@TayoD, There is nothing like the book of Hebrew. What is in the scriptures is the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews written to a group of christians who faced with inreasing opposition,they were in danger of abadoning the christian faith. the wrier encourages them with this letter.

The Bible Says In this you are turning the bible to God. This remain a book that contains scriptures. It can not be GOD. Some people need to undestand septuagint readings

Here we go again with semantics. Anyone reading the Bible knows that "the book of Hebrews" is the same as "the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews" found in the New Testament. If there's nothing like the former, there's equally nothing like the latter.

And if Hebrews is removed from the Bible, where does that leave us?

tayoD frankly,I do not have the time to search through 22 pages for your exposition but I have heard all the arguments in favor of tithing.

After I became a Christian,I studied about tithe on my own with an open mind and asking God to lead me to the truth and came to the realisation that Christ did not require that of me ever before I heard anyone preach that it was not scriptural so I am not preaching anyones doctrine but the bibles,titithing has become a church tradition but it is not required of anyone scripturally.

Pastors should teach their congregation the truth based on scriptures most importantly to obey the voice of the Spirit speaking.
We understand that Church work must be supported but telling folks they owe 10% of their salary to the church otherwise they are cursed, is just so wrong it is not biblical.

Christ was offered as a final sacrifice for our sins and given as an atone ment for us such that the curse of the law has nothing on us.
The Bible says that if you intend on keeping laws,you are guilty if you fail in any of them.
Personally I have NEVER failed to give to the work of God in my local church weekly or as any need arises,sometimes above 10% of my salary sometimes less and I have peace in that and every born again Christian should know that God is not owed money,he owns everything already.

Recently some ministers ae beginning to tell people to pay with credit cards.
That is so wrong.
How can God expect you to borrow at sometimes 22% interest to give to his work,if you have nothing to give God understands and if you ask,he will provide you.

When Christ was talking to the pharisee which the scripture some tithe advocates quote all the time,remember the subject was not on tithing but on the hipocrisy of the pharisees.
They were not saved,they were keeping the law,you cannot compare Christians to them.

Christ and his disciples never taught us on tithes.
St Paul taught on everything else and we did not read where tithes were paid to him but we read of freewill offerings,we also see that he had a trade.
No Christian can claim superior understanding of the workings of the
Spirit.

There are no levites today,there is no man that is now in the place of Melchizedek.

I also humbly say that God has blessed me tremendously in giving with a sincere heart to his work,supporting missionaries I've never met,supporting TV ministeries,my local Church,charity organisations,feed the children,victims of hurricane or just giving randomly to brethren as the spirit of God prompts me and I HAVE NEVER LACKED thanks to Him.
Every Christian needs to be attentive to the Spirit in all things including giving.
And if tomorrow,God asks me to give 100% of my salary to a particular course,He knows I would do it because I'll rather obey him than man.

I cannot begin to tell you the blessings of God that I have received based on giving ranging from my miraculous green card to a scholarship of over $150,000 free for College education here in the USA,to miracle money deposited in my account,to buying a house with $0.00 down payment,and I know it is tied to giving with a sincere heart.

God indeed loves a cheerful giver and I am a living witness of that.
I hope this testimony encourages someone.

@bari_kade,

And if Hebrews is removed from the Bible, where does that leave us?

Then you are left without the whole counsel of Almighty God.

@TayoD, There is nothing like the book of Hebrew. What is in the scriptures is the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews written to a group of christians who faced with inreasing opposition,they were in danger of abadoning the christian faith. the wrier encourages them with this letter.

I really do not get what you are driving at here. As m4malik has said, you are just bogged down by semantics which is not profitable unto salvation. Everyone knows the Bible was not written down with God's hands. Most of the books were written as letters to men or churches through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Others were books of Histroy also inspired by the Holy Ghost. So therefore, you really have no point at all. Everyone who saw my posts knew which book of the Bible I was refering to. Grow up my friend, and stop majoring in the minor and minoring in the major. You never said anything about the topic at hand sef.

