Truth or Tradition

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

TRUTH OR TRADITION

Acts 15:1-4

15:1 Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

NIV

Why is it that the law was so important? These men who came down from Judea to Antioch were Jew who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, however, were still convinced that Jesus came to the Jews and so their laws were still relevant, they just added Jesus to their law. This covenant of circumcision was not given to Moses, but to Abraham far before any formal law was given. Yet they believed Gentiles had to abide by that covenant in order to get saved. These men from Judea were even in error about calling the covenant of circumcision with Abraham a custom taught by Moses. Although Moses may well have taught that custom, it was not right for these Jews to impose their covenant on Gentiles. Here is where the rubber meets the road in our lives in this post-modern church. There are believers today who hold to certain customs that were taught years ago. There can be a difference between customs and truth even if those customs were once considered truth. We do want to have rules and regulations which allow us to feel that we have something to do with our Christianity. As long as we abide by the current customs of Christianity, we are holy and blameless. The problem is the rules and regulations keep changing as our society changes. Within the years we have been in the church we have seen rules against dancing, movies, roller rinks, taverns, drinking, smoking, and even mixed bathing, that is boys and girls in bathing suits on the same beach at the same time. Many of them have gone by the wayside, except maybe drinking and smoking, although those customs have been set aside by some believers and they have experienced truly being set free. What we know is that it is not a matter of Jesus plus these rules. There is the truth and within that truth, there are transformational occurrences because of that truth which speaks into the core of our being. It is not so much about the law or the rules whether they be out of custom or tradition, or from denominational statements of belief, but it is about the truth causing transformation to occur within. This means a change in our character, not just our personality. We grow in our walk with the Lord through the truth, not because of abiding by rules. We might grow in our walk with the rules, thinking that is the same as growing in the truth, but the rules do not give us life. It comes down to truth over tradition.