Posts Tagged ‘holy spirit’

Bible Verses on Spirit Led Giving

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Because of my stand against the tithing mandate, many have asked me for bible verses that support Spirit led giving. So I’ve compiled a list of the more obvious bible verses that i believe support Spirit led giving as opposed to tithing. There are definitely other verses that may support Spirit Led giving in an indirect way, but i do not feel that they are as obvious as these bible verses below. I have included a monetary offer at the end to the best one who contributes an additional bible verse on Spirit led giving.

  1. Galatians 5:18
    But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
    Um, need i say more? Sure, because there are 10 more bible verses still to write about.
  2. Romans 12:6-8
    Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, [let us use them]: if prophecy, [let us] [prophesy] in proportion to our faith; or ministry, [let us use it] in [our] ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
    This just plainly states that our giving is a Spiritual gift, not an action that is determined by a numerical calculation.
  3. Matthew 10:8
    Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, [fn] cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
    With this verse in correlation with other spiritual gifts, such as healing, we should see that our freewill, spirit-led giving is a command and is a spiritual gift as well.
  4. Acts 1:8
    But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
    It is the law and sin that no longer has the authority and power over our lives, including our giving.
  5. Acts 5:3
    But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself
    In this passage Ananias disobeys the Spirit of God and convinces himself into believing a lie that he should keep back part of the price of land.  If the Holy Spirit was not responsible for instructing Ananias to give everything, then Ananias had no reason to hide part of the price. The guilty need no accusing. This is why i believe that Spirit led giving is not an easy way out of giving. There are direct consequences for disobeying the instructions of the Holy Spirit. With tithing in the Old Testament, you had some idea of what the consequences of not tithing were.  I would think that the worst part about some types of punishments is not knowing what the consequence would be.
  6. 1 Peter 4:10
    As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
    Many times we pray and plead for an opportunity to minister our gifts except when it comes time to minister our gifts of giving. It seems that we have the opportunity to bypass the intense pleading and praying part because the ministry of giving is calculated through tithing, not prayer.
  7. Acts 2:44-46
    Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
    This is not a verse that even mentions the Holy Spirit, but can we deny that the leading of the Holy Spirit is not upon them? Can we deny that the worries of possessions and materialism have faded into the gladness and simplicity of their communion?
  8. 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 9:7
    Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
    So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us–see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.     . . .[So let] each one [give] as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity[law]; for God loves a cheerful giver.
    Yes, this is one of the more vague passages to support Spirit led giving, but in this whole passage about giving, i have underlined 2 phrases to summarize this passage on giving. After Paul’s admonishment on liberality and freewill giving, he states, “I speak not by commandment” and “not of necessity”. These phrases should strike a stake into the heart of all tithing supporters, and should make it clear that no standards or laws are a substitute for the Holy Spirit.
  9. Acts 11:28-30
    Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
    Here we have a man/woman who revealed through the Holy Spirit that a great famine was going to come. And because of what the Holy Spirit had revealed, the early Church was able to prepare relief for those who would be most effected by this famine. The Spirit led gift of giving many times is not so much the ability to give, but more or less the ability for one to see a financial need that should be filled.
  10. Luke 4:1
    And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
    Do we see giving mentioned in here, no. But we do see the Holy Spirit as a leader, and a guide.
  11. John 16:13
    Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
    I think we need to realize that Holy Spirit isn’t just this being that puts a permanent smile on our face. Many people believe that Spirit led giving is just simply performing the action of being cheerful. This is not the truth. We not only should be Spirit filled with our giving, but also Spirit led. The Holy Spirit is an instructor, and brings revelation for our lives.
  12. 2 Corinthians 9:7
    [So let] each one [give] as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

We need more verses that support Spirit led giving, SO PLEASE ADD SOME SPIRIT LED GIVING VERSES IN THE COMMENTS. I would definitely love old or new testament verses. There are lots of bible verses on giving in the new testament but it’s hard to really pinpoint that a spiritual gift is being used or that the Holy Spirit is guiding someone. So take that into consideration if you wish to add a verse. Also, please add your own little commentary to the verse as well, so i can add your explanation. I don’t want my voice to be the sole interpreter of scripture on this blog. I will send $15 through paypal to the best new verse and explanation of Spirit led giving.

