Over the years, I’ve had many well-meaning but misguided Christians react to a message about tithing by telling me they don’t tithe because ‘tithing is part of ‘the Old Testament Law.’”  I want you to see that tithing predates the Law of Moses by thousands of years.
The principle of the tithe (or firstfruits or firstborn) was in operation as Abraham was asked to offer Isaac and when he gave a tenth of his spoils to Melchizadek-a representation of Jesus Christ. (See Gen. 14:18-20; Heb. 5-7)
This principle goes all the way back to the opening chapters of Genesis, where we see Abel’s offering accepted and Cain’s rejected. In a sense, it even goes back further than that. We can see the principle of the tithe in God’s instructions to Adam and Eve about the trees in the Garden of Eden.

The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.  But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)

Notice that in giving Adam and Eve stewardship of the garden, God gave them every tree from which they could eat from freely except one. Revealing faithful stewardship of the garden meant leaving that one tree alone. They were not able to take that fruit for themselves and consume it. By choosing to eat of the fruit the tree, they were acting like owners rather than stewards.

Imagine visiting a church one Sunday morning and the pastor pulls out a gun and shoots one of his members. What if, when asked, “Why did you do that? The Bible says you’re not supposed to murder,” his response was, “Well, ‘Thou shalt not kill’ was part of the Law. I’m not under the Law. I’m under grace.”

What would you think about that? You would probably point out to him that respecting human life and not murdering are principles that run all through the Bible.

I am using an absurd illustration to make an important point. Just because something was mentioned in the Law of Moses doesn’t mean we can throw it out. If something was wrong under the Law, can it be right under grace? In other words, since murder is wrong under the Law, is it now right under grace? Of course not!

Now let me turn the question around. If something was right under the Law, is it now wrong under grace? Specifically, tithing was clearly the right thing under the Law. The Old Testament makes that clear. But now is it the wrong thing to do under grace? Certainly not.

Tithing is a heart test. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” That basically means your heart follows your treasure. The tithe is the ultimate heart test for the believer.

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