Truth or Tradition

DEVOTION
GALATIONS
TRUTH OR TRADITION
Gal 1:11-12
11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
NIV
It never ceases to amaze me how many spiritual matters are made up by man. How so many denominations have their set of rules and regulations added to the gospel for qualifications to be a member of their churches is beyond me. Oh I know every earthy organization has rules and regulations that have to be complied with in order to join. But I just don’t think it should be that way with the church. The gospel is the gospel and that is that. I just cannot get into those rules and regulations. I always thought that Jesus had set me free and once I have been set free I am free indeed. I should not place myself back into bondage to the law or any form of it. Sure, Jesus has given me the way to live, and I surely believe I should live a life that is pleasing to him. But I just cannot get into those rules. Am I a bad person because of that? Or is it that I just do not want to submit to the authority of the leadership of the church? Am I a rebel? Am I an outsider of the norm? Do I not get it? I have to say to myself, “Rich, I think you are right on”! I have read the bible, I have the Holy Spirit, I have received the good news right from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Sure Doc lead me to Christ, but then I read and read until I understood the truth as revealed to me from the Holy Spirit. I cannot believe for one minute those rules and regulations which people add to the gospel have any basis in truth, if that were the case then why so many different denominations with so many different rules, regulations, bylaws, doctrines, and dogmas? I truly believe it is because they are made up by man and not by God. I have no illusions about myself. I know I still displease my God, I know I still deal with sin in my life, I know I have a long ways to go, to grow. It is a lifelong process of learning to lean on Jesus and being the person he desires me to be. But I also know I have freedom in him, I am not bond to those manmade rules, or those manmade regulations and restrictions they believe if followed qualify me as a holy person. I am completely confident in my relationship with my Lord and I am and always have been willing to submit to him, but not to men. Sometimes I wonder if I am all alone, or if I am really wrong in my thinking, but those times pass and I remember who I am in Christ. I am going to live by the truth not by tradition.