Jesus taught his disciples to be generous with what they had (Luke 11:41; 12:33), which Peter did do in Acts 3:1-8. This seems to put almsgiving in a light that does not necessarily mean to give out of one’s wealth in worldly goods (cf. Luke 21:1). It can also indicate sharing some spiritual gift God has given us with someone in need. The word used by Luke for almsgiving is eleemosune (G1654). According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the word means “pity, mercy… the benefaction itself, a donation to the poor, alms.”
Under the Law folks were told not to harden their hearts toward their brethren in need, but, instead, were to lend to them such as they needed (Deuteronomy 15:7-8), and their hearts were not to be grieved while giving, because God would bless them (Deuteronomy 15:10-11). Moreover, in the seventh year (counting toward the Jubilee year) was a year of release. That is, all debts were forgiven every seventh year. So, Jews who lent to their brethren such as they needed were not to consider how close the seventh year was, when they were asked for a loan (Deuteronomy 15:9). Rather, they were to lend as though it were the first year, and with a willing heart.
God intended his people to help the poor among them as a matter of custom. Those who owned fields which they farmed were not to reap everything in the fields for themselves. Rather they were to leave corners untouched and leave some throughout the fields for the poor (cf. Leviticus 19:9; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:20). Moreover, every seventh year they were to let the land rest. All that grew of itself was for the poor among the Jews, including the foreigner, and the Jews’ servants.
In the Septuagint this Greek word (G1654) is used to translate the Hebrew word for righteousness (H6666; cf. Psalm 24:5; 33:5), which seems to say, if carried to its logical conclusion, that almsgiving is righteousness, and one can redeem a city through the giving of alms (cf. Isaiah 1:27; 28:17 in the Septuagint).
This idea was developed into an even more erroneous degree in Inter-testament Judaism:
“Water will quench a flaming fire; And almsgiving (G1654) will make atonement for sins” (Sirach 3:30).
So, we see that it is no longer the heart of man that God is dealing with according to Sirach 3:30. Rather, a man could sin and atone for that sin by giving alms. In other words, the heart is unaffected in his giving. He gives to others in order to save himself, not the person in need. God’s idea was for man to have compassion for his brother, but the rabbis changed that to helping others in order to save oneself, causing one’s love (compassion) to be turned inward! Indeed, almsgiving was not only able to save one from death but also purge away one’s sins (Tobit 12:9). Human virtue became a device for one’s own forgiveness or the purging of one’s own sins. Who needed a Savior under such a teaching? Where was the need for God at all?
It was this very thing that Jesus addressed in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 through 7). Again the heart of man is the chief concern of God, rather than men’s deeds. If a man’s heart is right toward God and man, his deeds will reflect that. In fact, however a man is, his heart will ultimately express what he is like (Luke 6:45; cf. 20:46-47). This emphasis upon men’s hearts was predicted in the Prophets, when they said God intended to make a new covenant with mankind (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:26-27). This covenant concerned God giving men a new heart or a new spirit, whereby the focus was not upon human performance (almsgiving; righteousness) but upon what God, himself, has done.
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