Hi Sonofone,
Maybe you need to re-read Ray's tithing paper at the top of his home page. Any
seeming tithing confusions are cleared up neatly there.
Because after all, there is only one truth and God's Word never contradicts itself, right?
It's a matter both of discernment and revelation and if you have neither, perhaps God will give you discerning eyes and ears through someone he has inspired to be a teacher of His truths.
And I agree with you fully:
"As I said when I read this it saddened me because for the first time I realized there was no hope in convincing a person who believes this of thinking any other way." This is true only because it is not their time to be given to know yet, not because there are any problems with the Scriptures themselves. There are not.
But I know what you mean. For example, I compiled a bunch of verses on the theme of "we should be coming out of the world"..... there are 45-50 related verses on this.... but then I came upon a verse that Jesus speaks that seems to say the
exact opposite of the theme:
Jhn 17: 15 I am not asking that Thou shouldst be taking them away out of the world, but that Thou shouldst be keeping them from the wicked one.So....
it takes discernment, does it not, to put it all together? That we are to of course be amid and among the world
while we should be separating ourselves spiritually and on most worldly fronts. We have to go through the process! Voila, no scripture contradiction involved!
This matter of God-given spiritual discernment grows more with time in Him. You will come to have even more understandings open up within...I think, if you earnestly seek. We all experience growth in these areas over time and will continue to do so. Every single one of us on this earth will one fine day learn all of His righteousness. It is very much a process and it definitely does not occur overnight.
So hang on to hope!
Janice