By Babatope Babalobi babalobi@yahoo.com +234 80 35 897435
Save the World Christian ministry App: http://qrco.de/babalobi
There is a lot of debate in Christian circles over the giving of firstfruits as an offering to God. Is this a scriptural act? What constitutes firstfruits, and how should this be given.
Kindly find below several passages that discuss on firstfruits in the Bible, read through, meditate carefully and ask the Holy Spirit to give you an understanding. As a Christian you should be able to understand the Bible yourself without prejudice to Church teachings.
In next write up, I will discuss further on this, giving my opinion on this subject.
Stay Blessed.
What Does the Bible say on firstfruits?
And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the filed….the first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God – Exodus 23 vs. 16 and 19
And thou shall observe the feat of weeks, of the firstfruit of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year end- Exodus 34 vs. 22
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God – Exodus 34 vs. 26
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, when ye be come unto the land which I gave unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruit of your harvest unto the Priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you:…’ –Leviticus 23 vs. 10
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, they firstfruit of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee…And whatsoever is first ripe in the land , which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house shall ear of it. – Numbers 18 vs. 12-13
And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord , hast given me. And thou shall set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God – Deut. 26 vs. 10
Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thy increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine – Proverbs 3 vs. 9-10
The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thy oil and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him- Deut 18 vs. 4
But now is Christ risen from death, and become the firstfruits of them that slept – 1 Corinthians 15 vs. 20
By Babatope Babalobi babalobi@yahoo.com +234 80 35 897435
Save the World Christian ministry App: http://qrco.de/babalobi
are first fruits given to the pastor for his own use or are they given as tithes and offerings to the church
Given to the church…or better still to a Minister of God heading a christian ministry
Is it the first week of work? or what if I get paid every 2 weeks. I say that is the first fruit of the week????
The Bible clearly defines Firstfruits as from the harvests of the field. We cannot give Firstfruits because:
1) Money is not Firstfruits.
2) We are not Jews.
3) God has given us a New Covenant.
Churches like to twist and distort the Bible, quoting from it, then redefining what it clearly says, for their own gain.
It does not make God happy to distort His Word, for ANY reason.
I believe in what Wes has said about first fruits, its not a New Covenant requirement neither is it stated in the NT that the early Christians gave first fruits.
The truth about the new and better covenant is that we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, this means we belong to God 100%
This argument was there at Jesus´s time too. Luke 6: 38 says at we should give and the same measure shall be given to us.
Mathew 13…..how our Lord Jesus xst tried to teach us about planting the seed. That paying your tith THERE IS A BLESSING ON IT. Brothers and sisters if you plant your seed with faith, vision it will give you more than what you need. I like giving and i tell you the more i give the more i get..Deut:8:18 Amen.
I don’t think the issue of first fruit or whatever christian topic should be a contentious matter, as the thread is making it seem. For a true christian, one filled with the Holy Spirit (which we all who are born again have), my take is that we should be led by the Holy Spirit, whether you decide to give you firstfruit or not, to whom you should give it or not, how much and when? : just let the Holy Spirit speak and guide you individually. In the new convenant, I believe, its not a “we” type of religion or relationship. Its between you and your God, period!! and our concscience speaks to us all in different ways. For me, I believe that the first fruit is not a rule but rather an option to christians who feel like thanking God at a particular time, maybe at the beginning of the year- the first salary, maybe at a new job-the first salary, maybe maybe maybe…… I am just trying to say, Rely on the Holy Spirit in you to guide you because all God wants is a thankful heart, which sometimes can be shown through a cheerful giver!! I stand to be corrected but that is what I feel about the matter, as of now.
There is nothing wrong with giving to God and taking a big leap of faith. God has through His word ask us to give. It is our mandate as a Christian. You can decide to give all your N5,000 000 gain you got from your first contract job ever. It is between you and God, and as a matter of fact, you are giving it all out because you so desire from your heart. You could decide to distribute it among the poor, which again, is really a cheerful giving. The scripture requires us to be this way.
However, there is no NT justification for demanding first fruit. No injunction for it at all. You have to be able to explain this OT injunction in light of the NT. The two are not separate entity.
Are we under the Old Testament law today?
The answer to this is both yes and no. The Old Testament law covered two aspects of the Jews life, their personal and national relationship to God as well as their relationship as an individual to civil authority. The civil law is still in effect today. But the law concerning our relationship to God has undergone a change (Hebrew 7:12) under the new covenant. If one studies civil laws, we can clearly see today that our civil law’s have their roots in the old covenant law.
