Bonus Chapter
Equating the Tithe with Christ using Malachi 3v9-10
“You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me..” says the Lord Almighty” says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 3:9-11While all the things that are mentioned in Malachi that would happen if one failed or succeeded in giving a tenth of their produce are very true. Those conditions were only susceptible to people who were living under the Old Testament. Those were the people who needed to bring a tithe of their produce so that God would bless them; rebuke the devourer on their behalf and made sure that the fruit of the vine would not cast down until they had gathered fruit. It is therefore a misplacement of the truth of God to assert that the same state of affairs still exists under the New Testament!
We need to realise that every false teaching or heresy is a truth of God that has been misplaced! This is a truth of God that is in the Scriptures but that truth doesn’t apply to us, the New Testament Gentile Christian believers. Whatever the Prophet Malachi uttered before Jesus had died for us, cannot be used to nullify the work of Christ at Calvary. This teaching that Gentile Christians can be cursed by God for not paying tithes to God, directly contradicts the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. The Gospel is very clear on this, Jesus died so that he might redeem all of us from the curse of the Law!
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus…” Gal 3:13-14
The curse that Malachi pronounced upon Israel, is a curse that came as a result of failing to obey a command from the Law. He had mentioned that Israel had violated the Covenant, which we now call the Old Covenant. There isn’t a peculiar curse or blessing that is attached to the tithe only. Each and every command that was given by Moses carried a blessing and a curse. The mere fact that the command to tithe carries with it a blessing and a curse, is one major give away that it is indeed a requirement of the Law. That’s why we don’t find this curse in Genesis. This is what Moses said when he gave the Law.
“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God... be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28, 32
Notice that the “commands” is in the plural and “blessing” and “curse” are in the singular. Then Moses instructed the Israelites that they should be careful to observe all the decrees and laws he had given them. For, if they broke just one, they would be under a curse, for violating that one command. That is the same message and principle that Malachi's prophecy conveys. I wish I had all the time to explain about Old Testament prophecy, but I don’t. It suffices, to just point out that Old Testament prophecy was covenant specific. Prophets served as guardians and enforcers of the Old Covenant.
Paul being a former Pharisee was well acquainted with this blessing and curse paradox that existed under the Law of Moses, took the time to address this. It must be noted that Paul’s letters were occasional, they were written to explain away some false teachings that found their way into the Gentile Christian Churches. These false teachings were all coming from people who were using the Bible. It isn’t mere coincidence that Paul happened to address the issue of the curse of the Law and the blessing of Abraham!
Obviously these Gentile Christians were being led to believe that they were under God’s curse for not observing a certain requirement of the Law of Moses. They needed to be circumcised like Abraham so as to receive the blessing and promise that was given to Abraham or God would curse them! It’s highly probable that these teachers used circumcision to make their point. The Galatians were led to believe that they needed to observe certain requirements from the Law so as to attain perfection in Christ, or to perfect their faith in Christ. These teachings come in one form or the other, but the principle or the concept is always the same.
We need to realise that these teachings remove Christ from the picture and replaces him with a requirement of the Law. Paul revealed that it is the death of Christ on the cross that has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. It is also nothing but faith in Jesus that we can now receive the blessing and promises of Abraham. Whoever teaches you otherwise is trying to replace Christ with a requirement of the Law. All we need is Christ and not the Law.
We must always remember that God redeemed us from the powers of darkness and brought us under the domain of Christ(Colossians1:13-14). Jesus is now our protector, this means that we get full protection by just being under his domain. Then secondly, Christ is the one who took away the curse of the law, when he died on the cross. In other words, Jesus redeemed all of us from the devastating effects of the curse of the Law.
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 1Peter 1:18-19
One does not redeem himself or take away the curse of the law of Moses by giving tithes of any nature to God. It was the Jew under the Law who was required to bring a tithe of the produce of the land for God to rebuke the devourer etc. This is no longer the case for us Gentile Christians, Jesus did everything for us. We now have the authority to rebuke the devourer through what Christ did at Calvary, in the name of Jesus and the power of the blood of the lamb. Not tithes of our income!
“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.” 2Corinthians 1:20 “He redeemed Us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus...” Galatians 3v13
No matter what they say or how long they say it, these scriptures shall continue to stare smugly back at them right in the face. We know that the promises of God are yes in Jesus Christ and not In Abraham or the tithe; We know that we are more than conquerors through Christ; God leads us in triumphal succession through Christ; we have overcome he that is in that world, because greater is He that is us than he that’s in the world; we know that our weapons are not of this world, but they are mighty before God to the pulling down of strongholds; we know that we defeat the wicked one by the blood of the Lamb of God; we know that Jesus holds the Keys of David and behold he has set an open door for us that no-one can shut; all this and more is what Christ does for and in us by simply believing in Him. This is the simple fact or principle of the Gospel that has eluded many over the centuries.
Now some individuals are now knowingly or unknowingly equating the tithe with our Saviour. What they are promising that the tithe will do for us, is what Christ has already done at Calvary. Now that we are in Christ, He is now our Redeemer. He is the one who has the power and capacity to redeem us from the curse of the Law of Moses and not our ability to pay the income tithe! For we were not redeemed from the curse of the Law through silver or ten percent of our income but through the precious blood of the lamb.
Now that we are in Christ, we already have the redemption from the curse of the Law and blessing of Abraham upon us. On top of that, Christ is also now our protector for we are now under his domain. It is Christ who protects and watches over us and not the tithe! It is not true that Jesus will only protect us for as long as we tithe. There is no single verse that teaches that believers must tithe so as to get protection from God. We have all the protection we need in Jesus!
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3.
Jesus is now the reason for our blessing! Glory to the Lord. I now have the blessing of God operating and functioning upon my life, because I am now in Christ! It pleases the Father to just pour blessings, uncountable blessings upon my life, because I am now in Christ. It's the Christ in me that now attracts God's blessing and favor upon my life. God gets super excited whenever he sees the Christ in me, that he went as far as proclaiming a blessing that has heavenly impact. Because of Christ, God has blessed us in the Heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing that one can ever think of in Christ. You can go ahead and pay tithes so that you can receive the blessing of Father Abraham. As for me, I am quite content with the heavenly spiritual blessing that comes for just being in Christ. This blessing comes with every spiritual blessing one may think of.
My dear brother or sister, you already possess every spiritual blessing you can think of in Christ. Everything that people are saying will happen to your life once you pay tithes from all your sources of income is already yours. You are being sold a car or house that is already in your name. All you need is Christ and not the tithe! We were redeemed from the curse of the Law by Christ and the blessing of Abraham can only be received through Christ and not your ability to pay the tithe.
“You are blessed with every spiritual blessing because you are in Christ!”
The journey, has only but just begun! This book merely explored the interpretation and application of the Old Testament Scriptures on the doctrine of Christian Tithing. I wrote this book so as to reveal some basic truths that are in the Bible about the tithe and tithing. We have missed these basic truths that are in plain sight because our minds have been conditioned to understand the Bible in certain way.
~The End~