The back page July 24
Restoration
Restoration
((Matthew 15:6,9) ...Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. ...{9} But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Jesus here is speaking to the scribes and Pharisees. By that day the traditions of the forefathers and the teachings of prominent Rabbis had become more important, to them than the principles of God’s Word. So, they were more concerned that the disciples wash their hands properly than they were for Justice, Mercy, or Faith. That human tendency is still with us.
Over a period of time things get added to the pure Word of God. Methods and fashions become traditions and supplant the message. Just the act of passing on the faith as culture, from one generation to the next, and from them to the the next etc. unavoidably degrades it. Things get added and things get left out. A copy of a copy is never as good as a copy of the original. A copy of a copy of a copy of a copy begins to lose any resemblance to the original. This had happened to the Jewish religion of Jesus day. It happened to Christendom by the time of the reformation. It happened in the Protestant denominations once they were established. It continues.
First Christian church is part of a “Restoration Movement”. Basically, the Idea is to go back to the original, and restore the essence of New Testament Christianity. Over centuries, many different streams of tradition have developed. The only hope for visible unity, and the only way to avoid worshiping “in vain”, is to keep going back to the original; to restore New Testament faith and practice.
The operative questions become: “What does the Bible say?” and “What did the Church in the Bible do?” We should be much less concerned about: how we’ve always done it, or what is fashionable.
In our present day there is a contest. On one side, are those who would preserve the outward forms of worship which have become traditional in “mainline” churches, while denying basic tenets of the faith, such as the bodily resurrection, or salvation through Christ. On the other, are those who would preserve the Biblical Message, and advance it by whatever (moral) methods seem to work. My sympathies lie with the latter group, personally. I only pray that we guard against establishing more divisive, encumbering human traditions, and against just replacing old human doctrine with new human doctrine.
God Bless You -
Jesus here is speaking to the scribes and Pharisees. By that day the traditions of the forefathers and the teachings of prominent Rabbis had become more important, to them than the principles of God’s Word. So, they were more concerned that the disciples wash their hands properly than they were for Justice, Mercy, or Faith. That human tendency is still with us.
Over a period of time things get added to the pure Word of God. Methods and fashions become traditions and supplant the message. Just the act of passing on the faith as culture, from one generation to the next, and from them to the the next etc. unavoidably degrades it. Things get added and things get left out. A copy of a copy is never as good as a copy of the original. A copy of a copy of a copy of a copy begins to lose any resemblance to the original. This had happened to the Jewish religion of Jesus day. It happened to Christendom by the time of the reformation. It happened in the Protestant denominations once they were established. It continues.
First Christian church is part of a “Restoration Movement”. Basically, the Idea is to go back to the original, and restore the essence of New Testament Christianity. Over centuries, many different streams of tradition have developed. The only hope for visible unity, and the only way to avoid worshiping “in vain”, is to keep going back to the original; to restore New Testament faith and practice.
The operative questions become: “What does the Bible say?” and “What did the Church in the Bible do?” We should be much less concerned about: how we’ve always done it, or what is fashionable.
In our present day there is a contest. On one side, are those who would preserve the outward forms of worship which have become traditional in “mainline” churches, while denying basic tenets of the faith, such as the bodily resurrection, or salvation through Christ. On the other, are those who would preserve the Biblical Message, and advance it by whatever (moral) methods seem to work. My sympathies lie with the latter group, personally. I only pray that we guard against establishing more divisive, encumbering human traditions, and against just replacing old human doctrine with new human doctrine.
God Bless You -