Is Tithing a Binding Command for Christians Today?
1) Direct answer
Yes. The tithe—a tenth of our increase—still belongs to the Lord and is binding on believers today. It is not a man‑made tax; it is God’s portion, holy to Him. Offerings are freewill and beyond the tithe.
2) Scriptural explanation
- Before the Law: Abraham gave tithes of all to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20). This shows tithing is a faith practice that predates Moses.
- God’s claim: “All the tithe… is the Lord’s; it is holy unto the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30).
- Jesus affirmed it: He rebuked the Pharisees for hypocrisy but said, “These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23). He did not cancel tithing; He set it in its right place with justice, mercy, and faith.
- New Covenant priesthood: Hebrews 7 ties tithing to Christ’s Melchizedek order and says, “Here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth” (Hebrews 7:8). That shows an ongoing recognition of the tithe under our living High Priest.
- God’s unchanging promise: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse… and prove Me… if I will not open you the windows of heaven” (Malachi 3:8-10). The same chapter says, “I am the Lord, I change not” (v. 6).
- Support of the ministry: “They which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:13-14). The tithe is God’s way of providing for His ministry; offerings meet other needs.
3) Simple clarifying logic
- If tithing was only “Law,” why did Abraham tithe hundreds of years before the Law? Because faith recognized God’s claim.
- Did Jesus ever say, “Stop tithing”? No. He said don’t neglect the weightier matters—but also “don’t leave the other undone.”
- Hebrews does not push tithing away; it lifts it higher by linking it to Christ’s ongoing priesthood.
- “Each as he purposes in his heart” (2 Corinthians 9:7) speaks of offerings for special needs, not of the tithe which God already named as His.
- The “storehouse” is where you are fed by the Word—your local assembly. Tithes go there to sustain the God‑ordained ministry. Gifts to the poor, missions, and other causes are offerings beyond the tithe.
4) Reinforcing statement
Honor the Lord first with His tenth and then give offerings as He leads. Do it by faith, not grudgingly. The tithe is God’s, the firstfruits of our increase; and the Bible promises He will rebuke the devourer and pour out a blessing.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
A Secondhand Robe
56-1125M §11
And then, as we see the pattern of our lesson today, of Elijah during his reign ... or, his pilgrimage on earth, why, he was a great, mighty man. God was using him in mighty ways, with mighty power. And we find out that during this time, there was a group of impersonators who tried to impersonate Elijah, who tried to do the same things Elijah done. And so we find the same thing today: impersonation of Christianity: people who try to act like Christians, who try to make themselves Christians. You can't do that. God...
The arrow of God's deliverance shot from a bow
56-0801 §30
...his old king, he thought he would just go any way the winds blowed. Tossed about by everything. Why, you're never stable. You don't know what you do believe. And the people today, they'd rather stay home and see I Love Lucy (or, what is that?). Lucy---Lucy something. They're very 'loosey.' I'll tell you that it is. It's loose enough to run you to hell. Exactly. That might be all right for the heathens, but that's not for Christians. Right. It's not for Christians. Christians won't say... Love the Word of God. If yo...
There is only One Way provided by God for anything
63-0731 §21
...when He come in His day. He said, "You (by your traditions) has made the Word of God of none effect by your traditions." See, they had hybred into, and injected into God's commandments their own traditions, which made the commandments of no effect. Today I know it's become the same thing. There is not a thing left, my Christian friend, but the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only hope that the church has. As far as it comes, if it ever takes up a denomination again, it's finished, because every denomin...
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever
55-0806 §39
Now, my clergy brethren, and Sunday school teachers, let us reason for a minute. Did you know religion is one thing and salvation is another? Did you know it come up from Genesis? Do you realize that Cain was a religious man? Just as religious as Abel was. He came before the Lord. He realized that he was mortal, he had to die. And he built an altar unto the Lord, a church. He brought in and made a sacrifice to the Lord. He paid his tithings and his offerings, as it were, to the Lord. And besides that, he knelt down...
Sirs, we would see Jesus
57-0804E §34
That was Jesus yesterday, if He's the same today, He has to be the same. He'll do the same; He'll act the same. And if His church has got His Spirit, they'll be like Christ. If I told you I had the spirit of some outlaw in me---like John Dillinger---you'd expect me to have big guns and be dangerous to be around me, if his spirit was in me. If I told you I had the spirit of some famous artist, you'd expect me to be able to catch the waves of the ... or, the sunset and so forth, and paint like that artist, if his spi...