How Will God Judge Us in this Matter?

What we see in new covenant scripture, is the old covenant being fulfilled by love, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It is always important to remember that we will be judged by Christ himself  and not by any ‘pastor’ or ‘priest’.  “The Lord will judge his people” (Heb. 10:30).     

Here is a situation to ponder: - You are on your way to a meeting with the money in your pocket ready to give, when a brother comes to you and says ,‘I am in need; Please can I borrow this money’?   

Do you obey the ‘teachers of the law’, who say ‘bring the whole tithe into the storehouse’?   Or do you obey the Lord himself ?  He said, “Give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you”. (Matt. 5:42) 

It also says,  “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased”. ( Heb. 13:16 )  And again, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 7:12).

Paul says in 2 Cor. 8:8. “I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love…”

It is never a matter of how much we give, it is a matter of what motivates us to give.  Men judge by what they see “but motives are weighed by the Lord” (Prov. 16:2). 

It is fair to say then, that we are not commanded to give.  We are commanded to love!  It is written, “ if I give all my possessions to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:3).  When our brethren suffer, God wants us to feel their suffering.  And when they weep, he wants us to weep with them.  So that when we give, it is love that motivates us to do so, then we can also share in the joy of those who receive our gifts.  This is what the Macedonian churches were commended for;  “And now, brothers I want you to know about the grace that God has given to the Macedonian churches.  Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.” 2 Cor. 8:1-3).  They gave out of their poverty, so it wasn’t the amount of money they gave which set them apart, it was their motivation, it was “their overflowing joy”.   It was “rich generosity”, just as it was in the case of the poor widow. 

Let’s not burden one another with rules and regulations which take away the overflowing joy and the rich generosity that our Lord is looking for.  

We are not required to ‘tithe’.  We are required to love!

We will stand (or fall) before the judgement seat of Christ!  And this is his judgement in this matter..

 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

Then the King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matt.25:34-40)

It’s pretty simple according to scripture.  Whatever we do for our brethren in need

(the least of these brothers of mine), we do for the Lord!  And this fulfils the purpose of the tithe.  “Love is the fulfilment of the law”!