Ping
I think Jesus WORE Levi’s...
:)
I always find it telling that Jesus called Matthew, but made JUDAS the keeper of the moneybag, even though it was Matthew who had all the experience handling money.
I’m pretty sure that’s because Jesus knew that Matthew had no temptation from money, but that it was Judas’s main temptation. At the breaking of the jar of ointment over Jesus’s feet it is Judas who complains that they might have sold and “given to the poor.”
Which brings me to my 2nd point, the IRS. There is absolutely nothing to fear of the IRS if one is educated I the statutes (Acts of Congress) that are the authority behind the IRS. It is the misapplication (false application) because of the ignorance of the citizenry that makes the citizenry at large fearful of the IRS. Paul also wrote in Romans 13 that if we do the good, if we obey the written authority of the IRS, there is nothing to fear. Also, by obeying the authority (the statutes at large), we do not sell ourselves into economic slavery to the IRS because when we apply the law of the IRS as they have written it, we remain the masters and not the slaves and therefore, we remain the masters of His money that He has entrusted to us and then we use that money to take care of those in need.
And this leads to my final point, those who object to the IRS and seek to do away with it are, according to the Word of God, disobeying God who gave these rulers the right to collect taxes so to support their governments. All the presidential candidates want to bring us some form of what they believe to be a 'fair tax'. They do it because of the legal ignorance that is in them because they have not read & studied the 'statues at large' that are the authority of the IRS. And in their ignorance, whomever gets elected, if their plans to alter the tax system come to fruition, it will mean the enslavement of the entire US citizenry, just as the Egyptian citizens had sold themselves into slavery, as the children of Israel sold themselves into slavery in the building of the 1st Temple up until the nation was divided because of the misapplication (false application) of the collecting of that money & materials needed to build the Temple that God had spelled out in Exo 25:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they take up a contribution for Me. From everyone whose heart moves him you shall take up My contribution."
One who has no desire to partake of so to profit off of the government's property, is not subject to taxation, therefore, the IRS tax, which is an excise tax, can only be placed on those who personally choose to participate and profit off of the governments property through elections, appointments to public offices, wage & salaried employment, investment, businesses who profit by their use of public property, Social Security, etc. etc. Yes, Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid, ALL those FICA taxes are 'excise' taxes that we can either choose to participate in or we can choose to opt out. As for me & my house, we have chosen to opt out and follow the biblical retirement plan and the IRS has been fine with that choice we made for over 10 years now. Shalom
Matthew, after being called, ceased from collecting taxes. Pray that all IRS employees become Christians. ;O)