C101-4. WHAT Exactly is Church TRADITION? DOWNLOAD to SAVE as a PDF Doc to read OFFLINE. C101-4. WHAT Exactly is Church TRADITION?
Chapter 4.
The simplest definition for the word tradition is the WAY things were done in the past has been passed on to the children. So the real question is not so much as “what” is church tradition, but HOW did all of the many different church traditions in the many different church denominations get STARTED? For you see, every church denomination has DIFFERENT church traditions as to HOW each church denomination understands the Scriptures. So then, the simplest definition of “church” traditions is HOW each individual church denomination “INTERPRETS” the Scriptures. Now, the Roman Catholic Church has by far the most church traditions of any other church denomination. But before we get into how each individual Roman Catholic tradition started, let me give you a list of church traditions with a brief description of that church tradition.
#1. The tradition of Calvinism.
Hints of Calvinism can be found in many different church denominations, but the man-made TRADITION of God being responsible for EVERYTHING that happens is only found in hard core Calvinistic churches. Briefly, Calvinism teaches that God ordained everything that happens whether good or evil and nothing happens without God ordaining it to happen. So HOW did this traditional Calvinistic belief get started? The belief in “predestination” as interpreted by Calvinism or REFORMED Theology actually started before a man named John Calvin began gathering followers of what he came to believe. You can do your own research on Calvinism, but for now, I want to focus on HOW different church traditions START. EVERY church tradition begins with man’s own PERSONAL interpretation of the Scriptures. It becomes “TRADITION” when a church denomination uses their own church tradition OVER the Scriptures. Now the irony of Calvinism is that John Calvin was a “reformer” who protested the church traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. This is important to see and understand. For you see, when Christians seek the TRUTH the enemy of God can come along and deceive them with ANOTHER deception. So while John Calvin was “reforming” his beliefs by exposing the arrows of “interpretation” made by the Roman Catholic Church, Satan deceived John Calvin and many others to INCORRECTLY interpret the meaning of the word “predestination” in the Bible. So please know and understand that almost all church traditions BEGIN with an INTERPRETATION of the Scriptures on a specific topic or subject that is indeed found in the Bible. But that “interpretation” is NOT what the Bible ITSELF teaches in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. You see, the Calvinistic or Reformed Theology “traditional” meaning of the word “predestination” found in the Bible is that EVERYTHING that happens was ORDAINED by Almighty God to happen whether good or evil. But the SOUND Biblical definition of predestination is ONLY what is SPECIFICALLY WRITTEN in the Scriptures as PROPHECY. In other words, ONLY what has specifically been PROPHESIED is what has been ORDAINED to be fulfilled by God performing what He has SPOKEN to His prophets to prophesy and record in the Scriptures. Plain and simple, if it is NOT SPECIFICALLY prophesied in the Scriptures, then it was NOT ORDAINED by God. Again, HINTS of Calvinism can be seen in many church denominations that do NOT consider themselves to be Calvinistic. To read more on WHY Calvinism is NOT Biblical Christianity please read all of the studies under the heading called >>>Cc-0. Is Calvinism Biblical?<<< But for now, let us move on to church tradition number 2.
#2. The tradition of keeping the weekly Sabbath DAY.
HINTS or strong suggestions of keeping the weekly Sabbath DAY as being a day of OBLIGATION lest one breaks the fourth commandment can also be found in many different church denominations as well. In other words, the keeping of one DAY a week as a DAY of rest as being the “Will of God” can be seen in many church denominations. However, the keeping of the “seventh” day of the week as the only true Sabbath DAY is ONLY found in Sabbath-keeping church denominations. So, HOW did this particular church TRADITION get started? It started by Christians who INCORRECTLY interpreted the Scriptures related to the topic or subject on the Sabbath. To read why the seventh DAY of the week Sabbath-keeping TRADITION is NOT Biblical Christianity please read all of the studies under the heading called >>>Dd-0. What is the TRUE Sabbath?<<< But for now, let us move on to the third church tradition.
#3 The tradition of being saved by grace ALONE.
Again, this church tradition of being saved by grace ALONE can be found in almost every church denomination. This tradition, like Calvinism, started at the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. The Protestants or the protesters against the Roman Catholic Church TRADITIONS desired to reform their beliefs to what the Apostles of Jesus taught in the New Testament WITHOUT all of the Roman Catholic Church TRADITIONS that they found as CONTRADICTING what the Bible ITSELF teaches. But again, Satan came along and deceived them as well through their INCORRECTLY interpreting the Scriptures. For you see, the Roman Catholic Church wrongly taught that doing the WORKS as defined by the church were required to be saved. Works like attending Mass on Sunday and other DAYS of OBLIGATION as defined by the Roman Catholic Church. Again, you can do your own research on Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. But for now, I will briefly explain HOW the Grace ALONE Christians have incorrectly “interpreted” Ephesians 2:8,9 out of its CONTEXT.
Ephesians 2:8,9.
“For BY GRACE are you SAVED through faith; and that NOT of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9. Not of (Or NOT by doing) WORKS, lest any man should boast.”
Now, when a Christian FOCUSES only on these two verses of Scripture being taken OUT of their CONTEXT, then it would seem like the Bible is teaching us that we are saved by grace ALONE and NOT by any kind of WORKS to earn our salvation. But these two verses of Scripture are NOT the WHOLE word of Almighty God. Even the very CONTEXT in verse 10 teaches us that the reason for why we are saved is to DO good WORKS. So it is not the good works that God has ORDAINED us to walk in that Paul is teaching against. But rather, it is the WORKS of the law of commandments contained in ORDINANCES that Jesus ABOLISHED on the cross that cannot save us. Let us read Ephesians 2:8,9 again being left in its CONTEXT so that you can see how to CORRECTLY interpret the INTENDED meaning of being saved by grace through faith and NOT saving yourself through the works of the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES.