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Incompatible Systems: Tithing v. Holy Spirit

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Could you imagine if God told the Israelites to use the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the Levitical service in the temple? I’m sure a lot of objections come to mind right now. here are a few of my objections:

  • The Roman law does not know how much resources are needed to run the temple operations
  • The Levites have no influence or authority over the Roman laws
  • Old Testament laws and the Roman laws have 2 different duties to fulfill
  • The two different statutes are just incompatible, so there would be no way to merge Roman law with the Levitical laws

Using the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the services of the Jewish temple seems ludicrous. But, as bizarre as it may seem, the Church today is financing it’s ministries in this same bizarre fashion. We are using two separate statutes that are incompatible with one another to either govern or finance Church ministry. The Church body uses the Holy Spirit as our guide and our counsel. He is responsible for ordaining evangelists, teachers, apostles, and prophets; and yet we use a different tax code to pay for the service of these offices.

Instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to finance the same ministries that He governs, we use the tithing tax code to pay for them. Since the law used tithing to support the Levites and a type of priesthood that does not exist today; why do we use tithing to support ministries that have no connection with the law still? Here’s my objections:

The tithing law does not know how much resources are needed to run Spirit led operations.

Let me give a practical example. The U.S. Constitution delegates specific powers to our government. So naturally, our constitution delegates funding for it’s own operations. We couldn’t use the financial data from European laws to pay for U.S. government operations. So, how can we use tithing laws to finance the operations that the Holy Spirit has delegated? Tithing has no ability to predict the amount of resources that the Holy Spirit needs.

Also, what better way to confirm that a ministry was  called by the Holy Spirit, then by the same Spirit calling us to give to support it?

The Spirit led Church has no influence or authority over the tithing laws

Let’s just hypothetically say that in the Old Testament, Roman laws distributed a tithe proportionately to 10 levitical districts. What influence would the Levites have over these Roman laws if they felt a change in finances was necessary? The Levites do not have any authority over the Roman government, let alone any of the benefits of Roman citizenship. The needs of each levitical district varies year after year, but the Levites are stuck with the proportions delegated by the Roman laws.

Today, the Spirit led church has no influence over where their tithe must go. You may think that my claim is biased since the church leaders distribute the tithe and offerings after each Sunday. But I’m not talking about what Church leaders do with what others have given. I’m talking about what you do with what God has given you. You and I are the Church. Pastor Bob and his staff is not the entirety of Church operations.

According to most tithe teachers today, our tithe belongs in the local church storehouse. So, if we were to give our 10% anywhere else besides the local church, then we would be in danger of putting ourselves under the Malachi 3 curse. In some cases, our extended family could use some help with groceries this week, but choosing where our tithe can go is not our decision to make. We have no authority to change where the tithe must go, because neither the Holy Spirit, nor your ambitions have no authority to change it.

Even though Christians are to be led by the Spirit of God, what tithing really means is that once you’ve achievedthe minimum guidelines and standards, you are finally free to be Spirit led. Until then, you are under the authority of something other than the Holy Spirit.

Both the Old Covenant, and the New Covenant operations have different duties to fulfill

I’ve already stated that tithing was used to support the Levitical system and a type of priesthood that does not exist today. Tithing financed the duties of Levites in the Old Testament who held governmental positions, couldn’t own land, were guards, and also treasurers of the cities. The tithe in the Old Testament was their government welfare system and also funded multiple yearly festivals. The tithe did not pay for any salaries, nor did the tithe did not go towards any buildings or programs.

There is no way that tithing could have been integrated into a completely different New Testament system without any instructions in the bible on how to modify or migrate tithing into the Spirit led Church. The new testament Church is not the old testament system donning a new costume; so why should tithing be slipped under the cloak of the New Covenant legislation?

In the Old Testament, worship for the Israelites, Levites, and Priests was instructed through the Law. There was no question as to who was to serve, where you were to serve, and how long. This systematic worship, and governance made it quite simple to use a tithe to finance these straight-forward instructions. If the new covenant had laws that dictated who the ministerial class was going to be, as well as where and when they served; then i could see no problem with implementing a systematic way of financing that legalistic operation.

In the New Testament, because we all participate in the operations of priestly worship, our duties are not clear-cut for us. We are all given gifts that differ according to the delegations of the Holy Spirit. Since we all have duties of the priests, there is no Levitical class, there is no priestly portions. We do not have instructions written on who is to serve, how long, or where. The Holy Spirit is spontaneous, and radical. But please take note, that we have the responsibility to develop plans and create order. Spirit led giving is not the presence of anarchy and chaos.

