God commands tithing. The Bible shows that the tithe is holy to God, set apart for a sacred purpose: “And all the tithe of the land, 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 27:30).

Tithe just means tenth. A tithe of anything is the tenth part of it—10 percent.

Proper perspective on God’s tithing laws begins with knowing that everything belongs to God. Everything we produce—money and all that money can buy—comes out of the earth. God created that earth. It belongs to Him—He owns it and all that comes out of it. “[W]hatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine,” God declares (Job 41:11). Even money is God’s: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:8). Our minds and bodies we use to work and earn wealth were also created by God.

Therefore, God has a prior legal claim to everything we produce. We cannot produce anything
without the physical matter God created and the physical laws He set in motion and sustains. Your wages, salary, profit, income or produce belong to God, not to you. He has a right to use it as He sees fit.

God is a generous, loving God. Even though every profession and occupation rely on the earth, physical laws and matter God created, He asks for only 10 percent of what is produced.

Herbert W. Armstrong wrote, “God takes only one tenth. And after you have been honest in paying God’s tenth to God’s chosen representative, then—and not until then—God has decreed that the other nine tenths becomes legally yours!” (Ending Your Financial Worries).

The tithe is a debt we owe to God. It is not something we give God—it is a debt we are required to pay. That tithe takes precedence over all other payments. It must be paid first, before all other expenses or debts. That is why we tithe on our gross
income, not on our net. This is the foundation of God’s tithing law. (For some countries where tax rates are much higher than in America, judgments have been made regarding tithing on net pay vs. gross pay. If you have questions about tithing guidelines for your country, contact us for direction.)

Because tithing is commanded and the tithe is holy to God, we should fear not to tithe. If we do not pay God His tenth, God says we are stealing from Him. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:8-9). Here God shows that we are not only stealing from Him but from those who would benefit from the Work God is financing with tithes!

Just after this warning comes a beautiful promise for faithfully tithing: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (verse 10).

Don’t deny God the chance to fulfill this promise in your life! Tithing is an act of obedience and faith in God, who will take care of you if you faithfully tithe.

In this article we answer some common questions about tithing.

Is tithing still required?

Are the tithing laws only for ancient Israel or for the Jews today? The Bible shows that tithing laws still apply to New Testament Christians—and to whom those tithes should be paid today.

First, the tithing laws were in effect even before Israel was a nation. The patriarch Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:1-3). Melchizedek was the High Priest at the time and was actually the Word of God, the Being who later became Jesus Christ. Abraham—who was neither an “Israelite” nor a “Jew”—obeyed all God’s laws, commandments and statutes (Genesis 26:5), including the tithing laws. Tithing was in force before Moses was born—long before the introduction of the ceremonial laws that were later abolished.

Paul then explains how God changed the tithing law so that when the physical nation of Israel started, the Levitical priesthood would receive the tithes (Hebrews 7:5). He then makes a point to say that since the Levites descended from Abraham, even they indirectly paid tithes to Melchizedek. This temporary, physical priesthood ended when Christ died and was resurrected. When that happened, there was a change in the tithing law.

Verse 12 explains: “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.” The priesthood was changed because Christ, who was Melchizedek, ascended to heaven and is now our High Priest with the rank of Melchizedek. The priesthood reverted to the divine priesthood, requiring a change in the tithing law. It does not say that tithing has been done away, as most people would prefer to think. The change has to do with who now receives God’s tithe.

Since tithing did not begin with the establishment of the Levitical priesthood, it also did not end when that priesthood ended. We tithe to the priesthood of Melchizedek—to Christ—just as Abraham did even before Levi was born!

The tithing law is absolutely still in effect. We are commanded to tithe.

Hebrews is not the only place in the New Testament where tithing is commanded. Matthew 22:15-21 describe the Pharisees trying to entrap Christ into telling them they didn’t have to pay their taxes. Notice Christ’s perfect answer: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (verse 21). In other words, pay your taxes to the government, and pay your tithes to God.

In Matthew 23:23, Christ condemned the Pharisees for focusing on tithing the smallest herbs but neglecting the weightier matters of the law like judgment, mercy and faith. But Christ didn’t condemn them for tithing. Rather, He said that “these [the weightier matters of the law] ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other [tithing] undone.” Clearly, the tithing law is not done away!

