Thursday, October 8, 2020

Tithing Lesson of the "Slave"

"But the man who thinks to escape the payment of tithes by such a plea as this has overreached himself; for:
  1. Christ taught it in  Matthew 23:23. That alone would be sufficient.

  2. The commandment to pay tithe having been once made by God himself, it would remain in force, forever, if not countermanded, and the reason for its continuance existed as in the beginning. Therefore if there was no mention made of it in the entire New Testament, it would not affect the case in the least. And, strongest of all,

  3. The teaching of the apostles, and of Christ himself, if strictly followed, would lead to the sacrifice, not merely of a tithe, but of all our possessions! Let us read and see.

Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says,

...you are not your own; For you are bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

We are, as a literal translation of Philippians 1:1 would read,the slaves of Jesus Christ.”  

Our servitude, however, is a blessed one, for his yoke is easy, and his

burden light. But a slave cannot hold property in his own right; all that he may acquire belongs to his master. Therefore since we are Christ’s by purchase, all that we have belongs to him. Then if we give him his just due, we will give, not one-tenth, but all that we have.

With this conclusion agree the words of Christ:

Sell what you have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fails not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts.” Luke 12:33." E.J.Waggoner