New Testament Giving: How to Understand The Principles

New Testament Giving Principles, Continued (2/4)

© 2026  C. O. Bishop (New Testament Giving)

2^nd Corinthians 8:5-15

⁵ And this they (the Macedonian Churches) did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. ⁶ Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.

⁷ Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

⁸ I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

⁹ For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

¹⁰ And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.

¹¹ Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. ¹² For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

¹³ For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: ¹⁴ But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: ¹⁵ As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

Introduction:

In the passage immediately before this, Paul had expressed how the Macedonian churches had responded to the need in Jerusalem. They were very poor people, compared to Corinth, which was a wealthy community. But they had given far more than they could really afford. And they begged Paul to accept it on their behalf! They wanted to be included in the partnership of meeting the need at Jerusalem. They were an ideal example of New Testament Giving.

And Paul says that was a Good Example for us to Emulate. He said those poverty-stricken churches had given themselves to God first. As a result, they had earnestly desired to be a part of the New Testament giving. They wanted to support the church in Jerusalem, that was struggling, because of a famine. Paul was impressed by the pattern and he sent Titus to stir the church at Corinth to do something similar.

Paul knew that both physically and spiritually, the church at Corinth was wealthy. They had abounded in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and love. He asks that they demonstrate the reality of all those strengths by excelling in this one as well. Giving should be the result of those spiritual realities. (Is it always the result of spiritual reality? No! There are many wrong reasons for giving.)

Wrong Motives For Giving, in the New Testament

Some people in the Bible were guilty of giving to gain social prestige. (Remember Ananias & Sapphira, in Acts chapter five!) Others gave because they assumed it would improve their standing with God, or give them some sort of “leverage” in prayer. There are people today who have the same motives. But God does not become anyone’s debtor. He owns the entire Universe, every atom, every spirit, and every soul. Nothing we can give can reach outside of what He already owns: He created it all!

Some people hope to gain better standing with God because (out of their wealth) they give. They should remember the account of the elderly widow. In Mark 12:41-44, Jesus said that from her deep poverty, she gave all she had, as a freewill gift. Jesus pointed her out as having given more than all the rest together.

Right Motives: Jesus is Our Example for Giving, in The New Testament

Paul reminded the Corinthian believers that Jesus became poor, deliberately. He abandoned His unimaginable wealth as the Heir of the Father, and Owner of all the Universe. Jesus left it all, to become very poor, even by human standards, for the sake of the Human race. He was born as a baby, in a poor family in a poor village, in a poor province of Israel, which was already a slave-state to Rome. He provided the “New Covenant”…the New Testament, by His giving Himself to God and to Us.

We read about this “self-emptying” of the Messiah in Philippians 2:5-8. It is often referred to as the “kenosis passage.” “Kenosis” is a theological term taken from the Greek word “ekenosin”, translated in Philippians 2:7 as the English phrase, “…made himself of no reputation.” It literally means, “He emptied himself.” He set aside all of His wealth and power as Almighty God, to put Himself in perfect position to be our kinsman-redeemer. He deliberately lived in poverty, to reach us where we were. And the result is that, through the death, and burial and resurrection of Jesus, we inherit the full righteousness of God, in Christ. That’s Real Wealth!

Jesus is Our Example As Kinsman Redeemer:

• Jesus had to become our near relative. (He had to be born a human…not an angel.)
• Jesus had to remain free from Sin, so as not to be a slave to sin, Himself. (He did!)
• Jesus had to provide a full, pure, acceptable sacrifice before God for the Sins of the entire World. He verbalized this goal, and He completed it. (“It is Finished!”)
• He had to do all of this willingly.

God calls us to look at His example and to imitate His attitude and actions in our lives. He wants it to become a practical, experiential, working reality, not just “Good Theory.” And, as an example of a working reality, we have already recalled the poor widow. In verse eleven, he points out that the underlying principle is that New Testament Giving (in fact, all acceptable giving” is based upon the giver having first given themselves to God, and even then, their giving is accepted by God based on what they have, not what they don’t have. (He never suggests that we borrow money in order to give. On the contrary, He says for us to avoid debt entirely, if possible.

Giving As A New Testament Church

But, as a cautionary note, Paul assured the Corinthian believers that he had no intention of driving them to poverty so as to make others wealthy. Instead, the believers in one church (who had plenty) shared with the believers in another church (who had nothing.) Paul pointed out that the time may come when the people in Corinth might need help, and the Judean believers may be able to supply that need.

In our case, we have met the needs of some churches elsewhere, with zero expectation that we may someday “receive something” from them. They have nothing! That is New Testament Giving! But! Those believers have relatively robust congregations (Lots of fervent believers.) And they are united in prayer for our little church in The United states. (That seems a fair exchange, to me: We need those prayers.) And that, too, is part of New Testament Giving.

Paul also reminded the Corinthian believers of the facts regarding the manna God had provided: They knew about it, but needed to make the connection. He pointed out that when the people collected the manna from the ground each morning, those who over-harvested, could not carry it forward to the next day, and those who had not collected enough, found that it ultimately turned out to be sufficient, after all!

Some Things to Notice About New Testament Giving:

As we pointed out last week, all of this giving was strictly free-will giving. This was not a “tithe,” that the church demanded from its members. There is no New Testament tithe, though some churches try to use the Old Testament tithe as a means by which to extract wealth (or simply the money for maintenance) from those who fellowship there.

Giving is part of the Life of a New Testament Believer, but it is not a matter of taxation. It is truly a personal relationship issue. If you want a relatively modern-day example, see if you can look online and find a copy of the book “Mover of Men and Mountains,” by R. G. LeTourneau. It is autobiographical, and details the life of a man who started out very poor, but chose to give to God, as an act of thanksgiving and worship. God used his work, and his testimony, and he eventually became quite wealthy. By that time (as I recall) he was giving 90% of his personal income back to God, and living on the 10% remaining.

Can we all do that? Obviously, the answer is no! But we can choose to give, and let God deal with the results.

The Underlying Principle:

The principle is that, if we have the wherewithal to give, then we should emulate God in His giving. God allowed us to see some good examples in scripture. But it becomes a personal matter between each believer and God. It is an act of worship, not “payment for services rendered.” (God is not a “Celestial contractor,” offering you “Divine Blessing, at Special Introductory Prices!” Honestly, that sounds blasphemous to me, but it is pretty close to what some charlatans teach.) The answer is No! He is God! He has no needs! But He directs us to give, and He tells us how to go about it!  

We don’t even like to talk about this topic, as the World has labeled all Christians as “money-grubbing hypocrites.” But this little church has a history of cheerful giving, especially in response to a known need. Because of that, I am not afraid to teach what God says, and allow the World to think what it wants.

We will address the particulars next week.

Lord Jesus, open our eyes to the reality of Your gift to us, and allow us to see the world around us through Your eyes. Help us to meet the central need of the Gospel, and also not to ignore the physical and emotional needs which may open the heart’s door to the Gospel.