THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON TITHING AND ITS IMPLICATION TO THE

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN
By Wirsiy Kingsly M, 2017

Introduction

Tithe simply means one out of ten. It refers to one-tenth of any property or

produce. There can be one-tenth of anything that one has worked for or has simply been

graciously blessed with.

The focus of this theological paper is mainly on what the Bible teaches about tithes

because it is God alone who through the lines of his Word can teach us what tithing really is

and what its place or role in the Christians of the contemporary setting is. Looking at what the

Bible teaches about tithes, this researcher will treat the subject in two sections. The first

section will be on what the Old Testament teaches about tithes and the second section will be

on what the New Testament teaches about tithes.

Furthermore, these two views will be brought together and analyzed in order to see

the link between the two testaments with respect to the subject matter. Here the focus will be

to find out how the theme has been developed in the Old Testament and how it finds its

fulfillment or affirmation or modification in the New Testament.

Thereafter, our findings will lead us to a conclusion which will answer the

question, “What is the implication of the biblical perspective on tithing to the contemporary

Christian?”

What the Old Testament Teaches about Tithes

The practice of paying tithes is a very ancient one that started right in the Old

Testament.1 For us to have a good grasp of what the Old Testament teaches us about paying

1
Alexander Cruden, A Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New
Testament (Oberlin, Ohio: E. J. Goodrich, Publisher, 1879), 634.

1
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tithes, we will need to know and have a good understanding of how the relationship that

existed between God and his people in the Old Testament times was.

In the Old Testament times, the relationship that existed between God and his

people was governed by the law – the commands of the Lord. The law is generally referred to

as the first five books of the Bible called the Pentateuch. In the Old Testament we have the

Law, the Prophets, and the Writings that make up the Old Testament canon. But the

commandments of the Lord to govern the living standards of the people were dominantly

rooted in the Law. Every individual was required to do as the law demanded and not having

to decide by oneself what one desires to do else it was sin. Timothy Palmer notes that in the

Old Testament, the Mosaic Law was given to regulate the lives of the members of the

covenant.2 The primary function of the law was to guide the believer in his or her life. 3The

law is the instrument of the covenant, and demands absolute trust and obedience.4

Since it was a given that the law demanded absolute obedience, it was lawful for

every one of God’s people (the Jews) to tithe. The obvious question that comes up is, “How

was this principle of tithing supposed to be carried out?”

Basically, there were two main principles that governed the practice of tithing in

the Old Testament as follows:

- All of God’s people were required to tithe all the yield of their seed (Deut. 12:1, 6, 11,

17, 14:22; Lev. 27:30).

- No tithe was supposed to be withheld (Lev. 27:31-34).

2
Timothy Palmer, Christian Theology in an African Context (Kaduna – Nigeria: Prudent Universal
Press & Publishing Co. Ltd., 2015), 69.
3

Ibid.
4

Hendrickus Berkhof, Christian Faith, Revised Edition. Translated by S. Woudstra (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986), 236.
 3

With respect to the first principle stated above, worthy of note are the words “all”

in Deuteronomy 14:22 and “every” in Leviticus 27:30. This means that tithes were supposed

to be given from everything that they were blessed with. This entails that it was not to be

given from one’s particular kind of produce and the other things left out. The law required

that people should give tithes from every yield of their seed.

From the second principle, Leviticus 27:31 states that, “If a man wishes to redeem

some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.” This means that if one has failed to pay the tithe

of a particular produce this season, when the next season comes and the normal tithe from

that produce is given, the rest will still be divided into five and one of the five will be added

to the normal tithe as penalty for having redeemed (withheld) its tithe.

Tithes were given to fulfill some Particular Purposes

Tithes in the Old Testament were not just given for giving sake. There were a

number of purposes for which there were given.

1. Tithes were given to help the Levites who were strangers in Israel and had no land to

cultivate their own crops neither had they any means of income (Deut. 14:28-29;

26:12-15; 15:10).

