Tithing is an age-old debate that various churches and denominations have been having for centuries. And while different churches can come to different theological conclusions on whether or not tithing is appropriate for members, one thing is absolutely certain—nowhere in the New Testament did Jesus or the Apostles teach that tithing ten percent is a requirement or command for New Testament believers. That is pure legalism.

The “first fruits” tithing teaching is an error that stems from the Word of Faith movement. Essentially, it comes from a twisted application of Malachi 3 where God challenges Israel through the prophet to bring the “first ten percent”whole tithe” to the storehouse as a test and God promises to return with an overflow of blessing. Word of Faith preachers, like Robert Morris, twist this passage into a legalistic requirement that New Testament believers give the first ten percent of their income to his church.

In 2014, when the Southern Baptist Convention elected Ronnie Floyd to the presidency, Floyd embraced Morris’s teachings on first fruits tithing.

Over the years, Robert Morris has served as the bridge between the extreme Word of Faith movement and mainstream Evangelicalism that embraces the first fruits tithing error. In fact, Morris has been so blatant about this teaching that he’s elevated himself to the level of God himself by challenging his congregation to tithe ten percent and if they aren’t satisfied with the results, he’ll refund their money.

But now, Morris has taken his error to the level of rank heresy and outright lies about what Jesus said in the New Testament about tithing. In this clip, Morris says that Jesus explicitly says, in red letters, that New Testament believers must give the first ten percent of their income to God—and by “to God,” Morris means, to his church.

So you may have a different belief about tithing. You may think well it’s just the old testament. That’s not true, it’s in the New Testament. By the way, not only is it in the New Testament, but Jesus Himself said you ought to tithe. Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s enough for me. If that was the only verse on it, the one who saved me from drugs and immorality in a hotel room, said I ought to give the first ten percent of my income to God. So that’s enough for me, right there. My savior said it. And it’s in red, by the way…it’s in red.

This is patently false, Jesus never said any such thing about the New Testament Church. In fact, what Jesus did say about tithing was that tithing is a matter of the law (Matthew 23:23). He said this to the Scribes and Pharisees who were hypocrites for tithing while neglecting the weightier matters of the law. And while Jesus did say that these things should have been done, he was clear that these were done while believers were under the law. The point he was making was about the legalists being hypocritical by tithing under their Old Testament system, which was essentially a tax of sorts, while their hearts were far from God.

Morris, just like these hypocrites, is demanding the same thing by essentially placing himself and his congregation under the demands of the Old Testament system. But Christians are not under the law (Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:18) and therefore are not subject to the legalistic requirements of the law that Jesus fulfilled on our behalf (Romans 8:4). And while it is important that we support the mission and the day-to-day needs of our local churches, the New Testament teaches that this is to be done cheerfully, not under compulsion or reluctance, whatever amount he has decided in his own heart (2 Corinthians 9:7).

The reason charlatans like Robert Morris teach this is to support their own kingdoms rather than the Kingdom of God. by making a legalistic requirement out of tithing, they can prosper their own paychecks, put on extravagant entertainment experiences and call it worship, attract more tithers, and prosper themselves even more. It’s a vicious cycle that ought to be rejected by any true Christian.