When I look at the titles of books on my shelves, I notice
that the majority of them are written in defense of traditions. Most of my
collection is made up of books focused on either supporting or challenging Judeo/Christian
traditions. It is evident that defence of traditional religious institutions or
practices is a priority of most of the works. Considering the source of the
saying, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth,”[1] it
is ironic to apply it to religious writings. However, it is true of most
religious institutions and their traditions. What was human interference in the
fourth century, through time became the standard for organization and structure
of religious institutions.
Zero-based doctrine
Although arduous and time consuming, Zero-Based Budgeting
offers greater accuracy than other methods. The concept of the zero-based
process, if applied to scriptural research will result in greater clarity of
God’s word. And as well, a more accurate interpretation of scripture. To
achieve the highest degree of accuracy in biblical interpretation one must
leapfrog centuries of tradition. My objective is to review Christian religious
institutions in the light of the zero-based process. Admittedly I am biased,
and the task for me is to stick to the process despite my pre-existing beliefs.
I believe it is fundamentally wrong to look at any Christian institution, in
any form, and suggest it is what Jesus intended his ἐκκλησία
to be. Zero-based analysis or research will indicate that Christian
institutions today, are institutions of yesterday. And, that the institutions
of yesterday, began with Constantine’s interference with Christian groups. He
sought to used the popularity of early Christianity to unite the Roman Empire.
Using the principle of the zero-based process, one would
begin with the words in Jesus’ statement, “on this rock I will build my ἐκκλησία,” and identify the
meaning of the Greek word Matthew used to convey the statement of Jesus. The
most widely used translation of Hebrew Scriptures in the first century was the
Greek Septuagint. The “New Testament” books were written in the common Greek of
the day. If we are to hear what Jesus said according to Matthew, we have to go
back to the moment he penned the words. If you follow the path of tradition the
result will be the same as those that have been passed down through time. The
traditional view of Christian history follows a path from the Council of Nicaea
down through the Reformation, and then onward through the development of
various Protestant Churches to the current time. The early Christian leaders
were disciples of Jesus, they would have abhorred the persecution carried out
by organized religion against believers who would not submit to the Pope. Religious
traditions handed down through history have been sadly warped by institutional
influence.
To understand God’s plan as revealed in scripture one must
go back to a time long before the first Christian institution imposed its
doctrines on the Christian world. The apostles and evangelists used the Hebrew
scriptures to teach about Jesus and the kingdom of God. “... From morning until evening, he explained the
matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them
about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets.”[2] There is no point
defending traditions, if the truth is to be known one must begin with a clean
page. Clinging to traditions will only obscure truth. Seeking proof for what
you already believe is a pointless effort, you will always end up where you
start. To begin at zero and work forward to where we are, is the best way to
find out what God expects of people today. To do this will mean emptying our
minds of religious traditions; to, as best as we can, ignore presuppositions
and preferences. We must look at scriptures as though it was the first time, we
have seen them.
Personal relationship - Access to tree of life
God saw
everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the
sixth day.[3] God provided for Adam and Eve, they had everything needed
for life with God. In the garden (translated παράδεισος in the LXX – paradise)
God would come and be with Adam and Eve. Among the many trees in the garden
there were two very special trees; the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge
of good and evil. In the exercise of their choice Adam and Eve chose to eat the
forbidden fruit. For doing so they were banished from God’s presence.
Outcasts
God’s creation was good, very good. That statement included
man until he gained the knowledge of good and evil.
God drove out the man; and at the east of the
garden of Eden he placed the
cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to
guard the way to the tree of life.[4]
Man’s behaviour was not good. Adam and Eve were driven from
paradise, and from access to the tree of life. The entire world was placed
under the curse of death. The world changed, and so did the relationship
between people and God. God’s plan was put in place to make it possible for
people to be reconciled with him.
Faith Relationship
Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and
from our relatives
and from your father's house, To the
land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, And I will
bless you, And make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I
will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in
you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ So Abram went forth as the LORD had
spoken to him...[5]
Abraham did as the Lord commanded. He left his home and
travelled not knowing where he was going. Later scriptures tell us that because
he believed God and did what he was told, he was assigned righteousness. Abraham put his faith in God when he did what
he was told by leaving his home. “Abraham passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.
