Tithing - Part 2 (Law is Finished)
Those who preach mandatory tithing under the New Testament usually don’t say that believers are also under the Law, but it does no harm to stake out the status of the tithe under the Law.
“When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:30
“Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.” Matthew 28:50-51
“For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.” Hebrews 7:12
“In speaking of ‘a new covenant,’ he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear [be obliterated].” Hebrews 8:13
In John 19:30, Jesus says his last words before dying. “It is finished” is actually one word in the Greek, τετελεσται (tetelestai). It is in the perfect tense which means the “it” that is finished has present tense consequences at the time when spoken. In light of the cross, “it” is finished for eternity. The question is, what is “it”?
Many ministers say that “it” is the end of Jesus’s work of redemption. That can hardly be the case. Hebrews proves that Jesus was required to enter into heaven and sprinkle His blood upon the Mercy Seat in order to obtain eternal redemption for mankind. (Hebrews 9:12). (cf. I Corinthians 15:13-17 - if no resurrection then no redemption). He did this sprinkling on the “third day,” the day of His resurrection. (see my posts on the Resurrection and the Blood). Jesus’s “it” instead refers to the end of the Old Covenant with its sacrificial system for the atonement (covering) of sins. Matthew 28:50-51 gives us this context because it shows that the ripping of the temple veil was consequent to Jesus’s “It is finished.” This signified the end of the Old Covenant with its Levitical priesthood and Law. They were replaced by the New Covenant and its priesthood of believers (no, one cannot tithe to oneself) and Jesus as the High Priest. Like the Levitical priesthood, tithing under the Law was obliterated by “It is finished.”
Peter,
Getting to this very late, but better late than never!? I am in absolute agreement with you that tithing requirements were an imposition of OT law and are not enforceable upon NT saints. I don’t know if I’m quite willing to see it as thoroughly conscripted by the Lord’s words on the cross, but the unshakeable truth is certainly laid out in black and white in Galatians. I suppose, from a WOF perspective, the words on the cross might be a more powerful evidence. And yet we can all get to the truth if we just look to the Word.