Posted on 11/28/2022 6:46:49 AM PST by metmom
“But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him” (Matthew 12:14).
Sometimes neither the most persuasive arguments nor the most convincing deeds will change someone’s hard-hearted opposition. Such was the case for the Pharisees’ challenge to Jesus in considering the proper significance and use of the Sabbath. He had irrefutably connected the divine virtues of benevolence, kindness, mercy, goodness, and compassion with scriptural Sabbath observance. But the Phari-sees stubbornly rejected His exhortations and clung to their legalistic works and self-styled traditions. Not even God’s Word or the powerful demonstration by His Son would change their hard hearts.
Such legalism has always been an implacable enemy of grace. Even the law of Moses, with all its demands, reflected a strong measure of God’s grace in that it pointed men and women toward Christ as the only true hope of salvation. Paul says this about it: “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). If the very law of God has this more secondary role, how much less place does human tradition have in pleasing God?
Legalism and man-centered customs are also barriers to faithful, biblical sanctification after we are saved. The apostle again asked the Galatians, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (3:3). We must make sure that we, too, can answer this question rightly, bearing in mind Paul’s later admonition to the Galatian believers: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (5:1).
Ask Yourself
What do you plan to do to any remaining vestiges of legalism in your heart? And how do you intend to encourage others to do the same purifying work?
From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.
Studying God’s Word ping
Legalism and man-centered customs are also barriers to faithful, biblical sanctification
What does God say on the matter?
(Mark 7:8) For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
(Mark 7:9) Then He said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.
(Mark 7:13) And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
We all have our traditions. What exactly is a tradition?
Traditions are useful tools but morph over time and lose their original meanings. Anyone know the original purpose of Halloween masks?
What do you plan to do to any remaining vestiges of legalism in your heart? And how do you intend to encourage others to do the same purifying work?
Believers are to count ourselves DEAD to the Law. The perfect Law brings only death, Jesus Christ has freed us from that.
(2 Thess 2:15) So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter [a]from us. (NASB)
(The "tradition" Jesus was speaking about in Mark 7 was a Jewish teaching which said one could declare one's wealth "korban" or "dedicated to the Temple" -- which did not necessarily involve actually giving it to the Temple! -- and thereby make it "off limits" as far as supporting one's parents in their old age. It was basically an escape clause from the commandment "Honor thy father and thy mother," which is why Our Lord says "you ignore God's law and substitute your own tradition". It doesn't mean that "tradition is necessarily bad" but that "God's law can't be overruled by manmade law".)
You forgot:
Traditions are useful, but they get lost in their purpose within one or two generation as illustrated in the Bible and history.
Now keeping God’s law is not possible or easy either. We are down to rule number one and rule number two.
My point is it is easier to keep a tradition than it is God’s law. That is why we do it, and why we like traditions. It puts us in control. If we do such and such, we are good.
traditions morph. Why were masks part of the original Halloween tradition?
Wow, forgetting the devotional tag for one day is like blood in the water for Catholics.
That verse in now way justifies the dependence on tradition that Catholics have.
Besides, the command if very non-specific. Exactly what traditions is Paul referring to here? Where is the record of them to verify what they were?
That’s the whole,issue. It’s control.
But think about it. Who better to be in control of keeping my salvation secure?
Me?
Or God?
Who better to be in control of keeping my salvation secure?
A very testing question.
No man can come to God unless God first draws him.
The initiative is always on God’s part.
It’s even God who works in us to will and to do according to HIS good pleasure.
Contrary to what some people present God as being like, He really does WANT to save people.
It is a question I ask myself and others.
If your salvation is you choosing God, they you also have the power to unchose God. Your salvation depends on how you feel that day or what you ate for supper.
Whereas God choose you is a lock. His word is good. You can have assurance of salvation.
But, just because you say God choose you isn’t the whole story either but is a good test. God does test us and we test others.
So many folks want to DO something to gain salvation.
Uh... to make it harder to identify the miscreants that TPed your house and smashed your punkin?
 'When I tell you what imagery found in Scripture REALLY means,' the magnificant Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather superior tone, 'it means just whatever I choose it to mean, neither more nor less; but sometimes two or more different things at once.' 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can define imagery to mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, C.SS.R, S.S.L., O.F.M, S.T.D 'which is to be master - that's all.' |
That's how I read it:
MATTHEW 24:12-13 KJVNow does any of this evidence convince someone that they CAN lose or throw away their salvation?12 and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, 13 but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
1 John 4:8 ESV
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Revelation 2:3-5
3 Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name. 4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. 5 Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Aside from adding a requirement for salvation (though penitent, heart-purifying, regenerating effectual faith [Acts 10:43-47; 15:7-9] is what is imputed for righteousness, [Romans 4:5] and is shown in baptism and following the Lord, [Acts 2:38-47; Jn. 10:27,28], legalism is any doctrinal requirement for Godliness that is not Scriptural, from requiring the ritual washing of cups to not eating pork. though church-specific disciplinary rules can be made, such as school uniforms.