2. Tithes were given to serve as incentives for the Lord’s priests. This was done in the

sense that when all the tithes were brought and given to the Levites, they were

supposed to also divide the whole tithes and give a tithe from it to the Lord’s priests

(Neh. 10:37-38).

From among the reasons why tithes were given in the Old Testament, these two

stand out as very foundational. The fact that tithes were given to help the Levites and to also

ensure that those who work in the house of God as priests were supported was crucial.

Given that tithing in the Old Testament was a requirement of the law, it means that

failure to tithe was a taboo, hence considered as robbing God and anyone who robbed God
 4

was cursed (Mal. 3:8-9). Leviticus 27:31-34 is there to point us to the fact that tithing was

such a serious issue in the Old Testament not to joke with. The following points are important

to note because since tithes were to be given from all that God had blessed people with,

knowing how to go about preparing them was important.

- If one were to tithe from the farm produce, it was supposed to be measured

proportionately into ten equal portions, and then one portion given as tithe to God.

People have thought that surely, there were usually eye witnesses to ensure that no

part was being redeemed or withheld as seen in Leviticus 27:31.

- If one were to tithe from animals, a staff was held so that as the animals pass under it,

the tenth was the Lord’s and the rest will continue to pass under it until they were

finished. After that all the number “tens” were given to God as tithe as seen in

Leviticus 27:32-33.

This practice of tithing was supposed to be carried out in the Old Testament

without anybody altering anything from what God had instructed. Going out of what was

stated as the commandment of God (Lev. 27:33) was a taboo, and the consequences were

great.

What the New Testament Teaches about Tithes

In the New Testament, we live under a new covenant which was sealed by the

blood of Jesus Christ at his death on the cross. Palmer argues that the Sinaitic covenant

ceased at the end of the Old Testament and God made a new covenant which was fulfilled in

Jesus Christ.5 He further explains his point that Jeremiah prophesied this new covenant (Jer.

31:31-33), and Jesus fulfilled it as the book of Hebrews tells us pointing to him [Jesus] as the

5
Palmer, 68.
 5

“mediator” of this new covenant (Heb. 8:6).6 Still on this note of the dispensations regarding

the Old covenant and the New covenant, I. Howard Marshall states that:

For Paul the difference between those under the law and those under grace is that the
former are like slaves and the latter are like sons and daughters to God. Their new
status is ascribed to two factors. On the one hand, they become children of God
through faith in Christ (Gal 3.26). Faith is expressed in the act of baptism. Baptism
is “into Christ”, which appears to mean that through this act the person is brought
into a spiritual relationship with Christ, which can also be expressed in terms of
being clothed with Christ. On the other hand, God sends the Spirit of his Son into
the hearts of his children. This appears to mean that the Spirit is sent in response to
faith and that the Spirit then makes the status of sonship effective by enabling
believers to address God as their Father.7

However, I would love to describe the New Testament era as the era of fulfilled

grace given that in the Old Testament there are evidences of God’s grace revealed at different

points. The deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt was a graceful act of God; showing love

for them in the wilderness instead of allowing his wrath to fall on them when they sinned was

a graceful act of God; when they were captured by Babylonians as captives and God

delivered them at the appointed time, he was demonstrating his graciousness just to name a

few. The grace of God that has been fulfilled in the New Testament in the person of Jesus

Christ has brought salvation to all (Titus 2:11). For anybody to become a part of this

covenant he has to put his full trust in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Tithing is presented in the New Testament differently from how it is in the Old

Testament. The Old Testament considered tithing as an activity that no one of God’s people

was exempted from performing, but in the New Testament, neither our Lord Jesus Christ nor

his apostles have commanded anything in this affair of tithes.8 This is not to say that there is

no mention of tithes anywhere in the New Testament. There are actually a good number of

places in the New Testament where tithe(s) is mentioned. But the issue here is that in those

Ibid.
7
I. Howard Marshall, New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel (Downers Grove,
Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 233.
8

Alexander Cruden, 634.

