74 - Doctrine of Grace Giving

Doctrine of Grace Giving; Gal. 6:6

Galatians 6:6 ^NASB "The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches {him.}"

The doctrine of grace giving

1. Giving related to the spiritual life of the believer has always been based on grace. Proverbs 11:24 ^NASB "There is one who scatters, and {yet} increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, {and yet it results} only in want." What this passage is saying is that one way in which we are a blessing to others (blessing through association) is through grace giving. 1 Corinthians 16:2 ^NASB "On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come." The verb here is the present active imperative of tithemi [tiqhmi]. It means to put or place, to set aside, to put up, to determine, to appoint, and what Paul is saying here by putting this is the present active imperative is that God is saying that this is supposed to be a standard operating procedure.
2. Giving in the spiritual life is an expression of your worship to God to commemorate His grace in your life. That means you have to have a certain attitude towards the money you give to the local church. That means it is your money as long as it is in your hands. Once it leaves your hand you don't have anything more to say about it. Grace means that the leadership of the church is going to make decisions (sometimes those you don't agree with) about how it is used. The issue is to provide the financial resources for the support of the ministry. As long as that ministry is teaching categorically the Word of God, teaching a grace gospel, and people are growing, then that is the criterion for supporting that ministry.
3. Giving in the church age is related to your position and ministry as a royal priest. As a believer you are a member of the royal family of God. As part of our union with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith in Christ you were adopted into the royal family of God. Two things happen. You become a royal priest and a royal ambassador. As a member of the royal family of God we have certain obligations placed upon us related to our royal priesthood, our ambassadorship, and responsibilities in relationship to our national government. Giving is a function of our royal priesthood.
4. The first obligation is to financially support the source of spiritual sustenance, the local church.
5. Failure to give indicates a failure to understand the principle of grace and the doctrine of the faith-rest drill.
6. In grace giving the issue is motivation, not the amount. The difference in a tithing system is that that is a legislated amount based on a false understanding of the Old Testament. In grace giving the issue is trusting God and simply responding in gratitude to the grace of God.