You look so myopic and worried by Dogma, if you are to talk at all read all my postings on this topic. Try to have manners

@babyosisi,

I do sense sincerity in your post, but do you realise that you can be sincerely wrong?  Accepted, you may not be able to go through all 22 pages of postings but the last 2 or 3 pages should give you an idea where the discussion stands now.  I will present my salient points in support of tithing to you again and I hope you deal with the points I raise exhaustively.  Others have side-stepped this because they could not provide an answer, yet they still hold on to their pre-conceived notion that tithing is not acceptable in our dispensation.

There are no Levities today, there is no man that is now in the place of Melchizedek.

I am surprised by this statement especially coming from someone who claims to have spent considerable time studying the concept of tithing.  Indeed there are no Levities today, but there is one who is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.  As I have stated before, there are only two priestly Orders in the scripture, the Levitical and the melchizedek.  The priesthood of Jesus Christ today is after the order of Melchizedek's.  Go back and study the Book of Hebrews again.

As I also stated before, the Book of Hebrews expounds that every priest must necessarily offer both gifts and sacrifices (this was stated in at least 3 verses).  Jesus already offered the sacrifice of His blood once and for all, and this was emphasised very clearly in Hebrews.  However, nothing was said about the gifts that Jesus offered being done away with.  

Common sense tells us that to find out what gifts Jesus as our High Priest offers, we must find out what gifts Melchizedek offered and received from one who is in covenant with God.  A study of the book of Genesis reveals that the only gift that Melchizedek received was the tithe, and this same gift was received by the Levitical priests.  So why would Jesus be different I ask?  So what gifts does Jesus offer today as our Priest if the sacrifice He offered is His blood?  This is the question I want you to provide answers for.

You also try to bring the issue of tithing under the law, but you deliberately forget that tithing predates the law and must of necessity postdate it.  I agree that as Christians we are not under the law, but I do not agree that tithing is subject to the law, though it was brought into it, because the law requires the participation of a priest, and a priest must necessarily offer sacrifice and the gifts.

I rejoice with you about your testimony and it is a great one indeed, but never in my Christian walk  have I exalted an experience, whether good or bad above the word of God.  Let me share with you what I learnt recently listening to a Chris Okotie message from Psalm 138:2  for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.  Personally, I have wondered what this scripture meant but I believe in the understanding that I got from that message.  He said God's name in the Old Testament is revealed only after a manifestation.  For instance people refer to God as Jehovah Jireh when He meets their needs, and they always qualify the Jehovah, based on His manifestation to them at that time.  In other words, God's name is synonymous with manifestation and the word is very clear in that scripture that God's Word must be esteemed above any manifestation that we may experience.  To cut a long story short, the manifestation you experienced is good and noteworthy, but it does not make the Word of God of non-effect.  SELAH!!!

I can see some have nothing to contribute but to attack personalities.  I wonder who is in need of some manners. And by the way, the issue you raised is about semantics and not dogma as you are implying. Try not to use big words that you do not understand.

I think some are too drunk in chosen words. If they like let them empty their pockets and Give them to "man of GOD" as tithe.

Hi TayoD,

Personally I think your insistence on equating the "tithe" with the "gift" that priests always have to offer to be somewhat tenuous.

In the preceding 23 odd pages we have looked at this subject exhaustively.

The "tithe is synonymous with gift" argument is all that lefts to those on the side of mandatory tithing for NT Christians (and when I say "those", I think it's pretty much you sir!).

But because I quite enjoy our discourse, have huge respect (and much love) for you as  person and truly believe you are quite sincere, lets stay with it.

I appreciate your insistence on magnifying God's Word over personal testimony or anecdotal evidence (although I believe BabyOsisi's testimony aligns with the Word).

So please show from scripture, the basis and support for your thesis, and lets take it from there.

God bless.

Hi TV01,

Do you agree with the scriptures that a Priest must necessarily offer both sacrifices and gifts?

If you do, do you believe Jesus as our priest today must do the same?

And if that is the case, what gifts does Jesus offer today?

If you can tell me what this is from God's Word, then I have no problems at all. This singular reason is why I believe the tithe is still necesary today. I cannot get myself to ignore this passage of scriptures especially as it is stated in at least 3 places.