The Holy Spirit and tithing are just incompatible

You cannot use water to fuel a combustion engine, and neither can we expect tithing to fuel the Spirit filled Church. The restrictions of tithing make it impossible to coordinate with the spontaneous and radical movements of the Holy Spirit. You cannot expect a dead, static law, such as tithing, to be fully compatible with a living, spiritual organism.

God’s children are born of the Spirit, so the letter of the law is dead. Nothing screams “letter” more loudly than prescribing a mathematical formula for our worship towards God. Seriously, what other aspect of our worship are we obligated to perform a minimum standard? Name me one – praying, serving, preaching, witnessing, attendance . . . ? Also, name me one spiritual gift, besides giving, where there is a minimum standard attached to it? Could tithing be any less discreet about it’s form of legalism? Tithing IS the definition of legalism! The letter and the Spirit do not mix.

Conclusion

Could you imagine if God told the Church to use the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the ministries in His Church? It sounds ludicrous! So, stop trying to be a church that is governed by Julius Caesar and be a Church that is governed by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God – Jesus Christ.

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Except for Spirit Led Giving

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Except

We ask the Spirit of God to . . .
guide our hearts
bring utterance
heal the sick
save the souls
train us
help us with decisions
open doors
rise up leaders
build the Church
We ask the Spirit of God about the impossible, except tell us how much to give.

The Spirit of God is in control of the gifts of. . .
teaching
prophecy
healing
wisdom
administration
leadership
faith
except giving, that’s controlled by tithing.

We ask the Spirit of God to rise up Godly . . .
missionaries
pastors
evangelists
teachers
leaders
politicians
parents
children
We ask the Spirit of God to rise up everyone, except givers, because every one’s suppose to tithe anyways.

We ask the Spirit of God . . .
where we should go
what we should do
when is the right time
how we should do it
why we need to
who it’s gonna be
except how much, because we already know the answer to that

We ask the Spirit of God about
anything
everything
everybody
everywhere
except when it comes to the all power dollar, our answers are found through tithing.

We inquire the Holy Spirit about every area of our life, except when it comes to money, we leave it up to tithing. We are encouraged to seek God’s counsel, to pray, to wait for answers, and to listen to that still small voice. But when it comes to our giving, it is baffling how the counsel is unneeded, prayer can be ignored, and the still small voice can be silenced. When tithing is the answer, there is no need to hear, no need to pray, and no need to seek counsel about our giving. Sure, other areas of our life still need prayer, answers, and counsel. With tithing, there is nothing to counsel about, and nothing to ask about.

As a Church, we wish to pursue the Spirit led movement pictured in the book of Acts, except when it comes to our pocketbooks, we don’t have the faith to rely on the actions of Spirit led giving and receiving.

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Difference Between Spirit-led, Freewill, & Grace Giving

Monday, December 15th, 2008

I hate being picky about terminology, but i feel this issue is important enough to be picky about. Many non-tithers use the terms “freewill giving”, “Spirit led giving”, and “grace giving” to describe how they give. The only problem is that the use of some of these terms to describe their philosophy of giving send out mixed messages. In this post i am going to describe the difference between spirit led, freewill, & grace giving. I will tell you why grace & freewill giving is not a term that clearly describes our opposing view about tithing. In the end i will tell you why “Spirit led” giving is the correct terminology that does illuminate the differentiating properties between tithing and new covenant giving.

Here’s the issue, people who enforce tithing tend to say, “i believe in grace giving and I believe in freewill giving, it’s just that i believe 10% is the starting point.” I would venture to say, that they are probably right – they do believe in grace and freewill giving. Their motivation to tithe may not be as if it were a law; their motivation is because they are under God’s grace and love. The issue is that they are led by a law, not by the Spirit.

Freewill Giving

I’m not going to pull up dictionary definitions, but generally i believe that everyone has freewill. Whether you believe tithing is commanded or not, you believe that God doesn’t force you to do something. So freewill giving is a very broad definition. By nature the term, “freewill” doesn’t describe attributes that are against tithing. Tithing can be freewill also.

Grace Giving

Ok, so grace giving sounds much more definitive right? After all, the Old Testament was under the law and we are under grace, so anyone who tithes is still under the law, right? Well, many tithers claim that they are under grace as well, simply for the fact that they are free from the curse. Typically these are the ones that tell you that the tithe is not a law that you will be punished for, and yet in the same sentence convince you how the tithe is the minimum, and God expects you to give it. Hence they somehow morph an old testament concept to fit under the new covenant relationship. Regardless, yes, we are all under grace whether we believe in tithing or not. So, the term, “grace giving” doesn’t exactly describe the attributes that are against tithing either.

