Here in Deuteronomy, God’s law concerning the tithe was clarified and explained. In addition to the initial tithe that went to the Levites, we also learn of two additional tithes: a festival tithe to support all Jews on the three yearly feast days, and a third tithe collected every three years for the poor and needy. This episode describes the two additional tithes, which, as the first, were directed specifically at the nation of Israel under the law, involved food and not money, and never were intended for grace age Body of Christ today.

With the establishment of the Law of Moses came the command from God, exclusively to the nation of Israel, for the tithe (or “tenth”) to be instituted and paid only to the tribe of Levi and its priesthood. In this episode, we discover how tithing under the law was much more complex than how it is presented today by the modern church. From what the Apostle Paul says repeatedly about the law and its past requirements, the tithe has no place in this current age of grace.

The topic of tithing has caused a great deal of discussion, debate, and division over the years. Many churches teach that tithing is mandatory and that Christians must give 10 percent of their income to the church, from rich and poor alike. But what do the Scriptures teach us about tithing? This episode examines the two examples of tithing prior to the Mosaic Law, and neither was commanded by God.

What fills us, controls, motivates, and moves us, and it influences both our actions and our reactions. In this episode we learn that being filled with the Holy Spirit in this current age of grace is far different from how the early Jewish believers were filled with the Spirit at Pentecost, which was the fulfillment of God’s prophecies and promises to the nation of Israel. To be filled with the Spirit today isn’t about us having more of the Spirit, it is about the Spirit having more of us.

From God’s point of view, there are only two categories or camps of people in this world, the “saved” and the “perishing.” As we spread the good news of salvation and are a witness of Christ and His cross, the Apostle Paul said that WE are unto God a sweet fragrance of Christ, based NOT on the success of the response to our evangelistic efforts, but on our faithfulness to make the gospel known. In this episode, we will examine our role as Spirit-led ambassadors for Christ in rescuing others from a lost eternity.

What started out as an ordinary, still night suddenly turned into an evening of astonishing events that brought forth the Son of the Highest to the earth. Amidst the lowly and poor shepherds, who were the first to be informed of Christ’s coming, and the humble accommodations where He was born, the sky was unexpectedly filled with an awesome army of angels, as if the heavens could no longer restrain their joy and praise to God at the arrival of the Savior of the world.

The grace-age believer’s life is not about keeping the law or a list of rules. Rather, living the Christian life is all about our personal relationship with our living Head, Jesus Christ. We learn in this episode that when we keep our focus on our Savior and His grace, we grow and mature spiritually through faith in Him and His Word, and the ways of legalism fall away. The closer our walk and relationship with Christ, the greater we will increase in Him and be more like Him, while rejoicing in our freedom under grace.

While Romans 7 details the believer’s war with the flesh, Romans 8 reveals the peace we can have through the power of the Spirit. This episode imparts that when our minds are set on the things of the flesh and we are carnally minded, the result is a lifeless and defeated Christian experience. If we walk in the Spirit, however, we will find an abundant life of joy and fulfillment in Christ that produces victory and peace within our hearts.

As we continue on in Romans 7, the Apostle Paul shows us that sin conducts a military operation against us in life—not a skirmish or a one-time battle, but a long-term, lifelong campaign. In this episode, Paul demonstrates by his own testimony that he and every believer are in a losing conflict against sin and the sin nature. Our ultimate victory in this war, however, can never come from the energy of our own flesh, but only, as Romans 8 begins, by the power that comes from walking in the Spirit.

To some, grace is license and the cause of sin, and the law is the solution for it. But to the Apostle Paul, it was the opposite: legalism is what inflames sin, while grace alone is what overcomes it. This episode reminds us that we are to glory in our freedom in Christ, and we are to take a stand for our deliverance from the law and live and serve by grace. The purpose of that deliverance is not freedom to sin, but a freedom to do what is right and righteous.