INSIDE OLD CATHOLIC

By †Gabriel Obiano, D.D. Introduction: A Tale of Two Errors In my last teaching, I warned about the claim that “if you don’t pay your tithe, you will go to hell.” I asked a simple but serious question: Can a person doomed for hell move to Heaven simply by paying his tithe, without knowing the message of the Cross and accepting Christ as his Lord and Savior? Preaching about tithing and condemning people to hell because they didn't pay is misleading and dangerous. Let me tell you, this is not a new problem in the life of the Church. A similar scenario has occurred before in history. This mandate to put a price tag on God’s grace happened at the center of one of the most pivotal moments in the Church’s story—the selling of indulgences in the 16th century. Just as then, so today: when money is preached louder than the Cross, the Gospel is obscured. More emphasis is placed on the message of money rather than the message of the Cross. Should we now get rid of the Cross that we all should...

  By †Gabriel Obiano, D.D. Have you heard someone say, "If you don't pay your tithe, you will go to hell"? Excuse me, how can not paying a tithe send someone to hell? Is that even logical, let alone biblical? Our salvation is not tied to tithe-paying. Think about this: If someone who isn't born again stumbles into your church, and the message they hear that day isn't the message of the Cross, but rather a loud proclamation from the pulpit that they are doomed to hell for not tithing... so this person rushes out, drops their tithe, but still doesn't know the message of the Cross—has they truly moved from hell to eternal rest? Really? Brethren, the teaching on tithing has divided us. When a teacher of God's word tries to correct this narrative, that teacher suddenly becomes an enemy. This is the handiwork of the enemy himself. Tithing must not be overemphasized above the message of the Cross. The Apostle Paul said, "For I decided to know nothing among y...