Tithing, Spiritual Government, and the Authority of the Born-Again Believer
The question of tithing in the grace church is much greater than whether a believer should give ten percent of his increase. The deeper question concerns government, authority, priesthood, and the spiritual position of the person who has been born into Christ.
The issue is not giving. Neither is the issue the amount given. A believer may be moved by God to give ten percent, less than ten percent, more than ten percent, or even everything he possesses.
The issue begins when the born-again believer is taught that God has placed him under a commandment requiring him to submit a tithe to another person or religious office.
Once commandment is introduced, government has been introduced.
Once obligation is introduced, authority has been introduced.
And once one person claims divine authority to receive what another person is commanded to render, a spiritual order has been established between them.
The question, therefore, is whether such an order exists within the body of Christ.
The First Recorded Tenth: Abraham and Melchizedek
The first recorded giving of a tenth appears with Abraham.
After Abraham returned from defeating the kings, Melchizedek met him:
"And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God." —Genesis 14:18
Melchizedek blessed Abraham, and the account then says:
"And he gave him tithes of all." —Genesis 14:20
Hebrews later identifies Abraham as the giver and Melchizedek as the recipient:
"To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all…" —Hebrews 7:2
Therefore, several things can be stated with certainty.
Abraham gave a tenth.
Melchizedek received it.
Melchizedek was identified as the priest of the Most High God.
But something else must be stated with equal care:
Genesis does not record God commanding Abraham to give that tenth.
The act is recorded.
The recipient is identified.
But no universal tithing commandment is stated.
Therefore, Abraham's action cannot by itself establish that mankind was already living under a divine law requiring everyone to tithe.
To say that such a commandment existed would require an inference beyond what the passage actually says.
Jacob Vows a Tenth
The next significant reference occurs with Jacob.
After his experience at Bethel, Jacob made a vow:
"And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go…"
He concluded:
"and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." —Genesis 28:20,22
Again, the tenth appears before Moses.
But once again Scripture does not present Jacob as responding to a previously stated universal commandment requiring him to tithe.
The text specifically calls what Jacob made a vow.
Furthermore, Scripture does not identify a human recipient to whom Jacob subsequently delivered this tenth.
Therefore, we should not invent one.
What Scripture permits us to say is simply:
Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek.
Jacob vowed a tenth to God.
What Scripture does not permit us to say merely from these accounts is:
God had already commanded mankind generally to tithe.
That commandment has not yet appeared in the biblical record.
The Tenth Becomes Part of Commanded Covenant Law
When we reach the Mosaic covenant, the language changes.
We are no longer merely reading that an individual chose or vowed to give a tenth.
God now speaks concerning the tithe within commandments given to Israel.
Leviticus declares:
"And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD." —Leviticus 27:30
Concerning the herd and flock:
"the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD." —Leviticus 27:32
And the chapter concludes:
"These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai." —Leviticus 27:34
This is fundamentally different from the accounts of Abraham and Jacob.
Now we can identify the authority: the LORD.
The mediator: Moses.
The people addressed: the children of Israel.
The status of the tenth: holy unto the LORD.
The governmental setting: covenantal commandment.
Here, therefore, commanded tithing is no longer an inference.
It has entered Israel's covenantal law.
God Assigns Israel's Tithes to Levi
The next question is: Who receives what God has declared to be his?
Numbers 18 provides the answer.
God had separated the tribe of Levi for sanctuary service. Their position was different from the ordinary tribal inheritance of Israel.
The LORD says:
"And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation." —Numbers 18:21
Again:
"the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit…" —Numbers 18:24
The order should be noticed carefully.
The tithe was the LORD'S.
Israel rendered it according to God's covenantal arrangement.
God then says:
"I have given" the tithes to Levi.
Therefore, the Levites did not simply decide that because they were doing religious work they were entitled to ten percent of everybody's increase.
God established their entitlement.
