Tithing: Nailed to the Cross

By A. Bruce Wells

TITHING NAILED TO THE CROSS is a book that cuts through all the opinions, traditions, superstitions, imagined benefits, and false doctrines, to clearly and doctrinally explain the absence of tithing in the New Testament.

Bruce plainly teaches why tithing is not required after the Resurrection (the beginning of the New Testament); how tithing can interfere with sonship, faith, and even salvation; and how tithing can expose you to the curse of the Law causing health, financial, marital, and many other problems.

Wouldnt it be wonderful to actually have your prayers easily answered because of Jesus finished work and the Name He gave us to use? Wouldnt you like to know that God is going to say yes to His promises without you having to wonder if all your church ducks are in a row? And wouldnt it be nice to have a royal ring put on your finger, a kingly robe placed on your back, and a big hug of approval without having to sleep in the bunk house as a servant until its decided that you can be trusted?

We may call it an act of faith, obedience, doing the Word, good stewardship, or what ever we want; but at the end of the day, it is nothing more than an obsolete, Old Testament ordinance that will only frustrate the grace of God, as Paul taught in Galatians. As circumcision became nothing under the New Covenant, likewise, tithing is no longer obligatory.

So, will you choose to develop a shaky faith based on the works of an Old Testament law that never should have been carried over to the New Testament? Or, will you choose to develop a resolute faith that is based on Jesus immutable work at the cross which included the removal of Malachis ordinances (tithing)? Will you go with the crowd, or the truth?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 17, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456758080

A. Bruce Wells

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT BRUCE’S TITHING BOOKS AMAZON.COM - G. MAXWELL’S PROFILES (REVIEWS) SAID: “EXCELLENT! FIVE STARS! …the BEST book available right now for its insightful conclusions… unparalleled in this timely subject area…” “also takes delightful side trails…” “this book lays out the case for no tithing requirements for NT Christians like no other!” “A MASTERPIECE! I’m ordering copies for my friends!” Pastor C. Rinke Stuart, FL “I couldn’t put it down.” Denice Elder Louisville, KY “This book has been like a breath of fresh air and an oasis in the desert. It has been such a marvelous study for me opening my eyes to all that was truly accomplished at the cross. It has truly been an amazing study. Thank you for writing it.” Michael Flud Dallas, TX “Exceptionally well written! I was amazed.” Roberta Welk Stuart, FL “Wonderfully liberating! Wells reminds me of a modern day Martin Luther. Twenty Six years of Christianity and I finally know I’m free!” Joe Crawford Palm City, FL “We have been blessed by this book. I wish we had found out about it sooner.” Otis & Barbara Perry Columbus, OH “Your book opened some very interesting questions and I plan on purchasing several more copies for some pastors and friends of mine. It was very insightful, offering guidance and info I had not heard any place else before. Basically, it was an eye-opening reading.”

Book preview

Table of Contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

Law and Giving

CHAPTER 2

Colossians

CHAPTER 3

Malachi

CHAPTER 4

Stewardship or Sonship

CHAPTER 5

Those Wonderful Tithing Testimonies

CHAPTER 6

What About the Church Finances?

CHAPTER 7

Galatians

CHAPTER 8

Should Christians Have Wealth?

CHAPTER 9

Summing Up

PREFACE

Congratulations, for having the courage to investigate something outside the box of typical church thinking. A huge advantage belongs to those who are interested and diligent enough to periodically scrutinize their own belief systems, and this is actually the key to renewing the mind. Everyone is challenged with the task of overcoming wrong thinking, and changing the way we think is truly the only avenue to sustained victory in this life.

Therefore, our quest to rise above the many streams of deception in this world, and even in the church, certainly begins with honest curiosity. Don’t be afraid of investigating new thinking, because solid and unyielding faith will surely sprout from the thorough exploration of the truth contained in each verse of the Bible. This is especially true when the Holy Spirit is helping us to understand the original intent of each verse, as God meant it to be.

But, are you able to admit that you might possibly be entertaining some wrong thinking somewhere? Are you positive that you’re not occasionally hearing verses that are being quoted in a way to only validate a certain point of view, which could possibly be different from God’s? With today’s broad variety of church opinions, any true Bible scholar could easily cite dozens of scriptures that are commonly misconstrued and quoted as meaning something other than what they were intended to mean.

So, even though you’re probably sure your opinions are right (most of us have that problem), are you able to set aside your own reasoning in order to find God’s mind? And on discovery of God’s revelation of the truth, do you have the courage to break away from the often misinformed crowd? The book you have in your hand is the result of just such an endeavor, birthed and inspired from seeking real answers with the mind to accept God’s intention, even if it hurts. This is called repentance.

