Chapter 2. Tradition vs. the Word

Over many generations the church has added it’s own traditions and made many of them dogma. An example of this is the Sabbath. If you ask most Christians when the Sabbath is, they will say Sunday. Why? It is because they have been taught that Sunday is the Sabbath even though there is NO Scripture that says that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week.

Does the Bible say that some believers met on the first day of the week? Yes (see I Corinthians 16:1). However, the Bible never says that the first day of the week is now the Sabbath. Instead, it actually says that for those that enter in there is a continual rest in the Holy Ghost. Still, most Christians would insist that Sunday is the Sabbath and refuse to believe anything else! [1] It is like the man that said “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up!”

The same is true concerning plural wives in a marriage. There is no Scripture in the Old or New Testament that says it is wrong or sinful, yet almost every Christian “knows” (or think they know) it is wrong. “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up!” they seem to be saying.

Here is another example: If you ask the question “How much should the experienced, anointed man of God who ministers the Word receive in financial compensation in dollars per year, assuming that the amount is no problem to the church?” Most will be hesitant to give any honest answer, but when forced to, they will usually respond with a figure that is in the lower middle or middle middle income brackets. Almost no one says he should receive a six figure income. Why? Because their traditions have trained them to believe that the man of God should be poor [2].

Whereas it is true that the man of God is not one who lusts after money, it is also true that many men of God were made rich by God. Abraham was rich, Isaac was rich, Jacob was rich, Job was rich, David was rich, Solomon was rich. Whereas it is true Peter left his father’s fishing business to follow Jesus, after 3000 people were saved on the day of Pentecost and 5000 later on, as many as had houses or lands sold their possessions and laid them at the Apostle’s feet.

He was not poor then. It is our customs and traditions that make us believe the man of God should be in poverty. The Bible says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospers.” (1) So if the man’s soul is prospering as it should be, it is O.K. for him to prosper materially. He should not be left at the bottom of the economic ladder. Likewise it is our traditions, our customs and our man made laws that make us think that the only right way is for a man to have one wife.

Footnotes

(1) Some have argued that this phrase was an ancient form of greeting and is not to be taken as a command of the Lord. While we agree that it is an ancient form of greeting and is not a command of the Lord, we think the sentiment it expresses should be taken seriously. If it had been wrong for a spiritual man to prosper John would not have used this greeting.

HEM Comments

[1] The author is a Roman/Gregorian (Saturday) Seventh Day Sabbatarian. For the position of HEM, see the luni-solar Sabbath and the Creation Calendar websites. (SBSK)

[2] There are those in the charismatic 'health-and-wealth' movement who believe the opposite. (SBSK)

Author: AN

First created on 27 September 2001 Updated on 20 June 2016

Copyright ©1999 Andy Nonymousman
Reproduced by permission and with thanks by HEM, 2001
Endorsement of this book by HEM does not necesserily mean
endorsement of the author's other publications or views.