Their right to receive the tithe existed within a specific governmental order established by God.
Scripture Does Not Establish an Earlier Israelite Recipient
At this point we should resist making biblical history say more than it says.
Leviticus establishes the tithe as holy unto the LORD, and Numbers identifies Levi as the recipient God appointed.
Scripture does not clearly describe an intervening period in which Israel was already paying commanded tithes to some other class of people before God assigned the tithes to Levi.
Therefore, no such recipient should be invented.
The scriptural progression is:
God establishes the tithe within Israel's covenantal commandments.
God assigns Israel's tithes to Levi for their sanctuary service.
Anything beyond what Scripture actually states should not be inserted merely to complete a theological system.
Levites and Priests Were Not Identical
Another distinction must be preserved.
Every Aaronic priest was a Levite, but every Levite was not a priest.
God specifically selected Aaron and his descendants for the priestly office:
"And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him…that he may minister unto me in the priest's office…" —Exodus 28:1
Therefore, the tribe of Levi was broadly separated for sanctuary service, while the priestly office itself belonged specifically to Aaron's lineage.
This becomes particularly important when examining what happened to the tithe after the Levites received it.
The Levites Give a Tenth of the Tithe
The Levites themselves had an obligation concerning the tithes they received.
God commanded Moses:
"When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe." —Numbers 18:26
And concerning that offering:
"Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD'S heave offering to Aaron the priest." —Numbers 18:28
The governmental structure becomes clear:
Israel → commanded tithe → Levites
Levites → commanded tenth of the tithe → Aaronic priesthood
This was not merely charitable giving.
It was an ordered system established by God.
There were designated people.
There were designated functions.
There were designated recipients.
And there were commandments establishing the arrangement.
A Different Priesthood Already Existed
Yet before Levi, Aaron, Sinai, or the Mosaic tithing system, Scripture had already introduced Melchizedek:
"Melchizedek king of Salem…was the priest of the most high God." —Genesis 14:18
This becomes enormously important because Christ would not ultimately be identified with Aaron's priestly order.
His priesthood would be:
"after the order of Melchisedec." —Hebrews 7:17
Thus the priesthood of Christ cannot simply be treated as the Levitical priesthood carried forward under another name.
Hebrews distinguishes the basis upon which the two priesthoods operate.
Another Government Was Foretold
While the Mosaic covenant remained operative, the prophets foretold something different.
Isaiah declared:
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder…" —Isaiah 9:6
Jeremiah announced:
"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant…"
God immediately distinguishes it from the former covenant:
"Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers…" —Jeremiah 31:31–32
Then comes an important change concerning government:
"I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts…" —Jeremiah 31:33
Ezekiel likewise prophesied:
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you…"
and:
"I will put my spirit within you…" —Ezekiel 36:26–27
The prophets therefore point beyond an external covenantal administration toward God operating within his people.
Christ Begins Revealing the Inward Government
When Christ appeared, he repeatedly went beyond outward performance to the condition of the heart.
Concerning adultery:
"Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." —Matthew 5:28
Repeatedly Christ declared:
"But I say unto you…"
The authority of the coming government was being manifested.
Yet while the Mosaic covenant remained operative, Christ acknowledged the obligations of those still under it.
Concerning the scribes and Pharisees he said:
"ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law…"
and:
"these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." —Matthew 23:23
They ought to have tithed because they were under the covenant that commanded them to tithe.
Christ's statement does not establish that the future born-again body would inherit their tithing obligation.
That would have to be established separately.
Christ Exercises Government Over His Disciples
Even before the New Covenant was fully established through his death, resurrection, and the giving of the Spirit, Christ demonstrated his authority over those following him.
When his disciples plucked grain on the Sabbath and were accused, Christ defended them.
He declared:
"in this place is one greater than the temple." —Matthew 12:6
And:
"For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day." —Matthew 12:8
Likewise, when his disciples were criticized concerning ceremonial handwashing, Christ challenged the religious authorities themselves for elevating human tradition over God's commandment.
