These two are the only popular Nigerian preachers who agree tithing has expired

This is all changing, thanks to two preachers, Pastor Sam Adeyemi and Tunde Bakare.

So far, these two are the only popular pastors that have gone against the grain by challenging the normal belief that not paying your tithe makes you eligible for a divine curse.

Pastor Adeyemi on Tithing

Recently, a new video of the senior pastor of the Daystar Christian Center surfaced online.

In it, he declares that the 10% requirement has expired because Jesus Christ has freed Christians from the practice.

“So I say again, tithing as practiced under the Law of Moses as a regulation has expired. No Christian should feel guilty for not paying tithes. No Christian should be made to feel guilty for not paying tithes,” Adeyemi said.

Quoting Romans 8: 1–4, the influential preacher defended his position on tithing by saying: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

“Nobody should tell a Christian that for you to be accepted before God first or for you to be righteous you must pay your tithes. When Jesus said it is finished it was finished. There is nothing anybody can add to what Jesus did to be justified before God. All anybody needs to do now to be free from sin is to pray and ask for forgiveness.”

Fun Fact - Pastor Adeyemi did not always have this particular anti-tithing mentality.

In a previous message called 'Covenant System for Increase' on his church’s website, he had taught that tithing was a requirement for God’s blessings.

“God has a unique way or system of prospering people and it is important that we align to that system … There are different classes of giving and the first one is tithing. Many people argue that tithing ended with the Old Testament; is not mentioned in the New Testament and that it passed away with the Law of Moses. However, the tithe predates Moses and the Law because Abraham, while returning from battle, met Melchizedek and gave him a tenth (a tithe) of all the plunder he got from the battle. In return, Melchizedek gave him bread and wine and blessed him (Hebrews 7: 1–9).

“Tithing is a deep spiritual principle … tithing helps us to secure God’s blessings. The way you are a citizen of a country and it is mandatory that you pay your taxes to ensure national prosperity, is the same way that, as a citizen of God’s kingdom, you pay your tithe. The tithe is not a gift to God; it is God’s property. He calls it robbery when you don’t pay it (Malachi 3: 8–12). Paying your tithe ensures you contribute to the welfare of the kingdom. As an individual, if you do not play your part, you are contributing to the failure of the community. Organizations and nations should give since the nations who give are the ones who are the most prosperous while those who beg remain poor. When you pay your tithe, no devourer, policy or system can impoverish you,” Adeyemi wrote.

ALSO READ: ‘Pay your 10% and stop worrying about how it is used’ — Pastor tells Nigerian Christians

Pastor Bakare on Tithing

In February 2018, Pastor Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly weighed in on the tithe controversy.

Like Pastor Adeyemi, he agreed that it is no longer compulsory for Christians to take 10% of their income to the church.

Speaking with BBC Yoruba, he said, “Tithing is not compulsory. No-one should feel compelled to pay — no-one is holding a gun to their head.

“Churches, where pastors are becoming fat and the members, are growing lean, God will judge them.”

On Tithing Debate in Nigeria

The controversy can be traced to Radio Presenter, Daddy Freeze who was born Ifedayo Olarinde.

For a while, he has been challenging men of God in Nigeria, calling them ‘Yahoo Pastors’ (meaning fraudulent pastors) for mandating their followers to pay tithe, a practice he said is unscriptural.

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This is just a part of his movement called ‘free the sheeple’, which is focused on helping Nigerians change their mindset on religion.

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He started this sometime in 2016.