Today it seems we are in the same trap as the religious people in Jesus' day when they asked Him in Matthew 15:2 "Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?..."

Jesus reply follows, "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" In Matthew 15:6 He continues,"...Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."

Why are we so bent on tradition rather that on what the Lord commands us to do? It's very simple. Either man thinks he knows more than God does or Satan has blinded the eyes and heart of man to God's plan and has instilled his own instead. In our human reasoning, we can't see how God could forgive us for all we've done; yet He does. We feel we must do something to earn that forgiveness. In part that is true: we must do something, but what? The Bible commands us to admit that we are sinners and repent of those sins. To repent means more than "I'm sorry I got caught" type of sorrow. Repenting means being sorry enough that we want to stop living the way we are and turn around and start living for the Lord. As Samuel told Saul long ago in I Samuel 15:22 "to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

Of course, there are those who feel they haven't sinned because they've always followed their church's religious traditions, but there's no Biblical foundation for this.

What are some of these traditions we are caught up in today? We find some of them listed in I Timothy 4:1-3 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."

Other traditions are found in Mark 7:1-5 where the Pharisees and scribes (the religious leaders and Bible scholars) were again asking Jesus why His disciples weren't walking according to the tradition of the elders by eating with unwashed hands. Let's see what Jesus' response was to these religious people. Mark 7:6-9 and 13-"He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such things do ye."

The scriptures speak for themselves. I'm sure you know someone, maybe even yourself, who has been deceived in these areas by Satan and is following the traditions of men. The Lord tells us in Colossians 2:8 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

I know some of you have loved ones who are caught up in this and out of loyalty and love you feel obligated to remain in the same religious activity, but my friend, that will not get you or your loved one into Heaven. If you really love the individual who is in this trap, you must first get yourself right with God by following His commandments and not men's traditions. Then, you can help others see the real truth also by using God's own word.

Your first commandment is to recognize that you are a sinner: (Romans 3:23). Then you need to repent of your sin (Mark 1:15). You need to recognize who Jesus is and acknowledge His power to forgive those sins (I Timothy 3:16 and John 10:30). You need to confess your sins, (I John 1:9) by boldly coming to Jesus only (Hebrews 4:16 and I Timothy 2:5). You are to believe in your heart by faith that Jesus will forgive you as Romans 10:9-13 says. Then with this assurance, you can help others see that only by following these commandments of God can you be saved and fit to enter Heaven. It's not by the tradition of works (Titus 3:5) or show (Matthew chapter 23) of what we have done, but it's by God's mercy that you are saved. It's God's plan of salvation not man's idea or tradition about salvation that sets us free.

Not only is the church instilling it's own traditions such as sprinkling in the place of immersion, which is what real baptism is according to scripture, but they are now using, in part, some of the world's ideas of what religion is suppose to be. Take, for instance the way Satan has tricked us into thinking we need to incorporate unchristian holidays and practices into our churches so our children won't feel left out. We now have Easter egg hunts right after worship service on what should be acclaimed as Resurrection Sunday, or an elder in a Santa suit passing out fruit and nuts at Christmas when Christ's birth and His sacrifice 
should be the focal point of our worship. At Halloween time we now celebrate harvest festivals, doing the same things the world does to celebrate. We don't even realize a child some where is being sacrificed to the devil while we participate in this holiday. Don't get me wrong it would be great to meet at church on Halloween. What I disagree with is doing the same traditions associated with that day. We instead need to be teaching our children what God has to say about witches, seances, and the like.

What has happened to us that we have let our guard down and fallen for all these traditions? We don't need these ungodly practices in our lives or as a part of our services. They in no way glorify our Lord and Saviour, but do just the opposite by stealing some of His glory. These are just some of the vain traditions Jesus warned us about. Let's begin today by purposing in our hearts to serve and worship our Lord the way He has commanded us and not by following men's traditions. How can we do this? By daily studying God's own word, the Bible, for guidance and direction. It's the only way to keep man's traditions from slipping in.

Jude Andrews

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