His disciples were following him.
The significance is governmental.
Christ's followers could not simply be judged by whatever external religious authority claimed jurisdiction over them. Their Lord stood between them and those accusations.
Christ's Spiritual Body
Christ exercised divine authority before his death. But the New Covenant body into which believers would be incorporated through the Spirit followed his death, resurrection, and the giving of the Spirit.
Jesus said:
"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." —John 12:24
He told his disciples:
"It is expedient for you that I go away…"
because:
"if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you…" —John 16:7
And concerning the Spirit:
"he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." —John 14:17
Paul later says:
"the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." —1 Corinthians 15:45
And:
"Now the Lord is that Spirit…" —2 Corinthians 3:17
The governmental order moves from an external covenantal structure toward the life of God operating within the born-again body.
The Born-Again Believer Is Incorporated Into Christ
The believer is not merely an external subject standing at a distance from Christ.
Paul says:
"But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." —1 Corinthians 6:17
And:
"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body…" —1 Corinthians 12:13
Christ prayed:
"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee…"
and:
"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." —John 17:21,23
The members do not become independent gods standing alongside God.
They are incorporated into the spiritual oneness of God through Christ.
One Spirit operates throughout the body.
Thus Paul says:
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." —Philippians 2:13
God works from within:
to will
and
to do.
What Happens to the Jew Who Was Commanded to Tithe?
This brings us directly back to tithing.
The Jew actually had been under the Mosaic covenant.
Paul says:
"the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth." —Romans 7:1
But then:
"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead…" —Romans 7:4
And:
"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit…" —Romans 7:6
Therefore, the person who actually had been commanded to tithe under Moses has died to the jurisdiction from which that commandment came.
If someone now says that the Jewish believer remains obligated to the Mosaic tithe, the question must be asked:
How did a commandment from the jurisdiction to which he died reacquire authority over him in Christ?
What Happens to the Gentile Who Was Never Commanded to Tithe?
The Gentile presents the opposite situation.
Paul speaks of:
"the Gentiles, which have not the law…" —Romans 2:14
The Gentile never possessed the Mosaic tithing obligation.
Therefore:
The Jew enters Christ having died to the jurisdiction that commanded tithing.
The Gentile enters Christ having never been under that jurisdiction.
Yet both become members of the same spiritual body.
So if compulsory tithing applies to both after entering Christ, a fundamental question must be answered:
Where does Christ establish that obligation within the new government?
Acts 15 and the Gentile Believers
This question becomes especially significant in Acts 15.
Some believing Jews wanted Mosaic requirements placed upon Gentile converts:
"That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses." —Acts 15:5
Peter responded:
"why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples…?" —Acts 15:10
The resulting determination stated:
"For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things…" —Acts 15:28
The specified matters followed.
Tithing was not among them.
At a historical moment when the church directly confronted the question of Mosaic obligations being imposed upon Gentile believers, no compulsory Mosaic tithe was placed upon them.
Hebrews Identifies the Authority Behind Levitical Tithing
Hebrews describes the former arrangement with extraordinary precision:
"they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law…" —Hebrews 7:5
Notice the elements:
priesthood
commandment
tithes
law
The authority to take tithes existed within an identifiable governmental structure.
Then Hebrews announces:
"For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." —Hebrews 7:12
Christ did not arise from Levi:
"For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood." —Hebrews 7:14
His priesthood operates upon another basis:
"Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life." —Hebrews 7:16
Christ's priesthood is therefore not Aaron's priesthood renamed.
It belongs to another order.
Abraham, Melchizedek, Levi, and Spiritual Order
Hebrews returns to Abraham's tenth and explains its significance.
"Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils." —Hebrews 7:4
Melchizedek receives Abraham's tenth and blesses Abraham.