If you’re going to find truth, it will require a certain amount of strength that you must rally if you’re going to win in the war for right thinking, which is the foundation for any real FAITH. It is a great day indeed when one can finally ask, with honesty of heart, "Lord, what do YOU mean by this verse," without adding your own, or someone else’s, pre-programmed spin to make the verse fit with a certain belief system.

When we use Bible verses, or religion, for our own purpose(s), we can justify absolutely anything, from hanging innocent people for witchcraft, to killing innocent people as so-called infidels. And if we’re not careful, we might even boldly raise money by using certain verses to threaten the possible removal of God’s favor from those who are not faithful, and then walk away truly thinking we’ve done the right thing.

I’m about to say some things that might cause some to stop reading before they have enough information to make a wise decision. So, to whet your appetite a little and hopefully hold your attention, I’m quickly going to give you one very important word that is used in two very powerful verses. Both verses will be thoroughly explained in Chapter 2.

Please, if you’re prone to religious knee-jerk reactions, don’t let the standard church clichés, tradition, and/or pre-conditioning, keep you from getting through Chapter 2. Be determined to have the truth, even if it causes pain. Admitting we’re wrong, and humbling ourselves for change, are the keys to tremendous growth.

The key word is "ordinances" and you will find that in both cited verses, the word is referring to exactly the same thing, The Law. The two verses are Malachi 3:7 (a reference to the ordinance of tithing) and Colossians 2:14 (also referring to the same ordinance, as well as the many other ordinances of The Law).

I’m even going to give you a little sneak preview of the first 3 paragraphs of Chapter 2 just to be sure you’re aware of the theme of Paul’s letter. I know this is a little unorthodox, but it certainly won’t hurt you to read this now, and then again in Chapter 2. The preview is as follows:

Chapter 2 and verse 14 of Colossians says, The ORDINANCES [these are the same ordinances mentioned in Malachi 3: 7 and 14, including tithing] that were AGAINST US were nailed to the cross, EVEN TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY! [That’s right: the ordinance of TITHING, and all others, were absolutely nailed to the cross and taken out of the way according to Paul’s letter!]

This is incredibly plain and it is really the only verse needed to make our point, but I’m going to quote from verse 8 and following for even further clarity. This is not out of context. I urge you to read the whole book. The ordinances mentioned in Colossians ARE the very ones presented from Malachi to thousands of NT churches every Sunday morning as our duty to fulfill as Christians. What a huge error.

Sure, you can deny these references and say that you don’t agree with the interpretation, but you would only be wrong. If you choose to circumvent or ignore what is plainly stated in these verses, you’ll only deepen your misunderstanding concerning where one covenant ends, and the other begins.

Now, if you’re a new believer, or even a seasoned one, you may not realize that Christians are not supposed to be under the Law of Moses (The Law) because Christ has redeemed us from it. This is extremely important because our redemption from The Law (the subject of Malachi’s entire discourse), also delivers us from the curse that is associated and activated when any portion of the Law is broken, and the very power of sin, according to I Cor. 15:56. This is taught in several of the New Testament letters including Romans and Galatians, but there’ll be more on this later.

Also, you must understand that the term The Law, does not mean, and is not equal to, The Word, as some teach. The Law is contained in The Word (the Bible), but The Law was a specific set or ordinances that made up a part of the Old Covenant. Plus, The Law was only intended for those who were under that Old Covenant BEFORE Jesus’ resurrection.

And just so there is no confusion, we need to also point out that when we speak of tithing, we are not talking about giving. Most Christians blend these together as if they’re the same thing, but they are completely different animals. This will also be explained later, but briefly, for now, you should realize that giving is strictly free will, while tithing was required under the OT, and still is, in many churches. Anything required is the opposite of free will; therefore, tithing is not giving at all, even though it is continuously sold this way.

Yes, most churches will claim that their version of tithing is free will, but this is easily disproved when we’re subtly threatened (in a nice way) with some form of God’s disfavor, or worse, if we don’t tithe. There’s nothing free about it, and it is almost always put forth as a major part of our Christian duty, or else we won’t by found faithful and worthy of certain portions of God’s free salvation, especially the financial part.

Claiming that tithing is free will reminds me of when Senator Harry Reid actually made the claim, Income Taxes are voluntary. Certainly everyone else knows better, and the confused senator is possibly the only person in the whole world who believes this to be true. But, in the church, such thinking is accepted without thinking, because we hear it again and again before ever even knowing what tithing is.