At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram,
and said, “To your
offspring I will give this land.”[6] Abraham was a man of faith. To him were given promises; the
land of Canaan, the father of many nations, and, through his seed all nations
would be blessed.
...the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me,
and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and
will make you exceedingly numerous. As for me, this is my covenant
with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.[7]
By myself I have sworn, says the LORD: Because
you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will
indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of
heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall
possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the
nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my
voice.[8]
Verification of the promise of blessings to all people
through his seed, was vexing for Abraham. I can only imagine the anguish of
having to sacrifice one’s child. For Abraham his son was his future, Isaac was
the son of promise and hope. Even the unique circumstances of Isaac’s birth,
and all he represented didn’t prevent Abraham from doing what he had been told
to do. With knife raised to kill his son, God stopped him. God’s promises were
confirmed through Abraham’s action. Abraham wouldn’t have known that the
blessing promised would come through God’s sacrifice of his own son.
The promise passed from Abraham through Isaac to Jacob. “God spoke to Israel in visions of
the night, and said, 'Jacob, Jacob.' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then he
said, 'I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,
for I will make of you a great nation there.’”[9] During the four
hundred plus years Israel was in Egypt it became a nation.
Captivity
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not
know Joseph. He said to his people, 'Look, the Israelite people are more
numerous and more powerful than we.[10]
Liberation
After a long time the king of Egypt died. The
Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their
cry for help rose up to God.[11]
God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses,
Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.'[12]
The cry of the Israelites has now come to me;
I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you
to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.[13]
At the end of four hundred and thirty years,
on that very day, all the companies of the LORD went out from the land of
Egypt.[14]
The Law
Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at
Horeb, when the LORD said to me, “Assemble (ἐκκλησιας) the people to Me, that I may let
them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the
earth, and that they may teach their children.” You came near and stood at the foot of the
mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the
heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you from
the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a
voice. So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to
perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets
of stone.[15]
God’s ἐκκλησία
The LORD gave me the two tablets of stone
written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the
LORD had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day
of the assembly (ἐκκλησίας).[16]
The people God called out of Egypt, those he had saved from
slavery, and who were to take possession of the Promised Land. They were all
together at the base of the mountain from which God gave the Law. The people of
God, his ἐκκλησίας. Those people made a golden calf and worshipped it. God
would have destroyed them had it not been for Moses praying and speaking to God.
The Hebrew word qahal is translated into
English as assembly 95 times. There are two Greek words used to translate qahal
they are ἐκκλησίας – assembly, and συναγωγῆς -
gathering.
...they are your people, even your inheritance,
whom you have brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.[17]
Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the
assembly (ἐκκλησίας) of
Israel the words of this song,[18]
There was not a word of all that Moses had
commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly (ἐκκλησίας) of Israel with the women and the little
ones and the strangers who were living among them.[19]
...all this assembly (ἐκκλησία) may know that the LORD does not deliver by
sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our
hands.[20]
So now, in the sight of all Israel, the
assembly (ἐκκλησία) of the LORD,[21]
The various forms of the word ἐκκλησία are used in
the Old testament of God’s people gathered together. “The word ἐκκλησίας occurs about 100
times in the LXX... In the LXX ἐκκλησία is a wholly secular term; it means
“assembly”, whether in the sense of assembling or those assembled...[22] This
is what one has to hear and understand, this is the ἐκκλησία at the base of
Matthew’s understanding. This is the ἐκκλησία of the first covenant. Jesus
spoke of his ἐκκλησία – the ἐκκλησία of the
second covenant.
Jesus’ ἐκκλησία
I also say to you that you are
Peter, and upon this rock I will build My assembly or
congregation (ἐκκλησία); and the gates of Hades will not overpower
it.[23]
Matthew chose the Greek word ἐκκλησία
to represent what Jesus told Peter he would build. The etymology of ἐκκλησία would lead to the Hebrew word it translates
– qahal, which predominately referred to assembly. If Jesus had meant to indicate an
institutional gathering, he could have used a different term. At the time of
writing the word συναγωγῆς meaning gathering was in common use. The word was
anglicized as synagogue. Which is what James call the group[24]
to whom he wrote. Matthew wrote in the
common Greek; I don’t know if he used ἐκκλησία because it meant assembly, or
because he knew the Hebrew word qahal meant assembly. One thing is very clear
he didn’t in any way suggest it was a Christian institution. As for the word
CHURCH and what it means, there is absolutely nothing to support its use in the
conversation of Jesus. The necessity for using the word CHURCH is to allow for
the abuse of God’s word, and the adoption of human traditions.