 6

places where the term is used, they do not stand commandments that we are to obey. In most

of those places, they stand as references to what the Old Testament has said with respect to

tithes.

Occurrences of Tithes in the New Testament and What they stand for

1. Matthew 23:23

In this verse, Jesus Christ is simply challenging the Scribes and the Pharisees’

hypocrisy. These people were claiming self-righteousness because they offered tithes of mint

and dill cumin. Probably they had read about tithes in the Old Testament. But Jesus Christ in

this text was rather emphasizing the fact that they have neglected justice and mercy.

People have argued from this text of Scripture that if Jesus said, “these you ought

to have done, without neglecting the others,” it means that Christians are expected to pay

their tithes. But something that note should be taken on is that during Jesus’ life time, the old

covenant of law was still binding until his death and resurrection, and Jesus’ challenge to

these Scribes and Pharisees was that they did not keep the whole law as required. Gary J.

Arnold reiterates this when he states that, “Many believe that Matthew 23:23 shows that

tithing is still required in the New Testament. This is a common mistake made by those who

are confused as to when the New Testament begins. Jesus was speaking to the law keepers

who were still under the Old Covenant law.”9

Furthermore, what Jesus said in this portion of Scripture was not in any way a

command for the New Testament Christians to tithe. It is a similar thing that Luke says in

Luke 11:42.

2. Luke 18:12

9
Gary J. Arnold, Tithing Today, Third Edition (copyright © 2009 by Gary J. Arnold),
www.tithingtoday.com. Browsed October 28, 2017.
 7

Tithe is mentioned here to expose the self-pride of the Pharisee who was praying

with a tax collector in the temple. According to this Pharisee, he thought that because of his

tithes, he was going to be heard and helped by God unlike the tax collector. But in the New

Testament, we are not taught anywhere to tithe so that God will answer our prayers. Tithe is

not also mentioned in this text of Scripture as a command to be obeyed.

3. Hebrews 7:1-14

In this text of Scripture, tithe is being mentioned in several verses. However,

looking at the context of this passage, one would notice that the main idea communicated in

the text is that Melchizedek, King of Salem, was indeed the priest of the most high God that

even Abraham gave him a tithe. This is an example of the New Testament text that is

mentioning tithe simply as a reference to an event that took place in the Old Testament (Gen.

14:18-20) and not as a command for Christians to obey.

With these occurrences of tithe(s) in the New Testament and some that perhaps

have not been pointed out, there is no place where it appears as a command for the Christians.

Is Tithing Therefore a Requirement for the Contemporary Christian?

The question as to whether the contemporary Christians are required to tithe or not

has been a heated debate among Bible scholars. There are those who say we are required to

tithe and there are those who say we are not required to.

Arnold highlights that, “In the Old Testament, Book of Genesis, Chapter 14, we

first find the subject of tithing. Many pastors use this text as an example to show that tithing

existed as far back as Genesis and that it sets the standard for all time.”10 But he moves on

and points out, and I think rightly so, that considering Genesis 14:8-24 and Hebrews 7:4,

Abraham gave to King Melchizedek ten percent of the war spoils. Note that he gave
the rest to the King of Sodom. Abraham kept nothing for himself. Abraham did
NOT give ten percent of his income, or ten percent of all he owned. He gave ten
10
Ibid.
 8

percent of the war spoils that he, himself, said didn’t belong to him. He gave nothing
of his own. The scripture does not tell us that Abraham was required to tithe, or give
a tenth, of the war spoils. Whether a gift or not, Abraham said the goods didn’t
belong to him, and he kept nothing for himself.11

Even though the two groups of people who argue, one for and the other against, try

their best to bring up biblical backings to their positions; it is very important that in tackling

this question one must take into consideration the fact that the context of a particular text of

Scripture, and the context of the Bible as a whole with respect to a particular text of Scripture

is crucial to Bible interpretation.