The law of Christ (Galatians 6:2) has all the components of the moral law of the Old Testament but none of the ceremonial law (circumcision, ceremonial washing, Saturday worship, etc.). Not to say that we don’t have some ceremonial aspects (communion, water baptism) but these are not requirements to maintain a proper relationship. These are requirements to maintain a proper perspective of what Christ has done. While in the old law, circumcisions were mandatory or you were not right with God. But we can do without communion or water baptism and still maintain our salvation. The fact that we are free from the Old Testament law is a revelation that Apostle Paul received and one he fought hard for. This concept was very difficult for the other apostles to completely grasp at first but eventually it was a revelation they received. Jesus talked about the law being fulfilled and thus passing away but they did not have ears to hear that.
If we try to fulfil the law today it puts our salvation in jeopardy. Galatians 5:3-4 “we are severed from Christ if we keep the law”.
• No. 1 no one except Jesus ever did it.
• No. 2 if you break one law you are guilty of them all and deserve death.
Trying to keep the law is trying to develop your own righteousness. Accepting Christ is accepting his righteousness and realizing you can’t be good enough. So God wants us to stop trying. God wants us to stop trying to obey the Old Testament law. When we receive Christ he writes his law on our hearts. Our salvation is both immediate and progressive. Our walk includes a progressive salvation of our soul by allowing the life in our spirit to renew our soul one step at a time, from glory to glory. Our spirit becomes a new creation instantly; our soul is renewed day by day. God’s word cuts through the veil of division of the soul and spirit to release the life changing power of the living word within us. The Holy Spirit will let us know when we violate the inward law. Circumcision, ceremonial washing, Saturday worship, holy days, dietary laws, Temple worship, stoning, all are part of the Old Testament law. Do them all or NONE AT ALL.
The law was fulfilled. In fact the Bible says this law was “until John the Baptist”. Jesus was “born under the law” and so he told the Jews they should follow the law. That was only true until his death, burial and resurrection. I’m sure Jesus followed every point of the Old Testament law and I’m also sure it pains him to see us try to do the same. He did it so we wouldn’t have to. He nailed that system to the cross. (Col. 2:14) I’m free, I’m free, and I’m free indeed.
If I lie today I violate the Royal law spelled out in the New Testament not the Old Testament “thou shalt not” law, that is before God, we are not talking before man’s court. This is not just semantics; this is potentially where we spend eternity. Galatians 5:3-4.
Below are what the New Testament says about being under the Old Testament Law:
Matthew 11:13 law prophesied till John,
Luke 16:16 law and prophets until John then gospel of the kingdom,
Matthew 22:37 Love God with all your heart with all your soul etc-love your neighbor-these two ARE the whole law and prophets,
John 1:17 law through Moses Grace and truth through Jesus,
John 7:23 circumcision a must to keep the law,
Acts 13:39 not justified by law,
Acts 15:5-20 observe law? Saved through faith,
Acts 18:13 these men want us to worship contrary to the law,
Acts 21:21 you teach to forsake Moses,
Romans 3:19 want the law says it says to those who are under the law, Romans 3:21 apart from the law is righteousness manifested,
Romans 3:27 the law of faith,
Romans 3:28 saved by faith apart from the law,
Romans 4:1-16 faith not law,
Romans 6:14 we are not under the law but under Grace,
Romans 7:4 we are dead to the law,
Romans 7:6 we are released from the law,
Romans 8:3-4 the law is fulfilled,
Romans 10:4 Christ is the end of the law,
Romans 13:8, 10 love fulfils the law,
1st Corinthians 9:20 not being under the law,
Galatians 2:16 we are not justified by the law,
Galatians 2:21 if righteousness is through the law Christ died in vain, Galatians 3:2 does the spirit comes by the law or faith,
Galatians 3:5 are miracles by law?,
Galatians 3:10 if you’re under the law your under a curse,
Galatians 3:11 were not justified by law,
Galatians 3:13 we are redeemed from a curse,
Galatians 3:17-29 not by law but by faith we are linked to Abraham’s blessings,
Galatians 5:3-4 we are severed from Christ if we keep the law,
Galatians 5:14 law fulfilled by love,
Galatians 5:18 we are led by the spirit thus not under the law,
Galatians 6:2 law of Christ,
Philippines 3:9 we are made right by faith not by law,
1st Timothy 1:9 law is not for righteous,
Hebrew 7:12 priesthood has changed and is necessary to change the law,
Hebrew 7:28 after the law comes the son,
Hebrew 8:6 we’re under a better covenant,
Hebrew’s 8:7 after the first; there is the second,
Hebrew’s 8:13 the 1st has become obsolete and is ready to disappear,
Hebrews 9-10 describes the first being the law and the second being faith