Where in the Bible Were Tithes Abolished?
1. WHO #1: The Levitical servants to the priests who received the first whole tithe have been abolished. See Numbers 18:21-24. Modern equivalents to the Levites are unpaid ushers, deacons, choir, musicians, etc.
2. WHO #2: OT priests who received a tenth of the tithe (only 1 per cent) have been abolished. See Num 18:25-28 and Neh 10:38.
3. WHAT: The definition of tithes as only food miraculously increased by God from inside His holy land of Israel has been abolished and replaced with the false unbiblical definition of income. See Leviticus 27:30-34 and 14 other texts which describe the contents of the tithe. Yet money was common in Genesis.
4. WHERE: The destination of the OT tithes first to the Levitical cities some to the Temple has been abolished. See Neh 10:37b and Mal 3:10.
5. WHEN: The time to tithe has been abolished. The Levitical tithe was paid yearly in the Levitical cities. The second festival tithe was eaten at the three festivals. The third poor tithe was kept in the home every third year. Tithes totaled 23 1/3 per cent.
6. WHY #1: The covenant which prescribed them was abolished per Heb 8:8-13; Gal 4:21-26' 2 Cor 3:6-10.
7. WHY #2: The "commandment" for Levites and priests to collect tithes was "annulled" per Hebrews 7:5, 12, 18.
8. WHY #3: The law which condemned believers has been rendered of no effect when the believer died in Christ per Romans 7:4. No law can tell a dead person what to do.
9. HOW #1: Jesus abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances per Eph 2:13. Tithing was an ordinance per Num 18.
10. HOW $2: Jesus blotted out the handwriting of ordinances, per Col 2:14. Tithing was an ordinance per Num 18.
11. HOW #3: The Temple which tithes supported was abolished in AD 70. God's temple is now within each believer per 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19-20.
12. HOW #4: The priesthood which was supported by tithes was abolished in AD 70. God's priesthood is now within every believer per 1st Peter 2:9-10.
13. HOW #5: The blessings and curses of tithing as part of the whole law have been abolished per Galatians 3:10-13.
Would you continue to send money to a church after
1. The building is destroyed?
2. The preacher has been defrocked?
3. The workers have found other jobs?
4. The members have all left?
5. The land has been inhabited by non religious people?
6. The purpose for the church no longer exists?
7. You have died?
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
First Baptist, New Castle, Ind
First Baptist, New Castle, Ind
Pastor Jerry Ingalls, 12-26-2010
http://jerryingallsblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/giving-your-treasures-covenant-renewal.html
Ingalls: We are going to start the covenant renewal by making a covenant with God to be generous with the material blessings He has provided for us in our lives.
Kelly: Are you attempting to place the New Covenant Church under the Old Covenant? According to Exodus 19:5-6 the Gentiles and Church never were under that Covenant.
Ingalls: Acts 2:42-47
Kelly: (2:43) The apostles’ doctrine did not include tithing to them. It was illegal before Calvary and not practiced by or commanded to the Church afterwards. (2:44-45) God did not command the early church to live communally and the event was not repeated. (2:46) Since the Jewish Christians continued to worship in the Temple and were “zealous of the Law” (21:20-21), they likely continued to support the Temple system with any tithes and offerings.
Ingalls: “We each must be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to probe into the inner chambers of our hearts to illumine the true state of our loyalties.
Kelly: Then study this doctrine with intensity with your church and leave no stone unturned.
Ingalls: THE MOTIVATION OF OUR GIVING IS GRATITUDE FOR GOD'S CHRISTMAS GIFT!
Kelly: That was only true of free-will giving. Tithes of food from inside God’s holy land did not involve gratitude. They were stone cold hard LAW like taxes are to us.
Ingalls: We do not give in order to be right with God! The Bible teaches in 2 Corinthians 8:9 …
Kelly: You freely switch from quoting tithing texts to quoting freewill giving texts. This is poor hermeneutics. There is a difference.
Ingalls: We give all that we have out of sheer gratitude for the indescribable Gift of peace with God through the Son of God, Jesus Christ!
Kelly: True only of freewill giving principles.
Ingalls: THE MOTIVATION OF OUR GIVING IS A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
Kelly: Never true for tithing.
Ingalls: Regarding giving of our treasures, God gave a very clear command in the Old Testament.
Kelly: Not to “us.” The Old Covenant with over 600 commands was only given to Old Covenant national Israel.
