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SO WE’RE FREE FROM THE LAW, BUT WHAT ABOUT THINGS SUCH AS Sabbath observance and tithing? We can’t leave these issues unaddressed, as they will rob believers of their freedom just as any other part of the law does.
Yes, weekly Sabbath observance and tithing are rooted in the law. If we impose these on believers today, we must likewise observe the remainder of the law. The law is an all-or-nothing system. Adopting portions of it is not an option.
TODAY’S SABBATH
For the Jews, the Sabbath was essentially a reminder of the seventh day of creation, in which God rested after his work. Accordingly, God mandated that Israel remember the Sabbath day and reserve it for rest.
Today, we too look back on the finished work of creation. We exclaim along with King David how creative and beautiful the universe is (Psalms 8; 19). But a greater feat than creation has been accomplished—the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Just as God declared his creation “good” and then rested, Jesus announced from Calvary, “It is finished!” and then sat down at God’s right hand. The author of Hebrews invites us to rest along with God. We rest by ceasing from the dead works we thought would gain us favor with God. Rather than performing religious acrobatics to rid ourselves of sins, we can sit down with Jesus. We can simply agree, “Yes, it’s finished.” This is entering God’s rest. This is celebrating today’s Sabbath:
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God ; for those who enter God’s rest also rest from their own work, as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.
HEBREWS 4:9-11, italics added
The reality is Christ,
and a genuine Sabbathrest
is found in him.
It is possible to calculate the height of a tree by measuring its shadow on the ground. If you look at the shadow, it also gives you a sense of the basic shape of the tree. In a shadow, you have a means to make estimations about the reality. In the Sabbath, the Jews had only a shadow of the reality. The reality is Christ, and a genuine Sabbath-rest is found in him. It’s mind-boggling to think about the thousands of years that Jews honored the shadow, the Sabbath. And on this side of the cross we can experience the reality of rest in Christ!
ROBBING GOD ?
Many who realize their freedom from a weekly Sabbath observance still claim that God requires no less than 10 percent of your income. If you don’t give at least that much to the church, they say you’re “robbing God.” But where does the idea of tithing come from?
Joseph’s brother Levi was the forefather of a unique tribe called the Levites. When the Israelites escaped from Egypt and conquered the land God promised, they divided the new territory by tribe. But the Levites didn’t receive land to cultivate and grow food. Instead, they were instructed to serve as priests in the tabernacle.
Under the law, priests weren’t permitted to own homes, property, or possessions. So how did this tribe of priests survive? By means of the support received from the other tribes. So tithing, or giving 10 percent, to these priests was mandated by the law. In this way, God’s tribe of priests could maintain an acceptable standard of living while serving him full-time.
If a pastor uses the
term tithing and
mandates 10 percent
as the standard
for giving, he is
teaching law.
Christian teaching today about giving is often inconsistent. If a pastor or church leader uses the term tithing and mandates 10 percent as the standard for giving, he is teaching law. If we were to examine this same leader’s life, we might see a glaring inconsistency. He owns a home, property, and possessions! He may also be earning additional income from presiding at weddings, writing books, or serving as a seminary professor. The same law that mandates a 10 percent tithe doesn’t allow him to do what he’s doing.
Besides one historical reference to Abraham’s respect for a foreign priest, Melchizedek, and paying him a tithe from his spoils of war (Hebrews 7:6), there’s no other mention of the term tithe in the biblical epistles. So what should giving look like under the New? God wants believers to give
I believe that we church leaders should present liberation from the 10 percent tithe alongside the teaching of freewill giving. Believers are free to give 1 percent, 10 percent, or 100 percent. Clarity concerning grace giving is necessary for a healthy church.
For us to teach anything else is bondage.
THREE -FOURTHS OF YOUR BIBLE
Now that we’ve discussed our freedom from a Sabbath day and a 10 percent tithe, an obvious question arises: Well, then, what use is the Old Testament? To begin to address this important question, we should keep in mind the following:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17, italics added
I have made the argument that the law has no bearing on the life of the believer. But the Old Testament is a treasure that shouldn’t be disregarded. In the Old Testament, we find out how the universe came into existence. We read of the fall of the human race. We learn why there’s so much evil in the world. We experience the history of God’s interactions with his people. We see his faithfulness despite their faithlessness. We see God’s prophets at work and God’s mercy on display. We learn about what God calls wisdom and how it differs from humans’ sense of the same. We discover early indications of the coming Messiah, and we understand more fully how Jesus fulfilled prophecy.
The Old Testament offers us something we can’t get from the New. It provides a thorough background in how God initiated a relationship with humankind and how we did whatever we could to ruin this relationship. The work of Christ has far greater impact against the backdrop of how despicably the human race has acted toward God. How gracious our God has been over the course of human history!
We also can’t forget that the promise of the New has its root in the Old. God told Abraham that through his seed (Jesus), Abraham would be the father of many nations. The promise that salvation would come to many nations was given in the Old Testament long before the law.
To disregard the Old Testament is like covering up a huge portion of a portrait God has been painting for thousands of years. But it’s important to read and teach from the Old Testament while keeping it in context.
To disregard
the Old Testament
is like covering up
a huge portion
of a portrait God
has been painting for
thousands of years.
In the Old Testament, we see God punishing the Israelites for their sins. In the New Testament, we see that God punished Jesus for our sins. In the Old Testament, we see God withdrawing his presence from his people. In the New Testament, we see that he’ll never leave us or forsake us. Even a man after God’s own heart, David, pleaded with God not to withdraw his Holy Spirit. David begged, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). We don’t find such pleas from the apostles under the New.
Life is radically different on this side of the cross—a truth we must recognize as we study the Old Testament. We read of dietary restrictions, yet we don’t need to live by them. We read of ceremonial regulations, and we needn’t abide by them. We read of requirements such as Sabbath observance and tithing, yet we’re not bound by them. However, these restrictions, regulations, requirements, and commandments give us a fuller appreciation for what Jesus accomplished on our behalf.