BEYOND THE TITHE: GOD’S DESIGN FOR GIVING, Grace Produced in you.

Text 2 Cor 9:6-8

Introduction

One of the more uncomfortable subjects in the church is giving. And to be honest, part of that discomfort is understandable. The religious world has often abused one of God’s intended means for carrying out His will, turning what should be worshipful and benevolent into something manipulative, self serving, and at times openly profitable.

But misuse does not cancel purpose.

The fact that some have twisted giving for personal gain does not mean God’s design was flawed. It means people were. And it also means we have to be careful not to overreact. If we let the abuse of giving make us suspicious of giving, then the enemy wins twice: first through corruption, and then through our silence and reluctance.

Giving is still a vital part of God’s design for His people. It supports ministry, meets needs, and strengthens fellowship. It is one of the ways a congregation stays healthy and mission focused. And it is one of the ways the heart gets exposed. Not just what we have, but what has us.

Now, many people call this “tithing,” but I want to submit something to you that may challenge the way we talk about it. Christians under the New Testament are not commanded to tithe.

The word “tithe” literally means “a tenth.” It is a specific percentage, connected to Israel’s covenant obligations under the Law of Moses. When people say, “You need to tithe,” what they are actually saying is, “You need to give ten percent.” And here is the issue: the New Testament does not present ten percent as the binding standard for Christians.

That matters, because the moment we frame New Testament giving as tithing, we risk doing two things that backfire:

First, we unintentionally put Christians back under an Old Covenant measurement as if it is law for the church.

Second, we reduce giving to a number, instead of treating it as worship, trust, love, and stewardship.

New Testament giving is not less serious than tithing. It is more personal than tithing. Under Christ, the question is not “Did you hit ten percent?” The question is “Did you give from a heart submitted to God, with faith, gratitude, and integrity?”

If you want a one sentence summary you can build on, it is this:

Israel was commanded to give a tenth as part of the Law. Christians are called to give generously and intentionally as part of discipleship.

However, even though Christians are not commanded to tithe according to the Old Testament system, there is still a strong connection in the purpose behind giving.

When people say, “the tithe,” it sounds like Israel had one simple ten percent rule and that is it.

But when you read the Law, you see that Israel’s giving was organized to accomplish specific spiritual outcomes. You can group it into three major areas of purpose.

1. Support of Ministry

God said it plainly.

Numbers 18:21, “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting.”

That is direct. God tied giving to ministry sustainability.

Under the Law, the Levites did not receive the same land inheritance as the other tribes because their assignment was different. Their work was connected to the tabernacle and later the temple, and it served the spiritual life of the whole nation. So God built provision into the covenant life of His people. He was teaching Israel that spiritual service is not incidental, and it is not optional to value it. Worship has weight. Spiritual care is real work. And a community that benefits from that work has a responsibility to help sustain it.

Ministry and ministers was never intended to run on scraps!

Unlike today God was not trying to elevate the MAN, He was elevating the MISSION. God valued you the work of the Levites so he made them a priority.

God was teaching His people what deserves honor and priority.

So if a community is being fed, taught, guided, and cared for, it is right that the community shares in sustaining the work that is blessing them.

This principle did not disappear with the Law.

Paul makes the connection explicit in the New Testament. After referencing how those who served in the temple were supported, he says, (1 Corinthians 9:13–14 “13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.”

He reinforces the same principle when he says, (Galatians 6:6 “6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.”

And he adds that those who labor in the word are worthy of honor and support, using Scripture to illustrate the fairness of it (1 Timothy 5:17–18 “17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”” .

So here is the practical point for the church today.

Understand, you dont pay the preacher you support him so he can do ministry and serve the people of God. you dont employ him…. you empower him to do the work of God!!! Because he does not work for you he works for God!!!

Giving is not a tip for a service you rendered

It is participation in the mission you claim to believe. That is why the New Testament pushes giving to be intentional and consistent, not impulsive and occasional. “

So when you give, you are not just meeting a budget. You are strengthening gospel work. You are helping the church teach, shepherd, evangelize, and serve with stability and focus.

2. Care for the Vulnerable

Every third year, God commanded a portion of their increase that stayed local. It was not sent off somewhere distant. It was stored where the people lived, so the need in their own community could be addressed.

Deuteronomy 14:29 says, “The Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow may come and eat and be satisfied.”

Do not rush past that.

God names the people most likely to be overlooked, and then He writes them into the system. The Levite, who had no land inheritance. The stranger, who had no built in protection. The fatherless and the widow, who in that society were often the most economically vulnerable. God is making a statement: if you are My people, the weak are not invisible to you.

