Many churches have very fine traditions that are meant to encourage a deeper understanding of the Christian walk. Ceremonies and pictures can all help remind us of the important lessons of salvation. But didn’t Jesus condemn traditions as really burdensome legalism? Not all traditions. In fact the traditions of baptism, taking bread and wine were established by Jesus. How can we tell good traditions from bad? In Mark 7:1-23 Jesus gave some guidelines. Human traditions are not necessary for salvation and there is no reason to criticize those who do not follow them. Many traditions are in the unimportant category of mere human rules. Matters of the heart are what’s important. When traditions reject God’s commands or nullifies his word they are wrong. Rituals cannot cleanse what really defiles us. That is the wrong thoughts from inside our hearts.
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