The fear of the law of tithing (Part 4)
Verse of the Day: Philippians 4: 19 "And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus"
Most Christians know the verse of the day by heart because it is very encouraging and offers hope to those who are in material need. It tells us about God who is ready to supply all our needs according to his riches. We all take it as a promise and constantly confess it by faith but the problem is that sometimes our needs are not provided despite this good promise.
I'm afraid to disappoint you because this promise only concerned the Philippian church (or those who are like them) because of their generosity to the work of God. In writing this letter to the Philippians, Paul praises them in comparing them to the other churches that have done nothing to him when he was with them and only the Philippians assisted him even when he was in other cities like Thessalonica. One may wonder why the Thessalonians did not financially assist him while working at their home and had to wait for donations from the Philippians?
It has been a while since I have learned that every biblical promise is followed by a condition ... there is always an "if." Let us see what the Philippians did to deserve such a promise: Paul wrote that since he began his ministry of preaching the Gospel and starting from Macedonia, no church entered into account with him in what they were giving and receiving (Phil 4: 15). We can see that churches received money but ignored Paul even though he served the Lord through them and his support had to come from Philippians for he says: " for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need"(Phil 4: 16).
In verse 17 he says: Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account". It is precisely this account that I will talk about. Every child of God has an account in heaven and the richness that Paul speaks in the verse of the day was referring to everyone’s account. Some are creditors while others are unfortunately debtors.
As I said in the beginning of this teaching, many Christians feel guilty because they are unable to pay monthly tithes and when they come to church on Sunday, the preacher informs them that in the eyes of God they are thieves and they will live a cursed life. I talked to many Christians who may lose their faith and are desperate because they fail to repay every month they did not honor the payment of their tithes. This is why in the next six parts I will go into details so that God's people understand what He thinks of tithing in the New Testament.
To be continued
Chris Ndikumana