God does not believe outsourcing compassion. He does not treat mercy as an optional ministry. He built it into the covenant life of His people. He tied worship to justice, and praise to provision.

So hear the warning attached to giving

Israel could not claim to honor God at the altar while neglecting the suffering at the gate. They could not sing and sacrifice and then walk past hungry people like that was someone else’s problem. If Israel worshiped well but ignored the hurting, God said they had missed the point entirely.

And the New Testament doubles down on this principle.

(James 1:27 “27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

John makes it even more personal: (1 John 3:17 “17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

The early church organized care for widows so no one was neglected (Acts 6:1–4 “1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.””

Paul coordinated collections specifically for needy saints

(Acts 11:27–30 “27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.”

(1 Corinthians 16:1–4 “1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.”

Romans 15:25–27 “25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.”

It is very clear how God feels about the care for his people over and over again we see how important for the people of God to take care of the people of God

A church can have strong preaching, beautiful singing, and full calendars, and still be spiritually shallow if it is cold toward the vulnerable. Because God never intended worship to be a performance. Worship is supposed to produce a people who look like Him: merciful, attentive, and moved to action.

“If our giving never reaches people who are hurting, then our giving has become about us, not about God.”

Worship and Fellowship

And then there is a part of Old Testament giving that many people have never been taught.

God commanded Israel to set aside a portion of their increase and then, in His presence, partake of it themselves as an act of worshipful fellowship.

Deuteronomy 14:26 says, “You shall eat before the LORD your God… and you shall rejoice.”

That is striking. God is not only receiving their offering, He is shaping their spirit. He is teaching them that giving is not just subtraction. Giving is discipleship. It is a way God forms His people into a grateful, joyful, united community.

In other words, God built celebration into obedience.

He wanted generosity to strengthen joy, not suppress it. He wanted giving to produce community, not competition. He wanted the act of setting aside and bringing before Him to turn into shared gratitude, shared worship, and shared life.

That means the tithe was not merely about compliance. It was about formation.

God was training Israel to rejoice with Him, to remember where their blessings came from, and to experience worship as something that shaped their relationships with each other. It was not only, “Bring it.” It was also, “Come together.” Because worship was never meant to be private. It was covenant life, lived in community, in the presence of God.

But here is the key distinction, and it matters for how we connect this to the church.

Even when the tithe had joy and fellowship built into it, it was still commanded. It was still measured. It was still required. It was an external obligation under a national covenant. Israel was being trained, sometimes from the outside in. God accepted physical obedience even when the heart was still catching up.

And that is where New Testament giving is different.

FROM COMMAND TO CONVICTION (Expanded)

FROM COMMAND TO CONVICTION

This brings us to the defining New Covenant statement on giving:

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Everything changes here, not because giving becomes optional, but because God goes after something deeper than compliance. Under Christ, God is not merely shaping what you do. He is shaping why you do it.

Under the Old Covenant, giving was structured and enforced. It was measured. It was required. And while God always cared about the heart, the system could still function when the heart lagged behind. You could do the right thing with the wrong spirit and still meet the outward requirement.

But under the New Covenant, God removes the external pressure and puts the responsibility where it belongs: inside the disciple.

So Paul says, “each one must give as he has decided in his heart.” That means giving is intentional. It is not random. It is not accidental. It is not whatever is left over. It is a settled decision, made ahead of time, with God in mind.

Then Paul says, “not reluctantly.” That word targets the inner resistance. The sigh before you give. The sense of loss. The feeling that God is taking from you instead of trusting that God is providing for you.

And then he says, “or under compulsion.” That is pressure giving. Guilt giving. Manipulated giving. Giving because you feel cornered. The New Testament refuses to build the church on fundraising tactics. God is not after coerced generosity. He is after cultivated trust.

And then the line that defines it all: “for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Not a flashy giver. Not a loud giver. Not a guilted giver. A cheerful giver, a person whose heart has been shaped by grace so that giving becomes joy instead of irritation.

So yes, everything changes here.

Under the Old Covenant: Giving was enforced. Motivation was secondary. Compliance could be sufficient.

Under the New Covenant: Giving is voluntary. Motivation is essential. The heart is central.

[PAUSE]

But do not misunderstand what “voluntary” means.

Voluntary does not mean casual. Voluntary does not mean occasional. Voluntary does not mean optional.

It means God is not content with your hand. He wants your heart.

And here is the part people miss.

Grace does not relax God’s expectations. It intensifies them.

The Law asked for a portion. Grace asks for alignment.

The Law could tell you what to do. Grace transforms who you are.