This is even more evident with Paul’s teaching and example. He received tithes from the brethren from some of the congregations (Philippians 4:15-16). It took a lot of money for Paul to travel by ship, to eat, and to have books laboriously hand-copied on expensive materials. Yet he didn’t always exercise his authority to collect tithes because he was afraid the spiritually weak would be offended by it. Still, he said he had the authority to collect tithes! He said God ordained it (1 Corinthians 9:11-14). Paul also instructed Timothy that the ministers of the flock or the spiritual “husbandmen” had a right to be first partakers of their produce or fruit.

God has always had a priesthood representing Him and carrying out His Work on Earth. That Work is paid for by the tithing system. It was true before ancient Israel, during ancient Israel’s existence and it is true today.

What should I tithe on?

“Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year” (Deuteronomy 14:22). Here God makes clear we are to tithe on our “increase,” which means produce, income or gain. You are to tithe on the increase that your field produces. Since most of us are not farmers today, that means the income derived from your personal, productive effort—whether by working at a job and receiving pay or by investing assets and receiving income. That includes salary, wages, bonuses, sick pay, vacation pay, severance pay and so on.

Income received from investing assets includes interest income, dividends, capital gains—like when you sell a house—and so forth. We should tithe on all these things.

The self-employed should pay tithes on adjusted gross income, or your income minus loss or overhead costs. This is in keeping with tithing on the increase—what we earn or produce above and beyond the expense in producing it.

If the income received is from someone else’s productive effort, or if it is income that you or somebody else should already have tithed on, then tithing is not required. Types of income that do not need to be tithed on include unemployment compensation, welfare, pension benefits, inheritances, third-tithe income and so on. These are not considered personal “increase”; they are considered gifts, or income not derived from one’s own personal, productive effort.

Borrowed money is not money that belongs to you, so you do not tithe on it.

What is second tithe?

Deuteronomy 14:23 describes another tithe we must pay, used for a special purpose: “And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.”

This cannot be the first tithe because it was to be eaten by the tither and his family, not paid to the Levitical priesthood to finance the work of the priests (see also verse 26). This tithe was to be consumed in a special place that God chose for the Feast of Tabernacles (verses 24-25).

Deuteronomy 16:15 shows that this second tithe is to be used to finance the keeping of the Feast of Tabernacles. God commands us to save this tithe specifically for the Feast (Deuteronomy 12:17-18).

The primary purpose for second tithe is to enjoy food and drink at the Feast and to pay your expenses for keeping the Feast, such as transportation, lodging, entertainment and other pleasures, including helping those in need, during the Feast. Proper obedience in spending our second tithe at the Feast allows us to focus on the meaning and the purpose of the Feast most of all—the spiritual food God prepares for those who keep His Feast. By doing so we can learn to truly rejoice at the Feast and to fear God.

Are there any other tithes?

There is one more tithe we are to pay, and it is explained in Deuteronomy 14:28-29. This third tithe was paid only in the third year, and it was kept locally, not taken to where God placed His name for the Feast of Tabernacles, as with second tithe. Verse 29 shows who was to receive this tithe: the Levites (today, the ministry), the stranger, the fatherless and the widows. Today, third tithe is used to pay ministerial salaries and to help the poor and needy in the Church.

Deuteronomy 15:1 shows that there was a year of release every seventh year. So the third tithe is paid every third and sixth year in a seven-year cycle.

Notice Deuteronomy 26:12: “When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow ….” “All the tithes” implies more than one tithe in the third year.

How do you count third-tithe years? God’s Church does not have an ironclad policy as to when a person should begin counting toward his third-tithe year. The Bible doesn’t specify. Normally, we recommend that members count from the Passover or Feast of Tabernacles closest to their baptism date.

In some cases, a different starting point would be more convenient—as with the self-employed, who sometimes have difficulty determining their actual income until they can make a formal accounting.

Whatever starting point you choose, you should continue that cycle from then on. One exception is that when a woman marries, the Church recommends that she adopt her husband’s third-tithe-year cycle.

Again, tithing is an act of obedience and faith. Tithing, especially in a third-tithe year, requires an element of faith, trusting that God will provide and will make up the difference, even blessing us above and beyond what we give.

For more about tithing, including specific instruction on how to use your second tithe or count your third tithe, read the September-October 2020 Royal Vision article “The Three Tithes” at pcg.church.