Secular ἐκκλησία
If your brother sins, go and show him his
fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if
he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be
confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church(ἐκκλησία); and if he refuses to listen even
to the (ἐκκλησία), let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax
collector.[25]
The use of ἐκκλησία in this
instruction is not the same as in the previous passage. The word ἐκκλησία
here represents a Jewish assembly; “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”
Among “the statutes and the
judgments” given By God
for Israel to observe
is:
On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses,
he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the
evidence of one witness.[26]
At the time Jesus taught parables
and instruction on forgiveness the ἐκκλησία he
planned to build was not in place. The statement “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax
collector”, was typically Jewish, referring to non-Jewish people who
were disdained by God’s people.
God’s called
There is no reason, other than
tradition, for the word ἐκκλησία
to be translated anything other than assembly, or congregation. The Greek word ἐκκλησία
is made up of two words ἐκ and καλέω, (out-call), call out.
For the promise is for you and your children
and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.[27]
God is faithful, through whom you were called
into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.[28]
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting
Him who called you by the grace of Christ,[29]
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.[30]
...so that you would walk in a manner worthy of
the God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.[31]
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the
gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.[32]
Eκκλησία denotes
the “called out”, those who make up the kingdom of God.
Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and
keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples,
for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall
speak to the sons of Israel.[33]
When Israel was a youth I loved him, and
out of Egypt I called (μετακαλέω μετα-καλέω) My son.[34]
People under the first covenant
were called by God. God told Israel they would be his own possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation; if they were obedient.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in
order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light.[35]
Under the new covenant the
called are God’s chosen race, they a royal priesthood, they are a holy nation, and God's own people. Not as Israel under the old covenant
-contingent on their behaviour, but called by God’s grace.
Religious institutions have
inserted themselves into the process of God’s calling. They see themselves as
agents of salvation. A means through which people can reach God. This is the
traditional claim of institutions. In order to maintain their position and
power, Christian institutions pedal paths to God. Jesus spoke to Peter about his
ἐκκλησία linking it with the kingdom of heaven. Saying, “I will build my
congregation,” suggests that another congregation is already exists. Jesus
preached the nearness of the kingdom, even though the kingdom of Israel was in place.
The congregation and kingdom he spoke of were spiritual, as opposed the
material congregation and the material kingdom, of Israel.
You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly
about you when he said: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their
hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human
precepts as doctrines.'[36]
The promise fulfilled
Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your
sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the
presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that
is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal
restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. ....
And all the prophets, as
many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these
days. You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that
God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, 'And in your descendants all the
families of the earth shall be blessed.' When God raised up his servant,
he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked
ways."[37]
The people of the first century
were the recipients of God’s promises. Jesus was the prophet spoken of by
Moses; “Moses said, 'The
Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You
must listen to whatever he tells you.”[38]
The apostolic age was a time of conflict between the obsolete Jewish system and
first covenant, and, the new covenant and new kingdom.
Period of two covenants
Truly I tell you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.[39]
Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in
this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be
ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And he
said to them, "Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not
taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."[40]
The Jewish age ended with the
destruction of Jerusalem. The Jewish religion ended with the destruction of the
temple. The new age and new covenant came of full force at the end of the
Jewish era.
The time following the first
covenant is best explained by Paul’s comments on Abraham.
Now this is an allegory: these women are two
covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for
slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present
Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the other woman
corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother.[41]
The period from Jesus’ death to
the destruction of the temple and his return, was a period unlike any other. It
was a time of transition from one covenant to another, from one kingdom to
another. Paul recognized that the old was fading away and the new was in its
infant stage; “since we are
receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.” The words used by the author
suggest both being part of the kingdom and expecting of the kingdom. The kingdom was forecast by Daniel, “And in the days of those kings the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall
this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and
bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever;”[42] The concept of having
something with yet greater involvement in the future is seen elsewhere in
Hebrews.
