Once the book of Hebrews interprets the meaning of the law versus the law of grace in chapters 6-10, chapter 11 begins to explain faith, which is needed for spiritual justification in this age of divine grace. Faith in Jesus Christ will deliver a soul from under the bondage of the carnal ordinances of the law, and from the curse of sin and death, (which the law breeds), and take him into the revealed and divine laws of grace. In this second part we will continue our search for perfection in grace while dissecting the law of tithing, replacing it with the new law of giving - which is the unveiled method of prosperity under grace.

We have established the fact that as long as a soul is under the law he will never obtain perfection, therefore, perfection must come by grace. We have also established the gospel truth that tithing was an ordinance under the law by reason of the tithes being an inheritance for the tribe of Levi. We also came to the conclusion that, when Jesus was made the high priest after the order of Melchisedec, a change in priesthood meant also a change of the law.

In connection with these discovered, biblical truths, we will openly reveal the customs of many of today's churches that use tithing as a means of support, constituted by Old Testament rituals. Whether leaders justify tithing from under the law or from under the promise of Abraham, we will show that there is a new and better way to support the church financially. Also, we will enlighten those who use tithing as a means of support to the revelation that, as long as they continue in this ritual, they will fail to see complete perfection as offered by Christ.

Before Abraham gave Melchisedec a tenth of the spoils, God required from Abraham a complete trust in his words. In Genesis 12:1 it reads, "Now the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:" This commission from God was a great one.

It called for Abram to rely wholly upon the voice and promise of the Lord. He had to trust in his words and actually do what the Lord said to do. He had to leave his land, his family, and all that he knew and go into a strange land, one that he had never known before. The Lord promised him prosperity and security if he obeyed him and Abram did, and he received. This is faith in the grace of God.

Believing that the Lord will provide when one has no idea what lies ahead. He had no other instructions or promises to rely on but the voice of God. He did not have the law of tithing in order to base his prosperity upon, neither did he have any other ordinances or commandments that would assure his future standing with God, he only had the inspiration of the Almighty to lead him.

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is based upon this same principle. It describes the conditions under which the patriarchs, prophets, and women of God had to rely on, not just their money or their church traditions and sanctuary's services, but on the providing power and words of God; and they did not even inherit the promises of God. "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise" (Hebrews 11:39).

Faith calls for a leaving behind of what we once new and moving on to something not even seen, but perceived through the divine inspiration, or grace of God. It calls for casting off perpetual traditions that lead to nowhere and sacrificing those things and people you count and rely on, and plummeting into the promises of God. Faith takes up where dependency leaves off. So, faith came long before the idea of tithing (which was only a symbolic forethought of the way the nation of Israel was to be run).

Melchisedec was a shadow or representation of the high priest to be brought forth for Israel, and Abraham was a forerunner of the nation of Israel, just as the law was a shadow and type of the grace to be revealed. Because the nation of Israel served God under the law of carnal commandments, tithes were collected not only for the supporting of the Levites, but for the sustaining of the nation as a whole. It was a physical law of nature.

But grace is a spiritual law, a law that requires faith, not an established system of physical maintenance. For example, to assure the payment of rent or house note, one relies on a job as the foremost means of support. But if a person has an imaginary house, one that is not seen what then, do they rely upon? Faith, to believe that the imaginary house is always there. This image of the house is the spiritual image, while, the actual house is the physical. It does not take faith to supply the physical needs; it takes the source of a material. In order to supply the spiritual needs, it takes the essence of inspiration. (But faith has been known to cross over into the physical world thus supplying a need, yet the spiritual can never be supplied by the natural).

The natural must always come before the spiritual in order for the spiritual to be fulfilled, as in the case of the law before grace, and the natural life of Christ before the spiritual, and even our natural lives before our spiritual. Yet, there is never a moment, in this world, where the spirit relies on the natural to sustain it.

Therefore, material goods or carnal ordinances cannot sustain a spiritual house of God. Neither can a spiritual law be sustained, or even comprehended by physical means. Tithing was a natural law; it was enforced to sustain the children of Israel and the tribe of Levi. It was a law that operated off the fruits of the ground, the spoils of material goods and increases. Tithing has no place in a spiritual law.

