Full Question
Will a person go to hell if he or she does not tithe? This has weighed on me for some time. My husband got injured and can’t work. We stopped paying tithes, and now I feel so guilty. Please take time to explain this to me. Thank you.
Answer
Your question shows an important lack of knowledge concerning the nature of salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith plus nothing. There is nothing you can do to earn salvation, and there is no work that you can do to lose your salvation.
The content of faith, or what it is that you have to believe to be saved, is spelled out in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. You must believe three things: First, the Messiah died for our sins; second, He was buried, which is the evidence of His real death; and third, He rose again on the third day. This is the content of the gospel, this is the full gospel, and there is no more to the gospel than these three points. Once a person has believed this, he or she has been born again. Salvation was a free gift to this person, and he has it forever—otherwise it was not eternal to begin with. So, failing to pay tithes will not send you to hell.
Ariel has a manuscript titled “The Biblical Principles of Giving” that further addresses the issue of tithing and grace giving.