So, I just want to make sure we don’t lose you early on by wrongly thinking tithing and giving are the same. The New Testament definitely teaches giving, but it never teaches tithing, for a number of very good reasons. The failure to separate these two items (or the two covenants), is a great source of confusion. Please keep reading.

THE LOVE OF TRUTH

I want every reader to know that we are not out to make anyone in the ministry look bad. Our intent is to expose false doctrine and dangerous wrong thinking. There are some great men of God who teach some things that we believe to be questionable, but we are certainly not out to impugn their character or their ministries. We ARE out to teach the truth, though, and sometimes ministers are so closely associated with certain messages that it might look like we’re attacking them. We are not; and this is certainly not our purpose.

Our intent is to set people free so they can benefit from the freely given, true gospel, and discover how easy it is to have faith when all the erroneously imposed qualifications are removed. We warn you though; if you try to protect a sacred cow that is targeted for slaughter, your own emotions (pride) can lead you to feel that you’re under attack as well. We suggest that you step back and watch to see if the cow will die; and if so, don’t interfere. There’s no need to worry about something that was never meant to be.

Over the years, I’ve become amazed at how telling someone the truth (the cure for deception) can be such an extremely delicate dilemma. For instance: Consider telling a Muslim that Islam is not really a legitimate religion, or a way to God. Or consider telling a committed Hindu that his whole religion is virtually worthless. Or even consider telling a committed Catholic that Mary is not "still" a virgin, and the Pope actually is fallible. (Mary certainly was a virgin when Jesus was born, but later knew and had children with Joseph, according to the King James, and all Catholic Bibles.)

To keep people from finding the real thing, Satan has invented many counterfeit religions to suit everyone’s tastes. In his attempt to replace God, Satan has given the world everything from false prophets, false holy books, false messiahs, and false religions, to even science and government as replacements for God, for the more sophisticated dupe.

Over the years he has developed a forgery for virtually everything God has to offer, hence, the world is full of counterfeit religions and Satan only has to access man’s blind zeal to keep such things alive. God is not the author of religion and humans are incredibly easy to fool, especially when they do not have a yearning for honesty.

God IS the author of salvation, though, for those who are hungry enough to seek the truth. Religion has always been God’s greatest enemy, but most of the world thinks that religion is meant to be a good thing. In reality, religion is exactly like a vaccination and millions of individuals have been inoculated with something dead to keep them from catching the real thing. Jesus is NOT a religion; He is the Son of God.

And even in the church at large, there are many segments of Christianity that have made Jesus into a religion with their rules and regulations, or with their ceremonies and lifeless rituals. Discerning the true and false within the church can really get tricky, because the disguises, and/or the deception, can be created right from the Bible.

The only answer to this problem is learning to rightly divide the truth. But, this last days generation of Christians doesn’t seem to be that interested in truth, just as Paul predicted. Sound doctrine and rightly dividing the Word can almost seem to be a bothersome things of the past.

Christianity is supposed to be an honest RELATIONSHIP with the Son of God based on sound doctrine! It was never meant to be a religion full of regulations and rituals, as are all of the false religions of the world. God simply wants us to know and love Him, and love our neighbors while living a clean, holy lifestyle. He’s also called us to share Christ with everyone we possibly can, which is part of that love.

You can easily imagine the reaction most Muslims or Hindus would have to anyone citing the above facts. They would probably be emotional, to say the least, and their zeal to defend would stop them from actually thinking. And even though the facts you might present are true, and you’re sharing them for their own good, it’s doubtful they would investigate the information at hand. This is how they got so deceived in the first place.

Just the fact that someone must defend their version of God with threats, fear, and violence, should be a huge clue that their god is powerless; but again, people don’t stop to think. No one has to defend the God of the Bible (Jesus) with violence. Only lies need such protection. Jesus chose to die for us, and instructed His disciples to present the truth in love. Lying and violence were never, and are never, means to the end for those who truly follow Christ; but such methods are used often in the counterfeit religions of the world.

Most people choose to stick to their inherited beliefs without considering the origin or legitimacy of their information. These our god is better than your god arguments can sound like something on a playground with no real logic, but pride can make the bullets fly. The world is full of illusory traditions that men prefer over truth and Satan controls all false religions through emotions and pride. But guess what, Satan controls many Christians the same way.

Now, try to imagine telling the Christian world, after they’ve been taught for years that tithing is God’s most sacred and important command, that it is actually unprofitable according to Hebrews 7:18. Then add to that, the fact that it was never even meant for the New Testament church and it can actually interfere with receiving God’s grace and provision, according to several warnings in Galatians.

