Are
Christians supposed to Tithe?
Do
Christian have to tithe? No. Many legalistic Christians today (modern
Judiazers) like to extract certain rules from the Mosaic law and try and dump
them onto New Covenant Christians. This is wrong. As a matter of fact, many
Protestants that condemn the Seventh-Day Adventists for their stress on
Saturday Sabbath observance turn around and impose tithing laws on their own
congregation.
The fact is, both day keeping laws and tithing laws are a
part of the Old Covenant. Tithing is giving ten percent of something (income)
to the church. In the Old Testament the temple was taken care of through the
process of tithing and the Levites were also taken care of through tithing. We
are no longer under the Levitical priesthood; we are under the Melchisedek
priesthood. – which is the priesthood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:11-12).
Though we understand that our Christian morality is still
outlined clearly in the Ten Commandments, even they are understood at a deeper
level under the New Covenant. Jesus is identified in the Ten Commandments as
the Sabbath Day. Under the New Covenant the literal day must no longer be kept
but it pointed to Jesus Christ and the true rest (spiritual) that He gives us.
We still worship once a week but it ultimately doesn’t matter what day. The New
Testament simply states that we are not to “forsake the gathering of ourselves
together.” (Hebrew 10:25)
Please understand, day keeping laws, food laws, and tithing
were all given to the Levitical priesthood. Tithes were given to the Levites
and the priests. There are no Levites with any priesthood authority under the
New Covenant.
Every three years there was a tithe celebration in
Jerusalem. This related to Israel as a literal nation and cannot apply to
Christians today. Christians do not identify with one nation. When Jesus in our
New Testaments affirmed to the religious leaders of His time the tithe, it was
before the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – before the activation of
the New Testament. Jesus also confirmed for their time the offering of literal
sacrifices in the temple (Matthew 5:23-24) but we as Christians today do not
offer literal sacrifices. Jesus kept the Torah because He was “born under the
Torah” (Galatians 4:4). Christians are not “born under” any law. Christians are
not to a serve a rule list for their salvation (Romans 7:6).
The New Testament Scripture ask us to “give generously” when
we are led by the Holy Spirit to do so. We are to help the poor, the needy, the
sick, etc. We are to give what we can in each situation that would help the
most. We read about this: Acts 2:43-47; 4:32-37; 11:27-30; Galatians 2:10; 1st
Corinthians 16:1-4; 2nd Corinthians 8:1-9:15. There is no
commandment to tithe listed anywhere in the entire New Testament.
If one wished to give a tenth of their income to the church
there is nothing wrong with that as long as they understand that it is not a
“rule”. Churches who believe that one must tithe to be in “good standing” with
the church are those who are believing that their money is needed to attain
salvation. We cannot earn our salvation or pay for it. True salvation is a free
gift from God.
Please continue to study with us here at “The Shepherds Way
(TSW) and “Nugget of Truth”.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
AACG (September 2nd 2026)
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