Tobit, Jesus, and the Breathtaking Power of Almsgiving from Within

Jesus told the Pharisees, “But give that which is within as charity and, behold, all things are clean for you” (Luke 11:41, NASB with note).

Tobit says something similar: “For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life, but those who commit sin and do wrong are their own worst enemies” (12:9-10). (I know we Protestants don’t read the Deuterocanonicals–the Apocrypha, the 7 books in the Catholic Bibles that are not in Protestant Bibles, but Tobit’s statement about almsgiving was well-known to the church fathers and the Protestant Reformers.)

Peter converted “almsgiving” to “love” and wrote, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).

We might all want to consider how generous we are, not only with our money, but with “that which is within,” especially to the poor.

Jesus said, “When you give a [a]reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they are unable to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:13-14).

Just WOW! Let me take this opportunity to recommend Matt Newman’s Good in the Hood, which talks about how to “give what is within” to the poor by drawing close to them like the Samaritan did to the bleeding man on the road to Jericho.

About Paul Pavao

I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of five. I teach, and I am always trying to learn to disciple others better than I have before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper theological foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity. My philosophy for Bible reading is to understand each verse for exactly what it says in its local context. Only after accepting the verse for what it says do I compare it with other verses to develop my theology. If other verses seem to contradict a verse I just read, I will wait to say anything about those verses until I have an explanation that allows me to accept all the verses for what they say. This takes time, sometimes years, but eventually I have always been able to find something that does not require explaining verses away. The early church fathers have helped a lot with this. I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too. I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.

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