You have claimed my conclusions are wrong but you are yet to show me either where the Bible says that tithes are done away with as it does with respect to the sacrifices, neither have you shown me what gifts Jesus offers today as our High Priest.

I do believe in grace, but i believe there is works in grace.

tayoD,even though I've never met you,I consider every child of God my brother or my sister.
You have used some hurtful words to describe my intelligence just because our opinions differ but I choose not to hold that against you.

My prayer is that we all shall come before Him blameless at His appearing.
Arguments like this would lead nowhere and I do not intend to continue in it.
Bless you.

@babyosisi,

I am sorry, but I cannot recall ever insulting your intelligence at all. I have always been very mindful of how I relate to people on this forum, and you have not said nor done anything to provoke an unwarranted attack on you from my person.

I think you may have mistaken my address at Hnd_holder to be directed at you. It is not so at all. I only served the guy back in his own coin and I did that as mildly as I could while pointing out his folly.

If you have been offended at all, I sincerely apologise. I have learnt a lot on this forum and I do not intend to jeorpadise that at. As I noted, I believe you are quite sincere, but wrong. I hope you do not suppose that to be an insult on your person.

Please accept my sincere apologies if indeed I have offended you.

TayoD, I think Your style is Good, I am not a Guy I am a man old enough to be your senior. Did your Bible teach you to insult somebody? By their fruit we shall know them. I hope you will learn to control your self. Regards

oga o

@Hnd_holder,

If you understand the Bible better than I do, why don't you lead by example. There has been a concentrated dialogue on the issue of this thread for the past 3 to 4 pages until you showed up and made a very frivolous statement.

I took the pains to show you that you were out of order, but you only came back to attack my personality. It seems to me that serving you back in your own coin is the only way to keep you focused on the topic at hand, and I hope it does just that.

Anyway, if you have anything to say to what we are discussing, your view points are welcomed. Just try to be objective and not throw cheap insults around.

Guys, guys. . . sometimes these things are hard to avoid, and people must take some heat where they're misunderstood.

So, let me offer a truce to both of you - TayoD and Hnd-holder, apologies from me and myself. . . so that we can continue to learn. Whatever has happened should belong to the past. Handshakes??

My hand is extended through the monitor. I hope I get a hand in return and not a viper!

You get a very warm 'hand'. . . just 'shake' the rest.

I built up this topic for your information, From Page one 11th of June 2005 through some inovation we got to this point, you are welcome, take your time and search my record on this topic.

Gentlemen,

Good to see we can have our difference and make up. And more importantly not lose sight of the issue at hand.

Hi TayoD,

As promised, here is a response to your “tithe as gift” premise.

Your starting point for this particular subtext has been that the Bible detailing priestly duties as offering “Gifts & Sacrifices”. Two such instances appended;

Hebrews 5:1
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Hebrews 8:3
For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.


I think the book of Hebrews (most excellent huh!) is sufficient for us to answer the question, and all chapter and verse references will be from there (NKJV) unless otherwise noted.

Firstly, the bible makes it very clear that gifts are offered according to the law;

Hebrews 8:4
For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law

Secondly, the gifts offered according to the law are only copies and shadows (types) of the heavenly things.

Hebrews 8:5
who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

Thirdly, said law has now been done away with

Hebrews 7:18
For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,

The gift aspect is redundant as gifts are offered according to the law ON EARTH.

As a High Priest who is seated at the right Hand of The Majesty on High and not an earth-based, law-bound, flesh-driven one, he is free from the limits and obligations of any earthly rituals.

Please refer to 8:3 again
…………. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

Indeed, the “something to offer” which satisfies and more than satisfies any earthly type, was offered once for all (eternally) and not daily, as it would be here on earth.

Hebrews 7:27
who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

No where, at no time to no one in any place in scripture are tithes made synonymous with or equated to gifts. Your insistence on the “gift” aspect of high priestly duty (which in any event was for high priest taken from among men, who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly) being necessary of our Current High Priest is a stumbling block in itself. Further insisting that the “gift” is equal to or can only be satisfied by “the tithe” (not even remotely suggested by Scripture, where?), is nothing more than a lame attempt to justify what is a thoroughly misguided practice, based on poor exegesis and faulty understanding.