Ingalls: Leviticus 27:30
Kelly: (1) Verse 34 limits this only to Israel. (2) "A tithe [a tenth] of everything from the land” is correct. (3) “it is holy to the LORD" is only true if it comes from inside God’s HOLY land. Tithes could not come from what man increased, from Gentiles or from outside Israel. Period.
Ingalls: In the Old Covenant, giving was managed by a detailed and thoroughly examined commandment …
Kelly: Yes, Numbers 18. (1) Only food from inside Israel, (2) only to Levite servants to the priests, (3) priests only received one tenth of one per cent, (4) tithe recipients could not own or inherit land in Israel and (5) only to support the OT Levites and priests.
Ingalls: … to give 10% of all that God had provided.
Kelly: Wrong. Only food miraculously increased by God inside His holy land. Money was required for head taxes and vows but never for tithes.
Ingalls: Luke 11:42
Kelly: You ignore the first rule of hermeneutics. See also Mt 23:23. (1) Context is “matters of the law” before Calvary. (2) Addressed to “you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites” who “sit in Moses’ seat” (Mt 23:2-3) as interpreters of the Law. (3) Before Calvary, therefore still in Old Covenant context. (4) Not to the Church or Gentiles. (5) Jesus did not accept tithes. And (6) no church obeys Jesus by collecting tithes of garden herbs.
Ingalls: I do not believe that Jesus removes the practice of tithing as some would debate, but He fulfills it
Kelly: (1) The covenant supported by tithing was removed. (2) The Temple they worked in was removed. (3) The Levite servants to the priests were removed. (4) The priests who received 1% were removed. (5) Preachers now own land which is contrary to tithing laws.
Ingalls: I want to take this statement [about the Sabbath] and apply it to the purposes of tithing because the same principle that Jesus Christ applies to the fulfillment of one aspect of the Law applies to the entire Law:
Kelly: According to Galatians 3:10-13, those under one part of the Law are under the entire law.
Ingalls: Tithing was instituted to set us free
Kelly: No. Tithing was instituted to support Levite workers and priest ministers who could not own land in Israel per Numbers 18:21-28.
Ingalls: Jesus rebukes the Jewish religious leaders of the first century because they had twisted their observance of the Law
Kelly: How very true. He was not speaking to the New Covenant church. He was discussing “mattes of the law” in Mt 23:23.
Ingalls: Jesus removed the stumbling blocks by fulfilling the Law through grace!
Kelly: According to Eph 2:13-17 and Col 2:13-17 the “stumbling blocks” included all laws which separated Jews from Gentiles, including tithing and Sabbath observance. He returned both to the Abrahamic covenant of grace.
Ingalls: Here it is: Tithing flows out of the heart of God for man
Kelly: No. Not “for man” – only for the Hebrew man who was a food producer living inside God’s HOLY land of Israel. God never expected holy tithes to come off defiled pagan Gentile land.
Ingalls: Luke 21:1-4 poor widow
Kelly: The poor widow was giving a sacrificial freewill offering. She was not paying a tithe.
Ingalls: Jesus is not canceling the call to tithe; rather He is intensifying it to the extreme.
Kelly: No texts to validate this.
Ingalls: THE MOTIVATION OF OUR GIVING IS TO DEVOTE OURSELVES TO GOD'S KINGDOM!
Kelly: No. It is in response to Christ’s freewill sacrificial gift to us. And it is in response to sermons encouraging us to become soul winners.
Ingalls: 1 Chronicles 22:5
Kelly: Read 1 Chronicles 23 to 26. The Levites and priests who received tithes were also political workers for the king. They must have also worked many other jobs because they were skilled in many crafts.
Ingalls: The stones of the house of the LORD are the people saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Kelly: Since both the NT Temple and priesthood consist of individual believers, then tithing makes no sense. We do not tithe to ourselves.
Ingalls: David was told he could not build the house of the LORD, but he devoted himself to investing his time, treasures, and talents to building it;
Kelly: Old Covenant tithes could not be used for Temple or building construction or maintenance. David gave freewill offering.
Ingalls: 2 Chronicles 31:4-5
Kelly: Why did you quote this? If proves (1) that Solomon’s Temple had no storage rooms for tithes and (2) that Hezekiah erred when he commanded the people to bring the tithes to Jerusalem. Read verses 15-19. The majority of the tithes were shipped back into the Levitical cities where they belonged and were needed for food. Nehemiah 10:37b-38 is greatly ignored today.
