As humans, we are creatures of habit. If we do not stick with some kind of constant figure month to month, we will end up making excuses. We will discover that we are seldom if ever giving to the church and that would not be right either.

SUMMARY: No, you don’t have to tithe but if you already are, I would hate to discourage an admirable impulse.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE

New International Version NIV

Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.