But in general, Christians are to be led by the Spirit in obeying Scripture, such as who to specifically pray for, where to live, who to marry (or not) and for the pastor, what to teach and preach on, to all of which applies, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8)
Yet in virtually all of even evangelical Christendom, come December and it is basically a legal requirement that pastors preach on, and the faithful observe, that which Catholicism decreed Christians do at that time, which is to celebrate Christmas, and which has essentially become a sacred cow, a form of legalism. Which can become manifest as such when one (hopefully in seeking to be a NT Christian) does not engage in this annual ritual, such as the pastor who does not preach on it or the Christian does not engage in the celebration. For then such are at least typically looked upon as suspicious, and to be distanced from, and the pastor is at risk of being replaced, while the member is very unlikely to ever be considered for the position of a teacher, etc., as instead such are to likely to be distanced from by most regardless of his/her manifest orthodoxy in essential doctrines and life. (Of course, since the devil is behind deviations from Scripture, his cults seek to validate themselves by exposing some deviations in overall salvific churches, yet being actually fundamentally damnably perverse themselves)
Now of course this does not impugn the heart and motive of those who sincerely seek to honor the Lord Jesus via Christmas (though that attitude of charity may not be present, or mutual), and it is certainly not wrong to commemorate the blessed event of the birth of the Divine Son of God and Christ, nor is it wrong to give gifts consistent with that Gift (though it should focus on the needy), and thus it would also be wrong to forbid the celebration of the birth of Christ. However, such commemoration is to be as the Lord leads, versus it becoming a annual ritual (which thus fosters perfunctory performances and professions), and which the NT church did not institute.
At issue then is the practice of falling into ritual annual observance of "days, and months, and times, and years" (Galatians 4:10) dictated by a calendar or lunar cycle (the first day of the week alone has a precedent as regards a specific day of meeting, as it is the only specific day that any proper NT church is recorded meeting on, though the prima NT church also met daily).
And with submission to this ritual annual observance being instituted by a church whose distinctive teachings are not manifest in the only wholly God-inspired, substantive, authoritative record of what the NT church believed (which is Scripture, in particular Acts through Revelation, which best shows how the NT church understood the gospels).
In addition is the issue of "Christianizing" distinctive pagan celebrations, which Christmas is part of (even if specific dates and motives are disputed) [1] [2] [3] [4], which Catholicism worked to Christianize in accommodation of pagan converts, and attempted to justify such under the premise of redeeming primitive revelations that has been corrupted.
"The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees...holydays and seasons,...are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church." (John Henry Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Chapter 8)
It is one thing to use pagan things such as the days of the week as references, or correct pagan corruption of something God ordained, as prayer, and another thing to try to Christianize things and practices which are distinctively pagan. One might as well try to Christianize Muslim holy days and the Hindu bindi. The NT church under the New Covenant did not engaging in "Christianizing" distinctive pagan religious practices or events for it was based upon regeneration, not reformation of the flesh. (2Co. 5:17) The flesh, and the religion of it, is only to be crucified, and worship is to be in spirit and in Truth, (Jn. 4:24) which the NT church exampled as shown by the revelation which the Holy Spirit inspired (Scripture).
Christianizing distinctive pagan religious practices or events is akin to the conversion of pagan "high places" in the OT, in which Israel sometimes turned certain groves and certain "high places" of idolatrous nations into places of Jehovistic worship. (1Kings 15:14; 2 Chronicles 33:17 ) despite the command, "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. (Deuteronomy 16:21) The annual Christianized pagan feast is a "tree" which was planted by paganism. (And which even led to kneeling before a actual tree to get presents).
As rightly motivated and commendable as the conversion of these high places may seem to be, yet to be fully consistent with the Lord's decrees, they should have destroyed them (Ex. 23:24; Dt. 7:5), and which sometimes they accomplished (2 Chronicles 17:6; 31:1; 34:3). The failure to do so mean that the attempts to reform such idolatrous places served to keep such alive, and thus facilitated their return back to their former state. (1Kings 12:31; 13:33; 14:23; 2Kg.15:35; 16:4; 17:10-19, 31-34; 2 Chronicles 21:11; 28:4; Isaiah 57:5). Likewise, the reason Christmas has become so paganized, with it being hard to get Christ "back in," is essentially due to it being a pagan celebration that saw attempted Christianization in accommodation to pagan converts, akin to reforming the sinful nature versus a new creation, thus keeping it alive to more easily revert back to its former state.
In short, it is a form of legalism to essentially require (under penalty from even mild forms of disfellowship to outright attacks) a Christian to engage in a annual celebration that the NT church did not institute or otherwise require, as it would be to forbid the celebration of the birth of Christ. But rather than being a "Scrooge," such a Christian who is not jumping into Christmas mode can be seeking to be a NT believer who is set free from required ritual observance not instituted by Scripture, walking on the holy liberty of the Spirit, (2 Corinthians 3:17) to worship God in spirit and in Truth. (John 4:24) Thanks be to God.
We celebrate Christmas because we believe it was a miracle to bring the Savior and with Him, salvation to the world.
He is an Indescribable gift!
I like that in Italy, they separate giving gifts from the worship of the Savior by two weeks.
It keeps the actual Christian practice and meaning from getting eclipsed.
Let each be convinced in his own mind - and some regard one day as more important than others. It’s OK.
Traditions are neither bad or good in themselves. God says, “do this to remember.” That is the problem, we don’t remember. What are we to remember?
We just went past Thanksgiving. It goes back to the OT, not the Pilgrams. In essence, take a tenth of you production and throw a party in the fall and be thankful to God.
I often think, that is not the way Peter would do it. He would have the party in the spring with what is left over. Huge issue of trust.
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