____________________________________________________
THE GOSPEL OBSERVER
____________________________________________________
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching
them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20).
____________________________________________________
December 2, 2007
____________________________________________________
Contents:
1) Jesus on the Traditions of Men (Tom O'Neal)
2) Our Final Judge (Jeff Devaney)
____________________________________________________
-1-
Jesus on the Traditions of Men
by Tom O'Neal
I appreciate very much the invitation of brother Connie W.
Adams to participate in this special issue of Guardian of
Truth. He and I in the past have worked together on Searching
the Scriptures which the reader knows by now has ceased
publication.
The text of Mark 7:1-13 reads, "Then came together unto
him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from
Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread
with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen hands, they found
fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash
their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat
not, And many other things there be, which they have received
to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and
of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk
not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but
eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them,
Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is
written, This people honoreth 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 commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as
the washing of pots and cups: and any 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. For Moses said,
Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or
mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say
to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift,
by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be
free. And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or
his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your
tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things
do ye." Matthew records this also in Matthew 15:1-9.
Two Usages of the Word "Tradition"
In order to properly understand what Jesus said in the
above passage, it is needful to comprehend that the word
"tradition" in Scripture has two usages: one a bad usage and
one a good usage.
First, we need to find out what "tradition" means and then
we will find out second how it is used. Vine says it means "a
handing down or on" and Thayer says "a giving over, giving
up . . . which is done by word of mouth or in writing" (481).
Thus, a tradition is simply that which is handed down or on to
others, whether "by word of mouth or in writing."
Second, how is the word used? In Scripture as well as
elsewhere it has both a good and bad sense.
Good. The KJV uses the word "ordinances" where the ASV
uses the word "tradition" in 1 Corinthians 11:2. "Now I praise
you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the
ordinances (traditions, ASV), as I delivered them to you." Paul
told the Corinthians what he delivered unto them was that which
he had by revelation received of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:3).
Further, Paul said that which "I write unto you are the
commandments of the Lord" (1 Cor. 14:37).
Bad. In the writings of Paul, mention is made of
"tradition" in the bad usage of the term. He said, he "profited
in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation,
being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my
fathers." These traditions were not the "commandments of the
Lord" but were "of my fathers." Paul warned the Colossians,
"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" (Col. 2:8). Observe carefully that
these traditions were "of man" and "not after Christ."
In our text, Mark 7:1-3, Jesus uses the word "tradition"
in its bad sense. In fact, we could safely say Jesus always so
used it.
Contrast
In a close study of our passage under consideration, Jesus
draws a very sharp contrast between (1) the word of God, and
(2) the traditions of men. Six times he refers to their
tradition: (1) "the tradition of the elders" (v. 3), (2) "the
tradition of the elders" (v. 5), (3) "the commandments of men"
(v. 7), (4) "the tradition of men" (v. 8), (5) "your own
tradition" (v. 8), and (6) "your tradition" (v. 13).
Set opposite to the traditions of men, Jesus held up the
word of God spoken by Moses. Jesus affirmed that these Jews
laid "aside the commandment of God" (v. 8) rejected "the
commandment of God" (v. 9) and were "making the word of God of
none effect" (v. 13) by not keeping what "Moses said" (v. 10).
Upon another occasion Jesus also upheld what Moses wrote and
said for people to observe and do what Moses said (Matt.
12:1-3), the reason being Moses spoke the word of God (Exod.
20:1,12).
God had said through Moses, "Honor thy father and thy
mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die."
Kick out -- and kick hard -- all of the doctrines and
commandments of men.
Do they mean by tradition, having a song first in our
service, or two songs first and then a prayer, then a sermon
and then the Lord's Supper? I seriously doubt our
"non-traditionalists" mean this. You see, if this is what they
mean, the minute you change the order of the worship, you will
start another tradition in a week or two.
What those that want to do away with tradition within
churches of Christ mean is this: they want to introduce the use
of the instrument; eliminate the Lord's Supper every Sunday,
having it as often during the week as they want and on any day
or days that they want; have women deacons, preachers, and
elders; eliminate so much Bible in classes and have some
reviews of good books instead of a Bible class; having
interdenominational services with the denominations in town;
reject elders in the church; reject the church itself, and
reject the idea that there is one scriptural reason for divorce
and remarriage.
"The religious world has never learned that all of the
traditions of men pumped into their services only make their
worship before God vain. Such things as counting beads,
lighting candles, sprinkling water, having plays of a religious
nature, having special music, using instruments of music in
worship and any number of other such things only make worship
vain in the sight of God."
These so-called "non-traditionalists" have so little
knowledge and respect for the Word of God that they think these
things are just the tradition of the "Church of Christ." What
they fail to see is there is biblical reason for what has been
the general practice of brethren on these matters through the
years.
None of these "non-traditionalists" would think of taking
his Bible and showing by the Bible the position of the Lord's
people on these questions are just tradition. What he wants to
do is complain about the tradition within the church in small
groups of people in living rooms where he can get a group that
will listen to him together. If they objected openly, someone
might call upon him to defend his position. And that is another
tradition he says he wants to eliminate.
These "non-traditionalists" do not follow the tradition of
Jesus Christ and his apostles. They reject the commandments of
the Lord for their tradition, making void the word of God and
rendering their worship vain in the sight of God.
We need to always follow the traditions (that which has
been) handed down from the Lord and his apostles and reject the
traditions of men. Human tradition will make our worship vain!
-- Via Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 3, p. 16, February 4,
1993
____________________________________________________
-2-
Our Final Judge
by Jeff Devaney
Victory in Jesus Christ is essential for us to have that
home in Heaven. It is important that we overcome the world as
Jesus did (John 16:33) and gain the victory. We have access to
this victory in Jesus: "But thanks (be) to God, who gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57)! Our
victory, though, depends upon our final judge, Jesus Christ!
The only way that we can receive the final victory over
Satan and the grave is by standing before our judge and hearing
Him say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt
25:34). True victory is found only in Jesus and it comes only
after the Judgment!
We must realize that there is coming a day in which we
will be judged by Jesus. When Christ was teaching His disciples
in Matthew 25, He tells them that there will be a judgment day.
Paul said in Acts 17:30-34, "Truly, these times of ignorance
God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent
because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world
in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given
assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." Paul
knew that a Judgment day was forthcoming and this is something
that we must know. There will be a day of reckoning.
On this day, every person, whether male or female, young
or old, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We read
in 2 Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things
(done) in the body, according to what he has done, whether good
or bad." (See also Romans 14:42.) When John was allowed to see
the Judgment and write about it, he wrote in Revelation 20:12,
"And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and
books were opened. And another book was opened, which is (the
Book) of Life. And the dead were judged according to their
works, by the things which were written in the books." The
scriptures teach that no one will miss the judgment. Every
person that has ever lived will stand before Jesus and give an
account.
For us to the gain the victory, we must recognize Jesus as
our final Judge. We need to comprehend that Jesus will have the
final say as to where our eternal life will be spent. We must
understand that we will have to account to Jesus for EVERY DEED
done in our bodies whether good or bad! If we realize these
things, then we will live our lives in such a way as to always
be pleasing to Him! We will be obedient to His will, and we
will remain faithful until death. If we do this, then we can
receive the victory that will last for all of eternity!
-- Via The Challenger, Vol. 38, No. 7, July 1992
____________________________________________________
MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST
1022 Myrtle Street
Denham Springs, LA 70726
(225) 664-8208
Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM
Wednesday: 7:00 PM
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
e-mail: tedwards@onemain.com
web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go
____________________________________________________