What If I Don’t Tithe?

One of the reasons why some pastors will not teach GRACE is that they know it will definitely contradict ALL they have been teaching concerning paying of TITHES!!! Hmm… This is because it is impossible to teach TITHING effectively …without telling the people that if they don’t TITHE….

1. They are ROBBING God!

2. They will come under a CURSE!

3. The DEVOURER will devour their finances!

Hmmn… These 3 points above was taken from the book of Malachi 3:8-11.

‘Will a man rob God? Yet ye have ROBBED me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In Tithes and offerings!…Ye are CURSED with a curse: for ye have ROBBED me…..BRING ye all the tithes into my store house…..and I will rebuke the DEVOURER for your sakes…’! (Mal 3:8-11).

Hmmm… Now see what GRACE has to say to the 3points above:

1. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE for a believer to ROB God!!!

2. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE for a believer to come under a CURSE of the Law!

3. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE for the devourer to touch a believer’s finances (especially a believer who knows his Rights in Christ)!

Wow! Was that a shock to you? Let me explain each point to you:

1) You can only ROB God when you are living under the dispensation of the LAW! In fact, Malachi was addressed only to Old Covenant national Israel and NOT to New Covenant Christians. (Mal 4:4). Under the dispensation of the Law, the TITHE of the produce of the Land belongs to God. If you don’t bring it to the storehouse, you are a DEBTOR to God and thereby ROBBING God! But a believer cannot rob God because…CHRIST paid ALL our debts on the Cross of Calvary!

Under Law: your TITHE is a DEBT you OWE to God! (That is why they robbed God whenever they don’t pay it). But the Bible makes us understand that Jesus paid God ALL that we will EVER OWE GOD! Hmm…

‘For ye know the GRACE… (I love the word Grace) …of our Lord Jesus Christ, that THOUGH HE WAS RICH… yet for YOUR SAKES… (Why?) …He became POOR… (He was paying God whatever we owe financially) …that YE… (A believer) …through HIS POVERTY… might be RICH (legally without having to owe God anymore)‘!!! (2cor 8:9)

Did you understand that? You are NOT owing God ANYTHING again! That is why you cannot ROB God!

Now listen carefully: NOBODY ever paid ‘tithes’ of MONEY all through the SCRIPTURES!

Hmm…mind you, money was in full circulation from the BOOK OF GENESIS! (e.g Genesis 23:9) According to the Law, if you are not a ‘farmer’, or a ‘herdsman’, you are NOT commanded to pay TITHES! Hmm…. There are 16 texts in the scriptures under Law where TITHES were commanded. They all refer to the tithes of the produce of the Land or offspring of the animals! Hmm… Let us go to the second point about coming under a curse if you don’t tithe.

Hear this: You can only come under the curse of the Law…if only Galatians 3:13 is not True!

‘For CHRIST has redeemed us from the CURSE OF THE LAW….being made a curse for us…as it is written…..cursed is anyone that HANGETH on a Tree’! (Gal 3:13)

Wow! How can you believe you will be CURSED if you don’t pay your tithe? Tithe is a commandment of the Law….and Christ has REDEEMED you from the CURSE of the LAW!

Listen: A BELIEVER IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY TITHES!

I hope you are still able to digest all these so far? Now let us go to the third point of permitting the devourer when you don’t tithe!

Now listen carefully: As long as you are conscious of your righteousness in Christ Jesus,….the devourer can NEVER touch you!

Hmm… Let me show you a popular verse of Scripture which many people don’t take time to read to the end!

‘NO WEAPON (devourer) formed against you shall prosper; every TONGUE (devourer) that rises against you, thou shall condemn:….this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord….AND THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OF ME…saith the Lord’! (Isaiah 54:17)

Wow! The only reason no weapon formed against you can prosper is when you don’t operate YOUR OWN RIGTEOUSNESS but GOD’s OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS! The day you became Born-again, God’s Righteousness (which is a GIFT)…came on you! This gifted RIGHTEOUSNESS disallows the DEVOURER from touching you! Hmm…

Some people say Jesus approved or commanded Christians to Tithe and they usually quote Matthew 23:23 to back their points up! Wow! Would you like to see that verse? Hmm….

