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Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
Established
November 2008 Published Weekly on Friday
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior, who desires all men (and women) to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:3-4)
Galatians (6:6)
(Lesson 23)
Welcome to HBS.
One of my
unswerving prayers is I never teach y’all something that does not line up with
Scripture. The other positive thing I attempt
to do each week is I try to make this Bible study interesting, and I have to
admit it isn’t effortless. Certain books
of the Bible lend themselves to storytelling and this, naturally, attracts
readers because people enjoy a good story.
I offer Genesis and Exodus as two examples. Hollywood moguls thought so too because several
motion pictures were produced based on characters and events from these two
books. But I’ve yet to see a movie based
on Galatians or Ephesians and probably never will, and that’s my point. Some books of the Bible just don’t “light up
the big screen” like other books. Some
people would call them “dry” or “boring.” It takes a mature Believer to understand the entire
Bible for what it is; “a love letter from the Creator God to His
creation, inviting us to be reconciled to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Our salvation is
just the first step in a process known as sanctification,
thus I urge y’all to remember why we’re here:
For in Him we live and move and are. ‘As also some of the poets among you have
said, “For we are also His offspring (Acts
17:28 – Berean Literal Bible).
But the One sanctifying
and those being sanctified are all of
one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers (Hebrews 2:11).
Our life in the Spirit isn’t just a walk it’s a journey. There are no short-cuts to learning how to walk by the Spirit (Romans 8:4-25). You can take comfort in knowing you’re not
journeying alone (Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 1:6).
********
Please
open your Bible at Galatians 6:6.
Galatians 6
6: The one
who is taught the word is to share all good things with
the one who teaches him.
The one who is
taught – the
word taught is from the Koine Greek
word Katecheo, (Kat-ay-kleh’-o),
Verb, Strong’s Greek #2727, which means to
instruct. Paul means to say the
Galatians are involved in a regular, ongoing ministry. Being taught
the word of God is (or should
be) a normal part of their life from now on.
We
worship God at church, that’s a given, but the primary reason Believers attend
church services is to be taught the word
of truth from the Bible. To mature in the faith the Believer must
hear from God regularly? One of the ways
a Believer can achieve this is by listening to the word being taught in
their church. It was done this way in
the O.T. and in the first century church.
Those house churches would spend the majority of their time listening to
the word of God.
For the word of God
is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far
as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to
judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12-13).
The
Bible isn’t a dead language; this is the world’s
viewpoint. It’s living and active because its author is the One, true God. When we read and study God’s Truths, His
living power invades our hearts and grows within us; His power changes us from
the inside out.
The word – we find this term
in John 1:1, referring to Jesus Christ. The word is the gospel of and about Jesus
Christ. Our Apostle Paul uses a variety
of ways to refer to this “word.”
The
word of God – 1 Corinthians 14:36; 2 Corinthians 2:17; Philippians 1:14;
Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13
The
word of the Lord – 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 3:1
The
word – Galatians 6:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; Colossians 4:3; 2 Timothy 4:2
At
the risk of upsetting some people, I need to point something out to y’all. Some time ago many churches in an effort to
bolster their membership ranks and in an attempt to halt the flow of families
leaving the church decided to provide some “glamour and glitz” to their Sunday
services in hopes of producing the “Wow”
effect amongst the congregations and this trend is ongoing. But here’s the thing, despite all the effort,
energy, and money diverted to this program, and it is substantial, the church
is not a member of the entertainment industry.
It’s not about the church leader, their diverse programs, or the spectacle
they can provide. These can all go away,
but what must not diminish is the word of God or its Truths; its content (nothing added and
nothing taken away) must be taught regularly
to the Body of Christ. Sadly, this is
exactly what has diminished in the church today. In the one place where God’s Truth should be
found, and heard routinely, many churches are failing.
Is to share – this phrase relates
to the law of spiritual sowing and
reaping. Those who are taught the word are under the spiritual
responsibility to share in the
ministry of those who preach and teach it.
In
1 Corinthians 9 Paul writes about
his use of liberty re: ” sowing and reaping, “the plowman ought
to plow in hope and the thresher to
thresh in hope of sharing the crops” (9:10b).