Now imagine telling them that the results of practicing this fulfilled, finished, and removed Old Testament law, according to Jesus and Paul, could even place them under the curse of the Law causing exactly the opposite of what the church has been led to believe would be the benefits of tithing. Welcome to the world of trying to share the true, untainted by the Law, gospel.

You see, any honest investigation into the life of Mohammed would reveal to any truthful person that Mohammed was the quintessential type of dangerous and false representative of God that Jesus specifically warned everyone about. Obviously, Jesus knew what He was saying when He said; "The day is coming when men will kill God’s people while thinking they’re doing God a service."

Any honest Muslim, who will examine the New Testament, will undoubtedly come to the conclusion that it is true and they have been previously deceived by counterfeit teachings. In fact, many Muslims are coming to this conclusion everyday as they hunger for something beyond what empty religion can offer. But, unfortunately, most are only ruled by emotion and pride. They simply won’t take the time or effort to investigate the foundation of their beliefs, plus they’re surrounded by those who will kill them if they do.

Islamic teachers often threaten the questioning of the Quran, Muhammad, or Islam, with death. How convenient is that? Isn’t that the same tactic used by most tyrannical regimes? Again, the truth doesn’t need such protection.

With the fulfillment of Jesus’ above prophecy happening throughout history, and now right before our eyes, it should be obvious to any sincere person that the fruit of Islam is rotten, to say the least. Jesus said we’d know the false teachers, leaders, and prophets, by their fruit, because the fruit never lies. Just look anywhere in the world where there is continuous hate, killing, dishonesty, and unrest, and you’ll probably find Islam, or some other false religion, at the root.

History Note: Mohammed, a merchant jealous of the financial success of the Jews and Christians, decided to act on his envy. He liked the idea of having only one God like the Jews and Christians, but he grew resentful because they had prophets representing God while the Arabs had none. So, instead of turning to the one true God of the Bible, which he could have done, he created his own religion while claiming to be a successor of Jesus. But, instead of loving his enemies and neighbors as Jesus taught and did, Mohammed viciously murdered anyone who opposed him. He then taught his disciples to spread their new religion with the sword. Even Mohammed suspected that the revelations he was receiving might be demonic, but his wife convinced him to run with them anyway. The rest is history.

Obviously, deception, or just a misunderstanding, can be extremely costly. But again, the fruit never lies, even when it might be from a well-intentioned mistake. So, along with solid Bible doctrine that tells any honest seeker that tithing is not for the NT believer, what does the fruit of tithing reveal among those who are not on the receiving end of the tithe? Or should I say the lack of fruit?

Any honest investigation into this practice, both scripturally and practically, will reveal the truth concerning this stronghold of wrong thinking as well. But, the church just continues on as if nothing is wrong and they must rely on the hope of some future outpouring of money, but only for those who will remain faithful to tithing.

We’re continuously taught, "The fruit is about to come forth any day now," but it never does. And as with many things taught in church, there always seems to be one more thing we must do more of,

Reviews for Tithing

[c3152 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The author's entire book is based on a personal experience that he claims to have had in a hotel room where he claims that the Holy Spirit revealed to him that tithing is a "doctrine of devils." The problem is that anyone can claim that the Holy Spirit told them anything and the only way to know the truth is by comparing the claims with scripture. Another problem is that the author keeps promising to provide proof for his claims but rather than give evidence he repeatedly tries to upsell his larger book in order to get a “more comprehensive” and “thorough” explanation, however even his other books fail to provide any additional evidence. The author openly admits that “you’re going to hear a multitude of well designed, convincing, religious reasonings on why you should continue to tithe” but inexplicably makes no attempt to refute any of the textual arguments that he openly admits are so convincing. Furthermore the author claims repeatedly that Hebrews 7:18 nullifies the law of tithing as unprofitable but every major commentary on Hebrews by scholars and theologians consistently says the opposite, that the focus of this chapter is the changing of the priesthood from the Levitical to that of Melchizedek. One of the most common arguments for tithing is that because Melchizedek received tithe and because Jesus is now a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek then He ought also to receive tithes. This is one of the most common arguments and yet again the author ignores this. The author accuses others of "deceptions" and "dangerous false teachings" but he not only fails to show where others are wrong but admits that other arguments are "convincing."

[pacof81234 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

this book was the first book I read, when I researched tithing. this book began my 2 year research journey on the subject to set me free. I wept through much of the book.