Under the Law, you could give and still resent it. Under grace, God says, “I am not just measuring what left your account. I am measuring what is happening in your soul.”

Because New Testament giving is not about meeting a quota. It is about reflecting a King who gave Himself.

That is why, a few verses earlier, Paul says that God is able to make grace abound so that you will have sufficiency and abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). The issue is not that God wants you drained. The issue is that God wants you trained. Trained to trust Him. Trained to loosen your grip. Trained to see yourself as a steward, not an owner.

So the question for the church is not, “Are you tithing?” The question is, “Has grace reached your heart deeply enough that generosity is becoming part of your character?”

Action step you can put right on the congregation:

Grace does not merely change what you do. Grace exposes why you do it.

The biggest difference between the OT and NT Is grace

So here is what that looks like in our giving

1. Grace removes hiding places

Under the Law, a person could reduce giving to a system. Meet the percentage. Keep the rule. Feel relieved.

Grace does not allow you to hide behind mechanics.

Because grace does not ask for a number first. Grace asks for you first. No more giving only when it is convenient. No more giving only when it is noticed. No more giving only when you have excess.

Grace drags the heart into the light.

2. Grace removes comparison

(Luke 21:3 “3 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.”

Jesus was standing in the perfect place to teach us something dangerous. He did not measure giving the way we measure giving.

He was not impressed by totals. He was moved by trust.

People around her heard two coins. Jesus heard a declaration.

Because in the Church , giving is not about how much you release. It is about how much you rely.

So comparison dies here.

You cannot look sideways and say, “I give more than them,” and you cannot look upward and say, “I cannot give like them.” Grace does not measure you against another person’s income. Grace measures you against your own trust.

3. Grace demands intentionality

Paul says, “Each one must decide in his heart” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Notice the wording. Decide.

Grace does not drift. Grace does not procrastinate. Grace does not wait to see what is left.

Grace makes a decision before the moment arrives.

Because if you do not decide ahead of time, your flesh will decide in the moment. And your flesh always decides for comfort.

So grace turns giving into discipleship. Not an impulse. Not an accident. Not an emotional reaction. A settled commitment between you and God.

4.Grace reveals trust

“Honor the LORD with your possessions” (Proverbs 3:9).

Giving reveals who you believe will take care of you.

That is the real issue.

When you hold too tightly, it is rarely because you are evil. It is because you are afraid.

Afraid there will not be enough. Afraid you will be the one who sacrifices while others do not. Afraid God will not come through.

So giving becomes a confession.

Every time you honor God with your possessions, you are saying, “Lord, you are my source, not my salary.” “You are my security, not my savings.” “You are my provider, not my plan.”

And if that feels too strong, that is exactly why it is so revealing.

listen

CRESCENDO

The Law asked, “What is required?”

Grace asks, “What does love compel?”

The Law could tell you what to do.

But It could not make you want to do it.

The Law said, “Bring your tenth.”

Grace says, “Bring your heart.”

Because grace is not trying to extract something from you. Grace is trying to form someone in you.

Paul promises, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

That means when you give, you are not stepping into lack. You are stepping into God’s supply.

And do not miss Paul’s point.

God does not bless generosity to enrich us. He blesses generosity to expand good works.

2 Cor 9 tells us that the reason God blesses us is not to provide generational wealth, but to bless his people

Not so you can upgrade your comfort, but so you can enlarge your impact. Not so you can brag about abundance, but so needs can be met and the gospel can move.

FINAL CLOSE

So the question is no longer, “Do you tithe?”

The question is: What has grace produced in you?

Grace has captured the heart. So I am not asking you for a number. I am asking you for honesty.

If grace is real in you, it will produce fruit in you. And if there is no fruit, we should not celebrate the leaves.

Some of you are faithful in worship, faithful in attendance, faithful in talking about God, but deep down you know you are still living like you are the source.

So here is the invitation.

First, if you are not in Christ, grace is calling you to surrender to Jesus. Not later. Not when you “get right.” Now.

The Bible says you can respond today.

Hear the gospel (Romans 10:17). Believe in Jesus (John 8:24). Repent and turn (Acts 3:19). Confess Him (Romans 10:9–10). Be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3–4).

Second, if you are in Christ but you have been resisting Him, today is not a day for excuses. It is a day for surrender.

Maybe it is giving. Maybe it is control. Maybe it is fear. Maybe it is hidden sin.

But whatever it is, grace is putting its finger on it because God loves you too much to let you stay half surrendered.

So if you need to come forward for prayer, if you need to confess, if you need to come home, do not let pride keep you in your seat. Let grace win.

Come now, while we stand and sing.