In
other words, let those who are being blessed by the ministry of their faithful
church preachers and teachers remember the words from our Apostle Paul: So
also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from
the gospel (9:14).
is to share is a command from
the Lord and mature Believers
understand this (1 Corinthians 14:37). However
Paul did not take advantage of this blessing, but he advocated it for other
preachers and teachers (1 Corinthians 9).
However, this is a hot topic because
people attending church are aware of certain preachers who have become wealthy
“making a gain” off the ministry. They’ve
turned it into a lucrative enterprise, in other words. 2 Corinthians 12:17-18 stands as a resounding
rebuke to those individuals who would abuse the word of God in this manner.
If
you attend a church on Sunday morning, you’re going to hear the word tithe most likely, and that’s because
churches today teach the tithe. Now I’ve been a “regular” attendee of more
than a few churches in my lifetime and of various denominations, including the
nondenominational denomination. And out
of all those church groups there was only one that did not use the word “tithe,” when they spoke of taking up a
collection to support their ministry.
Instead, they put baskets at the rear of the church and this is where
you placed your envelope, if you were a member.
Everyone else, if they desired, could walk by and drop a ”love-offering”
of whatever amount they chose or had purposed in their heart into one of
the baskets. Please know this was the
only church that got it right, because in the Dispensation of Grace Believers
are not commanded to tithe.
Most
church leaders won’t agree with what I just said because, as I’ve already stated,
they teach the tithe as biblical truth. I’ll cite one example from my own experience:
I won’t use the man’s name because I
don’t think that’s necessary. However, I
listened to his radio program one Sunday morning and heard this well-known
Baptist preacher and author say, “How
dare you show up in church without your tithe!”
Then he quoted a well-known verse from Malachi 3. I was stunned; and his audience should have been. I turned the radio off, because his message
turned me off. Why? This is not
what the Bible teaches!
This
gentleman should have known better, but to be fair, he’s only relaying the
message he was taught in
seminary. My advice would be to spend
more time studying this book and rightly
dividing it, per God’s command, instead of relying solely on the teaching of men (1 Corinthians
2:2-5; 2 Timothy 2:15). I’m reminded
this same Baptist pastor once taught
you could lose your salvation, but he recanted that belief after years of personal
Bible study. He now understands, “Once
saved, always saved” (Ephesians 1:13, 2:8-9, Romans 8:38). He finally understands God’s truth on this important
matter, even though that truth has always been there. But the truth on Tithing is there as well.
What
Does the Scripture Say?
First,
do the same thing I did and grab your concordance and look up the word "tithe." It’s plural in the New Testament. You'll discover it is used only eight
times. It is found once in Matthew and
twice in Luke, each one is referring to the Old Testament law. Tithe
is used five times in Hebrews 7, speaking of a time before the Law was given, when
Abraham paid tithes to
Melchizedek. The word tithe does not appear in the N.T. again
after this.
Our
Apostle Paul devoted two entire chapters of scripture (2 Corinthians 8 & 9)
to the subject of stewardship, and
he never used the word tithe once. Let’s be clear, Tithing is taught in the Bible, but only in the O.T, but even in
the Old Testament it was not a form of giving.
You see, giving was always voluntary in the O.T. The tithe
was a tax; and not giving; just like we are taxed every April 15th. You’re not sending the IRS a gift; you are paying
off a debt. If you don’t pay it, you
face retribution, i.e. penalties, fines, wage garnishment, or possibly jail
time. So, in a nutshell, tithing was taxation under the Mosaic
economy.
Many
churches promote a concept called “storehouse”
tithing, based on Malachi 3:10, where
God commands Israel to “bring the whole
tithe into the storehouse.” I’ve
heard this sermon more than once, and I know some of you have too. One of the churches I attended told our
congregation one Sunday morning “this
church is God’s storehouse, and our tithes
belong to Him, and His blessing is conditioned upon faithfulness in tithing.”
I’ve
taught the book of Malachi a couple of times and verse 1 specifically says the
letter was written to the Israelites. You see, God’s chosen people were not
bringing their grain offerings to the temple.
