In its early infancy, the church of Jesus Christ was mostly a Jewish church, composed of people who had grown up under the Law of Moses. Even under the New Covenant, many, if not most of, these Jewish believers continued to observe such  Old Covenant ordinances as circumcision, kosher food regulations, Sabbath restrictions, and many other laws which had to do with “taste not, touch not, handle not” (Col.2:20-23). The Laws given to Moses by God were interpreted and re-interpreted by Scribes and Pharisees until many  hard-to-keep customs (commandments of men) were also imposed upon the faithful.  Jesus denounced the doctors of the Law for adding extra rigid rules to the Word of God:

Luke 12:46: And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

The last section of Acts Chapter 14 speaks of  the success enjoyed by Paul and Barnabas in their missionary journeys through Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.  Many Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ. But “certain men which came down from Judaea” came on the scene and warned those Gentile converts that they’d better be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses if they wanted to continue as believers in Christ. This created such a controversy that Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to consult with Peter, James and other apostles and elders of the church to settle the question.

These godly men sought the Lord about this crucial matter, which was very wise, because imposing upon the Gentile converts the heavy burden of the 613-ordinance Law of Moses would be no light matter. James himself asks the brethren in Acts 15:10:  Now therefore WHY TEMPT (TEST) YE GOD, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear?  Legalists who hold the ignorant and the fearful in bondage to manmade religious rules are testing God’s patience!

So were the Gentile converts obligated to accept circumcision and submit to the laws and customs of the Jews?   Here is the conclusion reached by this first apostolic council held at Jerusalem:

Acts 15:24: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, SUBVERTING (DESTABILIZING) YOUR SOULS, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: TO WHOM WE GAVE NO SUCH COMMANDMENT;

VERSE 25: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul;

VERSE 26: Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

VERSE 27: We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.

VERSE 28: FOR IT SEEMED GOOD TO THE HOLY GHOST, AND TO US, TO LAY UPON YOU NO GREATER BURDEN THAN THESE NECESSARY THINGS;

VERSE 29: That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well.  Fare ye well.

Notice particularly verses 28 and 29.  The Holy Ghost Himself laid upon the new converts no greater burden than those four necessary things: abstaining from foods offered to idols, from consumption of blood, from consumption of strangled animals, and abstaining from fornication.  And furthermore, the apostles’ letter declares that if a Christian observes just these four requirements, he does well.  Nothing is said about adding such common religious customs as tithing, seasons of fasting, rigid dress codes, banning beards on men, pulpit paraphernalia,  fancy liturgy, restricting activities on the Sabbath (or any other day),“making vows of faith”, or “sowing a seed to meet your need.”

Some seem to think that the Holy Ghost forgot to add a few “necessary things” to the list of four requirements sent by the apostles to the new Gentile converts.  This article will mainly address just two religious practices often added BY MEN to the requirements of Acts 15 as being an essential part of Christian discipleship.  First, regular fasting.

Remember that the context of Acts Chapter 15 concerns Gentile converts who had formerly lived a lifestyle which did not include Jewish religious practices.  Some of those Gentiles were  probably intellectual types who had been interested in Greek philosophy but had nothing to do with religion or religious practices. Others, who had worshipped licentious heathen gods, might not have fasted in service to them at any time. But the Jews, unlike the pagans, often fasted and prayed in penitence for their sins and the sins of their forefathers as they awaited their Messianic Deliverer. Fasting had become part of their way of life.

Generally speaking, fasting was alien to Greek and Romans who often reveled at banquets and lived a more carefree life than the deeply serious Jews.  Some Gentiles of the Greco-Roman world did practice fasting, such as  devotees of  mystery cults like the Gnostics.  They would fast to alter their consciousness.  Their goal was to detach themselves from the physical world so they could more easily connect with the spiritual world. But many more Gentile converts  would not have fasted before, unless illness or poverty made them miss a few meals.  If fasting were an essential part of discipleship for heathens who turned to Christ, it seems like it would have been brought up at the council of Acts 15.