When He said, "A new covenant,"
He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing
old is ready to disappear.[43]
Paul taught that believers were
under the new covenant. From his conversation with James[44] in
Jerusalem it is obvious that Jews were expected to live according to the Law of
Moses, and Gentiles, while exempt from the Law, had to follow the instructions
given in a letter from James and the elders in Jerusalem. While the new
covenant was in place, as long as the temple stood, Jews were expected to follow
the requirements of the Law.
"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like
the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although
I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the
covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,"
declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I
will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."[45]
The new covenant
Jeremiah’s prophecy said that the
new covenant would be nothing like the first. The law would not be written on
stone, it would be written on the hearts of God’s people. The first covenant
was institutional, it was material, it was ceremonial and ritualistic. The new
covenant would be none of those, it would be spiritual. Christian institutions,
are more like first covenant practices; they are institutional, material, and ritualistic.
They do not represent life under the new covenant.
Faith relationship
Followers of Jesus are the
children of Abraham. To understand the nature of our relationship with God we
must look back to Abraham to pattern our relationship with God on the same
basis as Abraham did.
For the promise to Abraham or to his
descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but
through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are
heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings
about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. For this
reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be
guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but
also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us...)[46]
Did You not, O our God, drive out the
inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the
descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?[47]
But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have
chosen, descendant of Abraham my friend,[48]
Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says,
"Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,"
and he was called the friend of God.[49]
Abraham’s relationship with God was
based on faith; his, was a personal relationship. Abraham was a contemporary of
Melchizedek, he paid a tithe to him on his return
from rescuing the people of the valley from their captors. “King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most
High God.”[50]
We know little to nothing of the relationship between Abraham and Melchizedek, except the
account of their meeting in Genesis 14. We do know that Abraham’s faith was the
basis of his relationship with God, and that there is no hint of institutional mediation
in that relationship.
In the time after the destruction
of the temple, and the return of Jesus; the relationship of believers with God,
was and is based on faith. As with Abraham there is no place for institutional
involvement in anyone’s relationship with the heavenly Father.
...without faith it is impossible to please God,
for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who seek him.[51]
Read through the eleventh chapter
of Hebrews where it speaks of people of faith, include the first two verses of
the twelfth chapter, as it begins with “therefore” and contains instructions:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that
clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before
us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the
sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its
shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.[52]
The life of faith, spoken of by
the author of Hebrews, which we are to emulate, was demonstrated in the lives
of those mentioned; their faith was not institutional, it was not ritualistic. Their
faith was their LIFE, lived to its fullest in praise of God. It has to be the
same for us; It is discipleship, it is not institutional, it is not ritualistic.
...we are always confident; even though we know
that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have
confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.[53]
Paul statement, “we walk by faith, not by sight”,
is what Abraham did, and was commended for. “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed
by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went
out, not knowing where he was going.”[54]
Institutions rob believers of their opportunity to walk by faith. They
prescribe duties and programs, along with obligations. Many believers have
unthinkingly given up a faith-based relationship with God, for the material and
emotional benefits of organized religion. Others, whether institutional attendees
or not, maintain their personal relationship with God. God said he would write
his law on our hearts, most however, have opted for traditional religious
activities and doctrines. Christian traditions and teachings provide a corporeal
experience, through which members find comfort. Walking by faith presumes that
the road we travel has few if any signposts, and our destination unseen.
The glory of the New Covenant
...so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I
AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." But you have come to Mount Zion and
to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of
angels, to the general assembly and church of
the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to
the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and
to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which
speaks better than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse
Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who
warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn
away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth
then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT
ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." This expression,
"Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be
shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may
remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let
us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with
reverence and awe;[55]
The author compares the events
accompanying the giving of the covenants. The giving of the first covenant was
accompanied with terrifying physical phenomena. The second covenant was/is not
physical. You have come to:
Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem
myriads of angels
the general assembly – universal companionship
congregation (ἐκκλησία) of the firstborn – listed in heaven
spirits of the righteous made perfect
– spirits of the innocent made perfect
Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant
Everything about the new covenant
is spiritual. Institutions assume some roles assigned to the spiritual kingdom.