Given the covenant relationship that existed between God and his people in the Old

Testament as established earlier, it is obvious that tithing was a requirement for the people in

that era. The law required that they should and the only thing for them to do was either to

tithe and be blessed or not to tithe and be cursed (Mal. 3:8-12). But coming to the New

Testament, the case is different. The teaching of the New Testament does not point out that

tithing is a requirement for the Christians. Nevertheless, Christians are taught to give and to

do that cheerfully and generously.

This brings us to a crossroads. The Old Testament teaches about giving together

with tithes as a requirement, but the New Testament teaches generally about giving without

projecting tithes as a requirement. So which should the contemporary Christians go by? This

is the question that must be answered with a lot of care and objectivity.

For this question to be objectively answered there is a high need to consider

answering this one: “If tithing is not taught as a requirement in the New Testament, what then

becomes of the Old Testament texts that teach it thus for the Contemporary Christian

considering that the whole Bible is the Word of God?”

11
Ibid. I agree with Arnold that there is nothing in the scripture to indicate this event has anything
to do with the New Testament Church. It was a one-time event. There is no evidence in the scriptures to show
that Abraham ever tithed before or after this event. Therefore, I believe it is wrong to use this example to show
that tithing had been established before the law and therefore, was brought into the New Testament. Since
Abraham gave nothing of his own, it is wrong to pull the concept of the tithe out of context and now apply it to
one’s own income or property.
 9

What is very crucial here with respect to the question raised above has to do with

how we interpret those Old Testament texts with respect to the New Testament teaching. The

interpretation of the Old Testament has to be done with the consideration of the fact that it

was a foundational revelation that was progressively going to find its fulfillment in the New

Testament. Thus we must interpret the Old Testament with the following questions in mind:

- What was God saying?

- What theme of the Bible is the text addressing so that it can be traced throughout the

Old Testament into the New Testament?

- Does the New Testament modify, qualify, or fulfil it?

With these questions in mind as one tries to interpret the Old Testament texts

regarding tithes, the following will surface:

1. Tithing was a command that God gave to his people in the Old Testament.

2. Tithing falls under giving. Thus in handling the subject, the Bible interpreter will be

tracing the theme of giving from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

3. Tracing the theme of giving from the Old to the New Testament, one would find out

that in the New Testament Teaching, tithing is modified and kind of swallowed up in

the teaching of giving.

Putting these together, one can see clearly that the right teaching for the

contemporary Christians as far as the issue of tithing is concerned is to teach them how to

give as taught in the Bible. Teaching people how to give as taught in the Bible means that we

read what the Old Testament says (commands) about giving, and then trace how it relates to

and finds its fulfillment in the New Testament before getting into how practically it can be

applied to our lives. The Old Testament teaching of giving with tithes inclusive culminates in
 10

the New Testament teaching on giving and is summed up in the following summary on how

Christians ought to give:

- Christians are to give generously (Luke 6:38; Mark 4:24).

- Christians are to give as God has blessed them (1 Cor. 16:2).

- Christians are to give as they have purposed in their hearts, and are to so cheerfully (2

Cor. 9:7).

Coming back to the main question of this section, “Is tithing therefore a

requirement for the contemporary Christian?” one can conclude thus: Given the analysis

above with respect to proper interpretation of Scripture, it will be improper for us to place

tithing before the contemporary Christians as a requirement. Even though Arthur W. Pink

advocates for tithing being a requirement to the contemporary Christian by stating that:

