The Truth about the Tithe

God is a covenant God. He relates to people on the basis of covenant. The purpose of a covenant is to establish a relationship. The word covenant is from the Greek word diatithemi, which is made up from two words, dia = two; tithemi = to place. A covenant is something that is placed between two parties in order to establish a relationship. A most important question we need to ask is: If we are in covenant with God, what is it that He has placed between us as the basis of that relationship? If we relate to God on the basis of the covenant we are in, we will be blessed. The supreme and central covenant of the Bible is the Promise Covenant. God promised Abraham a Seed and said that in that Seed all the nations of the world would be blessed. We now know that Seed to be Christ. All of God's blessings for us were to be centered in Christ. Abraham responded to the promise by faith and that was counted to him for righteousness. A relationship was established between Abraham and God which would be the basis for future human/divine relationships. God promises to bless us in Christ as we respond look to Him in faith.

Most Christians are not very familiar with the Promise new covenant church, though it is the central covenant of the Bible. The covenants with which we are most familiar are the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Both these covenants came from God and both serve the Promise Covenant. We also refer to these as Law and Grace or Old Testament and New Testament. The Law was given as a covenant by God to a specific people - the children of Israel. Deut.4:8; 5:1-3. They signed the covenant, thus entering into a contractual agreement with God. See Ex.24:7. The Old Covenant, then, is an agreement between God and Israel. You and I were not there when this covenant was made. We never signed it and we do not figure in it. The Law was given as a covenant for a specific time - from Sinai until the time of Jesus. The Law period lasted for approximately 1500 years, until Jesus announced the New Covenant: "This is the New Covenant in My blood." His death (the shedding of His blood) ushered in the new covenant bible church. If a man writes a will, then two years later writes another, which one is recognized by law when he dies? The last one is, of course. The New Covenant is God's last will and testament. It was not given in addition to the Old Covenant, or to supplement it, but to replace it. In that He says, A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. Heb.8:13.

The Law was given for a specific purpose. Gal.3:19 spells out the reason God gave the Law - "What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made." The Seed (Christ) was appointed to come through the nation of Israel. But what if they sinned and rebelled so badly that they forsook their godly heritage? What if they intermingled with other nations so as to lose their distinct identity? The promise would be lost and the promised Seed would be unknown to the world. The Law, then, was given to set a boundary around Israel because of the potential self-destructive nature of their transgressions. For More Information on new covenant church visit http://www.newcovenantbibleschool.com/