Mr. L. Ray;
I read about your tithing commentary.
Please forgive me but i would disagree with you
on the basis of this verse:
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active."
If we will not count the Old Testament as living and active then we consider it the contrary - dead and inactive - which in turn contradicts to this verse, thus contradict God Himself who is the Living One.
Abraham and Jacob, before the law of tithing was given, they already give it voluntarily as a tithe. Whether it is a law or not, tithing is still relevant, living and active. And tithing in the first place is tithing itself. Now if God tells us to do so, we should obey. It is not the giving and the amount we give that really matters most but the OBEDIENCE of His command. Every word that comes from the mouth of God is a law in itself. Thus, if God said that we should give our tithe then we should do so. And this we should tell to our broth ers and sisters in the Church.
May the Lord Christ and God JESUS bless you with His peace!
Dear Becca: Well, if you believe you should obey God, then why don't you? Did God every command anyone to tithe MONEY? No He didn't. Only farmers and herdsmen tithed. Nothing else was ever titheable in Israel. Fishermen did not tithe; basket makers did not tithe; gold miners did not tithe; the hired hands who worked in the fields and were paid a wage IN MONEY, did not tithe.
Abraham did NOT tithe anything of his own, not even his farm products or herds, NEVER!
And Jacob told God plainly that the ONLY way that he would give a tenth BACK to God is if God first gave him a HUNDRED PERCENT of all his wealth. Jacob said in effect--Make me filthy rich and I will give you back a tenth. So much for the modern Church and their damnable tithing doctrine.
No one ever was taught to tithe to Christ's church. All gave freely if they had it to give, and if they didn't, they gave nothing. There was NO obligatory TEN PERCENT law of tithing. Paul never taught tithing or took tithes from the Gentile Churches. The New Testament Church of Jesus Christ never practiced "tithing" until the Catholic Church made it a law in the 5 th century!
God be with you,
Ray