Ingalls: 2 Corinthians 8:2-4
Kelly: Again you switch back and forth between OT tithing texts and NT freewill giving texts as if you do not know the difference.
Ingalls: Study Malachi 3:8-12. What is significant about this passage? How does this apply to the individual disciple in regards to the testimony of the Church to the nations? Are you living in fulfillment of this promise? If not, what is preventing you from beginning today?
Kelly: (1) The significance of Malachi is its position under the Law as in Mal 4:4; Lev 27:34 and Num 18:21-28. The priests of 1:6-13; 2:1-10 and 2:13-to-end were guilty of stealing the tithe and had been cursed.
(2) It has no relevance to New Covenant Christians. OT tithes were never used for evangelism of Gentiles and there is no precedent.
(3) Christians are not supposed to attempt to obey Old Covenant Law and ignore better New Covenant laws.
(4) Nobody tithes today. Paul warned of placing yourself under the Law in Galatians 3:1-5.
Ingalls: Study 2 Corinthians 9:6-14.
Kelly: These are sound post-Calvary freewill giving principles blessed by the Holy Spirit after Calvary for the Church.
Ingalls: How are you doing with financial stewardship?
Kelly: If YOU have a small staff and many “tithers,” YOU have the most to gain from teaching “tithing.”
Ingalls: In what areas of your life do you feel you are being either obedient or disobedient to God's call for financial stewardship and generosity?
Kelly: Do you teach that the first whole Levitical tithe should go to servants of the OT priests per Num 18:21-24 and Neh 10:37b-38? Do you own land contrary to Numbers 18? Are you among the poorest of the land as required of tithe recipients?
Ingalls: Find the Scriptural references to support your beliefs and self-assessments and then discuss with a mentor or accountability partner to help you take the next steps.
Kelly: Yes. In context and you “rightly divide” the Word according to its covenant.
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
Pastor Jerry Ingalls, 12-26-2010
http://jerryingallsblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/giving-your-treasures-covenant-renewal.html
Ingalls: We are going to start the covenant renewal by making a covenant with God to be generous with the material blessings He has provided for us in our lives.
Kelly: Are you attempting to place the New Covenant Church under the Old Covenant? According to Exodus 19:5-6 the Gentiles and Church never were under that Covenant.
Ingalls: Acts 2:42-47
Kelly: (2:43) The apostles’ doctrine did not include tithing to them. It was illegal before Calvary and not practiced by or commanded to the Church afterwards. (2:44-45) God did not command the early church to live communally and the event was not repeated. (2:46) Since the Jewish Christians continued to worship in the Temple and were “zealous of the Law” (21:20-21), they likely continued to support the Temple system with any tithes and offerings.
Ingalls: “We each must be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to probe into the inner chambers of our hearts to illumine the true state of our loyalties.
Kelly: Then study this doctrine with intensity with your church and leave no stone unturned.
Ingalls: THE MOTIVATION OF OUR GIVING IS GRATITUDE FOR GOD'S CHRISTMAS GIFT!
Kelly: That was only true of free-will giving. Tithes of food from inside God’s holy land did not involve gratitude. They were stone cold hard LAW like taxes are to us.
Ingalls: We do not give in order to be right with God! The Bible teaches in 2 Corinthians 8:9 …
Kelly: You freely switch from quoting tithing texts to quoting freewill giving texts. This is poor hermeneutics. There is a difference.
Ingalls: We give all that we have out of sheer gratitude for the indescribable Gift of peace with God through the Son of God, Jesus Christ!
Kelly: True only of freewill giving principles.
Ingalls: THE MOTIVATION OF OUR GIVING IS A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
Kelly: Never true for tithing.
Ingalls: Regarding giving of our treasures, God gave a very clear command in the Old Testament.
Kelly: Not to “us.” The Old Covenant with over 600 commands was only given to Old Covenant national Israel.
Ingalls: Leviticus 27:30
Kelly: (1) Verse 34 limits this only to Israel. (2) "A tithe [a tenth] of everything from the land” is correct. (3) “it is holy to the LORD" is only true if it comes from inside God’s HOLY land. Tithes could not come from what man increased, from Gentiles or from outside Israel. Period.
Ingalls: In the Old Covenant, giving was managed by a detailed and thoroughly examined commandment …
Kelly: Yes, Numbers 18. (1) Only food from inside Israel, (2) only to Levite servants to the priests, (3) priests only received one tenth of one per cent, (4) tithe recipients could not own or inherit land in Israel and (5) only to support the OT Levites and priests.