So, the LORD challenged them to bring “the full tithe” of grain
sacrifices (Leviticus 6:14-23), and see
that He would bless them with an abundance of future crops.
The
book of Malachi and its message is not meant for us Gentiles, but I wonder how
my pastor would have reacted if I placed a couple loaves of bread in the offering
basket instead of cash as it was passed to me?
I imagine he would have been as shocked to see bread in the offering basket
as I was to hear he was trying to put me back under the Law.
Let’s be clear: you can give as much of your talent, time, and treasure to God (the church) as you please, but let’s look at these reasons why tithing is not God’s standard for Grace Age Believers:
A:
Tithing was a part of the Law of Moses; Believers are not under the law, were
under grace. Romans, Galatians, and
other New Testament passages make it clear Believers are not under the Law. That does not mean we are lawless, because we
are under the law of Christ (1
Corinthians 9:20-21; James 1:25, 2:8, 12; Romans 13:8-10). God’s moral laws are still valid under the
New Covenant and are repeated as commands
in the New Testament. But here’s the
thing, the Church has never received a command
to tithe from God.
Those
who argue for tithing point out that Abraham and Jacob both tithed prior to the
Mosaic Law (Genesis 14:20, 28:22). Thus
tithing supersedes the law, they say. If
you examine the references to Abraham’s and Jacob’s tithing, you will see God
did not command them to tithe and there is no indication this was their regular
practice. On one occasion after a
victory in battle, Abraham tithed the spoils from that battle, but nothing is said
regarding his other possessions or his regular income. It was a “one-time tithe.” But they fail to mention this important detail
(Genesis 14:20). To follow Jacob’s
example would be wrong, because he was making a conditional vow before God, promising that if God would keep him
safe and provide for him, then he would give God a tenth (Genesis 28:20-22). That’s hardly a good example to follow in
giving, and yet they use it frequently. Tithing
was required under the Mosaic Law, but, again, Believers are not under the Law,
they are under grace.
B.
Tithing was an involuntary tax to support Israel; Believers are not a part of
the theocratic nation.
In
the Old Testament, there was both required and voluntary giving. Every Israelite was commanded to fund national
worship and to help the poor. In
actuality, there was not just one tithe, but rather two or three 1) Leviticus
27: 30-33; Numbers 18:20-21; 2) Deuteronomy 12:17-18; 3) Deuteronomy 14:28-29,
so adding it up the total responsibility wasn’t 10 percent, it was somewhere in
the neighborhood of 25 percent.
The
tithe consisted of the Temple tax, the Land Sabbath Tax, and the Special
Profit-Sharing Tax (leaving the four corners of their fields unharvested, for
the poor). As I pointed out already, the
required giving for the Jew was in the neighborhood of 25 percent annually. In addition to all of this, the O.T. mentions voluntary
giving, which included first-fruit giving
and freewill offerings.
What
often gets lost in this required and voluntary giving is the LORD wasn’t all
that interested in how much His people were giving but on the attitude of the giver and the quality of the gift. Think about that for a moment, as we prepare
to move to Paul’s teachings on the subject for there are similarities.
The
point is "tithing" is an Old Testament practice that was equivalent
to our modern-day tax structure. Tithes were not gifts at all, but were required
giving. Tithes as most of you
know means one-tenth and from the time of Moses onward, the Israelites (not the
Gentiles) were commanded to pay
it. But according to the Bible they were
to pay it to only one group. These people were the Levites who (among other people) ministered in the Temple:
And behold, I have
given the children of Levi all (what) the
tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service of the tabernacle of
the congregation (Numbers 18:21).
It
was made abundantly clear that the biblical tithe
was to be paid to the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes of ancient
Israel. In this initial law of tithing, no one else had the slightest
authority to receive that tithe. Even Jesus Christ, while he was teaching on
earth, did not use (nor did he demand) a penny of biblical tithe to fund his preaching activities and neither did His apostles.
Did you ever consider this? Looking at this biblically, the Lord was a descendant, in an adoptive way, from the tribe of Judah (Hebrews
7:14). He was not a Levite. Thus, He was ineligible to receive any part of
the biblical tithe that was ordained
for use by the Levites at the time of Moses.