Temperance in all things is important, but the only food restrictions given by the Holy Ghost in Acts Chapter 15  were to abstain from blood, strangled animals, and food offered to idols.  Some think that this isn’t enough, and more “sacrifice” must be made to earn God’s approval. Food has nothing to do with commending us to God (Rom.14:17; I Cor.8:8).  We are at liberty to eat or not to eat, as we feel led. If you are busy ministering to the Lord, you are under no obligation to have  dinner at your regularly scheduled hour.  It might  sometimes be necessary to delay eating until you feel deep in your spirit that you have prevailed in prayer and the need is met.  Or you might skip lunch while you are making an intense effort  to win someone to the Lord.  Jesus was so deeply involved in satisfying the spiritual hunger of the woman at the well that His own physical hunger was forgotten (John 4:31-34).

In Jesus’ day the Pharisees and their disciples imposed fasting on themselves twice a week (Luke 18:12). God did not impose these twice-weekly fasts upon those Pharisees, and their only reward was to appear more spiritual in the sight of others. But in this Age of Grace there is no need to imitate the ritual fasting of the Pharisees. Our sins have already been dealt with at the Cross.  Our Deliverer has already come. We do not need to fast in sorrow over the sins of our ancestors. We are responsible for our own lives and for the choices we ourselves make.  Besides, I know virtually nothing about  my ancestors who lived before my grandparents! All I know is they were mostly Scotch-Irish-Pennsylvania Dutch, with a teaspoon of Native American. I know I had blacksmiths in my family tree.  But I don’t have to do research to find out what sins my forbears committed ten generations back and bewail over them.  All we Christians need do is remain humble before God, keeping our accounts with Him clear through repentance when it is needed, and trusting in the Blood of Jesus.

There is danger of spiritual pride  in religious observances. The woman who fasts twice a week is tempted to look down on the one who fasts just once a week, etc. Actually, there is NO command given by the apostles to the church to fast for any length of time!  Even under the Old Covenant, only one ritual fast was commanded by God: the Day of Atonement (Lev23:32).  Other regular fasts were added BY COMMANDMENT OF MEN, such as the annual fast held by Jews on the 9^th of Av, to commemorate a number of national tragedies which have occurred on that day, among them the destruction of both Jewish temples.

Jesus closely associated fasting with mourning (Matt.9:15). In the days following His crucifixion his disciples would mourn and fast for sorrow of heart, but their sorrow would soon be turned to joy (John 16:20).  In John 2:42-47 fasting is missing from the list of things routinely done by the early church.  It does say they praised the Lord, fellowshipped, continued in the apostles’ doctrine, broke bread from house to house and ate their food with gladness and singleness (Gr. Phellos, pure benevolence) of heart.

What about tithing?  The early church did NOT practice tithing!  If tithing is such an important doctrine, then why is it nowhere commanded by Peter, Paul, or any of the other apostles? Jesus does mention tithing, but in only two contexts, one where He is castigating some haughty Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and lack of mercy (Matt.23:23; Luke 11:42). The other example is where Christ describes a proud prayer offered up by an unrepentant Pharisee who went home unjustified by God (Luke 18:12). Only those three verses contain any remarks from Jesus about tithing, and they are all in an unfavorable context!  Jesus okays the Pharisee’s tithing of  mint, anise and cumin, but He was speaking to someone who lived under the Law of Moses and before the Cross.  Jesus said nothing about the Pharisee needing to tithe his money.  Modern tithe takers order their congregation to give TO THEM first dibs on their paycheck each week, but Scripture clearly specifies what is to be tithed under the Law:

Leviticus 27:30: And all the tithe OF THE LAND (not of a paycheck!) whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.

Leviticus 27:32  And concerning the tithe OF THE HERD, OR OF THE FLOCK, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth (not the first item counted) shall be holy unto the Lord.

Nehemiah 10:35-37 specifies what items constitute a firstfruits (heave) offering unto the Lord. The firstfruits offering was collected from whatever agricultural produce ripened first (Deut.26:2).  It was presented by the Israelite farmer (not the sandalmaker or fisherman!) to the officiating priest. The firstfruits offering was presented early in the harvest season, some time before the tithe (every tenth item) was gathered  from the vast majority of the harvest which ripened later.  What exactly made up the firstfruits offering?

