A visitor to this web site wrote:

"Does tithing really apply to New Testament believers?"

I answered as follows.

Although the giving of tithes is a clear feature of the Old Testament and the Law, the principle of giving tithes does not originate with Moses, who ratified the Old Covenant and gave the Law, but from a far earlier time.

We tend to associate the giving of tithes with the Old Covenant and the Old Testament section of the Bible because we read so much about it there. However, it was not through Moses and the Old Covenant that God first introduced the giving of tithes.

In the Bible we read of the giving of tithes from the earliest times as a feature of God's people's material and financial dependency on and connection with God. The first openly expressed reference to the tithe is when Abram (later called Abraham) gives tithes of all he retrieved from the marauders to Melchizedek, the high priest of his day. Genesis 14:17-20.

So there we see the tithe not associated with the priesthood after the order of Aaron (the Levitical priesthood under which the people received the law) but the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.

This means that if we should give to the church a tithe it would not mean we were giving as following the law (if we want to take this approach to viewing the tithe) but rather as following what was done under the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. This is highly significant since the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that our Saviour Jesus Christ is a priest after that very order. See Hebrews 7:14 - 17.

The giving of a tithe is not restricted therefore to being a law of the Old Covenant. God's people gave a tithe from early times as a sign of their economic dependency on God and as a way of honouring God for His marvellous provision for them.

The tithe is not just a tradition or commandment of Moses but a precept God instructed His people to follow from the earliest times. God calls us to give a tithe and with His call He promises blessing and protection for our material affairs. Read Malachi 3:10-12 and Proverbs 3:9-10.

For myself, I do not tithe as a matter of keeping the Law or adhering to Old Covenant conditions. I tithe as a matter of faith and as a faith principle.

I tithe because:

• It gives a good foundation for sound personal finances.
• It links my material well-being with my relationship with God.
• By it I am acknowledging God's presence in my material affairs.
• It gives me access to promises of God that specifically refer to the tithe.

There are promises of God attached to the tithe that aren't found anywhere else in scripture. These promises cover fundamental aspects of the material side of our lives. I find it essential to get in on these promises. What promises do I refer to? The ones contained in Malachi 3:11 and Proverbs 3:10.

Many things were changed at the Cross of Christ but nothing happened at the Cross or in the resurrection or in the Heavenly sanctuary that in any way cancelled or changed the tithe. In fact, it confirmed it. I'll tell you how.

As a consequence of His resurrection, Christ became a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek - the very Melchizedek who at the time of Abraham was the high priest and received tithes of him. Read Heb.7:11-24.

We see then that the priesthood to which Jesus belongs, namely, the ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK, receives tithes. Jesus, as High Priesthood, gladly and expectantly receives tithes of us today. Won't you present to Him your tithe?