In order to gain anything of God through grace, you must have faith, and faith is the evidence of things not seen. You cannot sow a seed in the ground and when the grass has sprung forth you can say it came forth by faith, no; it came forth by the natural law of reaping; same principle of tithing. The Israelites tithed to the Levites, and God, the first fruits of the ground or of any goods they were supplied with from God, and this was to guarantee their future stability as a physical nation.

But when Jesus came, he brought with him a spiritual law, one that did not require sowing and reaping of the earth but of sowing and reaping of spiritual seeds. You cannot sow material seeds and expect spiritual blessings; you will only get natural blessings. You cannot give anything material in exchange for spiritual gifts; you can only give spirit offerings. Therefore, in order to acquire anything from God in the age of grace you must have faith and sow a spiritual seed, or a seed unseen, in order to receive from him anything from above.

Some people will say, "How is the church suppose to pay their light and gas bills if the congregation sows only spiritual seeds, the church needs actual money?" First of all, if the saints of God had a deeper understanding of grace, they would know that unlimited power lies within the essence of grace. It is an extremely high level of spiritual power that is full of love and all other spiritual fruits, like generosity.

If a person loves the Lord to the full extend of grace they would surly give a generous amount of physical money in exchange for occupancy of a physical building. If the saints were entrenched in the power of grace they would gather more often than two or three nights a week to worship God, they would gather everyday like the saints of the early church, and they would experience this powerful amount of grace and love. If the saints knew the heights at which true grace climbs they would have enough love in their hearts to denounce many other forms of material gain which will enable them to give to the upkeep of the church.

Now, tithing pays the bills yes, but this is its downfall, notice: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith, these ought ye to have done, and not leave the others undone" (St. Matthew 23:23).

Jesus condemns the leaders of Israel because tithing was the only thing they enforced. Just as many churches do today, they will tell the congregation that if they do not tithe, they are committing a sin. This concept lacks good judgment, not to mention mercy and faith. How can a person have faith when they are tithing for a material foundation? Under grace, faith is the substance of things hoped for, not known; the evidence of things not seen, not things seen, such as the light bill receipt.

Furthermore, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees at a time that the law was still in effect (for he had not yet risen), therefore, he included tithing as a property of the law; he compared it to judgment, mercy, and faith as being weightier matters of the law. So tithing is an attribute of the law, not of grace. If a person continues to practice any aspect of the law they will never come to understand grace, or can they come to perfection.

A perfect example of grace is described in the book of Acts 2:41-47, and 4:32-37. The believers were not tithing, they were selling what they already owned and worked for and giving it unto the Apostles. They were denouncing material things in exchange for spiritual riches and fruits. They were GIVING! At the end of Acts chapter 4, verse 36, 37, there is a simple, yet powerful passage that emphasizes the fact that even a Levite; "having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet." verse 37.

This is a clear example and confirmation that the laws of tithing and receiving of tithes were over-powered by the essence of grace. Tithing is easy to trust in because it is a sure means of supplying the needs; but leave the comfort zone and enter into faith and one will know true grace and the true providing powers of God.

Another confirmation that faith is better than actual substance, is portrayed in the request of Jesus to his disciples, which reads, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." (St. Matthew 19:29).

This commission from Jesus to all those who would follow him is similar, if not exactly what God instructed Abraham to do; to leave all and follow him into a new land and be blessed for ever more. This action under the age of grace calls for faith unfeigned; it calls for an absolute trust in Jesus Christ and his gift of grace, and the promise of hundredfold blessings, not only in this life, but also in the life to follow. Now many would rather have this promise from the Lord Jesus Christ under grace, than that ONE blessing in Malachi to come from the windows of heaven after giving your tithes and offerings.

In short, it is better and more justifiable to serve God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ when it comes to the promises under grace of an everlasting life, than to die and fall short by crucifying Christ because of a dedication to the carnality of the law. So, in order to come unto perfection, a soul must be removed from the curse of the law; and in order to obtain the promise, a soul must first do the will of God; in order to do the will of God, one must first know that will.

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Romans 3:28

Peace to the souls that this study has reached...AMEN!