Call-ins Radio Broadcast Wednesday 08/04/2021

Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P657 (08-04-21)

What About Tithing and a Second Baptism?

People who have grown up in any number of protestant churches will inevitably have heard teaching on tithing. A pastor will tell you that if you do not tithe then you are robbing God. Or a pastor will say if you tithe you will be blessed by God for riches. If you have been to some charismatic churches, you may have also heard teaching from a pastor that says you need to have a second baptism of the Spirit. Some will even say that if you do not have the evidence of speaking in tongues then you are not saved? There are people who have been to these churches and are beginning to wonder if what they are saying is true. That is why many people call into the program to get clarification on these things.

First of all, truth is found not in what some pastor says. We have the scriptures that were written down through the prophets for the Old Testament and the apostles for the New Testament. For the New Testament to be written down, they had to be written down through men who were eyewitnesses of the baptism, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, through men who spent time with Jesus, who walked and talked with him, heard what he had to say, and saw all that was performed through Him, and who observed events that the prophets foretold would happen in regard to the promised Messiah. But until the day of Pentecost, where for the first time in history, men were indwelt with the Holy Spirit, only then could the meaning of the word of God be revealed to them. Then they were able to write down all that the Spirit living in them brought back to their remembrance to bring a message concerning Christ, of Christ in you your only hope of glory. These scriptures have now been identified as from the Lord through those who had been with Jesus or were prophets of God and has now been compiled into the 66 books of the bible we hold in our hands today. Other books have been rejected as being in the canon, such as the apocrypha. The Old Testament writings were confirmed by Jesus, as He quoted from the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the original Hebrew manuscripts. The Old Testament was identified prior to the birth of Jesus. The New Testament became recognized and canonized early on in in the time frame of the apostles and by the first generation saints.

So when you are born again, having the Spirit of God living in you, you have the mind of Christ, and you have the ability to discern the meaning of the word of God. You discern the word of God through the scriptures that have been provided in regard to the context it was written. Was it written to the Israelites under an Old Covenant or to those under a New Covenant? Is it applicable to a born again believer today who is living under a New Covenant? Those are the kinds of questions that need to be asked. There are passages that are very clear so that you can know that tithing is not for today despite what so many pastors say. There is no such thing as a second baptism as the apostle Paul makes that very clear in his writings. Pastors twist the scriptures to try to justify their bias of what they want people to believe. But, even as the apostle Paul said, to really know the truth, be like the Bereans, who diligently studied the scriptures available to them in their day, to see if what the apostle Paul said was so.

Tithing is not for today because tithing has to do with supporting a Levitical priesthood under an Old Covenant system of law so the Levites could perform their religious duties of sacrificing bulls and goats, among other things. So tithing was only for the Israelites under an Old Covenant system still in existence at the time the book of Malachi was written. It is not written for us today who are under a New Covenant. And the first chapter of Malachi tells us that it is written to the descendants of Jacob. According to Hebrews that system was set aside for a New Covenant with greater promises, where a better hope was introduced. After the cross, Jesus became the final sacrifice, ending all other sacrifices, because His sacrifice took away sins. The blood of bulls and goats only covered sins.

The apostle Paul also went into great detail in his epistles written to the churches testifying how we are no longer under the law, so die to the law. Do not put yourself under the law. You died to the law so why live under it any longer? In Romans 6:14, he tells us that sin shall not be your master because you are not under law but under grace. There are many passages of scriptures where Paul expounds on the difference between law and grace. Those led by the Spirit are sons of God, and if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. If you are not led by the Spirit, you are under the law and if under the law, you are not led by the Spirit, and if not led by the Spirit then you are not a son of God. That means you are not saved.

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We do not need a law of tithing to dictate to us what we should or should not do, with a promise of reward if we tithe or a threat of punishment if we fail to tithe. That law is not for us today. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus for the law of liberty in Christ Jesus set us free from the law of sin and death. The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life. Under the law, cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law. No man will ever be declared righteous in the sight of God by obedience to the law, because no one can obey the law. The only thing the law can do is show you your condition. You are dead. Until you see you are dead, you will never come alive to Christ. You are not alive to Christ if you are still under the law. You have to be free from the law.