If you have in any way been consistent, it’s in your parallel attempt to enforce an act of tribute (tithe), by a pre-covenant worshipper (Abraham), as mandatory for covenant (post-law) worshippers.

Equating “gifts” with “tithes” is further exposed as plain wrong when one notes that the tithe was never offered to God. It was for, 1 Priestly upkeep 2 Welfare, and 3 Feasting.

Freewill gifts where always noted as freewill, heave or the like. I see this as nothing more than “shrink to fit theology”. What is wrong with letting scripture speak for itself? Instead, men insist on building traditions and then retrospectively justifying them through a warped twisting of scripture.

Like I have repeatedly asked, please expound on the practical outworking of the “tithe/gift” that our High Priest offers to God.

But don't take my word for it, let’s go back to The Word.

Hebrews 9:9
It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—

Gifts and sacrifices as offered by the earthly high priest where symbolic and only for a time. They could never perfect you or enable you to approach God, which is the whole point, God desires fellowship. Not religion. Religion is epitomised by tithing, temples and a mediatory priesthood, redundant concepts that the flesh won’t relinquish. Enough already, I don’t think it could be any clearer.

10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. 11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

In fact, the gifts and sacrifices were not desired by or pleasing to God.

Hebrews 10
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-- In the volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God.' 8 Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. [color=#990000][/color]

My reading (which is of course in no way binding on anyone) is this;

Gifts ~ are an act of freewill offering, acts of worship if you will
Sacrifices ~ (not ignoring that gifts can be sacrificed) are a means of atonement.
Tithes ~ are a form of tax or tribute

Please sir, explain, what is this affectation with tithe equalling gifts? And from whence does it come? On what is it based? And where exactly does it lead?

As always, it’s been a pleasure.

I await your response.

God bless

Hi TV01,

Thanks for your piece which now informs my response:

Firstly, the bible makes it very clear that gifts are offered according to the law

This statement is very misleading as it gives the notion that the gifts are offered only as required by law.  Abraham wasn't under the law when he paid his tithe.  Tithing was brought into the law as part of the priestly office.  The common denominator in all these cases is the priesthood, and not the law.  The emphasis in Hebrews 8:4 is actually on the priest and not on the gift as you make it appear to be.  And if the levitical priests do offer the gifts according to the law, under what covenant did Melkchizedek offer his?  Please don't tell me it's the law.

Secondly, the gifts offered according to the law are only copies and shadows (types) of the heavenly things.

If the blood of bulls and lambs were a shadow of the blood of Jesus, what is the reality of the gift of tithe?  We need to make a dinstinction clearly between the gift and the sacrifice, otherwise we stand in danger of muddling everything up together.  And accroding to Hebrews 8:3, Jesus must necessarily have to offer gifts and sacrifices.

Thirdly, said law has now been done away with

How does this affect the tithe?  The tithe predates the law and must necessarily outdate it. 

The gift aspect is redundant as gifts are offered according to the law ON EARTH.

As a High Priest who is seated at the right Hand of The Majesty on High and not an earth-based, law-bound, flesh-driven one, he is free from the limits and obligations of any earthly rituals.

Please refer to 8:3 again
…………. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

Indeed, the “something to offer” which satisfies and more than satisfies any earthly type, was offered once for all (eternally) and not daily, as it would be here on earth.

Hebrews 7:27
who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Again here TV01, you are not making any dinstinction between the Gift and the Sacrifice.  Indeed, the sacrifice of His blood is done once and for all, and I beg to disagree that the gift and the sacrifice can be equated. Okay tell me I pray you, is the tithe now a part of the sacrifice?  If not, it must necessarily be a gift, and if it is a gift, Jesus must necessarily have to offer the gift of the tithe.  And stop trying to make the tithe sound like it is subject to the law because it isn't. It was only brought into the law because the people under God's covenant then were under the dispensation of the law. The common feature of all who pay tithe is the fact that they were all God's covenant people. And if your assumption that the blood of Jesus takes care of both the gifts and the sacrifice, then you might as well do away with freewill offerings because it suggests that the blood of Jesus is not efficacious enough.