VERSE 35: And to bring the firstfruits OF OUR GROUND (no mention of money), and the firstfruits of all manner of trees,  year by year unto the house of the Lord:

VERSE 36: Also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstlings of our herds, and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the Priests that minister to the house of our God******The first part of this verse helps to prove the distinction between tithes and firstfruits, which are often used interchangeably by pulpit preachers to get more money from poor folks who buy groceries with what little is left after paying their bills. And, notice:

The firstfruits law applied to human sons, not just the firstfruits of cattle. But tithes were not paid on every tenth child borne by a woman!  The firstborn son was payable to the Lord as a firstfruits offering, and even he was supposed to be redeemed (bought back) by the parents (Numbers 18:15-16).  But no one under the New Covenant needs to pay redemption money to some preacher. We are NOT redeemed with silver or gold, but with the precious Blood of Jesus (I Peter 1:18-19).  The Lord later accepted the Tribe of Levi as belonging to Him instead of the firstborn of the Israelites (Numbers 3:45).

Notice also, the firstfruits were brought “to the House of our God, unto the priests”.  Even  if it were okay to transfer the Tithing Law from the Old Covenant over to the New (which God forbids!), you’d also have to transfer ALL the components of that particular law, including the priests and the House of God! Just what IS the New Covenant House of God, and who ARE the priests of the New Covenant?

Saints, WE are the Temple of God!

I Cor.3:16: Know ye not that YE are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

II Cor.6:16: And what agreement hath the Temple of God with idols?  For ye are the temple of the Living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Saints, WE are the priests of God!

I Peter 2:5 YE also, as lively (living) stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

VERSE 9: But YE are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar (purchased) people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

In those verses Peter made NO distinction between “pew Christians” and “pulpit ministers”!

What else, by the way, was brought to the House of God under the Old Covenant?

Continuing with verse 37 of Nehemiah Chapter 10: And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers (storerooms) of the House of our God; and the TITHES OF OUR GROUND (again, tithes are distinguished from the firstfruits here!) unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.****The only possible loophole I see to include money in the firstfruits offering is if you take that word “dough” and call it a King James  word  for money! And, notice that the tithes were brought to the Levites.  Pulpit ministers often call themselves “spiritual Levites” but the actual priesthood outranked them! The Levites did the menial tasks of the Tabernacle, such as setting up its props and transporting the Holy Things, ministering at the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, etc., while the actual priesthood drew near to the Presence of Almighty God at the Altar!  And here is something else you’ll seldom hear preached by so-called Spiritual Levites:   The Levites presented their own “tithe of the tithe” to the Priesthood who did not have to pay any tithes at all (see Numbers 18:26-28)! THOSE WHO PAY TITHES DENY THEIR OWN PRIESTHOOD IN CHRIST JESUS!

Preachers make a lot of noise about tithing, but that doesn’t make them right. Some think that he who makes the most noise for the longest time ends up winning the argument, just by wearing down the opposition. That’s  just what tithe enforcers do, they way they drill into you a sense of obligation to “give till it hurts”, and especially the way they confuse you by reinterpreting Old Testament terminology to make up doctrines that aren’t really in the Bible. Next time some religious tyrant hammers you over the head with  the Law of Tithing, ask him if he’d like some of the crispy lettuce out of your garden! And if he demands a “firstfruits” offering, offer him the firstborn of your kitten litter!

Taking up offerings to relieve GENUINE needs is a good thing, but no man or woman has the right to demand tithes or firstfruit offerings under the New Covenant of Grace! Christ FULFILLED the Law of firstfruits and Paul says Christ IS the real Firstfruits (I Cor.15:23)! For any preacher to demand a “firstfruits” offering, he must automatically place Himself in the position of Christ, our only High Priest, because it was the serving High Priest who collected firstfruits offerings under the Old Covenant.  Believers comprise the Royal Priesthood of the New Covenant but Christ is the ONLY High Priest of our Covenant (Heb.4:14-16)!

I used to steer dangerously close to idolizing human preachers, the way I’d hang onto their every word, but now it’s finally sunk in:  ONLY CHRIST STANDS BETWEEN US AND GOD (!!!) I have read that Scripture so many times, but it takes the Holy Spirit to really drive it home to my deepest understanding.  Christ in His role as sole Mediator between us and God can’t be emphasized enough because this glorious revelation is able to set folks free from feeling intimidated by preachers who try to stand between ordinary believers and God. Some money-hungry preachers even resort to  scaring people  with the unpardonable sin and divine judgment if they don’t cough up the cash!  Saints, God is opening up all the religious cages of fear which have imprisoned His people ever since this ungodly, un-Christlike false clergy-laity system first crept into His church!