Then:
"And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better." —Hebrews 7:7
Hebrews goes further:
"And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham." —Hebrews 7:9
Thus the very order that would later receive Israel's commanded tithes is represented as occupying the giving position toward the superior Melchizedek order through Abraham.
The issue here is not simply the number ten.
Hebrews places tithing within a discussion of priesthood, commandment, law, blessing, greatness, and spiritual order.
Therefore, the argument is not that anybody who happens to give ten percent automatically becomes spiritually inferior to the recipient.
The issue is accepting a compulsory tithing relationship as a divinely established spiritual order.
The Born-Again Believers Themselves Are a Priesthood
Under the former arrangement there were distinctions between ordinary Israel, the Levites, and Aaron's priestly house.
But Peter speaks concerning the born-again people:
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices…" —1 Peter 2:5
And:
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood…" —1 Peter 2:9
Christ remains the great High Priest:
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God…" —Hebrews 4:14
Therefore, the New Covenant arrangement is not naturally described as:
ordinary Christian → minister-priest → Christ.
The born-again people themselves constitute a spiritual priesthood under Christ their High Priest and Head.
Different members possess different functions and gifts, but difference of function does not by itself establish an Aaronic-style priestly caste possessing legal entitlement to another member's increase.
Giving Under the Government of the Spirit
Rejecting compulsory tithing does not mean rejecting giving.
The question is what governs the giving.
Paul says:
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." —2 Corinthians 9:7
A believer may be moved to extraordinary generosity.
Yet Peter's words to Ananias are revealing:
"Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?" —Acts 5:4
Ananias was condemned for lying, not for failing to surrender a prescribed percentage.
God may move one member of the body to meet another member's need.
That does not make the receiving member the believer's ultimate source.
Christ remains the source.
Paul could acknowledge that the Philippians had repeatedly supplied his necessity and still declare:
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." —Philippians 4:19
The member may be the instrument.
God is the provider.
The Question That Must Be Answered
We can now trace tithing from its first biblical appearance.
Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek. No commandment requiring Abraham to do so is recorded.
Jacob vowed a tenth to God. No human recipient is identified, and no universal tithing commandment is stated.
Under Moses, God explicitly incorporated the tithe into commandments given to Israel.
God assigned Israel's tithes to the Levites because of their sanctuary service.
The Levites were commanded to render a tenth of those tithes toward Aaron's priestly house.
Hebrews identifies their authority to receive tithes as a commandment "according to the law."
Then the priesthood changes.
The law necessarily changes.
Christ arises according to another order—the order of Melchizedek and the power of an endless life.
The Jew entering Christ dies to the former jurisdiction.
The Gentile entering Christ was never under that jurisdiction.
Both are baptized by one Spirit into one body.
The born-again people themselves are called a royal priesthood.
Christ is their High Priest and Head.
Therefore, if one member of Christ's body tells another:
"God commands you to submit ten percent of your increase to me or to this religious office,"
the question is necessary:
Where did God establish that commandment?
Where is the New Covenant equivalent of Leviticus 27?
Where is the New Covenant equivalent of Numbers 18 identifying the authorized recipient?
Where did Christ transfer Levi's legal entitlement to a class of Christian ministers?
How does the Jew who died to that jurisdiction become subject to its tithe again?
How does the Gentile who never possessed that obligation acquire it by entering Christ?
And if the born-again people themselves constitute God's priesthood, what divinely established priestly distinction places one member in the compulsory giving position and another member in the legally entitled receiving position?
It is not enough to show that Abraham gave a tenth.
It is not enough to show that believers gave.
It is not enough to show that ministers received support.
It is not enough to show that God desires generosity.
None of these propositions by themselves establishes a commandment requiring the born-again believer to tithe.
Under Moses, when God commanded tithing, Scripture tells us so.
It identifies the government.
It identifies the commandment.
It identifies the people obligated.
It identifies the recipients.
It identifies the priestly structure.
