1 John 2:28-3:15
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:1-4; 14-16).”
The relationship between “the law” and the children of God is of incredible import. As such, Jesus and His disciples spoke and wrote frequently about it. In this regard, let’s look at The Gospel, Its Consequence, and two examples of this relationship: Taxes and Giving.
The Gospel
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).”
Its Consequence
“‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen (Matthew 28:19-20).”
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).”
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-20)?”
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him (1 John 2:3-5).”
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother (1 John 3:4-10).”
The Scripture is clear: good works are a consequence of faith in Christ as Savior and Lord. Good works, simply stated, are demonstrable acts of willful submission to God’s moral and relevant civil law (for more on this distinction between moral, civil, and ceremonial law, see The Law and the Children of God). Let’s look at an example of relevant civil law:
Taxes
Jesus was once asked the following question (Mark 12:14):
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
His answer was simple (Mark 12:17):
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
The apostle Paul amplified Jesus’ teaching when He wrote that Christians need to “be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God … For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor (Romans 13:1,6-7).” So then, what’s the simple application of these texts for the Christian? Choose to pay taxes in accord with civil law! [For more on this topic, see Pay Your Taxes! and Render to God].
But what if the government to whom the Christian must pay taxes is corrupt?
That’s a good question! But the answer is simple: a Christian must still pay his or her taxes in accord with civil law. Note that neither Jesus nor Paul qualified the command to pay taxes. Neither Jesus nor Paul stated that IF government is righteous then pay taxes, but IF NOT then don’t pay taxes. Why? For both Jesus and Paul knew that government, which is comprised of sinful people, could never be perfectly righteous!
There are other examples of relevant civil law, many of which can be broadly grouped into Licenses for undertaking activity, and Limits on the scope of activity. One question to ask is the following:
What should a Christian do when there is tension between God’s moral law and civil law?
Christians need to recognize that not all civil law is relevant. That is, when God’s moral law and civil law are in conflict, Christians should submit to God’s will (as revealed in His word) and ignore or resist civil law. For example, the early disciples ignored restrictions placed on their preaching (Acts 5:17-29), and Christians in many totalitarian or Islamic nations today congregate together (Hebrews 10:24-25) in direct violation of civil law.
Giving
An overview of the types of giving prescribed and described in The Law is found in Deuteronomy 12:5-6:
“But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.”
Therein, there are two main categories for “giving” under the Law: obligatory & freewill.
Obligatory Giving in the Torah
Obligatory giving was part of the Ceremonial Law and included burnt offerings, heave offerings, vowed offerings, sacrifices, tithes and offering of the firstborn (this is not an exhaustive list). Note that the tithe (meaning = one tenth) was just a portion of the total obligation for the Jewish people. And while these offerings were obligatory, there were some important purposes and underlying principles therein. For example:
Why did God command that the Israelites bring the tithes and offerings to the place where God chose?
The answer is in Deuteronomy 12:7:
“And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.”
Simply put: the children of God should engage in joyful, thankful worship for God’s provision.
What was a key purpose of the obligatory tithe?
To support the Levitical priesthood (Numbers 18:21):
“Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.”
Of course, there’s an important principle in this command:
God’s workers are worthy of their wages (1 Timothy 5:18; Matthew 10:9-10).
What was God’s view of the failure to give that which was obligatory?
He considered it to be theft (Malachi 3:8-9):
“Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.”
An underlying principle here is that God expects His people to give.
Freewill Offering in the Torah
In contrast to the obligatory giving prescribed in the Torah, the concept of the freewill offering is also described (the freewill offering is part of God’s moral or spiritual law). These gifts are spontaneous and voluntary. A great example revolves around the construction of the tabernacle:
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering (Exodus 25:1-2).’”
“And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments (Exodus 35:20-21).”
“The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done (Exodus 35:29).”
“Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, ‘The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do.’ So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, ‘Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.’ And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much (Exodus 36:2-7).”
What’s the key principle involved here?
A freewill offering is a generous, perhaps lavish gift presented when your heart is stirred and willing!
The Obligatory Tithe in the New Covenant
The only passage in the New Testament after the resurrection of Christ which mentions the tithe is Hebrews 7, and the context isn’t a command for Christians to tithe, but an illustration of the superiority of Christ as High Priest! The bottom line is this: there is no command in the NT to tithe (to give away one tenth of our income or possessions), or for any other type of obligatory giving [1].
Freewill Giving in the New Testament
The concept of the freewill gift is integral to giving in the present dispensation, as exemplified by Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 9:
“1 Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; 2 for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority. 3 Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready; 4 lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting. 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. 6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. 12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, 13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, 14 and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
In this passage there are several important principles concerning “Christian giving:”
• 9:1-2 – Willingness and zeal to minister to (serve) the saints;
• 9:5 – Giving should be out of generosity and not grudging obligation;
• 9:6 – Liberal giving shall be rewarded;
• 9:7a – Give that which you purpose in your heart, not of compulsion;
• 9:7b – God loves a cheerful giver;
• 9:10 – God provides that which we give, and He multiplies it;
• 9:11 – Freewill giving causes thanksgiving to God;
• 9:12 – Give to supply the needs of the saints;
• 9:13 – Liberal sharing glorifies God; and
• 9:15 – Give graciously and sacrificially!
The epitome of freewill giving is found in 2 Corinthians 9:15, which highlights the exceedingly gracious gift of Jesus Christ! Remember:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).”
Application (of the Moral / Spiritual Law of Giving under the New Covenant)
If you have been saved by grace through faith, then as a consequence you should desire to prayerfully discern what and how much you should give of your time, talent, and treasure, and then give willfully, cheerfully, generously, and perhaps lavishly and sacrificially, to the glory of God!
End Note
[1] It’s sometimes difficult to succinctly prove a negative. So, if you’re unsure about the categorical claim herein that “there is no command in the NT to tithe (to give away one tenth of our income or possessions), or for any other type of obligatory giving,” then I encourage you to simply read the New Testament and search for a passage that includes a specific command for obligatory giving. If you find one, then please share it with me!