Spirit Led Giving

Here it is: Spirit led giving. What’s significant about this term? Simply the fact that the Holy Spirit is the sole distinguishing factor between the saints of the Old Testament and those of us under the New Testament. You see, neither Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jacob, King David, or Isaac had the gift of the Spirit. Their communication with God was between them and an earthly priest. They did not have personal communication with God. Only the priest, who entered the Holy of Holies had that privilege.

The most bizarre concept to me about tithing, is that God can’t trust his Spirit to help you make the right decision as to where you can give the first 10%, but he can trust his Spirit to guide you with offerings? Spirit led giving puts the Holy Spirit in control of what you do with every single penny. Don’t confuse, “spirit led” with “spirit filled”. Both terms are totally different concepts. Spirit led is receiving instructions from the Holy Spirit as your source as opposed to using scripture to dictate your actions. Spirit filled is more or less obtaining character attributes of God.

I guess another term that would be safe to use is “new covenant giving“. When you debate others about tithing, this terminology stuff can get nit-picky, and sometimes frustrating. Next time you talk with someone about tithing, i challenge you to use the term “spirit led giving”.

What do you think about all this terminology? Do you think it matters? Do you call your giving something different? If you do, I’d like to hear it.

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Spirit Led Giving Defined

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

Here is an audio clip of a clear explanation of Spirit Led giving. A transcript is listed below if you wish to read it instead.

[audio:spirit-led-giving-defined.mp3]
Download: Spirit Led Giving Defined

I believe that we are free from the tithing command, but instead are commanded by the Holy Spirit in regards to giving. The religious system once used rituals that dictated mankind’s sanctification; but with the Spirit in control of our lives, we are free to receive instructions from Him. Our liberty is not a license to overlook the command to obey the Spirit, so we are not at liberty to do what we please. The responsibility to sacrificially give cannot be overlooked.

The New Covenant introduced a relationship with God that was not available in the Old Covenant system. We now have the opportunity to hear from God, and communicate directly with Him. The availability of communication with God is immediate and spontaneous; so we do not need a pre-existing assignment to outline what and when to give. At the moment God speaks to us, we have the ability to hear, and the opportunity and decision to obey. God did not tear the veil to the holy of holies, so that a communal relationship with Him could continue to be administered through non-interactive rituals, such as tithing. New Covenant tithing is a way of restoring the veil that was once used when man had no direct access to God. Tear the veil away and encounter God inside the holy of holies with Spirit led giving.

The dysfunction within tithing is that, anyone can do it without having to worry about encountering God. All across the board this is true with all of God’s laws, because anyone can perform them without even truly knowing God. But one cannot be Spirit led unless they know God. Personal interaction with God is the fundamental difference between the Old Covenant and New Covenant giving.

Do you want a Church that is willing to encounter God? There’s no question that God wants to elicit a sacrificial response from us when we give, but the question is, what type of response is God looking for? Is it the response that is spawned through our personal and intimate relationship with Him, or is it a response that is considered a Xerox from Abraham’s actions? Through our relationship with God, each and every person has a responsibility to pursue when and where our Father is calling us to give. I implore you to study the aspects of Spirit led giving, and consider the spiritual ramifications between instructing people to tithe, or instructing them to be Spirit led.

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Definition of Tithing Principle

Monday, September 8th, 2008

I was originally going to write this on a blog in response to a poster calling the “tithe” a princple. Instead, i figured i’d write it here, simply because i know that they will read all that i wrote and find one word that has nothing to do with my argument and rip it to shreds.

- -

What is your definition of a principle? Is it the fact that the word “tithe” is repeated so much in the bible? Is it the fact that Abraham tithed before Moses came along? Is it the fact that God gives this way? A tithe is a standard, not a principle.

Taking my wife out once a week is a standard, not a principle. Reading my bible and praying for 30 minutes every day is a standard, not a principle. Donating 1 hour of time a week to my church is a standard, not a principle. Giving God 10% of my increase is a standard, not a principle.