Ephesians 2:8-20.
“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9. Not of (Or not by doing) works, (Speaking of the works of the Law of commandments contained in ORDINANCES, according to the CONTEXT in verse 15) lest any man should boast. 10. For (Or BECAUSE) we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto GOOD WORKS, which God has before ORDAINED that we should walk in them. (So then, the very reason for God giving us grace through faith in God’s plan of salvation is for God to work in us to do GOOD WORKS and CEASE from the WORKS of the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES that Jesus ABOLISHED on the cross) 11. Wherefore, remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; (Here we see the Apostle Paul speaking directly to the Gentile Christians who were wrongly being subverted by a CERTAIN SECT of Jewish Judaizing Christians to keep the WORKS of the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES in order to be SAVED, according to Acts 15:1-24. It was WHEN God turned the preaching of the Gospel of salvation to the Gentiles that the Holy Spirit REVEALED that salvation is a GIFT of God by His GRACE that is received through FAITH and NOT by doing the WORKS of the Law of Moses. For you see, BEFORE God turned to the Gentiles the Gospel was preached ONLY to the Jews, according to Romans 1:16, Romans 2:9,10, Acts 3:26, Luke 24:47, Acts 26:20, and all of the first shall be last and the last shall be first Scriptures) 12. That at that time (Before the God turned the Gospel to the Gentiles) you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (You see, ONLY to the children of Israel was the Law of Moses given for THEM, the children of Israel to keep throughout THEIR generations UNTIL the promise SEED came, according to Galatians 3:19 and Exodus 31:16) 13. But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14. For he is our peace, who has made BOTH one, (Speaking of God making both the Jews and the Gentiles ONE people by their FAITH in His Son Jesus Christ) and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (Speaking of the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES that separated the Jews from the Gentiles) 15. Having ABOLISHED in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (The simplest definition of the word “ordinances” in this context is the INSTRUCTIONS that were written in the Law of Moses concerning how to keep the commandments of God. In other words, ALL of the ceremonial commandments were FULFILLED and thus ABOLISHED by Jesus on the cross. And it is the WORKS of doing or keeping the Sabbaths that do NOT save neither the Jews nor the Gentiles) 16. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: (Again, the enmity is the WORKS of keeping the ceremonial commandments defined in Colossians 2:14-17 as being SHADOWS pointing to Jesus as the body of those shadows. And this was not completely revealed to the all Jewish church which was first composed only of saved Jews until beginning in Acts chapter 9 with the vision of Saul being called to be an Apostle to the GENTILES. And at the same period of time in Acts chapter 10, God gave a visions to the Apostle Peter revealing that God cleansed all manners of meat that were called unclean under the FIRST Covenant that is now called the OLD Testament or the Old Covenant written in the Old Testament of the Bible) 17. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19. Now therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone;”
This brings us to church TRADITION number four.
#4. The church tradition of ETERNAL salvation.
There is a huge difference between a Christian learning to become fully persuaded in their own heart and mind that they will never give up PERSEVERING to keep their faith with the help of the Holy Spirit from the FALSE church TRADITION that a Christian can never lose their salvation. To learn the sound Biblical meaning of BEING saved and ENDURING unto the end to be saved, please read the studies under the headings >>>E-0. WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?<<< and >>>F-0. Can we LOSE ETERNAL LIFE?<<< But for now, let us move on to church tradition number five.
#5. The church tradition of UNIVERSALISM.
The church tradition that is called “universalism” wrongly teaches that every single human being will EVENTUALLY be saved. They wrongly teach that the lake of fire is to PURIFY the wicked that will be cast into it on the final Day of Judgment. It is when we get to the more EXTREME church TRADITIONS that most Christians can see that they are NOT Biblical teachings. For example, most Christians know and understand that the following three church TRADITIONS are NOT Biblical Christianity.
#6. The church tradition known as Mormonism.
#7. The church tradition known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. >>>Z-0. JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES<<<
#8. The church tradition of the earth being FLAT. >>>Ff-0. Does the Bible teach the Earth is FLAT?<<<
But when it comes to church traditions concerning PROPHECY and the second coming of Jesus, the different church traditions concerning WHO Jesus is in relation to the Father, and many other church doctrines, then it is not so CLEAR to many Christians as to which church doctrines are the truth. So I suggest starting with the studies under the heading called >>>D-0. The BIBLICAL Unitarian VIEW of Jesus<<< And then, for more in-depth studies please read all of the studies under the heading called >>>N-0. Who is JESUS ACCORDING to the Bible?<<< Or you can simply continue reading in chapter 5 called C101-5 Did God SEND His Son from HEAVEN? For you see, church TRADITION says yes, God sent His already pre-existing Son down from HEAVEN to become flesh. But what does the Bible ITSELF actually teach us? The TRUTH may surprise some Christians. And to find the links to ALL of the chapters, please click on the link C101-0 Church TRADITION Versus BIBLICAL Christianity! Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus. So, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading >>>D-0. THE BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of JESUS!<<< And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading >>>C-0. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH!<<< This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
To learn more TRUTH, then please return to
VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED!
To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY is according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So please read ALL of the studies under the heading >>>N-0. WHO is JESUS ACCORDING to the BIBLE?<<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>>U-0. VERSES used for THE TRINITY!<<< and >>>V-0. VERSES used to TEACH that Jesus PRE-EXISTED!<<< These two headings have ALL of the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me. My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com. Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
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Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ! |
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