If you have in any way been consistent, it’s in your parallel attempt to enforce an act of tribute (tithe), by a pre-covenant worshipper (Abraham), as mandatory for covenant (post-law) worshippers.

I believe this must be a slip of the keyboard.  So Abraham was under the law?  So he wasn't in covenant with God?  Please re-word this statement as I believe you have not properly presented your intentions here. And by the way, if Abraham considered it necessary to pay a tribute to God (and not to men), then why should it be different under this covenant?

In fact, the gifts and sacrifices were not desired by or pleasing to God

If we are going to translate the bible literarily according to Hebrews 10:5 that you quoted while making the above statement, then you will see that the Bible actually mention sacrifices and offerings, and not gifts as you are potraying.  So you must even stop giving offerings as God is not pleased with them right?  However, careful reading of the scripture suggests the only problem was the law.  Tithing predates the law and you can never bring it subject to it.

My reading (which is of course in no way binding on anyone) is this;
Gifts ~ are an act of freewill offering, acts of worship if you will
Sacrifices ~ (not ignoring that gifts can be sacrificed) are a means of atonement.
Tithes ~ are a form of tax or tribute

I am glad you mention that sacrifices are meant for atonement.  That means the tithe must be excluded as it has no bearing with the atonement.  It is only the shedding of blood that brings about the remission of sins.  My problem with your conslusion is limiting the gift to only freewill offerings when we saw that it was the tithe that Abraham paid to Melchizedek when He saw him.  I feel safer to conclude that the tithe must necessarily be the gift.

Please sir, explain, what is this affectation with tithe equalling gifts? And from whence does it come? On what is it based? And where exactly does it lead?

I have explained this a number of times.  A priest offers both gifts and sacrifice.  The tithe beign given to melchizedek suggest that it must necessarily be the gift as we cannot conclude that the tithe was the sacrifice.  The origin of tithing predates the law and it was observed as soon as a priest came on the scene.  The tithe is not based on the law but on a covenant as we see Melchizedek holding the bread and the wine which were a symbol of the covenant.  The tithe leads us to acknowledge God as the creator of heaven and earth and the primary owner of all things as the name used for God in the passage where Abraham met Melchizedek acknowledges God as the creator.

I hope you will look at what I have said in the light of the scripture and as I mentioned, the key is in distinguishing between the gift and the sacrifice.  May God continually open the eyes of our understanding.

TayoD,
…………, Okay, let’s go back to the beginning of my last post.

Hebrews 5:1
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Hebrews 8:3
For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

Your argument essentially replaces the word “gifts” with “tithe”, I won’t go so far as to add/change the Word of God, but for the sake of discussion, lets read it as such.

Please explain from any part of the Bible the following

1. Where a high priest ever offered tithes to God, and for what?
2. How Jesus our High Priest offers tithe to God in this dispensation
3. Where a pre-law command, ordinance or practice of tithing was ever enacted?

Abraham gave a “tithe”.
As a one time thanksgiving offering, in response to victory in battle.
Spiritually significant only in as much as it depicts the superiority of the Melchizededk type over the Levitical/Aaronic type of High Priesthood.

There is no requirement to source an offering that satisfies the gift as opposed to the sacrifice. I believe “One time offering” satisfies both.

Tithing pre-dates the law as a practice. Not as a divine commandment. It became mandated under the law and subsequently abolished with grace. If you wish to tithe as a worship response, then no problem. It is not divinely commanded.

You continually insist that “tithe” means “gift”, how and why I don’t see. Please show very clearly (from scripture, how this connection was made).

Finally, please reference the meaning of the word “gift”, save us all some time.

God bless

@TV01,

Okay, since you do not agree that the tithe is the gift, can you please tell us what the gift is?  Please be reminded that the blood offering must be the sacrifice aspect of the priestly job description.

Or could it be that you believe the gift aspect of the Priestly function of Jesus is done away with in the new covenant?

What you request of me, I have said over and over again, but you still want me to repeat myself. So now, I think the onus is on you to tell us what is offered on our behalf by Jesus as the gift.