Loving my wife, communicating with God, serving, and giving are all principles. These are all minimum requirements and principles that you find in scripture. All these minimum requirements are all orchestrated to us by the Holy Spirit. I don’t have the bible to tell me what romantic things that i should do this weekend for my wife. Sure, I am at liberty to follow Esther and Boaz. I don’t have the bible to show me how much i need to pray and read today, but sure, I could follow David’s example. I don’t have the scripture to tell me how often and where i serve, but sure, i could follow Timothy’s example. I don’t have the bible to tell me how much i should give this week, but sure, i could follow Abraham’s example.

The truth is, Church leaders are not afraid to let the Holy Spirit orchestrate people’s lives when it comes to serving, praying, reading, and loving; but when it comes to giving, our leaders’s faith in the Holy Spirit fades. We can trust him to move mountains, or to heal, or to turn a drug addicted- murderous pedophile into a servant of God; but to trust him to orchestrate people to give. That’s where we draw the line.

If i want control over my kids, i’ll just set boundaries for them. The Church’s control is no different. We do not trust the Holy Spirit to orchestrate other’s giving. So tithing is a great control mechanism to predict and balance our budgets. The Church’s that actually practice financial faith only through Spirit-led giving, are few and far between. A church budget that enforces tithing hardly exercises the faith of a church budget that allows people to freely give where God leads.

Our church leaders enforce the OT tithe, and bring financial security to their pockets and the church budgets. In turn, the congregation are the only ones practicing trust in God’s provision for them. Yes, In the OT, the Levities received the tithes also, but exercised faith because they had no part in a land inheritance. The Israelite nation exercised their faith in giving, and trusted God to bring the rains to grow their crops and feed their animals.

Spirit led giving and receiving is a way that we can trust God to provide for us when we give, and a way for us to trust God to provide for us when we receive. A tithe minimum no longer predicts what will pour in. We just have to trust the Holy Spirit to prompt others to give to our needs.

I know this was a rant that stemmed from the definition of “principle”, but what we need to apply today is the principle of faith. Faith starts with our Church leaders, and our church budgets enforcing and accepting Spirit-led giving.

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We’ll Leave That up to Tithing

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

So what do we do? We ask for the Spirit of God to rise up a Pastor. We ask the Spirit of God to equip Sunday school teachers. We ask the Spirit of God to call more missionaries. We ask the Spirit of God to train our children. We ask the Spirit of God to start a new Church. We ask the Spirit of God to help us with our words. We ask the Spirit of God to lead us when we witness. We ask the Spirit of God to heal, intercede, interpret, and perform miracles. We ask the Spirit of God to guide everything, except our pocket books. So What do we do? we just play that safe and leave that up to tithing.

I’m not the type of person to just spit out a bunch of verses and say, “these verses are so clear about what God says”. I like hearing things myself that just kind of thump you on the head. Like the one statement above, “we’ll just play that safe and leave that up to tithing.” What it does is sum up the folly of the tithing mentality into a sarcastic thought. It’s not going to prove anything but it just shows how the tithing logic is so off. Sometimes i get so sick of trying to prove the role of Spirit-led giving. I can write chapters and chapters about that, but who wants to read all that stuff. There’s plenty of authors and theologians out there that repeat the same points as me.

I love the times in life when you say something and it sounds so profound. It’s like, where did that come from? then you feel happy about yourself and you start repeating it over and over in your head so you don’t forget it. I guess that’s kind of what i’m doing now. Are there times when you say something or hear something so profound that no one else seems to be on board with? Hopefully i won’t get any comments like that. If you do want something that is a little more definitive about the tithing argument you can read my tithing rebuttal with supporting verses. That has some of that boring stuff i talked about earlier.

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Top 10 Reasons Why Tithing is Not Required

Sunday, September 2nd, 2007

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1. The Holy Spirit is our new teacher, not the Mosaic law (Romans 12:8; Galatians 5:18-25)

2. There is no command for the New Covenant Church to tithe (Genesis – Revelation)

3. Tithing was used for the temple storehouse & ceremonial system (Nehemiah 10:37; Deuteronomy 12:17,18)

4. 10% giving is not an eternal principle nor a character trait of God (Romans 8:32)

5. The church is not commanded to follow the ordinances of Abraham and Moses (John 7:21-24)

6. A tithe only consisted of agricultural increase (Leviticus 27:30)

7. Tithing is not the minimum amount mentioned in scripture (Romans 12:1; Matthew 25:24-28)

8. An OT ceremony paralleled the future Church with a freewill offering (Deuteronomy 16:10)

9. We have new commands of giving (1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:7; Galatians 5:18-25)

10. I will leave out #10 and see what many of you come up with

Return to the Tithing home page

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