Traditions are Sinful! Part 1

If you have your Bibles this morning, I want you to find Mark 7:1, and I want to share a message with you entitled, “Traditions are Sinful!”  Hopefully, my sermon title got your attention.  I wanted that to happen.  However, I hope you will also allow me to explain my statement regarding traditions.

 

I am traditional person.  What I mean by that is that I like and enjoy many traditions.  We have family traditions, and I enjoy holiday traditions. 

 

If you know me well, you know that I am a proud graduate of a university that is known for their many traditions.  Many of their traditions are weird, hokey, and even cult-like.

 

However, I want you to understand this morning and see from God’s Word that when the traditions of men get elevated to the Word of God or put on the same level as God’s Word and become authoritative, we have crossed a line into legalism.

 

Notice several times in today’s text this phrase: the tradition of the elders or the tradition of men.  We see it in verse 3, 5, and 8.

 

What do I mean when I say legalism?  Legalism is adding to God’s Word and elevating traditions or preferences or practices or opinions to the same level of authority as the Bible, and when that happens, traditions become sinful.

 

On multiple occasions in the Gospels, we see Jesus conversing with the Pharisees on the subject of legalism.  In Paul’s letters, he often wrote about legalism and legalists known as the Judaizes.

 

Legalism often has two common applications.  First, we can add to the Bible regarding the truth of salvation.  The Bible teaches that the gospel is Jesus plus nothing.  Therefore, when circumcision is added to the gospel, that is legalism and is not salvation.  The same could be said for baptism.  The good news is that Jesus plus nothing saves.

 

Second, we can add to the Bible regarding the truth of sanctification.  Sanctification is the ongoing process in the life of the Believer becoming more like Jesus or becoming more sanctified or holy.  We become more sanctified when we are obedient to the Bible.  However, when we add requirements to the Bible that are really just traditions of men or preferences or opinions, we have crossed the line into legalism, and our tradition has become sinful.

 

Allow me to give some easy examples, and I’ll give some more recent examples in a few minutes.  In our not so distant past, many Baptists have been guilty of legalism when we said that a Christian who danced or played cards was sinning and not living a holy life.  This same legalism also said a good Christian woman should not wear make-up or pants.  To say such is sinful.  Brothers and sisters, that is legalism, and it is that same legalism that says the only accurate Bible translation is the KJV.

 

Do you see what is happening?  We are putting traditions of men or personal preferences on the same level as the Bible.  The Bible nowhere prohibits dancing or playing cards or wearing make-up or wearing pants or that the KJV is the only inspired translation.  Those are all personal preferences and legalism when we give them the same authority as the Bible.  Therefore, traditions are sinful when we elevate them to Scripture.

 

Jesus felt the same way as He dealt with the Pharisees in Mark 7:1-8.

 

 

1. An Investigation by the Haughty, Mark 7:1-2a

1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands,

 

Who were the Pharisees?  They were the religion experts of the first century, and they were paired with the legal experts of the first century, the scribes.  They considered themselves to be better than the rest, holier than thou, haughty. 

 

Where did they come from?  Notice that they came from Jerusalem.  Maybe they came from Jerusalem because they had gotten a negative report about Jesus’ disciples.

 

What were they investigating?  They came and saw the Twelve Disciples eating bread without washing their hands.

 

 

2. An Accusation about Holiness, Mark 7:2b-5

they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” 

 

Why did this matter?  It was not an issue of personal hygiene.  It was an issue of ceremonial cleanliness. 

 

The sin of the Twelve Disciples was about holiness.  These Pharisees believed that certain things or certain persons were unclean and touching them made you unclean.  Therefore, there was a constant need to wash and be made clean. 

 

In verses three and four, Mark shared his own comments in order to explain to his Gentile audience what the Pharisees found offensive.  Notice that hand washing for the purpose of ceremonial cleanliness was widespread among first century Jews. 

 

Notice also that the standard of holiness had become the tradition of the elders and passed down orally for many generations. 

 

Understand again that this particular tradition was not a part of the OT Law.  It was an oral tradition that began with an individual and was passed on to successive generations.

 

In verse four, Mark further explained what I mentioned a moment ago of uncleanness being transferred from things to people or from people to people.  If a Jew went to the market place and in some way came in contact with pork, he had to wash his hands because the pork was unclean and he was then unclean.  The same would be true for touching a leper or touching anything or anyone deemed unclean.

 

Mark went on to say that the Jews participated in many other traditions of the elders for the sake of ceremonial cleanliness such as the washing of cups and the washing of pitchers and the washing of pots. 

 

In verse 5, we see the Pharisees scrutinizing the leader of the Twelve Disciples.  Instead of asking the disciples personally, the Pharisees questioned Jesus. 

 

Rightly or wrongly, people are often judged by the company they keep.  Whether adult or student, if you socialize with those who drink alcohol, you will be seen as one of them.  If you socialize with those who gossip, you will be seen as one of them.  If students socialize with those who disrupt class and cheat on tests, you will be seen as one of them.

 

They asked Jesus why His disciples didn’t follow or keep the tradition of the elders of washing their hands before they ate.  Jesus and His disciples were considered to be rebels.  They were rule breakers.  They were mavericks and cavaliers.  They were the furthest thing from holy in the eyes of the Pharisees. 

 

How did Jesus respond to these Pharisees and their legalism?  Jesus put the Pharisees and their legalism on trial, and we get to see that courtroom action. 

 

 

3. A Condemnation of Hypocrisy, Mark 7:6-8

6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.  7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’  8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

Jesus’ condemnation was personal.  He answered to them verse 6 says.  He applied Isaiah 29:13 to them (you), and called them “this people.”

 

Jesus’ condemnation was also scriptural.  He challenged them with God’s Word.  He said the Pharisees looked good on the outside with their words, but their hearts were wrong. 

 

Jesus’ condemnation was practical.  Look at verse 8.  They were putting their traditions and their preferences on the same level as the Bible, and that is wrong.  It was wrong then, and it is wrong today.

 

Very plainly put, the Pharisees were hypocrites.  They talked a good game, but their hearts were evil because they elevated the traditions of men or personal preferences to place of Scripture.  Jesus called that vain worship.  In other words, it was legalism and sinful.  Their traditions were sinful.

 

 

Conclusion

So the question we constantly have to ask ourselves is “What is the priority of our hearts?  Is it the Word of God or the Traditions of Men?”

 

So what does all this mean for us today?  We all have personal preferences and that is fine, but make sure you don’t elevate your personal preferences to authoritative as the Bible. 

 

For example, you may not like tattoos, but what is on the outside doesn’t defile the body. 

 

You may not like piercings, but what is on the outside doesn’t defile the body. 

 

You may not like preachers without a coat and tie on Sunday mornings or preachers with facial hair, but make sure you don’t elevate your personal preferences of appearance or dress or music or whatever to the level of Scripture because that is legalism, and legalism is sin.  Rather than being concerned with what is on the outside, let’s follow the Lord and be more concerned about what is in a person’s heart so that we don’t make our traditions sinful.

 

One last thing before I close…as I said previously, adding anything to Jesus for salvation is legalism.  All you need is Jesus, and Jesus doesn’t need any help.  Come to Jesus today to be saved.