DISPUTED DOCTRINES -- Chapter Twenty-Five

QUESTION OF TITHING

The question here is, Is tithing obligatory upon Christians? This question is answered in the affirmative by some Churches among Protestants. Many pamphlets and some books have been issued and scattered broadcast to prove that tithing is an obligation resting upon Christians. There are also Lutherans who have been obsessed with this idea and are active in its advocacy. Let us see what should be our attitude toward this matter.

There is no question that tithing was obligatory upon the Jews under the Old Testament theocracy. Tithes were first paid by Abraham to Melchisedek. Tithing was instituted as a law by Moses, as we learn from accounts in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, and was observed by the Jews throughout their history down to the time of Christ. But it is likewise true that this law pertained exclusively to the theocracy and belonged to the forensic and ceremonial laws which were done away and abolished in Christ. There is absolutely no intimation in the New Testament that this law is binding upon Christians.

The advocates of tithing say that God instituted it, which is true; and that He never recalled it, a statement which cannot be received. It is true that God does not say in so many words that tithing is no longer required, or the observance of the passover. But Christians do not therefore consider themselves under obligation to observe these rites. They know that the whole ceremonial and forensic law, while ordained of God, was only temporary and pertained only to the Jews; that it pointed to Christ and received its fulfillment in Him, and perished with the theocracy.

The argument is that of the Jewish Christians, with whom Paul had so strenuously to contend, and who would have imposed the whole ceremonial law upon Chnstians. It is the spirit of legalism, which is absolutely opposed to the spirit of Christianity and of the Gospel. Its advocates claim that Christ approved it in Matt. 23: 23 and in the parallel passage in Luke 11: 42. But in both these passages Christ is pronouncing His woes upon the Pharisees, who were under obligation to pay tithes; and even there He lays the emphasis not on the tithes, but on the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.

And the worst argument of all is that God claims of us the tenth as His own, and that we only begin to give after we have satisfied this claim. It is the old Sabbatarian argument with a new twist. That argument was, that God has given us six days for ourselves and asks only one out of the week for Himself. But here in the matter of tithes, He is still more generous, taking only one part out of ten for Himself. This is literalism and legalism with a vengeance.

But we as Christians are not living under the law, but under the free grace of the Gospel. We have no rules or regulations laid upon us as to how much or how little we are to give to the Lord, to His Church, or to His cause. We are first to give ourselves unto the Lord, and where this is done the gifts of our possessions or money will follow. Each is to give according as he purposeth in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, but remembering that God loveth a cheerful giver.

And the only divine rule laid down for Christians to follow as their guide in this matter is that of St. Paul in 1 Cor. 16:12: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him." Where this is done and done in faith out of gratitude to God for His grace and mercy, the gifts of Christians will freely follow. We do not need the compulsion of the law: we are not under law, but under grace. On this matter of tithes, we should give place by subjection, not for a moment; that the truth of the Gospel might continue with us.

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