NOT TO THITHE!
Thithing was a practice in Judaism. Please lets always be able to make the difference. Neither the apostles nor the early christians paid tithes.
Modern-day preachers have this annoying habit of selectively promoting Judaism. In New Testament worship u give as u purpose in your heart and as God prospers u.

EmemJU,

You need to butress your points with biblical facts. I was hoping I will at least get one person who claims that tithing is done away with to provide a scriptural basis for it.

The question still remains to you EmemJU and others: What is the Gift offered by the Priesthood of Jesus Christ if the sacrifice He offers is undoubtedly His blood?

For those who defend the modern false teaching of "tithing", do you:


1. ever spend the 'tithe/s' on whatever your heart desires including alcohol?

2. ever share your 'tithes' with widows, orphans, and aliens ("illegal immigrants", if you like)?


After all the Bible says you should do these things with your 'tithes'.

@Enigma,

Before you go around talking about how the tithe is meant to be spent, please let's establish if the tithe is a present day reality or not.

The tithe is not a present day reality, but cheap way of milking those who are seeking the help of the lord. In canon law it serves as tax used in building those church building of yester- years. Tithe was met to be paid by Israelites NOT for an American or a Nigerian.
Christ Jesus never made mention of it.

Hi TayoD,

TayoD:

OK, since you do not agree that the tithe is the gift, can you please tell us what the gift is?

I'll tell you what a gift is not, it's not a tithe.
As I believe I have shown, The Lords sacrifice was once for all time, nothing else required. And yes, the blood sacrifice covers all.

Gifts in this dispensation are the sacrifice of praise, worship and thanksgiving. Freewill offerings by the Saints (Priests all) to God through Christ Jesus (High Priest).

Your doggedly clinging to the "gift & sacrifice" notion as being extant and in exact detail in this dispensation is like I said earlier, the same mistake you made in interpreting Abrahams response to victory in battle with a tithe. Interprete spiritual things spiritually sir.

You claim to have answered my questions. Really? where? I can neither recall, nor locate.
For loves sake, may I ask that you please repost.

Please explain from any part of the Bible the following

1. Where a high priest ever offered tithes to God, and for what?
2. How Jesus our High Priest offers tithe to God in this dispensation
3. Where a pre-law command, ordinance or practice of tithing was ever enacted?

God says this;

Acts 17:24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

(I hope that disabuses you of your love for temples at the same time as freeing you from the bondage of a mandatory tithe! )

The "Gifts & Sacrifice" where acts of worship and atonement.
Atonement was made by the High Priest once a year a type of reality fulfilled by the Lord. Freewill gifts where also offered to the Lord, as I've repeatedly explained, the tithe was not, it had other purposes and was not a freewill offering (i.e gift), it was tribute or tax.

God doesn't need your tithe. The merchandisers do. It builds temples, funds programs, pays salaries and establishes empires. The law is abolished, the concept is redundant. It enslaves the religious and binds those without understanding. My brother, avail yourself of the Liberty that is in Christ. You were brought at a price, do not become a slave to men!

God bless

The payment of tithes was adopted from the Old Law, writers speak of it as a divine ordinance and an obligation of conscience, rather than any direct command by Jesus Christ.

Those who serve the altar should live by the altar (1 Cor 9:13)

Tithe generally defined as "the tenth part of the increase arising from the profits of land and stock, allotted to the clergy for their support or devoted to religious or charitable uses". A more radical definition is "the tenth part of all fruits and profits justly acquired, owed to God in recognition of his supreme dominion over man, and to be paid to the ministers of the church". This never sound like a gift to me.

Matthew 23:23
Away with you, you pettifogging Pharisee lawyers!
You give to God a tenth (tithe) of herbs, like mint, dill, and cumin, but the important duties of the Law -- judgement, mercy, honesty -- you have neglected.
Yet these you ought to have performed, without neglecting the others.

and its parallel Luke 11:42
Woe to you, Pharisees! You tithe mint and rue and every edible herb but disregard justice and the love of God. These were rather the things one should practice, without neglecting the others.