Ingalls: … to give 10% of all that God had provided.
Kelly: Wrong. Only food miraculously increased by God inside His holy land. Money was required for head taxes and vows but never for tithes.
Ingalls: Luke 11:42
Kelly: You ignore the first rule of hermeneutics. See also Mt 23:23. (1) Context is “matters of the law” before Calvary. (2) Addressed to “you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites” who “sit in Moses’ seat” (Mt 23:2-3) as interpreters of the Law. (3) Before Calvary, therefore still in Old Covenant context. (4) Not to the Church or Gentiles. (5) Jesus did not accept tithes. And (6) no church obeys Jesus by collecting tithes of garden herbs.
Ingalls: I do not believe that Jesus removes the practice of tithing as some would debate, but He fulfills it
Kelly: (1) The covenant supported by tithing was removed. (2) The Temple they worked in was removed. (3) The Levite servants to the priests were removed. (4) The priests who received 1% were removed. (5) Preachers now own land which is contrary to tithing laws.
Ingalls: I want to take this statement [about the Sabbath] and apply it to the purposes of tithing because the same principle that Jesus Christ applies to the fulfillment of one aspect of the Law applies to the entire Law:
Kelly: According to Galatians 3:10-13, those under one part of the Law are under the entire law.
Ingalls: Tithing was instituted to set us free
Kelly: No. Tithing was instituted to support Levite workers and priest ministers who could not own land in Israel per Numbers 18:21-28.
Ingalls: Jesus rebukes the Jewish religious leaders of the first century because they had twisted their observance of the Law
Kelly: How very true. He was not speaking to the New Covenant church. He was discussing “mattes of the law” in Mt 23:23.
Ingalls: Jesus removed the stumbling blocks by fulfilling the Law through grace!
Kelly: According to Eph 2:13-17 and Col 2:13-17 the “stumbling blocks” included all laws which separated Jews from Gentiles, including tithing and Sabbath observance. He returned both to the Abrahamic covenant of grace.
Ingalls: Here it is: Tithing flows out of the heart of God for man
Kelly: No. Not “for man” – only for the Hebrew man who was a food producer living inside God’s HOLY land of Israel. God never expected holy tithes to come off defiled pagan Gentile land.
Ingalls: Luke 21:1-4 poor widow
Kelly: The poor widow was giving a sacrificial freewill offering. She was not paying a tithe.
Ingalls: Jesus is not canceling the call to tithe; rather He is intensifying it to the extreme.
Kelly: No texts to validate this.
Ingalls: THE MOTIVATION OF OUR GIVING IS TO DEVOTE OURSELVES TO GOD'S KINGDOM!
Kelly: No. It is in response to Christ’s freewill sacrificial gift to us. And it is in response to sermons encouraging us to become soul winners.
Ingalls: 1 Chronicles 22:5
Kelly: Read 1 Chronicles 23 to 26. The Levites and priests who received tithes were also political workers for the king. They must have also worked many other jobs because they were skilled in many crafts.
Ingalls: The stones of the house of the LORD are the people saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Kelly: Since both the NT Temple and priesthood consist of individual believers, then tithing makes no sense. We do not tithe to ourselves.
Ingalls: David was told he could not build the house of the LORD, but he devoted himself to investing his time, treasures, and talents to building it;
Kelly: Old Covenant tithes could not be used for Temple or building construction or maintenance. David gave freewill offering.
Ingalls: 2 Chronicles 31:4-5
Kelly: Why did you quote this? If proves (1) that Solomon’s Temple had no storage rooms for tithes and (2) that Hezekiah erred when he commanded the people to bring the tithes to Jerusalem. Read verses 15-19. The majority of the tithes were shipped back into the Levitical cities where they belonged and were needed for food. Nehemiah 10:37b-38 is greatly ignored today.
Ingalls: 2 Corinthians 8:2-4
Kelly: Again you switch back and forth between OT tithing texts and NT freewill giving texts as if you do not know the difference.
Ingalls: Study Malachi 3:8-12. What is significant about this passage? How does this apply to the individual disciple in regards to the testimony of the Church to the nations? Are you living in fulfillment of this promise? If not, what is preventing you from beginning today?
Kelly: (1) The significance of Malachi is its position under the Law as in Mal 4:4; Lev 27:34 and Num 18:21-28. The priests of 1:6-13; 2:1-10 and 2:13-to-end were guilty of stealing the tithe and had been cursed.
