GodThoughtsWired! Tuesday, August 16, 2011 |
Evangelizing the Church in the Age of Delusion |
the deception of...
traditions!
traditions!
See to it that no one takes you captive
through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men,
according to the elementary principles
of the world, rather than according to Christ.
-Colossians 2:8, bold mine
One of Paul's great concerns was that, over time, religious traditions would replace relationship with Christ. Jesus Himself railed against "religious traditions" (see Matthew 23). He also said,
"“Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you
hypocrites, as it is written: ‘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.’"-Mark 7:6-7
hypocrites, as it is written: ‘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.’"-Mark 7:6-7
I recently quoted the following verses from the book of James:
"What use is it, my brethren, if someone says
he has faith but he has no works?
Can that faith save him?
...Even so faith, if it has no works,
is dead, being by itself...For just as
the body without the spirit is dead,
so also faith without works is dead."
-see James 2:14-26, bold mine
And then I said that the Bible clearly teaches,
Faith without action is delusion.
Any so-called "faith" that does
not result in obedience to Christ
is not a "faith" that can save you.
In response, one subscriber wrote,
"You are the very heretic that you warn against."
And I replied, "What is it about my teaching that you find unbiblical?"
And his response, "I didn't say that your writing was 'unbiblical,' I'm telling you that you're WRONG!"
All-righty then.
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