The Commandments of Men (Matthew 15:9)

2022-09-01

By the time Jesus came to earth, much tradition came and had become more important than the Word of God. The Lord rebuked the Pharisees for their traditions, saying, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7-9).

This is not written for those people alone. Tradition has infiltrated all manner of churches to the point where there are many that have nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rituals and good works do not make one spiritually clean or unclean. Rather:

...those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. (Matthew 15:18-20)

We are defiled from the heart outward, and with that we are defiled before God; this is in our nature. Christ dealt with our heart problem by His death on our behalf and rising to glory. He declared us righteous by faith in Him, being born again. He sent His Spirit to dwell with us and in us, teaching us to be experientially righteous.

Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the root of salvation.