God's Word and Traditions

A tradition is a belief or a custom that is passed on from generation to generation. Biblical traditions are Jewish in origin because the Bible was written by Jews where our Lord Jesus Himself is a Jewish Messiah. Apostle Paul for this reason said:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” - Romans 1:16

To the Jew first because of the covenant which the Lord had made with Abraham in Genesis 15. This is the reason our Lord Jesus was born in a Jewish community and was baptized as a Jew. The twelve apostles who started the Church during the first century were all Jews. Every tradition that is practiced in the Church need to have a scriptural origin. If there are traditions that have no scriptural foundation, then certainly such traditions are outside of God's Word, therefore such traditions are questionable and need to be avoided in the Church. Apostle Paul said:

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” - 2 Thessalonians 2:15

Whether a tradition was passed on by word, or by an epistle, it always had a scriptural foundation to back it up. Apostle Paul by mentioning "word" in the above verse, he was pointing to the "written word of God", as the Greek text used for word here is "logos" referring to the written word. The difference between traditions that are according to God's Word and traditions that are man made is that, God given traditions always point to our Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, it always glorifies Christ, and such traditions always proclaim a relationship between God and man. Whereas man made traditions glorifies man's work, where the prime focus is not Christ, and it always proclaims a religion. Apostle Paul said:

“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” - Colossians 2:8

When our Lord Jesus bodily walked on the earth, there were instances where He rebuked the Pharisees and the Sadducees for following man made traditions which were not scriptural, where they were ultimately nullifying God's Word. One such incident is seen in Luke 11:37-54, where we see that a Pharisee had invited our Lord for a meal and was surprised when he noticed that our Lord did not wash His hands before eating. The washing of hands referred here is not with respect to personal hygiene like how we wash our hands to cleanse our hands from germs, but rather, it was a prescribed ritual done as a show of piety. In other words, by washing their hands the Pharisees were showing that they are more holy than other people. They believed that you have to be ceremonially clean before eating and so washing of the hands was important for them. This is of course a man made tradition / doctrine which is not scriptural. To such people our Lord Jesus rebuked by saying "you fools, did not God who made the outside of the body make the inside as well?". It is because of such man made traditions the Pharisees were under a wrong belief thinking that by giving alms and by their outward deeds everything is made clean or sanctified. God's Word clearly states that our Lord Jesus is responsible for the sanctification of the Church with the washing of the water by the word:

“That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” - Ephesians 5:26

The Pharisees were only concerned about their outward deeds which they do as a public display, but their hearts were full of greed and wickedness. Jesus said "woe to you Pharisees, for you give tithes mint, rue and all manner of herbs but neglect the justice and the Love of God". The Bible in Isaiah 64:6 says that man's righteousness is as filthy rags to God, yet the Pharisees believed that they can buy their way to eternal life. It is obvious that such a tradition is not scriptural and it clearly glorifies man and his work and definitely does not glorify the Lord. The reason they were under such a belief system is because they had added to God's Word even though scripture clearly says not to add or remove from God's Word:

“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” - Deuteronomy 4:2

We see a similar incident in Mark 7:1-22, where Jesus's disciples were eating without washing their hands and were questioned. To them Jesus replied quoting Isaiah 29:13 saying that people honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from the Lord, where they subscribe to man made doctrines with no scriptural bases ultimately making the Word of God of no effect. He continued saying that such people have a fine way of setting aside the commandments of God in order to keep their own traditions. For example, when even though Moses said to "honor your father and mother" (Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16) and "anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death" (Exodus 21:17 and Leviticus 20:9), the Pharisees and the Sadducees said that if a person is not able to honor their parents, then as an alternative what might have been used to help their father or mother, either monetarily or in the form of substances, can be offered to God by giving to the temple treasury by calling it corban. The Hebrew word "corban" means to set aside something by dedicting to God. This way the Pharisees and the Sadducees were adding to scripture and twisting God's Word by coming up with their own man made traditions and doctrines where ultimately they were nullifying God's Word. In other words these people were proclaiming a religion rather than a relationship with the Lord. In both cases our Lord Jesus is pointing out the futility of seeking spiritual salvation by means of man made ritual observances which are incapable of purifying the heart, and by rebuking He was showing them the need for Jesus who is the only way to salvation. Jesus said:

“...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” - John 14:6

Usually when an unbiblical tradition is questioned in a church we would never get a clear answer saying "this is what the Bible says, and thats why we do it". Instead such traditions would be justified by people upon quoting scriptures out of its original context and twisting it, or by calling their practice under a different name just like how the Pharaisees called their tradition "corban", even though there are clear scriptures in the Bible saying not to do so. This is a clear indication that such traditions are man made. A doctrine is God's instructions to man through scripture, whereas a dogma is man's instructions to people to dwell in a society or a community. Ideally doctrines and dogmas should be in sync where they go hand in hand. It is when doctrines and dogmas don't match it results in man made traditions or a religion or sometimes even a cult. The Bible says:.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” - 2 Timothy 3:16

Traditions that have a Biblical foundation are very clear and straight forward where there are no twisting of the scriptures. For example bapism is a very Biblical tradition which was instituted by the Lord through John the Baptist as seen in the Gospels. In baptism, a person who has put their faith in Christ is gently immersed in water, symbolizing their death in Christ, and the person is brought back out of the water symbolizing their resurrection in Christ. Our Lord Jesus Himself was baptized by John the Baptist as seen in the Gospel of Matthew 3:13-17.

The Holy Communion is another tradition that is completely scriptural where people partake of the bread, remembering the Lord Jesus whose body was broken where by His stripes we are healed as stated in Isaiah 53:5, and the wine remembering the Lord Jesus who shed His precious Blood once forever for the forgiveness of sins because, without the shedding of the Blood there is no remission.

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” - Hebrews 9:22

Marrage is another Biblical tradition which was started with Adam and Eve where the Lord Himself got them married in the Garden of Eden as seen in the book of Genesis. God's Word instructs a husband to love his wife as Christ loved the Church, and likewise the wife to submit to her husband as stated in Ephesians 5:22-25. Anointing with oil is another Biblical tradition which was started with Aaron who was the first high priest of Israel under the Levitical priesthood. Today our Lord Jesus is our High Priest under the Melchizedek Priesthood who anoints us with the Holy Spirit. These are few examples of traditions which have God's Word as the foundation, for the Bible says that God is not the author of confusion:

“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” - 1 Corinthians 14:33

Man made traditions will never give the peace of the Lord no matter how many times they are repeated. Such traditions always results in wrong believing and therefore resulting in a wrong lifestyle which does not honor the Lord. On the other hand, traditions that are based on God's Word will always remind a person of our Lord Jesus and His abundant Grace through which we are saved. When Biblical traditions are cultivated in one's life, they always result in right believing and therefore leading to right living, where such a person would shine as a child of the Most High God in the society.