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.
An uncertain sound
61-0315 §37
And from the altar of Abel came the cry of a lamb. There was death to pay the penalty. Blood was being shed. And today when God, just like it was in that day when He told Cain... Cain was discouraged. He said, "Here's the best I can do. You can take it or leave it. Do anything You want to about it, but that's all I can do about it." That's the way the modern Christian worships today. "I go to church, I help the preachers, I pay my tithing. If they got any social party, I put my part on it. And if they need a missio...
God's Word calls for a total separation from unbelief
64-0121 §11
And I don't want to get started on this, because I said that I was just going to speak a few minutes. But I think today, when we see our sisters wearing long hair, as the Bible said they should, I think it's a Nazarite sign that they want to follow the Lord. I know that sounds flat, and I want it to go home (see?), because it is. It looks like somebody is trying to do ... keep something that God told them to do. No matter what the price, the world has to say about it out there, or how many scornful, or laughers, or...
There is a man here that can turn on the light
63-1229M §23
So is it today, the least of Jesus' thoughts--or how about His Word--should be a command to we Gentiles who love Him. For we know He's coming into power no matter how much He's rejected. Heavens and earth will pass away, but this will still reign just the same when all heavens and earth is gone. And we know He's coming into power, 'cause nothing will keep it from happening. This is Christ, the revelation of Him, and this is going to happen just the way the Word says it is, 'cause He is the Word. And the least of Hi...
Hebrews, Chapter 7, part 1
57-0915E §62
...n the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of all the spoils. Now listen closely: And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have ... commandment to take tithings of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they came out of the loins of Abraham:
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
58-0928M §60
As we were speaking, to pick up the little subject again just for a minute, how the illegitimate child could not enter the kingdom for fourteen generations, four hundred years, and how that the iniquity of the parents was visited to the children to the third and fourth generations. Also, the righteousness of the parents is visited. What you do, if there is a coming tomorrow and you have a great grandson, your action today will determine what he will be then. For we read in the Bible where that Melchizedek, when He...