Beware the deceit of human tradition in the Church

(Colossians 2:8)

When Jesus came to the earth, He brought a new knowledge. He brought the words and the ways of God to show them to mankind.

His intent was to bring people to God and to give them the hope of salvation.

But with His teachings, He also warned His people to beware of the deceit of human tradition in the Church. The religions of the world are filled with tradition, pomp, ceremony, and human philosophies. The biggest challenge is keeping those things out of the church. And unfortunately, those philosophies and traditions have infiltrated the modern church. So individually we must seek the truth. We must not be brought down by the deceit of human tradition in the church.

Why beware the deceit of human tradition in the Church?

The problem with human tradition in the church is that it is deceitful. It makes people “feel” as though they are doing good or doing what is right in the Lord’s eyes. In fact, they are following things that have no basis in the ways of God. This is why Paul wrote these words.

8 See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Following human traditions and human philosophy that has entered the church will not lead to God. People feel good about these things, but they are a trick of the devil to make people feel religious. The devil uses all manner of deceit and lies to take people away from the truth of Jesus Christ. The human traditions and philosophies he uses are just lies of the devil.

Paul shows clearly just how pointless following human traditions and philosophies is especially in the church.

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigour of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:23)

Following the philosophies and human traditions in the church appear to be good and useful. But they are of no value in changing a person to have victory over the passions, of the flesh.

And when we look back at the warning Paul gave, we see that the purpose of churches or men implementing human traditions and philosophies in the church is to prey upon the people. They are not trying to help the people of the church but are seeking to make a prey of them.

The intent of such men is to control people and have power over the congregations to have the people do their will rather than the will of God. They are not seeking the way of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that leads to freedom. They are seeking to enslave people in human passions and sin so that they can never find the way of truth.

This is a travesty and unfortunately it is widespread in the modern church. There is so much human philosophy and human tradition that it is a difficult thing for people to find the truth.

But it can be found if you are prepared to seek and look for the truth. The truth is waiting for those who seek the Lord, and He has promised to show it to those who really seek it out and want it.

But people need to question what is being taught in the church to separate the truth from error. So to kick-start that process, the following are a few things taught in many (not all) modern churches that have no basis in the truth or in the scripture. I urge you to check for yourself and pray over these things to find the truth, because these have all been brought into the church under the guise of good religion, but are human traditions and human philosophies.

And, by the way, this is by no means an exhaustive list.

Deceitful human traditions and philosophies in the church

The deceit of human tradition in the church runs deep and long. Traditions and philosophies have been brought into the church over the centuries. They have been perpetuated through the development of schools of theology where new ministers, pastors, and preachers are taught to continue feeding these same lies to the congregations. If anyone goes against these teachings, they are expelled from these schools. Consequently, they cannot minister the truth in the churches, thus perpetuating the lies.

These are some of those false teachings, philosophies, and human traditions:

• Christmas – Nowhere in the Bible are we told to commemorate the birth of Jesus. In fact, it is impossible that Jesus was born on December 25th. Nowhere is there any mention of the traditions of Christmas trees, mistletoe, yuletide logs, Father Christmas, exchanging gifts, or any other of the human traditions of Christmas. They are all false and are lies that are actually based in paganism.
• Easter – Like Christmas, all of the traditions of Easter are based in pagan teachings. We are not instructed in the Bible to commemorate the death of Jesus with eggs, hot cross buns, rabbits, or any of the other traditions of Easter. Jesus died at the Passover. But the way the date for Easter and the Passover is calculated means they rarely ever coincide. The only way we are told to commemorate the death of Jesus in the Bible is by the breaking of bread, or communion as it is often called. That is how and when we remember His death, not Easter.
• The Cross – The Bible uses the word “cross” many times. But when you go back into the Greek, the word translated as “cross” actually refers to a “stake.” It is highly likely that Jesus may not have been put to death on a cross at all. Whether that is the case or not, the use of the cross as an effigy by churches is idolatry. The church has made the cross an idol and there are many other issues surrounding the cross. Also, the sign of the cross has a pagan origin and is seen in the pagan worship of Bacchus.
• Tithing – The modern form of tithing money is not scriptural and has no foundation in the Bible. Tithing was not one of the teachings of Christ and is not part of Christianity. The tithe was never meant to be money. A tithe was always part of the flocks, herds, or produce of the fields. Basically it was giving back to God the things of God, as Jesus showed when He said, “Render to Caesar the things of Caesar (money) and to God the things of God.” Furthermore, only Levites could take tithes. If anyone else took them, as the churches today, they are stealing what does not belong to them.
• Infant baptism – Nowhere does the Bible require or even suggest that infants be baptised. Baptism is for adults or people of an age who can understand what it is all about. Baptism is the means by which we enter into the death of Jesus Christ and receive His gifts of freedom from sin, freedom from law, and righteousness by faith. It was one of the three things Jesus instructed His disciples to do as part of the Great Commission, and all Christians should be baptised. But infant baptism is meaningless.
• Trinity – Even ministers of the Church do not understand the trinity. It is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible and nowhere are we told that we have “One God in three persons.” Those who preach trinity call it a “mystery” because they cannot explain it. In fact, the teachings of trinity predate Christianity and have their roots in pagan teachings. Trinity was a teaching of the Hindus, Egyptians, and pagan Roman belief systems, just to name a few. Trinity is not Christian.
• Church Buildings and Altars – The building of magnificent buildings and having highly decorated altars constructed of polished wood, ornamental stones, or precious gems is not required in Christianity. Nowhere does the New Testament tell us to build cathedrals or even the modern churches today. These are not built to please God but are a testament to the pride and ego of the men who seek to build them. And as for the altars in these churches, they are a desecration of the laws of God because God said that if an altar is made with a tool, then it is profaned. (See: Exodus 20:25, Deuteronomy 27:5, Joshua 8:31). The only altars acceptable were to be made from a heap of earth or built from unhewn rocks.

This is a very, VERY, brief list of some of the philosophies and traditions that have come into the church to lead people away from the truth. There are many more including things like the use of the rosary, chanting, purgatory, confessionals, stations of the cross, rejecting speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit, separation of the lay and the clergy, having one person at the head of the church, and much more.

If you want to know more about these things above and other issues in the church, I have two free eBooks that will help you see the fallacy of what is going on, and will show you what the TRUE church should look like. You can get a free copy of the two books at the following links:

Should Christians Tithe

The True Church of God

You will find these and all of my other books at this link and I hope they help you to find the way to the truth.

These books of mine are meant to be guides only and they do NOT replace the need for a careful and considered study and reading of the Bible. That is the ONLY book where you will find the full truth the Lord wants His people to know. My eBooks are only subject studies and help to highlight the errors in the modern Church, and point you in the right direction, which is to seek Jesus Christ.

I would also strongly recommend exploring the list of links to some of my other articles below. These will expand on some of the themes above and help you understand what is going on in the broad church today, and what to do about it.

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