Jesus became a curse for us by being nailed on a cross. He became sin for us in order that the just requirements of the law may be fully met in us. Jesus fulfilled the law in love, being God in the flesh and where love does its neighbor no wrong. Then He met the demands of the law, death for sin, for us in order that He shall rise again to give us what we really need, life forevermore, His life, eternal life, the Holy Spirit of God placed in us for those who put their faith in Him.

The apostle Paul testifies of the new way of giving under a New Covenant. He spends two chapters on that in 2 Corinthians. What is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is to excel in the grace of giving, to give joyfully and eagerly, to give without compulsion, to give enthusiastically, not to give grudgingly, to give what he has decided to give in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. That is how we are to give in the New Covenant. No where will you see any apostle teach tithing under a New Covenant.

Someone will ask, “But did not Abraham tithe to Melchizedek?“ What does Abraham have to do with tithe? Abraham tithed to Melchizedek after he had gone in and conquered a country. No pastors think they want you to conquer a country and bring the spoils. That has nothing to do with tithing. That is nonsense to bring that in, but that is what pastors do, twisting scriptures to fit their bias, and twist scriptures out of their context to deceive those who are not discerning or who fail to check out the scriptures to see if what is said is so. Yes, there are well-meaning pastors, but nevertheless they are teaching error, passing on what was taught to them in seminary, for example. Nevertheless, the only reason Melchizedek is in the bible is to give examples to the Hebrews that there is someone greater than Abraham, and that is Melchizedek. Otherwise, why tithe to him? Outside of that, what reason is there to tithe to Melchizedek?

Now to those pastors who teach you have to receive a second baptism of the Spirit, they will use a scripture such as John 20:22, using an unclear passage of scripture, poorly translated into English to justify how the disciples received the Holy Spirit before the day of Pentecost. Why is it that a person will take one scripture and form some doctrine around it when there are so many other scriptures, that they just ignore, that clearly explain that that passage cannot mean what you think it means? How long have they been a pastor that they are not aware of these other clear passages of scripture?

John 20:22
²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

First of all, looking more closely at the original Greek, the passage would be rendered as he breathed in, or took a deep breath, and was telling them that when the Holy Spirit is given, receive it when it is offered.

Now, let us look at other passages that clearly indicate that the disciples could not have received the Holy Spirit at that time in John 20:22. First of all Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. So what did Jesus say about when He was going to give the Holy Spirit?

John 7:39
By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

This means that Jesus will not give the Spirit until He ascends back to heaven to the Father. Other passages in scripture we read that Jesus tells the disciples to wait in Galilee for the promised Holy Spirit. We read about that day, on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts, where the disciples receive the Holy Spirit. If the disciples received the Holy Spirit earlier in John 20:22, then why also was there no big deal event after supposedly receiving the Holy Spirit? The disciples all went back to their old way of life, going back to fishing, downcast in spirit, until Jesus appeared to them that He is alive. That is inconsistent.

Then you also have these clear passages of scripture from the apostle Paul. In Ephesians, for example, the apostle Paul explicitly states there is only one Spirit and also that there is only one baptism.

Ephesians 4:2-5
² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Clearly the apostle Paul is telling us there is only one Spirit. Furthermore, why would Paul say in Ephesians the Holy Spirit is sealed in us until the day of redemption? If something is sealed, is it later unsealed to let more of the Spirit in? You do not get more of the Spirit. You do not get a partial Spirit, part of Jesus living in you at the time of new spiritual birth. Furthermore, if the Spirit of God entered the disciples prior to Jesus going to the cross, then the next time the disciples sinned, the Spirit would have to leave them, and they would die again, for sin has not yet been taken away, or had not been paid in full yet. The second baptism of the Spirit just does not make any sense however you look at it.