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1 Corinthians 16:1-2 – Saints Only
My personal view is that God does not assign directives for no purpose. In trying to make sense of the obvious (to me) restrictions placed on the church treasury for supporting needy saints, I thought of the following comparison. In the Old Testament the sacrifices were designed to feed the priests and Levites (and their families) only. In the same way the church treasury is designed to feed Christians (and their families) because both the sacrifices and the contributions were considered fellowshiping. Helping needy Israelites was not done through the sacrifices, but rather through individual means outside of these gifts. The same is done today with Christians helping needy nonsaints. It must be done, but is not to be done through the fellowship collection. This presents a greater emphasis on individual responsibility in addition to our collective work. The fact that we are a priesthood lends support to this view.
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