Shout it from the rooftops:

For there is ONE God, and ONE MEDIATOR (Go-between) between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

The Old Mosaic system was pretty complicated. Even the overall total tithe gathered from the Promised Land added up to much more than the simple ten per cent latched onto by today’s preachers.  There were several types of tithe in ancient Israel, which I won’t go into in this particular article.  One of them, the “Ma’aser Ani, or “poor tithe” was collected just once every three years, in a seven-year tithing cycle.  This particular tithe was not brought to the House of the Lord at all, but stored “within the gates” of cities for the consumption of poor Levites, fatherless children, foreigners and widows (Deut.14:28).  Does any church you know of donate all its tithe to the poor every three years, and collect no tithe at all every seventh (Sabbatical) year, as the Lord commanded the ancient Israelites? Tithing was NOT done during the seventh year, and could not be done, since no crops were grown during that year (Lev.25:20). If preachers were consistent in “applying” the tithing doctrine, they’d not only collect tithes just once a year as the ancient Israelites did, they’d also give the poor tither a break every seventh year! Israelite farmers had to trust in God that He would feed them during those sabbatical years when the land was required to lie fallow. God’s people out in the pews often have to live by faith and trust in Him to restock their empty cupboards.  But it’s doubtful whether preachers would be able to “live by faith” without taking monetary tithes for a whole year!  Just the idea would send those “faith preachers” into a panic, wouldn’t it?

We’re supposed to be living under a far better covenant than Old Testament saints  did, but today an illicit tithe (money) is being extorted with  threats of divine retribution FROM THE POOR for the benefit of the spiritual elite.  That’s religious piracy, plain and simple.  It’s the reverse of Robin Hood, robbing the poor to bless the rich!

Monetary tithing was first laid down as church law in the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages. Various church councils held in the sixth and eighth centuries A.D. imposed monetary tithing on pain of excommunication. In succeeding centuries, tithing was adopted by some Protestant denominations.  But the Word of God, correctly interpreted and applied in correct context, must always be the final authority for deciding what is true or false. Even if ten thousand men of the cloth preach a false doctrine as being true, it just don’t make it so.

While tithing has enriched a few and built great monuments to the pride of men, it has caused financial hardship for struggling families, groundless guilt, and a disorderly mingling of the Old and New Covenants.  Tithing has exacerbated social divisions between rich and poor in the Body of Christ.  Tithing has weakened the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers by demoting the many and exalting the few.  Tithing has helped build an unscriptural hierarchy called “clergy’ and “laity” in the Body of Christ, although Jesus Himself said:

Matthew 23:8: But be not ye called Rabbi (Gr. Rhabbi, my master): for one is your Master, even Christ; AND YE ARE ALL BRETHREN.

VERSE 9 And call no man your father upon earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven (Catholics address their priests as ‘father’, while Protestants address their clergy as ‘Reverend’).

VERSE 10: Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

VERSE 11: But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Instead of a brotherhood of love in today’s church world, we see artificial divisions made by men.  Instead of walking in humility of heart with a servant’s attitude, religious rulers rip off poor pew saints who serve them. Saints of God are being deceived by bad doctrines which rob them not only out of money they need for their own families, but out of their spiritual inheritance as actually BEING the spiritual House of God and Priests of God!  Laws imposed by Moses upon the Old Covenant Children of Israel are being “spiritualized” by modern “doctors of the Law” to make them more profitable, then they are reimposed on saints of the Church Age.  What is even more despicable is the sneaky way this  is being done, by snake-charming emotional Christians with “deeply moving” religious mysticism. Guilt is laded onto the backs of sheep to make them bear burdens God never placed upon them. You’ll hear in so many mealy-mouthed words: “Well…tithing (or whatever) may not be EXACTLY required by Scripture, but out of love for Jesus and gratitude for all He has done for you, you really SHOULD do it…and besides, you’ll go to hell if you don’t submit to OUR  authority.”

So you don’t truly love Jesus if you refuse to buy pulpit lies which strip you of your own priesthood under the New Covenant?  Discernment must be made between religious tradition OF MEN and solid, sound doctrine practiced by the early church.  We must contend earnestly for the truth (Jude 3).

Those who impose man-made legalism on the Body of Christ are only adding their own regulations to the Word of God. They’re really saying that the Holy Ghost didn’t put enough of a burden on New Covenant believers in  Acts Chapter 15, so they’ll help Him do His job better.

Deut.4:2: Ye shall not add unto the word that I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.