RUSSELL SANDERS
10-12-2021
MATTHEW 15:1-20 – LESSON 5
TRADITIONS OF THE CHURCH – PART 2
In Matthew 15:3 and 9 Jesus is telling us that we sin against God when we place religious tradition above the written word of God. The church makes doctrine of these manmade traditions thereby creating heresy that is taught to its followers. We will touch briefly on just a few of these errors.
1. Mary is the mother of God: False. Mary was the mother of the man Jesus, the physical incarnation of the eternal God in the form like Adam. God (Jesus) existed before Mary, or the world was made.
2. Mary remained a virgin all her life: False. She had numerous children by her husband Joseph. Four of her sons were named in two different accounts of the gospel, plus daughters.
3. The Assumption of Mary: False. This doctrine introduced by Pope Pious XII in 1950 says Mary did not die a natural death but was taken up by translation (assumption or taken alive from the physical realm to the spiritual realm of heaven) much like Enoch and Elijah
4. Jesus was born on December 25: False. We will write on that as Christmas approaches.
5. Good Friday is when Jesus was crucified: False. We will dispel this myth as Easter approaches.
6. Three Kings of the East visited baby Jesus when he was in the manger: False. We will also dispel this tradition near Christmas.
7. Mary is Queen of the Universe: False. This heresy puts the Virgin Mary above God the Father and God the Son in authority over them and all creation.
8. Jesus was previously the archangel Michael: False. Yeshuah (Jesus) has always been eternally with his heavenly Father and never has been an angel. The earth was formed by his spoken word. Michael is still an archangel.
9. Christian water baptism saves the soul: False. Baptism is an outward public testimony of salvation, not the actual conversion.
10. Bowing to an image to pray: False. It is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4) if you bow to an image of Virgin Mary, a venerated Saint, or even an image of Jesus on the cross (He is no longer on the cross, but on heaven’s throne). We are to make NO image or even a “likeness” of anything to bow down before. (Ex. 20:5.)
There are too many examples to cover all of them today. However, these fall into two basic categories: The first category is misinformation. It is considered to be error rather than heresy. This would apply to the examples relating to Christmas and Easter traditions. The second category is far more serious. This category is outright heresy. It applies to the other examples I spoke about relating to Mary, Michael, and baptism. Churches that teach these things should be considered as an apostate church or a false cult.
Unless you know your bible, you could easily be pulled into such a church. That is why the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, (so) that I might not sin against Thee.”
Disclaimer: Spirit of Life Ministries is not saying that any person that may attend a church that teaches false doctrine is a heretic. We are simply teaching what heresy is taught by their church. If you are such a person that attends one of these churches that teach false doctrine, know that we love you and pray only that you are informed of the truth.
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