Satan's Tradition vs. God's Word

Did Jesus give importance to the word of God in Scripture? Did He in fact give us a direct course of action on how we should treat the word of God? Does He look the other way when the word of God is put aside for the sake of tradition?

In Matthew 15 we see an example where Jesus clearly states that the word of God supersedes any tradition — be it man-made or declared to be apostolic. If it goes against the word of God, it is not from God and it is not for the people of God. It is merely another trick Satan uses to derail the believer off the narrow path.

"So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God." (Matthew 15:6, ESV)

The tradition Jesus addresses here is "Corban," a Jewish practice where a believer would declare a property or possession as dedicated to God. Once something was declared Corban, it could not be used for anything else.

This was used as a loophole so that a person could sidestep the fifth commandment — to honor your father and mother. If parents were in need, they would naturally expect their children to help them, especially children who had the means. But once those means were declared Corban, they were off limits — even for the sake of honoring one's parents.

They behaved as if such a scheme could deceive God. But God sees the heart. He knows why you have chosen an action, whether you cloak it in the guise of tradition or not.

Roman Catholicism, sadly, has many veils before its eyes, but this one seems more obvious than some. Under the loophole of "veneration," it directs honor toward statues, deceased saints, and Jesus' own mother. The statues in particular are a blatant disregard of God's commandment against graven images.

How is this not obvious? Part of the reason is that the commandments are taught differently. In the traditional Roman Catholic catechism, the commandments against other gods and against graven images (Exodus 20:3–6) are grouped together as a single first commandment, and the tenth is divided into two so the total still reaches ten. The commandments are also often taught in a shortened form, and in that shortened form the prohibition against images is not always spelled out on its own. As a result, its force can be easy to miss.

I plead with my Roman Catholic friends: do not blindly follow traditions thinking it pleases God.

Read His word — it is what we require for life. The word of God is alive. Do not let it be used for your destruction, but do as Jesus told the woman at Jacob's well: drink from it, and you shall never thirst. God has delivered us a Saviour to whom all His word points.

"In the beginning was the Word… and the Word became flesh." (John 1:1, 14, ESV)

By Him everything was made. Choose God's word, not Satan's tradition.