If the same compulsory financial obligation exists under Christ, it must likewise be established rather than inferred.
The Consequence of Accepting a Commandment God Did Not Give
There remains, however, a more serious question.
What happens when someone nevertheless believes himself obligated to tithe?
First, a distinction must be made between ignorance and rejection.
A believer may have been taught compulsory tithing throughout his religious life. He may sincerely believe that failure to tithe is disobedience to God. He may never have examined the priesthood, covenant, and governmental foundation of the doctrine.
The mere fact that such a person practices tithing does not establish that he has knowingly rejected the government of Christ.
He may simply have not yet seen.
The critical point comes when light comes.
Jesus establishes this distinction:
"If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." —John 9:41
Again:
"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin." —John 15:22
And James states:
"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." —James 4:17
The issue changes when ignorance has been confronted by light.
When Light Comes
Suppose the governmental order of Christ has now been brought before the believer.
He sees that the Mosaic tithe belonged to an established covenant.
He sees that God identified its recipients.
He sees that Hebrews connects the authority to receive those tithes with commandment and law.
He sees that the priesthood changed.
He sees that Christ's priesthood operates according to the power of an endless life.
He sees that the Jew has died to the former jurisdiction.
He sees that the Gentile was never under it.
He sees that the born-again people themselves constitute a spiritual priesthood.
He sees that Christ is the High Priest.
He sees that God works within the believer both to will and to do.
And after seeing these things, no scriptural commandment establishing compulsory tithing over the born-again body can be produced.
The person has now reached a different point.
The question is no longer merely:
"What was I taught?"
The question becomes:
"What will I believe?"
Teaching for Doctrine the Commandments of Men
Christ gave a severe warning concerning religious commandments that men attributed to God.
He said:
"Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me."
Then:
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." —Matthew 15:7–9
The seriousness of this cannot be dismissed merely because the commandment is religious.
Something may be taught in God's name.
Something may be performed as worship.
Something may be defended as obedience.
Yet if man has established the commandment rather than God, calling it God's commandment does not make it God's commandment.
Therefore, if Christ has not established a compulsory tithing commandment over his born-again body, man has no authority to establish one and then attribute that commandment to God.
To do so is to teach for doctrine the commandment of men.
The Leaders of the People Can Cause Them to Err
Isaiah says:
"For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed." —Isaiah 9:16
The following verse describes the spiritual condition severely:
"for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly." —Isaiah 9:17
Isaiah's immediate historical subject was Israel. He was not directly discussing Christian tithing.
But the passage demonstrates something that must not be ignored:
Religious leadership does not transform error into truth.
A leader can cause people to err.
Therefore, the person who teaches compulsory tithing carries a serious responsibility if he tells God's people that God has commanded something that God has not commanded.
He is teaching more than financial practice.
He is teaching the believer where he supposedly stands under God.
Liberty Must Not Be Exchanged for Bondage
Paul speaks strongly concerning those who had entered Christ and were being persuaded to return to covenantal obligation:
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." —Galatians 5:1
His immediate controversy concerned circumcision and justification under law, not tithing.
Therefore, his statement should not be changed into something he did not say.
But the governmental principle is clear:
Christ established liberty, and Paul warned believers against voluntarily returning themselves to legal bondage.
The physical act itself was not the whole issue.
The meaning assigned to the act was decisive.
Likewise, ten percent is merely a number.
Giving ten percent does not constitute bondage.
A believer may freely give exactly ten percent because God moved him to do so.
The bondage enters when he believes:
"God has placed me under a commandment requiring me to do this."
The matter becomes more serious still when light has shown that the commandment cannot be established under Christ, and the person nevertheless insists upon remaining beneath it.
Light Creates a Decision
Jesus said:
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." —John 3:19
This gives the final distinction.
Before light, a person may be deceived.
When light comes, deception is exposed.
Once deception has been exposed, a decision follows.
Will the person receive the light?
