They Preferred Tradition Rather Than Obedience to God's Law

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

They Preferred Tradition Rather Than Obedience to God's Law

Today's Text: And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Mark 7:9

The Message:      The most learned men in the days of Christ-philosophers, legislators, priests, in all their pride and superiority-could not interpret God's character.... When, in the fullness of time, Christ came to our world, it was darkened and marred by the curse of apostasy and spiritual wickedness. The Jews had wrapped themselves about with the dark mantle of unbelief. They kept not the commandments of God....      Those whom He addressed regarded themselves as exalted above all other peoples. To them, they proudly boasted, had been committed the oracles of God. The earth was languishing for a teacher sent from God, but when He came just as the living Oracles specified He would come, the priests and instructors of the people could not discern that He was their Saviour, nor could they understand the manner of His coming. Unaccustomed to accept God's Word exactly as it reads, or to allow it to be its own interpreter, they read it in the light of their maxims and traditions. So long had they neglected to study and contemplate the Bible that its pages were to them a mystery. They turned with aversion from the truth of God to the traditions of men.      The Jewish nation had reached a critical time in its history. Much was at stake. Would human ignorance give way? Would there be a thirsting for a deeper knowledge of God? Would this thirst develop into a longing for spiritual drink, as the thirst of David developed into a longing for water from the well of Bethlehem? Would the Jews turn from the influence of false teachers, which had perverted their senses, and call upon God for divine instruction? ...      When Christ came as a human being, a flood of light was shed upon the world. Many would have received Him gladly, choosing to walk in the light, if the priests and the rulers had only been true to God and had guided the people aright by giving to them a true interpretation of the truths of the Word. But so long had the leaders misapplied the Scriptures that the people were misled by falsehoods....      The Jews, as a nation, refused to accept Christ. They turned from the only One who could have saved them from eternal ruin. A similar condition of things exists in the so-called Christian world today. People who claim to understand the Scriptures are rejecting God's law and exerting a strong, determined influence against it.... What is the result? Look at the course of the youth growing up around us.-Manuscript 24, 1891 (Manuscript Releases 19:252-254).

Commentary: My friend, as the Jews in the time of Christ preferred their traditions over the Word of God, so today has the whole of the Christian world accepted their traditions over the plain declarations of the Word of God.  Of these Jesus said "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:9). The doctrine of the trinity was not taught by Jesus nor His disciples; neither was it taught by Ellen White or pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, yet today it has been accepted and has been accepted as one of our fundamental beliefs.  Jesus, praying to His Father, prayed "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3).  Our knowledge of the One true God is revealed to us through His Son Jesus Christ.  Yet today we are being taught an altogether different doctrine which claims that God is a triune God, made up of three god-beings, each god unto themselves, but also collectively God.  It teaches that the Holy Spirit is not the Spirit of God and Christ, but is a separate being unto itself, and it is by this spirit that we are connect with God, while the Scriptures declare "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" (1 Timothy 2:5). My friend, we look to the Jews in Jesus' day and ridicule them for being so blind to the truth, yet today the church is as blind as they were.  The church has placed the man-made tradition of the trinity in place of the Word of God, and as such have placed blinders on their minds and cannot see their true condition before God.  They have accepted a righteousness that is not of God but of Satan.  The remedy for this condition is given to us by Jesus, the Faithful and True Witness saying "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Revelation 3:18). May we heed this warning by zealous repentance today. God bless,

Video of the Week Trinity Salutations - Nader Mansour Does the Trinity ever send salutations? Nader Mansour examines the New Testament evidence in this study to see the understanding of all the NT authors. There's a consistent and persistent pattern that emerges. The Trinity never greets anyone.  This is part 1 of a 2 part study. Presented at the Wellington NZ camp, April 2018