The
central fact was this: only members of
the tribe of Levi were at first ordained in the Bible to receive the tithe (the tenth). The Levites in turn were to give one-tenth of
that tithe to the Priests (Numbers
18:25–28) who did not tithe at all. In our modern age, if you think about it, even
the ministers and priests are disqualified from receiving any biblical tithe because there is no official body
of men functioning as Levites.
Since
there is no Temple in existence, there are also no Levites, ministers, and
Priests serving in the Temple. The tithe at first was brought into play by
Moses to maintain the service of the Temple. With no Temple, the major factor for tithe paying does not exist as far as
the biblical laws of tithing are
concerned. For preachers and church
leaders to change the direction of paying the tithe from that of the Temple to the service of their Christian ministry is to do so without
any authority whatever from God, the author of Scripture. In fact, to use the tithing laws in a manner not sanctioned by the Word of God is to sin
against biblical law. And that is what most
church leaders and evangelists are doing today.
Now
some people get excited and say the church will go "under" in short
order if the people are told they don't have to tithe. I disagree and remind
them if the church is supported only because Believers are wrongly taught to tithe then that practice must end.
Many churches today would have to "cease operations" if their tithes were taken away. But the churches God chooses to exist will
continue to thrive because God’s people will continue to support them with
their love offerings and the church will
“never" lack for anything.” One godly writer said, "God's work done God's way will never lack
God's provision." (Galatians 6:2)
The tithe is never imposed on the Believer. We don't live in a Theocracy! According to Deuteronomy 12, the tithe was to be paid in Jerusalem only. So, if you think you are under obligation to give a tithe, per scripture, not only are you 2,000 years too late, because the Jewish Temple is no longer in existence, but what’s more there’s more than 5,000 miles separating you from your goal. Here’s the thing, this is so clearly taught in the New Testament one has to be oblivious or severely prejudiced to miss it.
The tithe is never imposed on the Believer. We don't live in a Theocracy! According to Deuteronomy 12, the tithe was to be paid in Jerusalem only. So, if you think you are under obligation to give a tithe, per scripture, not only are you 2,000 years too late, because the Jewish Temple is no longer in existence, but what’s more there’s more than 5,000 miles separating you from your goal. Here’s the thing, this is so clearly taught in the New Testament one has to be oblivious or severely prejudiced to miss it.
If
we are not under the tithe, and clearly
we are not, how much are we supposed to give?
Before I answer that question,
let’s all look to God’s example of giving in Christ:
For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He
became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians
8:9).
Jesus
Christ laid aside His privileges, took on human flesh, and took upon Himself
the sin and corruption of this world,
in order that we might become rich (2 Corinthians 5:21). Grace Age giving then looks to the substitionary
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself up for all, so we might be rescued from God’s
wrath, and says, “Lord, You gave all for
me. What can I give You in return?”
Paul
may have had this thought (or one like it in mind) when he wrote about the
subject of stewardship to the Corinthian church: “You
are not your own, for you have been bought with a price…” (1 Corinthians
6:19-20).
In
the Dispensation of Grace, all that we are and all we have belongs to God; not
just a tenth. We are merely the “managers” of His resources. As good stewards of God’s resources, we are
responsible to use them wisely to further His work here on earth. Under
Paul’s guidance, this is all about inner
motivation and not outward compulsion
(2 Corinthians 8:3-5, 9:7).
Therefore,
we shouldn’t think, “How much can I afford
to give?” but rather, “How much can I give?” We should not wait for someone to pressure us
into giving; directing us where to channel our funds. We should look for and be aware of good works that need to be met for in Ephesians
2:10 Paul writes: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in
them.
The
word workmanship is better
translated His masterpiece. God
is working out in our lives a tremendous exhibition of His love, His character, His life, His joy, His patience, His peace,
His power, and His wisdom. He is
teaching us, training us, bringing us along, bit-by-bit, here a little, there a
little, day-by-day, applying the paint, as it were, in all the right places, to
produce a one-of-a-kind masterpiece to be put on display for
all the world to behold. This is to result in good works: love, kindness, mercy, compassion, helping
one another, seeking another’s highest
good.