Or will he reject the light in order to retain what the light has exposed?
Jesus does not describe deliberate rejection of light as an innocent theological preference.
He says:
"this is the condemnation."
Therefore, the consequence under examination reaches far beyond money.
When Error Becomes Unbelief
A person does not become an unbeliever merely because he was taught compulsory tithing.
He does not become an unbeliever merely because he presently practices it while sincerely believing that God requires it.
The critical moment is when the light of Christ's spiritual government is brought forth and understood.
Once the former external order has been exposed for what it was, and the spiritual government established in Christ has been made manifest, the person must believe what has been shown.
If he knowingly rejects that light and deliberately chooses the unsupported commandment instead, the issue has become unbelief.
Not unbelief because he gave ten percent.
Not unbelief because ten percent possesses some evil quality.
Not unbelief merely because another Christian interprets the passages differently.
The unbelief consists in knowingly rejecting the light that has been made manifest concerning what God has established in Christ.
Hebrews warns:
"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." —Hebrews 3:12
Thus unbelief is not a trivial condition.
When God reveals what he has established and a person knowingly rejects it, the person is no longer merely mistaken concerning doctrine.
He is resisting what has been revealed.
This Is the Condemnation
This brings the matter to its most serious consequence.
Jesus said:
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light…" —John 3:19
Therefore, once light has come, knowingly rejecting that light carries condemnation.
The person may believe that by continuing to submit the tithe he is honoring God.
But if he knowingly rejects what God has established in order to preserve a commandment God did not give, he cannot turn that rejection into honor merely by attaching God's name to it.
Christ already addressed that contradiction:
"This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips…"
while nevertheless declaring:
"in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Thus a person can sincerely claim:
"I am honoring God."
Yet the very God he claims to honor can condemn the position he has chosen because the person has rejected God's government in favor of man's commandment.
That is what makes this matter serious.
The condemnation does not arise because the mathematical amount was ten percent.
It arises because light came and was rejected.
The Final Issue Is Not Tithing
The argument therefore ends somewhere much deeper than where it began.
It began with a question about tithing.
It ends with a question about government, light, belief, and obedience to God.
Abraham gave a tenth.
Jacob vowed a tenth.
God later commanded Israel concerning tithes.
God assigned those tithes to Levi.
The Levites rendered a tenth of the tithe toward Aaron's priesthood.
That governmental order was explicit.
Then another priesthood arose.
Christ came after the order of Melchizedek.
The priesthood changed.
The law changed.
The former commandment belonged to the former governmental arrangement.
The Jew died to that jurisdiction.
The Gentile had never been under it.
Both entered one spiritual body.
The born-again people became a royal priesthood.
Christ became their great High Priest.
God came to operate within them both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Giving therefore remains.
Love remains.
Generosity remains.
Supporting another remains.
Responding to another person's need remains.
But these things proceed from the living government of God within the believer.
The issue is not:
"May I give a tenth?"
Certainly a believer may give a tenth.
The issue is:
"Has God placed the born-again believer under a compulsory commandment requiring that tenth?"
If such a commandment exists, let it be shown.
If such an authorized receiving office exists, let it be shown.
If Christ transferred Levi's tithing entitlement to Christian ministers, let that transfer be shown.
But if it cannot be shown, then no person should manufacture the missing commandment and attribute it to God.
And when light concerning the government of Christ has come, the believer should not knowingly reject that light merely to remain beneath a familiar religious system.
For at that point, the matter is no longer ten percent.
The matter is belief or unbelief.
The matter is light or darkness.
The matter is liberty or bondage.
The matter is the government of Christ or a commandment established by men.
And Christ himself has already stated the consequence of deliberately rejecting light:
"This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light."
The born-again believer has not been called backward into Levi.
He has been born into Christ.
And having been brought into the light and liberty of Christ, he should not knowingly surrender that position for a commandment that Christ did not establish.