The glory of the kingdom should not be used to elevate human institutions. The
scripture speaks of believers as God’s family, and also that the ἐκκλησία is the body of Christ. Neither of these
metaphors should be corrupted to support traditional religious institutions.
The ἐκκλησία is the bride of Christ, no human institution can legitimately
claim that position. The Lord does not have multiple brides, or a freakish
body. Every believer is as Paul wrote, a member of the body of Christ; Jesus is
the head of the body; each believer is a unique member functioning in concert
with other members, directed by the head. The body of Christ has nothing to do
with any religious institution. The comparison of the two covenants from
Hebrews focuses on the spiritual nature of the second covenant. Under the new
covenant believers have access to “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.”
This is allegorically speaking, for these women
are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who
are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in
Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her
children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.[56]
The new covenant is a personal
relationship between a person and God, in which the human heart is the temple
of God. Unlike the first covenant which required the tabernacle during Israel’s
time of wandering, and then the temple. Religious services and sacrifices took
place in the temple complex. The temple housed the presence of God.
Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and
said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for
Myself as a house of sacrifice. For now I have chosen and
consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My
heart will be there perpetually."[57]
Personal relationship - Access
to the tree of life
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which
is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove
what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.[58]
Do you not know that you are a temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the
temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is
what you are.[59]
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our
God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and
to keep oneself unstained by the world.[60]
Time to reconsider tradition
Religious institutions are not mediators
between people and God. Human organizations have utterly obscured the nature of
God’s kingdom. What Jesus intended still exists within the morass of religious
institutions, in those believers who are dedicated to Christ. A parallel can be
made between the human enterprise of institutions and Israel’s rejection of the
Theocracy for a monarchy.
“... appoint a king for us to judge us like all
the nations.” But
the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us
a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD. The LORD said to
Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say
to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.[61]
Christian institutions would have
you believe that they are the only legitimate dispensers of truth. They insist
on regular attendance at their services. Their programs and causes have to be
supported. They require commitment and loyalty. Believers are children of God.
Believers are members of the body of Christ. Believers are citizens in the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem. In Jesus, believers are participants in the universal
companionship of the called. Institutions demand your support and commitment to
their plans. A believers’ relationship with God must be personal. Gathering
together for fellowship can be very encouraging. The organization and structure
of institutions add nothing to spiritual life. We need to give up our reliance
on human traditions, we must have a personal, individual relationship with God
the Father through Jesus.
[1] Joseph
Goebbels
[2] Act 28:23
[3] Gen 1:31
[4] Gen 3:24
[5]
Gen 12:1-4
[6] Gen 12:6, 7
[7] Gen 17:1, 2; 4;
[8] Gen 22:16-18
[9]
Gen 46:2, 3
[10]Exo 1:8, 9
[11] Exo 2:23
[12] Exo 3:4
[13] Exo 3:9, 10
[14] Exo 12:41
[15] Deu 4:10-13
[16] Deu 9:10
[17] Deu 9:29
[18] Deu 31:30
[19] Jos 8:35
[20] 1Sa 17:47
[21] 1Ch 28:8
[22]
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
[23] Mat
16:18
[24] Jas 2:2
[25] Mat 18:15-17
[26] Deu 17:6
[27] Act 2:39
[28] 1Co 1:9
[29] Gal 1:6
[30] Col 3:15
[31] 1Th 2:12
[32] 2Ti 1:8, 9
[33] Exo 19:5, 6
[34]
Hos 11:1
[35] 1Pe 2:9
[36] Mat 15:7-9
[37] Act 3:19-21; 24-26
[38] Act 3:22
[39] Mat 16:28
[40] Mar 8:38: 9:1
[41] Gal 4:24-26
[42] Dan 2:44
[43] Heb 8:13
[44] Act 21:17-26
[45] Jer 31:31-33
[46] Rom 4:13-16
[47] 2Ch 20:7
[48] Isa 41:8
[49] Jas 2:23
[50] Heb 7:1
[51] Heb 11:6
[52] Heb 12:1, 2
[53] 2Co 5:6-8
[54] Heb 11:8
[55] Heb 12:21-24; 26-28
[56] Gal 4:24-26
[57] 2Ch 7:12, 16
[58] Rom 12:1, 2
[59] 1Co 3:16, 17
[60] Jas 1:27
[61] 1Sa 8:5-7