‘Woe unto you….SCRIBES and PHARISEES, hypocrites!….for ye pay TITHE OF …MINT, ANNISE and CUMMIN…and have omitted the weightier MATTERS OF THE LAW….these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone’!

First… Jesus is referring to Scribes and Pharisees!

Second… Jesus was talking about MATTERS OF THE LAW!

Third… the pharisees paid tithe of mint, annise and cummin! Hmm….guess what? These 3 things are not money!!! They are FOOD!

Hmm…. In the new covenant, we are only admonished to GIVE cheerfully! There is NO PERCENTAGE given at all to determine how a believer should give their money! Let your money flow freely towards the propagation of the Gospel!

‘Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him GIVE;…not grudgingly,…or of NECESSITY…’! (2cor 9:7)

The word ‘necessity’ there refers to a kind of giving in which you feel…if you don’t ‘give’…then you are either robbing God…or…offending God! You are not OWING God!!! Give willingly… cheerfully… as you purpose in your heart……FOR GOD LOVETH A CHEERFUL GIVER!!! Hmm…

In conclusion: Paul talked about 2 kinds of righteousness. He clearly differentiated between them. Follow carefully as we navigate through this scriptural verse:

‘And be found in Him (Jesus)….not having ‘mine own’ RIGHTEOUSNESS…which is of the LAW….but that which is of FAITH of Christ….the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD which is by faith’! (Phil 3:9)

Hmm… The righteousness of the LAW…refers to a kind of righteousness in which you must obey God’s Laws before God can declare you righteous! But… The righteousness of God …is a GIFT! It does not depend on your efforts AT ALL! It only depends on your BELIEF!

If you read the verse carefully, you will see that the righteousness of the Law is referred to as MINE OWN righteousness…which the righteousness of God is referred to as that which is BY FAITH!

Now listen carefully: an addiction to the giving of only 10% of your income… is a proof that you are STILL under LAW! It is NOT a commandment of the New Testament!Hmm… (Now I’m sure many people reading this would be overwhelmed)!

Be free to give God…ANY….percentage you feel that would please God! It could be above 10%….exactly 10%….or below 10%! (According to what you have! 1Cor 9:7) Just be all out to love God with your finances per time! When Paul blessed the Philippian Church for their act of giving, he never said they were ‘tithers’! (Phil 4:15-18) Hmm… they simply gave cheerfully and willingly… desiring to see the Gospel preached to the world through Paul!

Paul confirmed that this ‘giving’ (not ‘tithing’ but simply ‘giving’) …was AN ODOUR OF A SWEET SMELL, A SACRIFICE ACCEPTABLE, WELL PLEASING TO GOD’! (Phil 4:18) Aba! This was what led Paul to pray the popular prayer on financial abundance on the Philippian Church:

‘But my God shall supply ALL your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus’!

Hallelujah! If you are a tither, tithe because you are engraced to do so…and not because if you don’t do it…God will be annoyed with you…or you are robbing God! NO!

Your prosperity is not TITHE dependent! Your prosperity is simply GRACE dependent! (2Cor 8:9) Hmm….

Can you find anywhere in the Scriptures where Jesus did not heal anyone because they don’t tithe? But the way tithing is emphasized today seems as though you cannot get anything from God if you don’t tithe! Jesus will NEVER turn away from you …as long as you see Him as your SAVIOUR!

‘…and him that cometh to Me…I will IN NO WISE cast out’! (John 6:37)

Wow! Need I say more?

Remember… Your prosperity is not TITHE dependent! Hmm… Your prosperity is simply GRACE dependent!

Amen.