Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
The verse gives an organized order for a collection for needy fellow believers, requiring of Corinth what had already been ordered for the churches of Galatia, with the gifts to be carried to the church at Jerusalem. The collection was meant to relieve the suffering of poor believers in Jerusalem and Judea, enabling even churches themselves in poverty to help still needier churches and so advance the cause of Christ. It was also meant to express the love and sympathy of Gentile Christians and to strengthen unity between Jewish and Gentile converts by softening hostility toward Gentiles among believers in Judea.
Giving is thereby made a matter of definite divine instruction rather than impulse, requiring regular systematic benevolence as the individual duty of everyone brought into the truth. The method is for each person to examine income as blessing from God and on the first day of the week to lay by in store in proportion to prosperity, so that there are no gatherings when the collection is made. The obligation is measured by tithes and offerings, with the tithe set apart as a separate sacred fund belonging to the Lord that must never be put to any other use but devoted solely to supporting the ministry of the gospel, while gifts and offerings are then apportioned according to prosperity.
The plan does not press heavily on any one person, and poor and wealthy alike share in it, with the poor not excluded but privileged to take part as well as the rich. Even the smallest willing offering given from a heart of love is acceptable to God, for gifts are estimated not by amount but by the love prompting the sacrifice, so the poor person's free self-denying gift is as acceptable as the rich person's large donation, carries a sacredness not found in giving from abundance, and realizes the promises as surely. God's providence arranged the whole plan for the benefit of people, and following His opening providence makes all active workers.
The minister who brings people into the truth must enforce this duty in public and in private talk with individuals, walking right up to it and having it fully arranged and established before leaving for a new field. Leaving this disagreeable responsibility for another to come in and take up is half work that God will not approve, and those thus neglected will almost surely make shipwreck. Thorough decided labor that brings believers up on every point and lays the hand on individual wrong shuts out Satan.
The verse gives an organized order for a collection for needy fellow believers, requiring of Corinth what had already been ordered for the churches of Galatia, with the gifts to be carried to the church at Jerusalem. The collection was meant to relieve the suffering of poor believers in Jerusalem and Judea, enabling even churches themselves in poverty to help still needier churches and so advance the cause of Christ. It was also meant to express the love and sympathy of Gentile Christians and to strengthen unity between Jewish and Gentile converts by softening hostility toward Gentiles among believers in Judea.
Giving is thereby made a matter of definite divine instruction rather than impulse, requiring regular systematic benevolence as the individual duty of everyone brought into the truth. The method is for each person to examine income as blessing from God and on the first day of the week to lay by in store in proportion to prosperity, so that there are no gatherings when the collection is made. The obligation is measured by tithes and offerings, with the tithe set apart as a separate sacred fund belonging to the Lord that must never be put to any other use but devoted solely to supporting the ministry of the gospel, while gifts and offerings are then apportioned according to prosperity.
The plan does not press heavily on any one person, and poor and wealthy alike share in it, with the poor not excluded but privileged to take part as well as the rich. Even the smallest willing offering given from a heart of love is acceptable to God, for gifts are estimated not by amount but by the love prompting the sacrifice, so the poor person's free self-denying gift is as acceptable as the rich person's large donation, carries a sacredness not found in giving from abundance, and realizes the promises as surely. God's providence arranged the whole plan for the benefit of people, and following His opening providence makes all active workers.
The minister who brings people into the truth must enforce this duty in public and in private talk with individuals, walking right up to it and having it fully arranged and established before leaving for a new field. Leaving this disagreeable responsibility for another to come in and take up is half work that God will not approve, and those thus neglected will almost surely make shipwreck. Thorough decided labor that brings believers up on every point and lays the hand on individual wrong shuts out Satan.