Choose Christ Rather Than Traditions And Doctrine

Mark 7

King James Version (KJV)

5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:

11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.

12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;

13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

CORBAN:  a sacrifice or offering to God among the ancient Hebrews

DOCTRINE: a particular principle, position, or policy taught or advocated, as of a religion or government

TRADITION: the handing down from generation to generation of the same customs, beliefs, etc, esp by word of mouth: 

In modern day times, one may refer to the highlighted words above as, "lip service". 

We have all been there, someone says one thing but their actions prove otherwise. When we are sincere in the words that roll off our lips, our actions will prove those words to be true. It will show what we truly believe. How can we be sincere in our beliefs if they are merely a tradition that was passed down to us? Jesus said if you love God, you would obey God and follow Him. How can you follow Christ, if you don't know what He taught? 

The Pharisees and scribes were a religious, pious group of people that spent the majority of their time following handed down traditions that served man rather than God, in the hopes that the people would follow them rather than Christ/God. Several times in the New Testament Jesus addresses this group and rebukes them for their actions. I do not believe you will find a verse where Jesus is talking about them or to them and is not rebuking their behavior. In a few instances,  He warns us to not be like them. It is so important to know your Bible and God on a personal level. Why trust your salvation in the hands of man?  In the end, it will be you who is responsible for your choices and actions. If you love the Lord, follow the Lord. Not man. If you are a part of any type of religion, I challenge you to search your heart. If the religious sect that you are a part of has any celebrations or traditions, find out where they originated. If it is a sect that professes to be Christian, the Bible is the source that you would need to go to in order to learn the teachings of Christ. I prefer the King James Version (KJV). The American Standard Version (ASV) is also a good translation. 

I was born and raised Catholic. I am no longer a Catholic however since I have been trained up in His Word, I consider myself to be follower of Christ and a part of no religious sect. Because I have experienced Catholicism first hand.  I am able to offer an example of a tradition that they hold to that is not Biblical and that is to BELIEVE in the Catholic Church. It is a part of their doctrine that in full is known as the Cathecism: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P26.HTM

750 To believe that the Church is "holy" and "catholic," and that she is "one" and "apostolic" (as the Nicene Creed adds), is inseparable from belief in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the Apostles' Creed we profess "one Holy Church" (Credo . . . Ecclesiam), and not to believe in the Church, so as not to confuse God with his works and to attribute clearly to God's goodness all the gifts he has bestowed on his Church.¹³⁸

The Catholic church is not mentioned in Scripture, though their doctrine teaches that to believe in their man made institution, is the same as believing in Christ. There are very many instances of this in their doctrine, that glorifies their church and Mary (also not Biblical) rather than keeping the sole focus on Christ. There are very many teachings that are solely tradition and in some cases, against what Christ taught.  I respect all paths and religions,  for I know there are many roads to Christ; however I feel that it is up to us to search Scripture and to be sure of what we believe. Jesus stated in our verse above: 

13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Be weary of anyone or anything that urges you to believe man made traditions and doctrines for in doing so, you could be believing in something that was never a part of God's plan and it could make His Word of no effect in your life. You will not know if it is man made, until you read the Bible for yourself. I am sure that some of the people that were participating in what was known as Corban in the Bible verse above, were doing so of pure intentions; however they made a mistake and followed man rather than God and this led to going directly against God's law to Honor their Father and Mother. They were giving to the church of the Pharisees what belonged to their Father and Mother and doing so in the name of God because the Pharisees led them to believe it was His Word through their doctrine. They however were the ones that chose to believe it. 

What happened to the Pharisees? I would say they are still here today. They are any religious sect that teaches man made rules and traditions rather than teaching you to have a personal relationship with the Lord and to only receive your revelation from His Holy Spirit who is the ONLY person that revelation belongs to.