(2) It has no relevance to New Covenant Christians. OT tithes were never used for evangelism of Gentiles and there is no precedent.
(3) Christians are not supposed to attempt to obey Old Covenant Law and ignore better New Covenant laws.
(4) Nobody tithes today. Paul warned of placing yourself under the Law in Galatians 3:1-5.
Ingalls: Study 2 Corinthians 9:6-14.
Kelly: These are sound post-Calvary freewill giving principles blessed by the Holy Spirit after Calvary for the Church.
Ingalls: How are you doing with financial stewardship?
Kelly: If YOU have a small staff and many “tithers,” YOU have the most to gain from teaching “tithing.”
Ingalls: In what areas of your life do you feel you are being either obedient or disobedient to God's call for financial stewardship and generosity?
Kelly: Do you teach that the first whole Levitical tithe should go to servants of the OT priests per Num 18:21-24 and Neh 10:37b-38? Do you own land contrary to Numbers 18? Are you among the poorest of the land as required of tithe recipients?
Ingalls: Find the Scriptural references to support your beliefs and self-assessments and then discuss with a mentor or accountability partner to help you take the next steps.
Kelly: Yes. In context and you “rightly divide” the Word according to its covenant.
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
Monday, December 06, 2010
Reply to Kevin Probst, Apologetics Teacher
Reply to Kevin Probst, Highest Calling
http://kpprobst.blogspot.com/2010/12/control-freak-2.html
You said: It is also argued that tithing isn’t taught in the New Testament. Not true, the early apostles had much to say about tithing and giving.
Reply: Where is this found in the New Testament after Calvary? Even Matthew 23:23 is a discussion of the law before Calvary. Those who received tithes in the OT were not allowed to own land. Do you and your fellow pastors own land?
You said: This is the only place in scripture where God extends a bold challenge for us to test him. Malachi 3:10
Reply: Not true. Read Galatians 3:10 and all of Deuteronomy 28-30. The Whole Law was a test – all 600 pus commands. Obey all to be blessed; break one to be cursed. Do you think God is obligated to bless you for tithing while you are murdering, stealing and committing adultery? You logic is wrong.
You quote: Mal 3:10
Reply: It describes tithes as FOOD. Tithes are always only food from inside God’s HOLY land of Israel. Tithes could not come from what man increased, from US Gentiles or from outside Israel. Period. Get your basics straight.
You quoted Philippians 4:19.
Reply: The Philippians church had partially supported Paul with FREEWILL OFFERINGS and the context is that God will bless ONLY them because they were the ONLY ones to so. The context is not tithing.
You are: Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church in Columbus, Georgia.
Reply: Shame on you as an Apologetics Teacher. Your hermeneutics are horrendous.
P.S. The Old Covenant Law for Israel said “Thou shalt not” while the New Covenant law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:2) says “Beiievers do not.” There is a huge difference.
Russell E Kelly, PHD
http://kpprobst.blogspot.com/2010/12/control-freak-2.html
You said: It is also argued that tithing isn’t taught in the New Testament. Not true, the early apostles had much to say about tithing and giving.
Reply: Where is this found in the New Testament after Calvary? Even Matthew 23:23 is a discussion of the law before Calvary. Those who received tithes in the OT were not allowed to own land. Do you and your fellow pastors own land?
You said: This is the only place in scripture where God extends a bold challenge for us to test him. Malachi 3:10
Reply: Not true. Read Galatians 3:10 and all of Deuteronomy 28-30. The Whole Law was a test – all 600 pus commands. Obey all to be blessed; break one to be cursed. Do you think God is obligated to bless you for tithing while you are murdering, stealing and committing adultery? You logic is wrong.
You quote: Mal 3:10
Reply: It describes tithes as FOOD. Tithes are always only food from inside God’s HOLY land of Israel. Tithes could not come from what man increased, from US Gentiles or from outside Israel. Period. Get your basics straight.
You quoted Philippians 4:19.
Reply: The Philippians church had partially supported Paul with FREEWILL OFFERINGS and the context is that God will bless ONLY them because they were the ONLY ones to so. The context is not tithing.
You are: Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church in Columbus, Georgia.
Reply: Shame on you as an Apologetics Teacher. Your hermeneutics are horrendous.
P.S. The Old Covenant Law for Israel said “Thou shalt not” while the New Covenant law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:2) says “Beiievers do not.” There is a huge difference.
Russell E Kelly, PHD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
