Re: Anyone who is not paying his tithe regularly cannot be married in the church…. Cannot be ordained…Cannot build in the Redemption Camp

By Pastor John AMODA

FOR the RCCG General Overseer to teach obedience of one of God’s demands which Israel failed to keep as the distinguishing obedience of the Christian is to get the Christian Theology all wrong. When Christ was incarnated He was incarnated to deliver His people from their sins. He was sent to be a propitiation for sins.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. (for until the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ). Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:12-19).
In the above is laid bare the Christian Gospel Theology of Grace. This theology is a theology of Hereditary. Through one man’s disobedience the First Adam, sin entered the world and death by sin. Through the Last Adam, deliverance from sin is effected through his death; through one man’s offence judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification. By one man’s disobedience all mankind were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man shall many be made righteous.

The Law was given to Jews called out from all born in Adam and through their experience the necessity of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus demonstrated God’s love for all born of the First Adam. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” (Romans 5:6, 8, 10). The Gospel begins with God’s redemption of man when he was ungodly, when man was under sin and enemies of God. This is the lot God sent His Son into the World to redeem, the lot we can call Robbers of God.

Malachi upon which the RCCG G.O. drew his condemnation of the Non-Tither is appropriately the last message of Repentance and call to obedience of the Law. This Israel to whom God sent Malachi was already under the curse. Israel’s priests were already under the curse.

“And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts and one shall take you away with it. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi; saith the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 2:1-4).

The priests were unmoved by God’s remonstrance; they chose not to hear, they chose not give heed, they would not lay it to heart to give glory to the name of God; therefore God cursed their blessings. The Nation of Israel was also already under the curse when Malachi was sent to them with a message of repentance. All of Israel was a Nation of Robbers of God. God brought Israel face to face with its history of apostasy.

“even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. 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 this whole nation”. (Malachi 3:8-9)

Three things are clear from what God said to Israel:
Israel is living in open rebellion to God while they are challenging God to bring a charge against them. The judge is declaring an accused guilty and the accused claims that he has no case to answer. Israel is in no mood to be a supplicant.

The second is that God has passed judgment unto condemnation upon Israel. Israel is cursed with a curse because “Ye have robbed me, even this whole nation” (Verse 9). The third fact is that God tells Israel the reason why He has cursed Israel with a curse. Israel is cursed because they have robbed Him of His Tithes and of His Offering. These that Israel had withheld from God are by ordinance. His, the tithes and offerings are His as a matter of law they are His by right and God calls Israel’s disobedience robbery and for this cause Israel is under the curse. Israel is already judged and sentenced.

Israel has gotten what it deserves for robbing God of His tithes and offerings. Israel has been justly judged and justly condemned. God, however, offered Israel a proposition of mercy. Obey me said the Lord of hosts in this specific demand and I will make sure you get what you do not deserve. You are under the curse already because you are A Nation of Robbers.

“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. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.”

That which God offered to Israel was speci-fic to Israel and not translatable to a theological principle applicable to all of mankind is clearly indicated in verse 12. If you obey in this specific injunction, I will so bless you, says the Lord of hosts, that “all nations shall call you bless-ed, for you shall be delightsome land.”
In other words my blessings shall make you the Envy of all nations. By this reassurance, God is showcasing Israel. It should therefore be noted that God is not in the Deuteronomy 28 mode with Israel where God says to Israel:
-If you obey me, I will bless you;
-If you do not obey me, I will curse you. Israel is already under the curse—the Malachi 3 mode is:
-You are already cursed, but if you will obey in spite of your being under the curse, I will bless you. This is a relationship of mercy. God says to a cursed Israel, if you will obey me, I will so bless you—you will get what you do not deserve—for you will be a recipient of my grace, through my mercy. Therefore the ground of God’s blessing of a cursed Israel is Mercy and because of Mercy, the lawfully cursed will be a recipient of such a grace that Israel will be the envy of the whole world. What is Israel’s response to God’s proposal? It is a harsh rejection of God’s mercy.

The full import of Israel’s response to God is brought out in the Amplified edition Malachi 3:13-15: “Your words have been strong and hard against me, says the Lord. Yet ye say, what have we spoken against you? You have said, it is useless to serve God and what profit is it if we keep His ordinances and walk gloomily and as if in mourning apparel before the Lord of hosts? And now we consider the proud and arrogant happy and favoured. Evildoers are exalted and prosper; yea, and when they test God they escape unpunished.” (Malachi 13:15)

God is dethroned in the heart of Israel and Satan rules in His place. This is the sum of Israel reply to the Merciful and Gracious God. With such a reply Israel turned its back in willful celebration of its rejection of the Law, its Institutions, and fellowship with the Lord of hosts. Israel rejected any claims of God upon her. It is therefore a thing of great wonder that a Christian prosperity Gospel can be constructed on Israel’s relationship with God. What is more it is a thing of greater wonder that Gentile Christianity could construct a theology of Christian Tithing consonant with the Christian Gospel Theology. This is all the more the case when such Christian Tithing Theology is based upon gross reading of Malachi 3:8 and Malachi 3:10.

Malachi 3:8 charges Israel of robbing God of Tithes and Offerings. These are legal charges. What belongs to God Israel had unlawfully withheld or refused to give to the lawful owner. The tithe is lawfully God’s and so are the offerings! Both are by law God’s own to do with as he pleases. Whom God has chosen to give His tithes and offerings is revealed in Malachi 3:10 “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house”. What is the House of God under the Law? It is the Tabernacle.

The storehouse is in the Tabernacle. It is not in the synagogue, of which there are many. Who eats the tithes taken from the storehouse in the House of God? It is the priests! Why did God not include the offerings in the “Bring all” command? Because the offerings are conducted in the Tabernacle of the Lord and the priests consume their portion of the offerings in the House of God. When Israel made the offerings that were prescribed by the Law they made such offerings through the priests. Only the priests could enter into the House of God and could eat there. The Levites like their brethren had their own houses and did eat their tithes there. Only the priests eat in the House of God.

What then is the tithes spoken of by God in Malachi 3:8-10; is it the Tithes that the Levites receive? No! What is it then? It is the Tithes of the Tithes that belong to God, and He has given to Aaron the High Priest and to his successors. What is the Offerings referred to in Malachi 3:8? Is it freewill offerings? No! Is it offerings made by vows? No! What then are the offerings that Israel has robbed God of? They are the Levitical Offer-ings. Portion of these offer-ings God has given to the Priests and are to be consum-ed in God’s Holy Place. We thus see the enormity of the ignorance in the reading of Malachi.