Salvation By Grace

• Tithing is absent, not mentioned in the New Testament
• There is a development of thought in scripture and what we have in the bible is often best read from the back going forward – because as things unfold and as they develop you would expect to find what is present in the gospels will then be worked out in the history of the church as recorded in the Acts, and then by the time you get to the letters, whether Peter, John, Paul, or James, these individuals will provide for us the inscripturated truth of essential, abiding, significant elements of biblical theology and of Christian living

• 312 – Constantine becomes a Christian
• 325 – Council of Nicea
• 385 – Council of Constantinople
  • Christ was not a created being
• 451 – Council of Calcedonea
  • Jesus was both God and man
• Westminster Confession

• Mal 3:10
• The Macedonians gave beyond their ability
  • They were willing to forego a legitimate desire to supply a legitimate need
  • They would squeeze themselves so others would not feel the pinch
  • If we give within our comfort zones, we do not understand giving
• The Macedonians gave without being prompted or prodded

Test:

• Am I giving myself first to the Lord
• Does Jesus have all of me?
• Am I giving in response to Gods’s grace?
• Am I giving beyond my ability?
  • Beyond my comfort zone?
• Am I giving without external compulsion?
  • ie, without being prodded
• Am I clamoring for the privilege of serving the saints?