Every now and then you hear a popular Christian saying that goes something like:
“Tithing isn’t a legal requirement anymore, but grace will always do more than the law demanded.”
On the surface it sounds spiritual.
It feels noble.
It even gives the impression that we’re being “New Covenant generous.”
But once you slow down and look at what this statement actually means, it collapses.
There are so many problems packed inside it that it ends up creating more confusion about grace instead of clarity.
Let’s break it down.
1. If Grace Always Does More Than the Law, Then What About Pork, Fabric Laws, and the Sabbath?
The Old Testament doesn’t only command tithing.
It commands:
- not eating pork (Lev. 11)
- not mixing fabrics (Lev. 19:19)
- keeping the Sabbath strictly (Ex. 31:14)
- mandatory circumcision
- sacrifices
- ritual washings
- temple festivals
- cleanliness laws
So if grace “does more than what the law demands,” does that mean:
- We should be more kosher under grace?
- We should be stricter about the Sabbath?
- We should avoid bacon with extra passion?
- We should tithe more AND sacrifice more?
- We should go beyond the fabric laws and wear only one type of cloth?
See how absurd that gets?
Grace does not call you to out-perform the law.
Grace sets you free from the law entirely.
Paul said it plainly:
“You are not under law but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14)
Grace is not a motivational speech to outperform Moses.
2. Grace Empowers Us to Live Without Sin—Not to Imitate Old Testament Rituals
Grace does not empower you to:
- avoid shrimp,
- keep ceremonial washings,
- blow trumpets at Feast of Tabernacles, or
- bring a goat to church for sacrifice.
Because grace isn’t interested in reviving the ritual economy of Israel.
Grace empowers you to:
- walk by the Spirit
- live in holiness
- say no to sin
- walk in love, joy, peace, self-control (Gal. 5:22)
Grace has nothing to do with keeping kosher or maintaining old covenant structures.
So telling people:
“Grace will make you give even more than the law demanded.”
…is just a sneaky way of making not tithing sound like sinning.
It’s saying the quiet part out loud.
3. Turning Tithing Into a “Grace Performance” Reintroduces Law Through the Back Door
Let’s be honest:
Most people who say, “Grace inspires you to give more than the law,” are actually saying:
“If you don’t give 10% or more, you’re not living under grace.”
That is just law, gift-wrapped in grace language.
It subtly makes people feel:
- guilty if they give less
- proud if they give more
- insecure about their finances
- pressured to perform
- judged for not giving enough
This is exactly the opposite of what the New Testament teaches:
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,
not reluctantly or under compulsion.” (2 Cor. 9:7)
If you need a percentage to feel “acceptable,”
you are no longer giving from grace—
you are giving from compulsion, just like Israel did under the law.
4. And Then There’s the Elephant in the Room: Almost No One Mentions the Poor Tithe
People love talking about:
- “the first 10%,”
- “the Levitical tithe,”
- “bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse,”
…but they conveniently ignore the other tithes—like the poor tithe, which was:
- every third year
- stored in local towns
- used to feed
- orphans
- widows
- foreigners
- Levites (who owned no land)
(Deut. 14:28–29)
If someone is going to preach tithing as a timeless requirement, then consistency demands:
❗ Teach ALL three tithes
(Levitical tithe, Festival tithe, Poor tithe)
❗ Teach the 23–30% total annual system
❗ The priests couldn’t own any land.
But modern tithing sermons don’t do that.
They only take the part that fits the offering message
and discard the parts that expose inconsistency.
Grace is not inconsistent.
Legalism is.
5. Grace Means You’re Free—Not Forced
Grace is not:
- “You owe God 10% at minimum.”
- “Grace should make you give 20%!”
- “If the law asked for 10, grace should inspire you to give 30.”
No, no, no.
Grace says:
“You are free.”
Free to give generously.
Free to give quietly.
Free to give joyfully.
Free to give sacrificially.
Free to give spontaneously.
And yes—free to NOT give a specific percentage.
Grace gives you something law never could:
A heart that gives because it wants to, not because it must.
Grace does not demand beyond the law.
Grace invites your heart into generosity—
and leaves the amount between you and God, not you and Moses.
6. The New Testament Model Is Clear: Giving Is Spirit-Led, Not Law-Led
Paul never once said:
- “You must give 10%.”
- “Grace means you exceed the law.”
- “Tithing is the baseline.”
Instead, he taught:
Give as you have decided in your heart.
Not reluctantly.
Not under pressure.
Not out of obligation.
(2 Corinthians 9:7)
Under grace:
- You give because you’re free.
- You give because you love.
- You give because you see God’s goodness.
- You give because the Spirit moves you—not because a percentage forces you.
Grace never shames you into giving.
Grace transforms your heart into generosity.
That’s entirely different.
Final Thoughts
When people say,
“Grace will always do more than the law,”
they accidentally revive the very system Jesus fulfilled.
Grace does not call you to outperform Moses.
Grace calls you to abide in Christ.
Grace does not pressure you to exceed percentages.
Grace calls you to give from joy.
Grace does not equate “not tithing” with sin.
Grace says you’re free, and the Spirit—not the law—leads your giving.
If we truly understood grace,
we would stop measuring our generosity by law numbers
and start measuring it by love.
Because giving is not about obligation.
It’s about overflow.
And overflow never needs a percentage.
Continue reading
Related reading:
Leave a Reply