No
one knows how many good works God
has prepared for us, but they are
out there waiting for us to walk in them
as we trust and obey, depending
fully on Christ Jesus.
As
I said previously, Paul devoted two whole chapters to stewardship, the management of God’s resources, and he said the
amount we’re to give is determined by
the two “P’s” – prosper and proportion.
On the first day of
every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he (what) may prosper… (1 Corinthians 16:2a).
And in the proportion
that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to
send a contribution for the relief of
the brethren living in Judea (Acts 11:29; 2 Corinthians 8:3).
The
New Covenant churches each gave according to their ability. We know some of the churches gave
sacrificially, i.e. beyond their ability; however, the point is each of them determined how much their
gift or their contribution was going to be.
No one commanded them to tithe.
Another
point worth mentioning is this: …For if the readiness is present, it
is acceptable according to what a
person has, not according to what he does not have (2 Corinthians 8:11-12).
Paul
is saying, if you have a willing mind (you have the desire to give) but you
have insufficient funds to give to the church (you have money in your checking
account, but it’s already committed to groceries, medical bills, rent, utility
payments, etc.) your desire to give (alone) is acceptable before God. You don’t
have to give money to the ministry too. Has
anyone ever taught you this is what
the Bible says?
If
we are able, we have responsibilities, if we're not
able, then we don't have responsibilities.
Our responsibility is
according to our ability or as our Apostle Paul said, “according to what
a person has.” The
portion is incidental; it’s the proportion
that matters. Those who have less than
enough are to receive from others who have more than enough. This isn’t Gary’s opinion; by the way, this
is what your book says. Turn to 1
Corinthians 8:13-14:
For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality--
at this present time your abundance being
a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may
be equality.
Those
who had little gave the little they had: that in a great ordeal of affliction
their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth
of their liberality. For I testify that according
to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, (2 Corinthians 8:2-3)
Let each one do
just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under
compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).
“They gave of their own accord.” Another way of saying this is, “The amount they gave was of their own
choosing.” No one ordered them to tithe on a certain amount (your “net” or
your “gross income”) and no one belittled them for “not bringing a tithe into the storehouse.” They all gave as “they purposed in his heart.” This is proportionate
giving. Here we find although this (house
church) was in deep poverty, and they
were facing persecution and trials from within and without, yet the gift they gave
was beyond their means. The amount they
came up with individually, and as a church, they had purposed in their heart to fulfill a great need, i.e. to help the
Judean saints who had significantly less.
Getting
back to Galatians 6:6, anyone teaching the
word of truth has the right to receive remuneration for their services… The
laborer is worthy of his wages:
If we sowed spiritual things
in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? (1 Corinthians 9:11) (See Romans 15:27; 1
Corinthians 9).
Breaking
this passage down, Paul is saying, since I have taught you the word,
since I taught you about spiritual
things, since I have encouraged you in the
word of God, shouldn’t you provide material things for me? This verse is about sowing and reaping just
as our text in Galatians 6:6 is, just as his comments in 1 Corinthians 9.
Back
in Paul’s day, the Greek philosophers received an honorarium for their
instruction, and this was common knowledge.
Didn’t Paul have the right to exercise this concern when teaching
spiritual things? This is one of the
basic church principles, if we receive
spiritual blessings, we should in turn share material blessings.
but now, I am going
to Jerusalem serving the saints. For
Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor
among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they
were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their
spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things
(Romans
15:25-27).
Paul
wants the Galatians to know Believers cannot go without sound Bible teaching and
those who teach the word should be paid a wage so they
don’t have to work at other jobs to support themselves and their loved ones. I’ve served with pastors who had to work at
other jobs. They couldn’t support
themselves and their families on just the salary they received from their
ministry, and this is truly unfortunate because it placed a preventable burden upon them. But these men cheerfully press on, while burning
the candle at both ends, praying for a better day when they’ll have the time to
devote their efforts and energies to the ministry full-time.
When
you give to support the church, you are fulfilling the law of Christ, according to Galatians 6:2, because you are
helping to bear another’s burden.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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