Tithing is even more obligatory on the saints of the New Testament than it was upon
God’s people in Old Testament days—not equally binding, but more binding, and
that for two reasons: first, on the principle of “unto whomsoever much is given, of
him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). The obligations of God’s saints today are
much greater than the obligations of the saints in Old Testament times, because our
privileges and our blessings are greater. As grace is more potent than law, as love is
more constraining than fear, as the Holy Spirit is more powerful than the flesh, so
our obligations to tithe are greater, for we have a deeper incentive to do that which is
pleasing to God. Listen! The Christian should tithe for the very same reason he
keeps all the other commandments of God, and for the same reason he keeps the
laws of his country—not because he must do so, but because he desires to do so. As
a law abiding citizen in the kingdom of God, he desires to maintain the government
of God and to do that which is pleasing in His sight. Again, in proportion as the
priesthood of Christ is superior to the priesthood of Aaron, so are our obligations to
render tithes to Him … Therefore, in proportion to the greater blessings and
privileges that we enjoy, we are under deeper obligations to God; and in proportion
as Christ’s priesthood is superior to that of the Levites, so is our obligation the
greater to render tithes unto the Lord today, than that under which His people lived
in Old Testament times,12

it would be out of place for any biblically sound theologian to accept that argument for at

least the following reason:

12
Arthur W. Pink, Tithing, Article, Joseph Kreifels (Place and Date of Publication not found).
 11

He argues that tithing is more obligatory on the NT saints than it was on God’s

people in the OT because our privileges as NT saints are greater than those of the OT people;

yet he says that the Christian should tithe not because he must do so, but because he desires

to do so. On that note, he is trying to bring two things together of which they cannot stand

together – an obligation and a desire to do something not as a “must” are two distinct things

that stand independently from each other. Furthermore, one can deduce that his main concern

is that our giving as NT saints should surpass that of God’s people in OT times, in which case

he should be encouraging generous giving and not an obligation to tithe. This is because it is

obvious that any Christian who is committed to giving with the understanding of what Christ

has accomplished for him which is much better than what was for the people in the OT times

will do so far more than just a tenth of what God has blessed him with.

The contemporary Christians should rather be taught and encouraged to give to

God generously and cheerfully as God has blessed them. That way we are to be consistently

committed to the sound teaching of the Bible. In fact there is no doubt that if the

contemporary Christians are taught the truth of Scripture this way in regards to giving, and in

consideration of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for us on the cross which no amount of

money can pay, what our churches will realize as income through giving will blow one’s

imagination. The increase will be drastic.

Conclusion

To tithe or not to tithe has indeed been a heated debate among scholars. It is still as

hot today as it was in the past. The goal of this paper has been an attempt to figure out if

tithing is a requirement for the contemporary Christians from the biblical perspective. The

findings have shown that the primary issue has been centered on the problem of proper

interpretation of Scripture. If Scripture is interpreted correctly by any scholar, he would find

out that tithing falls under giving and as far as the contemporary Christians are concerned, it
 12

is not supposed to be a requirement for them to most tithe. The contemporary Christians are

to be encouraged to give cheerfully, generously, and as the Lord has blessed them.

But most importantly, pastors need to challenge their Christians to consciously

surrender their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This is the act of giving oneself to God

as the Bible talks of the Macedonian Christians. The Bible says:

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among
the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy
and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of
their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the
saints – and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and
then by the will of God to us.13

The reason why their giving was that much as the apostle Paul could testify was

because they first gave themselves to God. Then as a result, they knew that all they had

belonged to God and that moved them to give to his course generously.

It will be very important therefore, that the pastors and teachers of the Word should

not take lightly the work of proper exegesis of any given text of Scripture in order that the

application(s) thereof will not distance the Christians from the truth of what God intended for

them to walk in. this study, even though not exhaustive, can help the members of the body of

Christ to live their lives practicing nothing but the truth of Scripture in the domain of giving.

Others may pick up from here and develop more writings on other aspects of giving such as,

the importance of record keeping in giving, the necessity of setting some amount aside for

giving to the church perhaps on a monthly basis besides the usual offerings on weekly basis,

etc.

13
2 Corinthians 8:1-5