Should Christians give tithes today?
“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.”
~Romans 4:16
“For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’”
~Hebrews 7:17
According to God’s word, if you are in Christ, you are of the faith of Abraham, and he is the father of us all. Also referring to Jesus Christ, God’s word says that He is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Putting these two scriptures together, I want to bring out about 3 things:
- We are of the faith of Abraham.
- We are Abraham’s spiritual offspring.
- We are in the same order of priesthood of Melchizedek.
Now ponder a little on what the scriptures mean by ‘the faith of Abraham’: What is the faith of Abraham? Or, what was his religion? What was his ‘church’ — his ‘denomination’, if you may? What principles did he subscribe to?
Abraham had his own faith. What was it? Judaism?
Oh no!
Abraham wasn’t a Jew. He wasn’t of the faith of Judaism; because Judaism hadn’t started at that time. Judaism started with Moses. Similarly, Abraham wasn’t an Israelite because that nation hadn’t come into existence then.
Abraham was a mystery man. God brought him out of his native land. God walked with him and called him His friend. He had his own faith, his own religion — and it wasn’t the paganism of His day; he was a worshiper of the true and living God.
As a matter of fact, Jesus revealed the faith of Abraham to us.
“Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
~ John 8:56
“Abraham rejoiced to see my day…” How did this happen? When did it occur?
Well, Abraham met Him on his way from victory! Abraham worshiped God through Him. And Abraham gave Him a tenth of all! Both of them even broke bread and wine!
“This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!”
~Hebrews 7: 1-4 (also Genesis 14:17-20)
Understand: Abraham worshiped the living God through a mediator that we know today as Jesus Christ. The same mediator that mediates our own faith today mediated Abraham’s relationship with his God. So Abraham’s faith is actually the same faith that we have today. Abraham practiced Christianity 500 years before the law was given!
Abraham was a follower of Christ.
Essentially Jesus said, “If you people were really Abraham’s children — that is, of his faith; if you were his offspring — you will know who I am, because Abraham worshiped me.” The people got upset, and later when He said, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” they picked up stones to kill him.
Yet, Jesus was stating the truth. Abraham knew the Christ; Abraham worshiped Him. He came to Abraham’s house and ate food. He told him about the birth of his son Isaac. The full story is found in the eighteenth chapter of the book of Genesis.
“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground…Then the Lord said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’ Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.”
~Genesis 18: 1-2, 10
And while Abraham was on his way back from defeating the five kings, the Lord — in the person of Melchizedek — met Abraham on the way and blessed him. Then Abraham gave Him a tenth of the plunder.
And the bible says that as a Christian, you are of the same faith as Abraham; his spiritual offspring. We may not be of the same culture, personality, or business as Abraham; and hence, not all that he did applies to us. Yet, in his walk with God, particularly in that dimension that we share together — the priesthood of Melchizedek — we should do the same.
If you are of the same faith as Abraham, and in that faith Abraham gave a tenth of all, then you should devote at least a tenth of all to God.
Another important thing that the bible tells us is that Jesus Christ is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. So, the same priesthood that mediated Abraham’s relationship with God, mediates our relationship with God. Melchizedek is no other than Christ: he has no beginning of life or the end of it, like the son of God he is a priest forever, he has no genealogy, he has no father or mother, he is a king of righteousness and a king of peace.
Yes. We should give a tenth of all we have today to Jesus Christ, just as Abraham did. Actually, we should even give more; but I’ll deal with that in subsequent posts.
Memory Verse:
Romans 4:16
“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.”Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I thank You for this awesome revelation on the giving of tithe to Jesus. I choose today to walk in this understanding, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.