Tithing: Russell Kelly Replies to Apostle
Oladele Johnson, January 5, 2018
Johnson: I see the issue of Tithe, as a
war against the body of Christ, an attack against the finance of the Church.
Kelly: There is no contextual Bible
text connecting tithing with the support of gospel workers.
Johnson: Summarily, I just see it as a
reckless and very unfair hard judgment on the church.
Kelly: Why do you not defend it in an
open public forum?
Johnson: When we look into the Bible,
Tithe has been there from the beginning.
Kelly: All pagans of the biblical world
tithed to pagan gods. The "holy" tithe (as Moses, Nehemiah, Malachi
and Jesus used the word) did not appear until the Law in Leviticus 27:30-34.
Johnson: Abraham was before Moses, and
when you are talking about Old Testament, you are referring to Mosaic Law,
there was Abraham giving to Melchizedek.
Kelly: The Bible does not say that
Abram's tithe of pagan spoils of war was commanded or freewill. Hebrews 7 uses
the "order" of Melchizedek, not his "person" to prove the
superior priesthood of Jesus.
Johnson: … but if you are a child of
God and you want to walk in the blessing of God, you must do it, so that you
would not be a selective believer, but a whole believer, who believes in the
books from Genesis to Revelation.
Kelly: The Law was only commanded to Old Covenant
Israel. Israel was forbidden to share its covenant with Gentiles (and the
Church) (Ex 23:32; Deut 7:2).
Johnson: there is no place in the Bible
that says stop Tithing.
Kelly: (1) Hebrews 7:5, 12, 18 do. (2)
The New Covenant replaced the Old and tithing was not repeated to the Church
after Calvary in terms of the New Covenant (Heb 8:8-13). (3) As a non-food
producer Jesus did not qualify to tithe. (4) There are no N.T. Levites and
Aaronic priests to receive tithes. (5) Christians are dead to the Law (Rom
7:4).
Johnson: … when Jesus talked about it
in the Book of Luke, he said you have done all these things …
Kelly: Jesus said inn Matthew 23:23 "things"
--- "of the Law." If Jesus had
not taught tithing before Calvary to Jews, He would have sinned (Gal 4:4-5).
Johnson: Those who are saying Tithing
is of Old Testament are only trying to attack the prosperity of the church.
Kelly: They are trying to complete the
Reformation and remove the Hebrew Law. You nullify Galatians 3:10 with Malachi
3:10.
Johnson: He only moves in the hands of
people, who pay more than10%.
Kelly: No texts; merely opinion.
Johnson does not even use the biblical definition of a "holy" tithe
as "food from inside the holy land of Israel."
Johnson: It’s not Tithe that they use
to buy Jets.
Kelly: I cannot picture in my mind My
Savior with wealth and private jets for any reason. He gleaned in the fields
because he qualified as a poor person.
Johnson: Abraham … by Volition ...
decided to sow/give his Tithe.
Kelly: The Bible does not state that
Abram tithed spoils of war of his own freewill. He just as easily could have
done so to obey the law of the land (Heb 7:4).
Johnson: So, if you are a child of God
and you are born again, you will give your Tithe …
Kelly: Texts please. The tithe
supported an Old Covenant priesthood which ended at Calvary Numb 18:20-28). All
believers are now priests (1 Pet 2:9-10).
Johnson: … if you discover that blessing
is not coming …
Kelly: God does not bless New Covenant
Christians on the basis of Old Covenant promises to Israel (Gal 3:10-13).
Johnson: … He said you have robbed me …
Kelly: The "you" is Old
Covenant Israel (Malachi 1:1) and its thieving priests (1:6; 2:1). It is not
the Church. Gospel giving principles are: sacrificial, freewill, generous and
not by commandment (2 Cor 9:7).
Johnson: So, my take is that if anybody
wants to run the church down, it’s a lie from the pit of hell.
Kelly: Why not use sound biblical
principles of interpretation given by the Holy Spirit after Calvary (John
14:26; 16:8-9, 13-14)?
Johnson: The prosperity in the Church,
we have not seen anything, it’s still coming. Is it one Jet you saw, you will
still see plenty Jets.
Kelly: What ever happened to the Gospel
of salvation from the pit of hell through faith in Jesus Christ?
Johnson: Baba Adeboye has to preach in four places in
different continents of the world. How do you expect him to be effective in his
job, if he doesn’t have a Jet?
Kelly: Does he have to be there
personally? Has he failed to train others locally to do that?
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
russkellyphd@yahoo.com
1 comment:
Dr. Kelley, You are an inspiration to me. As a new believer ( recommitted my life to Christ Sept 10, 2014, I have been struggling with many of the topics you discuss. Through various means I have learned to apply the versus of 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. & 2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV) 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
I am so amazed at how those in pastoral or teaching leadership willfully ignore these scriptures to meet their own beliefs and needs. I can say the same that post on so many Christians who absolutely fail to follow those scriptures and would rather be led 7 fed then work & be fed by the Word.
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