Commandments of Men: Commandments Keepers

Commandments of Men

(Matthew 15:9) But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

(Matthew 15:3-9) "But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Jesus is speaking about the commandments of God and the commandments of men. The religious community, at that time, had their own commandment or tradition that, even if their mother and father needed money, a child's sin was forgiven if that child gave the money as a gift, in addition to their tithe, to the temple priest instead of honoring their mother and father with it. The fifth commandment of God is: (Exodus 20:12) "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

Today is no different than then. How many mothers and fathers are put in "retirement homes" because their children think it's too much of a burden to care for them their selves? How many senior citizens, with incomes at or below the poverty level, have to choose between food and medicine? After giving tithes to those who are ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, any extra money should go to supporting our parents and family, which is our first duty. Alms-giving, or giving to the needy, are then to be given to widows, the fatherless, the homeless, and the sick and poor. (Matthew 6:1) "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven."

How many other man made commandments do we practice that transgress the commandments of God? How about the tradition of telling our children that santa claus is going to bring them presents? (Leviticus 19:11) "Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another."

What about the man made commandment of Sunday, the first day of the week, as the sabbath day? (Exodus 20:8-11) "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

How many churches have images of Jesus, His mother Mary and angels in them? (Deuteronomy 5:8-9) "Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,"

Those are only a few of the many man made traditions that transgress the commandments of God. We steal when we take a pen from work. We covet when we lust after the things our neighbors have. We commit adultery when we look at a man or a woman with lust. We murder when we hate our enemies. We worship money rather than God when we make daily decisions based on monetary values instead of Gods' words. We bear false witness against our neighbor when we lie about others to make ourselves look better to our family and friends.

How can we, as Christians, be ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God, to others if we don't obey the commandments of God? (Romans 13:8-11) "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

(Philippians 1:9-11) "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."