Should a Christian tithe? (is 10% still binding?)

EthicsMulti-view · no verdict

Short answer

Every side agrees Christians are called to give generously; the disagreement is whether a fixed ten per cent is still binding.

Two facts usually missing from the discussion frame it:

Tithing predates the Law. Abram gave a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20), and Jacob vowed a tenth (Genesis 28:22), both before Sinai.
Under the Law it was not a flat ten per cent. Israel's tithes were agricultural, and there were more than one: a yearly tithe to the Levites (Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:21), a tithe eaten at the sanctuary (Deuteronomy 14:22-26), and a third-year tithe for the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). Read together they total well above ten per cent.

The New Testament never repeats a percentage for the church. Its giving instructions are proportional and voluntary: 'each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up' (BSB, 1 Corinthians 16:2), and 'Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver' (BSB, 2 Corinthians 9:7).

Question

What does the Bible say about Christian tithing? Should a Christian tithe?

Analysis

The two passages each side leans on

For a continuing tithe: Malachi 3:8-10, 'Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!' in 'tithes and offerings', with the call to 'Bring the full tithe into the storehouse' (BSB). And Matthew 23:23, where Jesus tells the Pharisees they tithe herbs while disregarding 'justice, mercy, and faithfulness', then adds: 'You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former' (BSB).

For freedom in the amount: the whole of 2Co.8-9, where Paul organises a large collection and grounds it in Christ's self-giving (2 Corinthians 8:9) rather than a rule, explicitly saying he is 'not commanding' (2 Corinthians 8:8); and the observation that the New Testament's one detailed treatment of giving names no figure.

The main views, attributed

View	Position	Held by
The tithe still binds	Ten per cent is the baseline, not the ceiling. It predates the Law (Genesis 14:20), so it is not merely Mosaic; Malachi 3:10 invites testing God in it, and Jesus affirmed it in Matthew 23:23. Giving beyond it is an offering.	Many Baptist, Pentecostal, Restorationist and non-denominational churches
Generosity binds, the percentage does not	The tithe belonged to Israel's covenant and its Levitical system, which the New Testament does not transfer to the church. Believers give proportionally, deliberately, and cheerfully (1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:7), for some far more than a tenth, for some in a hard season less.	Many Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican and Bible-church teachers
Ten per cent as a wise practice, not a law	The tithe is neither commanded nor forbidden for Christians; it is a useful, teachable starting discipline that guards against giving only what is left over.	Common pastoral middle position across traditions

Common ground, which is larger than the dispute

All sides affirm that everything belongs to God (Psalms 24:1), that giving should be planned rather than impulsive (1 Corinthians 16:2), that it should be cheerful rather than coerced (2 Corinthians 9:7), that those who teach may be supported by it (1 Corinthians 9:14; Galatians 6:6), and that care for the poor is central rather than optional (Deuteronomy 15:7-11; 1Jo.3.17).

Contested / interpretive points

Who was Malachi 3 addressed to? It is spoken to Israel under the Mosaic covenant, and specifically to priests misusing the offerings (Malachi 1:6-14). Whether its promise transfers directly to Christians is the crux of the disagreement, and it is the passage most often quoted without that context.
Matthew 23:23 cuts both ways. Jesus tells people still living under the Law, before the cross, not to neglect the tithe. Whether that settles the question for the church after the cross is disputed.
Hebrews 7:1-10 uses Abraham's tithe to Melchizedek to argue Christ's priesthood is superior to Levi's. It is cited by both sides, as evidence the tithe transcends Moses, and as evidence the Levitical system it belonged to has been superseded.
⚠️ Where this becomes pastoral rather than exegetical: teaching that withheld tithes bring a curse, or that giving guarantees financial return, goes beyond what any of the three views above claims from the text. Bubble Bible does not make promises the passage does not make.
This entry takes no position on which view is correct.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

Genesis 14:20bsb
and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
Genesis 28:22bsb
And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”
Leviticus 27:30bsb
Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.
Numbers 18:21bsb
Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting.
Deuteronomy 14:22bsb
You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields.
Deuteronomy 14:28bsb
At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates.
1 Corinthians 16:2bsb
On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed.
2 Corinthians 9:7bsb
Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
Malachi 3:8bsb
Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.
Matthew 23:23bsb
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
2 Corinthians 8:9bsb
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:8bsb
I am not giving a command, but I am testing the sincerity of your love through the earnestness of others.
Malachi 3:10bsb
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.
Psalms 24:1bsb
A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
1 Corinthians 9:14bsb
In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
Galatians 6:6bsb
Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.