Friday, July 13, 2012

Thou Shalt Circumcise!

















This comic strip nails it. One of my favorites from the Searching for Grace series, by Mick Mooney.

"Abraham tithed before the Law, therefore, thou shalt tithe", is a popular line among ministries that know tithing is from the Old Covenant, but still overtly or subtly imposes tithing. This is done while conveniently forgetting that Abraham circumcised before the Law as well, and yet, we don't see the same zeal for preaching about circumcision. 

Secondly, Abraham did not tithe "to be blessed", as it is popularly led to believe. What he gave was from the spoils of a war. Abraham was blessed simply because God conferred the blessing upon him. Period.

Fast forward to Moses. Under the old covenant, blessings or curses hinged on one's actions. Under the new covenant, however, a person is blessed because of Jesus' finished work on the cross. It's called Grace. Under the new covenant, giving (to whoever the heart guides) is done cheerfully, whether it is 0.1% or 100%.

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