From the desk of Pastor Ben

Jesus Condemns Unbiblical Tradition

You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.”     (Matthew15:7-9)

Righteously indignant at the Jews’ foolish adherence to traditions, Jesus compared those leaders to the hypocrites of Isaiah’s day (see Isaiah 29:13). And what identifies those hypocrites certainly applies to those of today.

Satan has no greater allies than hypocrites disguised as God’s people. And those false disciples have no greater ally than human tradition, because they can follow it mindlessly, without any real conviction, sincerity, or integrity. Traditions require no faith, trust, or dependence on God. Furthermore, they appeal to the pride and self-righteousness of the flesh.

Because of the nature of earthly religious traditions, people can easily substitute them for genuine worship and obedience. Therefore it becomes easy for people to give mere lip service to God while their rituals and ceremonies take them further from Him.

We can worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) only if we have hearts cleansed from sin and made righteous by Him. God has always offered such hearts to all who repent and trust Him: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Unless that transformation occurs for you, your righteousness will not exceed the superficial righteousness of the Jewish leaders, and you won’t enter God’s kingdom (Matthew 5:20).

Ask Yourself:
Pray today that God would expose any hypocrisy that has been able to go undetected in your life, having become so ingrained and routine. Want nothing other than full, grateful, generous devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, letting His righteousness flow from your submitted heart.