What the Mormon Church teaches about tithing
-The Mormon Church teaches that the Lord restored the ancient law of tithing through the prophet Joseph Smith & that the members of the church are to pay a tenth of their income to the Lord through his church (The Chrch Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) -D&C section 119.
The church teaches that if you pay your tithe it is insured that you will not be burned up at the second coming -D&C 64:23-24.
-While the mormon church does not directly teach that you have to pay your tithe in order to get to the celestial kingdom & attain exaltation/salvation, they do indirectly teach it by teaching:
1. That you have to go to the temple & do your ordinances & eternal marriage to get to the celestial kingdom
2. In order to go to the temple & do these ordinances & eternal marriage you must have a temple recommend.
3. In order to get a temple recommend you have to go through an interview with the bishop to determine if you are worthy of a temple recommend, he askes you questions to determine if you are worthy, one of them being: Do you tithe regularly?
-You must tithe in order to get a temple recommend, so that you can go to the temple & do the ordinances & eternal marriage that are neccessary for exaltation/salvation.
Tithing in the Bible
Should the Christian church teach tithing today? - No
The Christian church should teach free will giving.
Tithing in the Bible:
Tithing was a requirement of the law in which Israelites were to give a tenth of their crops, flocks & herds.
What was it for?
It was for feasts, the Levites (who had no allotment of land), and for foriegners, orphans & widows.
-see Deuteronomy 14:22-29
The tithing was brought to the Levites & the Levites gave a tenth of the tithe (tithe of the tithe) to the priests. - see Numbers 18:24-28.
In the New Testament, tithing is not commanded or recommended. The principal in the New Testament is to give freely to support the needs of others (Acts 2:45; Romans 15:25-27), support Christian workers (1 Corinthians 9:11-12; 1 Timothy 5:18) & to expand Christian outreach(Philippians 4:15-16) . There is no amount or percentage suggested or recommended. there is no focus on a specific amount but rather on meeting needs, giving cheerfully & giving as you are willing and able. Sometimes this will mean giving more than 10% and sometimes less than 10%. Giving should not be drivin by law, but by love for God and love for others. Stop giving out of compulsion or law keeping, instead, give yourself to God...giving is a matter of the heart...if God gets your heart, you will give according to his will. Giving should be internally motivated, not externally motivated. Remember that we are under GRACE now..there is a new and better way now. To teach that one tenth is a standard or minimum for a christian to give, is to put a yolk on their neck.
*Take note that in Acts ch.15 Some men were teaching that the gentiles needed to follow the mosaic law & be circumcised in order to be saved (Acts 15:1), and Peter says they were putting a yoke on the deciples neck that niether our fathers or we could bear & reminded them that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 15:10-11).
2Corinthians 9:7
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver
1 Cor. 16:1-2
Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
In this video I go over some verses that are commonly used to teach tithing today & I also show how the bible teaches free will giving.
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