Do You Follow Christ Or Human Traditions?
Do you profess to be a follower of Yah'shuah (Jesus) the Christ? Do you profess to follow him solely or do you profess to follow both him and human traditions?
If you profess to follow both Yah'shuah and human traditions, are you aware whether it is proper or not that you should so do? Is following Yah'shuah in harmony with following human tradition?
Matthew 15:1-14 reads,
15:1
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 15:2"Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread."15:3
He answered them, "Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 15:4For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 15:5But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, "Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God," 15:6he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition. 15:7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,15:8
‘These people draw near to me with their mouth,15:9
But in vain do they worship me,15:10
He summoned the multitude, and said to them, "Hear, and understand. 15:11That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."15:12
Then the disciples came, and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?"15:13
But he answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 15:14Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit."Yah'shuah's disciples or followers do not necessarily obey human traditions. On the other hand some religious leaders and followers, by strictly observing human traditions, disobey Yahweh's commandments on account of observing their human traditions. Despite professing to worship Yahweh they worship him in vain, for their human traditions conflict with his commandments.
Yah'shuah's followers, by not observing human traditions, incurred the displeasure of the custodians of these traditions. Nevertheless, Yah'shuah advised his disciples to disregard such custodians of human traditions, especially human traditions conflicting with the commandments of the heavenly Father - Yahweh. In other words, the commandments that Yah'shuah's followers should be concerned with are those of Yahweh and not those of various humans. It is Yahweh's pleasure that they should be concerned about rather than human pleasure.
Now some professing followers of Christ assert that the only traditions they follow are those they find in the books called the New Testament, especially those contained in the letters of Apostle Paul. For example, 1 Corinthians 11:1-2 reads,
11:1
Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. 11:2Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.It is clear that Paul delivered various traditions to professing Christians at Corinth. And to professing Christians among the Thessalonians Paul, Silvanus and Timothy wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:15,
2:15
So then, brothers, stand firm, and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by word, or by letter.And in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 14 they wrote,
3:6
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks in rebellion, and not after the tradition which they received from us.3:14
If any man doesn’t obey our word by this letter, note that man, that you have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed.So important were these traditions to Paul and his companions that if professing Christians did not abide by them they were cast out of the assemblies of Christians!
What traditions were these that Paul and his companions taught and delivered to professing Christians? Were these traditions in harmony or in conflict with the commandments of the heavenly Father - Yahweh?
To professing Christians at Colossae Paul and Timothy wrote in Colossians 2:6-8,
2:6
As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him, 2:7rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving. 2:8Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.Paul and Timothy warned professing Christians at Colossae to be careful lest human philosophy and vain deceit after human traditions took them away from Christ. That Paul and Timothy so warned clearly indicates the existence of human traditions rooted in human philosophy and vain deceit.
Did human traditions rooted in human philosophy and vain deceit exist among professing Christians in Paul's day? Do human traditions rooted in human philosophy and vain deceit exist among professing Christians today? Do you follow human traditions rooted in human philosophy and vain deceit, despite also professing to follow Yah'shuah the Christ? Are you worshipping Yahweh the heavenly Father in vain on account of your following human traditions rooted in human philosophy and vain deceit despite also professing to follow Christ?
And what about the traditions that Paul and his companions taught and delivered to professing Christians, of which those who rebelled against were cast out of the assemblies of Christians? Were these human traditions rooted in human philosophy and vain deceit or were they rooted in Yahweh's commandments? And do you follow these traditions today even as you worship Yahweh the heavenly Father?
To find out whether your worship of Yahweh the heavenly Father is faithful or is vain on account of your following human tradition contrary to his word, contact Servants of Yahweh at P O Box 78, Royston, SG8 7WF, United Kingdom. E-mail: servantsofyahweh@serveyahweh.org. Web site: http://www.serveyahweh.org.