Peter SmytheDecidedly Unprofessional

Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with the curse; for ye rob me, even this whole nation. Malachi 3:8-9

Continuing on in this mini-series on tithing, we come to the dreaded “ye are cursed” offering sermonette. In a recent Word service that I attended, the pastor had a businessman that was well-known in the congregation take up the offering. The man quoted this portion of Malachi and told us that “God never changes and so you are cursed with a curse if you do not tithe.” He said this with one of the biggest grins on his face. (God loves a cheerful giver). It reminded me of the good cop/bad cop scenes we see in Law and Order. (“I’m just saying what the Bible says.”)

The question is, Is the New Testament believer under the Malachi curse if he does not tithe? The quick answer is no. First of all, Galatians (New Testament) states:

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us …” Galatians 3:13 (RV)

This verse in Galatians is all-important. The “us” is all of those who comprise the Body of Christ and “redeemed” is in the past (aorist - Greek) tense. Galatians states the reality that the New Testament believer has been redeemed from the curse by the finished work of Christ in redemption. As that redemption is eternal, the believer is fully and finally redeemed and he cannot be held under any kind of curse. Consistent with this is Ephesians 1:3 which says:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (RV)

As in Galatians, the context of this verse is in the past (aorist - Greek). The born-again believer has already been blessed “with all spiritual blessings” because of the finished work of redemption and this blessedness is a present spiritual reality. He does not fall out of Galatians or Ephesians because he fails to tithe one day, one week, or even one lifetime.

So what about Malachi? We look to 1 Corinthians 10:11:

“All this kept happening to them with a figurative meaning; but it was put on record by way of admonition to us upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (Weymouth)

The Old Testament, while obsolete, continues to stand as an admonition to us, but as New Testament saints, we derive our doctrine from the New Testament. (If preachers camped out in the New Testament, everyone would be better off).

P.S. I’ve actually been in services where the preacher preached Malachi 3:9 for the offering and then used Galatians 3:13 for his main text.