What Tim Challies teaches on sacrificial or grace giving was exemplified by the Philippians in 2 Corinthians eight and nine. Challies writes in an article: Money Matters: How much do I give? (click to open).
If you are giving an amount that really doesn’t even impact you—you make $10,000 a year and are giving $100 or you make $50,000 and are giving $250 your giving is not truly sacrificial. Giving is meant to be felt. If you aren’t feeling your giving, if you aren’t having to put other plans on hold because of your giving, you are probably not giving enough. There is a special kind of thrill that comes at the end of a year when you look at what you have given that year and see sacrifice. You can see that you could have had a new computer or a new kitchen or a new car, yet you’ve chosen to serve and honor the Lord. That is a God-honoring sacrifice. God loves that. God blesses that.
In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul calls this attitude of sacrificial giving “Grace.” Paul uses the word “Grace” ten times. Paul interchanges grace and giving.
Alexander McClaren defines grace as “the exercise or expression of love to the undeserving.”
1. Grace giving is what God did for us
Grace giving is what God did for us with His Son whom He spared not (Rom 8:32) and what Christ did for us in (2 Cor 8:9), and what God did for us at salvation (Eph 2:8-9).
2. Grace giving is what we do when we give to the Lord’s work which is more than tithing
Tim Challies elaborated on this point: So what do we do with the tithe? Does God tell us today that we need to continue giving 10%? Well, that isn’t ever expressed clearly in the New Testament. The tithe is never reaffirmed and it is never canceled. But what is clear is that all of the New Testament laws were not lowered but heightened after Christ. The Old Testament warned against adultery; Jesus warned against a lustful glance. The Old Testament warned against murder; Jesus warned against even a hate-filled thought. Those Old Testament laws were a starting point to a much greater kind of obedience. Out of obedience to Christ and because of what Christ has done, the stakes have all been raised.
Abraham tithed before the law in Genesis 14:20. The tithe was required under the law in Leviticus 27:30. Christ did not cancel the tithe, he only taught that we should tithe with the right motive in Matthew 23:23. Jesus raised the spiritual bar as in Matthew 5:27-28.
Grace giving is giving because we are thankful for eternal life: “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15). The word “thanks” is the translation of the Greek word for grace [χάρις or chairs]. When we give thanks, we are expressing the grace of God at work in our hearts.
Paul spent six years collecting a relief offering for the suffering saints in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1-2). The Corinthians had promised or pledged to give one year ago (2 Cor. 9:1-2a). The promise of the Corinthians provoked the Philippians to give (2 Cor. 9:1-2b). One year later, however, the Corinthians had not fulfilled their promise. Paul now is using the example of the Philippians to motivate the Corinthians (8:1).
Paul holds up the Macedonians or Philippians as models of Grace Giving
1. The Philippians gave twice when he left Philippi (Acts 17:1) to go to Thessalonians (Phil. 4:15-16)
2. They gave a third time when Paul left Thessalonica (Acts 17:10) to minister in Corinth (2 Cor. 11:9)
3. Now they have given a fourth time to the suffering saints at Jerusalem (Paul writes 2 Cor. 8, 9 in Acts 20:1)
4. The Philippians will give a fifth time when Paul is in prison at Rome (Paul writes Phil. 4:18 in Acts 28). These are the believers that Paul promises: “My God shall supply all of your needs.” Paul did not make this promise to the Corinthians who had not sacrificially given. Sometimes people say, “I can’t afford to tithe or sacrificially give.” A Christian cannot afford not to give to please God and enjoy God supplying their needs.
Here are the Principles of Grace Giving as Modeled by the Philippians
1. Grace Giving is Sacrificial Giving (2 Cor. 8:2)
Grace giving is sacrificial giving despite trials “a great trial of affliction,” despite poverty “and their deep poverty”. There are two strong contrasts in verse two. The Philippians who were in difficult trials with great joy and they were in deep poverty and gave sacrificially. Poverty-stricken believers sacrificially gave to poverty-stricken believers.
2. Grace Giving is Willing Giving (2 Cor. 8:3, 4)
They were not forced to give (8:3). They begged to give (8:4). Just as God was not forced to give His Son.
3. Grace Giving is Personal Giving (2 Cor. 8:5-6)
First, we give ourselves to the Lord. Then, we give our means to the needy. Titus is another example Paul uses in 8:6. Titus has just returned from Corinth having delivered Paul’s severe letter of rebuke referred to in 2 Corinthians 2:1-4 and yet is willing to immediately return. Titus had given himself to the Lord and now is giving his time and service to others.
4. Grace Giving is Evidential Giving (2 Cor. 8:7-8)
The well-to-do Corinthians abounded in talent and the poverty-stricken Philippians abounded in trials. The well-to-do Corinthians abounded in spiritual gifts and the poor Philippians abounded in spiritual giving. Paul challenges us in 8:8 and commands us to prove the sincerity of our love by our giving.
5. Grace Giving is Christ-like Giving (2 Cor. 8:9)
Paul has used the Philippians and Titus as examples of giving. Paul, however, saved for last the supreme example of Grace Giving: The Lord Jesus Christ who gave his life that we might be spiritually wealthy.
Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Hell is eternal poverty.” In Hell, the rich man begged for one drop of water. The rich man in Luke 16 who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day, in Hell could not buy one drop of water. On the cross, Jesus became the poorest of the poor when He suffered our deserved Hell and eternal punishment.
“That you through his poverty might be rich.” If Hell is eternal poverty Heaven is eternal riches. Before salvation, we were beggars, totally bankrupt spiritually. Just as the rich man in Hell could not purchase one drop of water to relieve his torment, we could not earn salvation but God in grace gave us what we did not deserve: eternal life through His Son. Now we are no longer beggars on the street but we have been adopted into the family of God and are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.
C. T. Studd was one of England’s greatest athletes. Studd was a world champion cricket player who came to Christ. When his wealthy father died, C. T. inherited over $150,000 which was a fortune in the 1800s. C. T. Studd said, “I don’t want that money to clutter up my life. I think the best way to use it is to invest it with God.” He then sent $25,000 to Hudson Taylor’s Inland China Mission, $25,000 to William Booth’s Salvation Army, and $25,000 to D. L. Moody to start Moody Bible Institute. The balance C. T. Studd gave to his wife on their wedding day with these words, “The rich young ruler was asked by Jesus to give all.” Then the both of them sent all the remaining money anonymously to William Booth and the Salvation Army. After investing all of their money in the Lord’s work they invested their lives as missionaries in Africa. God doesn’t require every Christian to follow the example of C. T. Studd. That is how God led him to sacrifice. We need to follow the leadership of the Lord in our sacrificial giving.
Randy Alcorn helps us put giving in perspective when he challenges: “You can not take it with you, but you can send on ahead.” How do we send it on ahead? By sacrificially giving as a result of the grace of God at work in our hearts. Because we are thankful for the unspeakable gift of God’s grace that we possess in Christ.