Truth or Tradition?

Jesus told the Pharisees that they had made the word of God of none effect by means of holding to their own traditions (Mk. 7:13). To them their traditions were more important than the word of God, and to God’s people who were living in that time those traditions were actually thought to BE the word of God. And why wouldn’t they be thought of as such? If the “traditions of the elders” were esteemed above the word of God by the elders, as Jesus said; and that continued over a long period of time, then of course those traditions were thought by most to be the way of the Lord. Do you think that the Pharisees reminded the general people that their traditions were NOT of God? Do you suppose they told them that their traditions had made the word of God of none effect to the people also? Not hardly my friend, and nothing has changed since then either. God’s people today have been coerced into the same trap by means of flowing right along with the traditions of Christianity that have been passed along to each generation. And these traditions and doctrines of men have been universally accepted and upheld as being the word of God, when in fact they have made the word of God of none effect, repeating the history of God’s people. Yes it is true, I do write about this issue a whole lot, because it is of a whole lot of importance and significance to God; and this is a main message of the holy Ghost for this moment in time in the body of Christ. God is calling his people to forsake the erroneous traditions of men and follow after his Spirit into the true liberty of love, holiness, and peace in the kingdom of God (Rev. 18:4; Rom. 14:17). I just want to show one way that this has happened, and even though I cover this topic quite often, I wonder how many are really ‘getting it.’ This one point is the very foundation of dividing truth from tradition in the body of Christ today, and if we can get the foundation level, then we can build back up from there on the real word of God. Plain and simple.

No one is or can be born again and have the remission of their sins apart from or short of the baptism of the holy Ghost with the heavenly sign of speaking with other tongues. It is more than evident in the scriptures that receiving the Spirit of God is what takes away our sins and imparts new life from heaven into our souls (Jn. 3:5; I Cor. 6:11; Rom. 15:16; II Cor. 5:17; II Cor. 3:17; I Cor. 12:13; Tit. 3:5; etc.). Read the referenced scriptures. There simply is no way around it (Rom. 8:9). Someone will say, “Well, it’s by faith." You think?? Jesus said that whoever believes on him will receive the Spirit (Jn. 7:38,39). The scripture plainly states that "God [gives] the holy Ghost to everyone who obeys him” (Acts 5:32). Galatians 3:14 says that we “receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” So yes, it IS by faith, but 'IT’ is receiving the holy Spirit of God into our lives! The scripture also plainly shows forth that receiving the holy Ghost is the exact same thing as being baptized with the holy Ghost with the accompanying sign of speaking in tongues. No? Then how did Peter and his fellow Jewish believers know if and when God gave the holy Ghost to the first Gentiles to hear the Gospel preached? “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them SPEAK WITH TONGUES, and magnify God” (Acts 10:45,46). The disciples at Ephesus who were met by the apostle Paul had not even “heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:2). Yet the scripture says that “when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied” (Acts 19:6).

So did Jesus just get excited in these cases and bypass 'getting [these folks] saved,’ baptizing them with the holy Ghost hastily? Or maybe he has changed his established agenda since then? I don’t think so. My Bible says that “Jesus Christ [is] the same, yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). It also states that there is “no variableness” with God (Jas. 1:17). No my friend, it is not God who has changed, but rather religious man has done injury to “the faith that was once delivered to the saints” (II Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6,7; Jd. 1:3). The whole “getting saved,“ and "accepting the Lord [as your personal savior], and "confessing Jesus as Lord,” and all the rest; are simply religious inventions of men. These things are not in the Bible, except that those who already have Christ in them can and must continue to confess him in order to be saved (Rom. 10:9,10; I Cor. 12:3; I Cor. 15:1-4; I Jn. 4:15). The acceptance and belief of these traditions among God’s Spirit baptized people have caused them to disesteem the very experience that delivered them from sin to begin with, and hold a tradition of men above it; thereby making the word of God of none effect. The baptism of the Spirit is universally thought of in the body of Christ to be a 'secondary’ experience for those who are already 'saved.’ My question is, if they are saved before being baptized with the holy Ghost, what saved them? And if the scripture is true that says “by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body [of Christ],” then just exactly where are these 'saved’ folks at before being Spirit baptized? (I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4,5) According to the Bible they obviously cannot be in the body of Christ. If your answer is contrary to the evident Bible answer laid out in this short article, then you should heed the admonition of the apostle Paul, who told us in regard to such things: “From such turn away” (II Tim. 3:5). Amen.