Is tithing still biblical for Christians? You will hear two confident answers. Some say yes, ten percent is the minimum, the New Testament never repeals it. Others say no, the tithe was an Old Testament ceremonial law that died at the cross, and Christians give freely from the heart.
Both camps have verses. Both camps have pastors. So how do you decide?
The honest answer is that the New Testament does not repeal the tithe and does not lower the bar. It expands the principle and internalizes it. The Christian who gives generously and uses the tithe as a faithful starting point is on solid ground. The Christian who skips the tithe because “we are not under the law” is usually skipping the generosity, too.
Here is the case.
The first thing to notice is that tithing did not start with Moses. It started with Abraham.
In Genesis 14, Abram defeats a coalition of kings to rescue his nephew Lot. On the way home, he meets Melchizedek, a priest of God Most High. Melchizedek blesses him. Abram gives him “a tenth of everything” (Genesis 14:20).
No law existed yet. No covenant required it. Abram gave a tithe as an act of worship.
A generation later, his grandson Jacob made the same move. After his vision at Bethel, Jacob vowed: “Of all that you give me I will give you a tenth” (Genesis 28:22). Again, before the law.
This matters because it puts tithing in a different category than ceremonial laws like animal sacrifice or kosher food rules. Those began with Moses. The tithe began with the patriarchs. It is older than the law it was later written into.
When the New Testament says Christians are “not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14), it is not erasing patterns of worship that predated the law and run all the way through Scripture. It is freeing us from the law’s condemnation, not its wisdom.
When Moses wrote the law, the tithe was codified:
“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.” (Leviticus 27:30)
Israel’s tithes funded three things:
The tithe was not a temple tax. It was the financial structure that kept worship, community, and mercy alive in Israel.
The prophets took the tithe seriously. When Israel stopped tithing, the priests went hungry, the festivals collapsed, and the poor were forgotten. Malachi’s confrontation is the strongest:
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings.” (Malachi 3:8)
And then God invites them to test Him:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10)
Nowhere else does God invite His people to test Him. Only with the tithe.
This is where the question gets sharper. Jesus came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17). Some teachers argue He fulfilled the tithe out of existence. The text says otherwise.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.” (Matthew 23:23)
Read that last sentence carefully. You should have practiced the latter (justice, mercy, faithfulness) without neglecting the former (the tithe).
Jesus does not abolish the tithe. He affirms it. Then He raises the bar. The tithe was never meant to be the whole story. It was the floor. Walk in justice. Show mercy. Live faithfully. And tithe.
The Pharisees’ problem was not that they tithed. It was that they tithed and forgot the heart.
In Luke 21, Jesus watches people give at the temple treasury. He sees a widow drop in two small copper coins, “all she had to live on” (Luke 21:4). He calls her giving greater than the rich, who gave large amounts from their abundance. Jesus measures giving by sacrifice and trust, not by amount.
Neither passage suggests the tithe is finished. Both suggest the heart behind the tithe matters most.
The clearest New Testament teaching on Christian giving is in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. Paul is raising money for famine relief in Jerusalem. He writes:
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Some read this and conclude the New Testament has no standard, just give what you feel like giving. That is not what Paul is doing.
Paul is writing to people whose context already assumed the tithe. He is not lowering the bar to “whatever you feel.” He is internalizing it. Under the law, the tithe was a duty. Under grace, it is a starting point for hearts that have been changed.
A few verses earlier, Paul holds up the Macedonian church:
“In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.” (2 Corinthians 8:2-3)
That is not “give a small amount because we are under grace now.” That is give beyond your ability. The New Testament direction is more, not less.
Paul also writes:
“On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income.” (1 Corinthians 16:2)
Regular, consistent, proportional. That is exactly the pattern of the tithe.
The strongest case for “tithing is not for Christians today” usually runs like this:
There is truth in step one and step two. The problem is step three.
The Mosaic law has three traditional categories: moral law (e.g., do not murder, do not steal), ceremonial law (e.g., sacrificial system, dietary rules, festival regulations), and civil law (e.g., property disputes, governance of Israel as a nation). Christians widely agree the ceremonial and civil law are not binding on the church. The moral law continues, because it reflects God’s unchanging character.
Where does the tithe fit?
If the tithe began with Moses, it would be reasonable to call it ceremonial. But the tithe started with Abraham and Jacob, before Moses. It is woven into worship from Genesis forward. And Jesus affirmed it in the gospels.
Tithing functions less like a ceremonial law and more like the Sabbath: a pre-law worship pattern that the law codified, that Jesus affirmed and reframed, and that grace does not abolish but rather deepens.
That is why the historic church, from the earliest centuries through the Reformation, treated the tithe as a continuing expectation for believers, even when the legal forms varied.
Here is the way I would put it.
Christians today are not under the Mosaic law. We do not bring grain offerings to a temple. We do not stone Sabbath-breakers. We do not give every third-year tithe to the Levite at the city gate. The legal structure is gone.
But the principle underneath the tithe is everywhere in Scripture, before the law and after it:
If the principle remains, the question is just how to live it out today. Ten percent is the most faithful and historic answer. It is the starting point Abraham used, the floor Moses commanded, the practice Jesus affirmed, and the rhythm Paul assumed.
A New Testament Christian who tithes is not stuck in the old covenant. A New Testament Christian who refuses to tithe is usually not giving beyond it either.
If you have walked through Scripture and concluded the tithe is not binding, you should still be giving generously, regularly, and proportionally. “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart” (2 Corinthians 9:7) is not a permission slip to give little. It is a charge to give thoughtfully and consistently.
If you have walked through Scripture and concluded the tithe is a faithful starting point, go and do it. Set up automatic giving. Multiply your paycheck by 0.10. Bring it to your local church. Watch what God does.
For most Christians, ten percent is exactly the right floor, with offerings on top. That is the historical norm. It is the pattern Scripture sets. And it does not slip a foot under either covenant.
If you are ready to take a next step, use the Tithe Calculator on the homepage to find your number. Enter your paycheck, pick a frequency, and you have your tithe in two seconds.
If you want to keep reading:
The tithe predates the law, was commanded under the law, was affirmed by Jesus, and was assumed by Paul. The pattern holds. Bring the first ten percent.