TITHE OR HELL YOUR CHOICE, Mike Peralta [reading list txt] 📗

third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

In Romans 3:31 the Apostle Paul states, “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” (NIV)

It is obvious here that “The Law” that Paul is referring to AS NOT NULLIFIED are the Ten Commandments as well as the other Old and New Testament commandments that still apply physically – as they are written in the Old and New Testament. For example we have a short list of these in Malachi 3:5, “And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saith the LORD of hosts.”

It is still very much true that we are forbidden to practice witchcraft, adultery, swearing falsely, defrauding laborers of their wages, mistreating widows or orphans or strangers (aliens), and not fearing God. Something else to notice about Malachi 3:5 is that these commandments against witchcraft, adultery, etc. are in the exact same chapter as the Tithe Law of Malachi 3:8-12. So if the Tithe Law were to be “done away with” then that would mean we could now practice witchcraft, and commit adultery, etc. The exact same arguments that some people give for not obeying the Tithe Commandment could be used for not obeying God about adultery, witchcraft, etc. You can’t have it both ways. If we don’t have to Tithe anymore then we would no longer need to obey the commandment against adultery or the commandment against witchcraft, etc. Don’t let those deceptive teachers deceive you into thinking that the Tithe commandment or the other commandments in Malachi chapter 3 are “done away with.”

It is obvious that the Old Testament laws (sometimes classified as The Moral Laws) still very much apply and God expects us to obey those laws. We are to uphold these laws. That means to obey those laws. For example, we cannot uphold “Thou shalt not steal” without obeying that law.

As the Apostle Paul states in Romans 2:13, “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”

I know the following is a simplistic and very basic explanation - but it is amazing to me how someone can say that they uphold the law “Thou shalt not steal” and then soon thereafter go about stealing from other people - or from God (in tithes). And they justify this disobedience by saying that God has “done away” with all these commandments. In truth God has not done away with these commandments. If anything He expects us to obey them even more diligently - since we have been given more ability to obey by the Powerful Blood of Christ and by His Powerful Holy Spirit. As Jesus tells us in Luke 12:48b, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”

More is required of us – not less.

 

The Law & The Prophets Are Not Abolished

Matthew 5:17-19 (NIV), 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

In this passage Jesus explicitly states that neither the Law nor the Prophets have been abolished. This passage alone should be enough to show that the Moral Law - thoroughly explained in the Old Testament - has NOT been abolished. They have not been “done away with.” I don’t know how God can make it more clear to us.

Even more emphatically in verse 18 Jesus tells us that heaven and earth will disappear before the Law disappears and everything is accomplished. Needless to say heaven and earth have NOT disappeared. It is absolutely clear from this passage and this verse that The Moral Law has not “been done away with.” It doesn’t matter what man teaches. “Let God be true, and every man be a liar.” (Rom 3:4a) Jesus is most definitely going to hold us accountable to obey His Moral Law. Doubt this at your own eternal risk of Hell. As I keep saying this is not a trivial or minor thing with God.

These writings may sound harsh, but Hell is infinitely more harsh. And Hell is forever without end. You must remember that all those teachers that tell you that “those laws have been done away with” will not be with you when you stand before God. It truly is “a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb 10:31) Don’t believe or rely on man. Believe God exactly as He states in His commands. He will carry out His Word exactly and precisely as He states in His Word. Not as man thinks, but as God says. This will be more thoroughly explained with respect to the tithe, in the chapter titled “Thieves & Robbers Go To Hell.”

 

Old Testament Laws Still Apply

Did you notice in the book of Acts that the New Testament doctrine preached by Paul was validated with the Old Testament. Let us look at Acts 17:10-12, "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed..."

The brethren in Berea validated the apostles Paul and Silas every day. They verified their words with scripture. Dear reader, what scripture were they testing their words with? The answer is with the Old Testament scripture! What happened after they read the Old Testament scripture? Many of them believed! How? This is how:

Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

The Word of God, at that time, was the Old Testament scripture. It was not abolished at the cross!

Consider that when Paul wrote 2Tim 3:16 to Timothy that parts of the New Testament did not yet exist, or at least had not been likely all gathered together: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness..." (2 Timothy 3:16). Having made in the preceding verses a reference to Timothy being raised a believer in the true God through the "sacred writings" (II Timothy 3:14-15), Paul obviously primarily had the Old Testament in mind when he wrote this. If the Old Testament is so largely irrelevant to believers in Christ, why would Paul say this, after citing the Exodus and Israel wandering in the wilderness: "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (I Corinthians 10:11; compare I Corinthians 10:6 and Romans 4:23-24).

The New Testament command to be circumcised of heart (Romans 2:29; Colossians 2:11) is an Old Testament doctrine (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Jeremiah, 4:4, Leviticus 26:41).

The New Testament command for believers to not marry unbelievers (1 Corinthians 7:39, 2 Corinthians 6:14) is found in Deuteronomy 7:3.

Matthew 22:36-40, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." is taken, word for word, from Deuteronomy 6:5, "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." and Leviticus 19:18, "...thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself..."

And these are only a few examples where Jesus did not abolish the Law.

 

Chapter 4: Not Under Law but Under Grace

 Before launching into scriptures about this subject let me point out that Paul was reminding believers that God’s grace empowers them more to overcome sin. It is NOT saying that they no longer have to keep the law. Again Paul is reminding them that because of grace they now have MORE power, not less, to overcome sin and lawlessness.

Romans 6:14, For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (NIV)

Romans 6:14, For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (KJV)

Romans 6:14, for sin over you shall not have lordship, for ye are not under law, but under grace. (YLT)

The aim of this chapter, is to help you think through the book of Romans as well as others and get an insight into the thought and doctrine of Paul. As mentioned before, Peter comments that some of Paul’s wisdom and teaching is hard to understand and some people twist it to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15-16). In this lesson we try to represent Paul’s doctrine accurately and clearly.

You often hear the argument that we are “not under law but under grace.” But what does it mean to be