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NASB | 1 Timothy 1:8 ¶ But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Timothy 1:8 ¶ Now we know [without any doubt] that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully and appropriately, |
Subject: do u tithe on unemployment checks |
Bible Note: To various parties reading the tithing thread, As we have seen very clearly, the question of tithing is unavoidably tied to the question of how the law applies to New Testament believers. This is a question that impacts a great deal of things. Unfortunately it is something we have failed to understand more often than not. I would rather not debate the question on the forum, but I'd like to give some questions to help people think through the question. 1. When scripture says we are not under the law but under grace, does it mean a.that the moral laws of the old testament are no longer to be understood as how we should live? b.or does it mean that we are no longer going to be judged by them for our acceptance before God? 2. To facilitate this question, think through the ten commandments. Have they been abolished by Christ as rules for His people? Don't give a blanket theological answer, go back and look through them one at a time in Exodus 20 and ask it individually. 3. Did Christ teach that he was going to do away with the law? See Matthew chapter 5:17 and following verses. 4. Clearly scripture teaches that the ceremonial laws that were just meant to point to a future reality in Christ are gone. These are things such circumcision, festivals, sacrifices, dietary laws etc. IF you have decided FIRST that we are not judged before God based on the moral law, but we still are guided and instructed by the moral laws, such as do not murder, do not commit adultery etc. THEN you must decide how tithing fit into the old testament. In Short, was it a moral command or one of these ceremonial commands? Was tithing a sign given to point to Christ? Or was tithing as a command to honor God from your wealth an actual moral issue? 5. Now, if you have decided that even though we are not condemned by the law any longer, but we are to walk rightly according to it, and that tithing is infact a moral issue, we must consider how a christian was meant to view the law, even while walking in obedience to it. 6. In that case I would turn you to 1 Tim 1. What you will find is that the law will never be a problem to one following Christ by walking in the spirit, for the spirit is going to lead you to worship, love, and give. None of which are against the law. (I imagine galatians 5 is in my mind as I say this also.) The reason when you ask about tithes we get as many answers as we do, is that their answer assumes their stance on everything above. Whether they have actually thought through those questions or not, they have fallen into some stance on them. Now, in my opinion, those who think we have nothing to do with the tithe, need to think very hard about points 1 through 3. If somebody may say they think we should still walk in accord with the ten commandments, they may decide that tithing was simply a sign, to what I couldn't guess. I think its part of the moral law, but each must decide that themselves. Then on the other end of the spectrum there are those who think tithing is the point. And we best follow every point of it. They have an opinion of whether it is gross or net, etc. To them I would suggest you think very hard about point 6, as well as read 2 Cor chapters 8 and 9. I would encourage them to see that the point is not nearly so much about the money as a giving heart. And a giving heart will never struggle with tithing in the same way that somebody motivated entirely by love will never struggle with murder. I do not expect this to settle any disagreements, but only to help people think through the issue, and to understand why nobody agrees. In Christ, Beja |