Bible Thoughts

September 19, 2004

When Jesus walked among men, the Son of God found those who were unwilling to accept the commands of Jehovah. It is not different in our day. In spite of the teachings, warnings, and cries of Christians, men seem intent upon rejecting the Lord's way. The manner of rejection is the same as the rejection in the days of Christ. The present majority will turn their eyes and ears away from the teachings found in the New Testament. The rejection of truth is not only evident in our day, but in the days of Christ and the apostles, the same condition existed. When we examine the manner in which those of Christ's day said no to the truth, we can have a better understanding of why those in our day refuse to heed the Lord's word.

1) When the Lord was upon the earth the crowds often rejected the ways of God because they desired to keep their human traditions. Such teachings were in conflict with the word of God. The Lord said, "Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition"(Mark 7:9). Christ knew they could not hold on to their ancestral teachings and the Word of God at the same time. Their prejudice for doctrines devised by their religious teachers caused them to reject the words of the Master.

Honest and sincere folks would see the difference in the doctrines of men when contrasted with the Word of God. They were so engulfed in the past of their ancestors, they could not recognize that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and spoke the words of truth for Jew and Gentile. Men of the present will reject the New Testament patterns and teachings because they want to follow traditions of their ancestors. "After all it has been done that way as long as I can remember. My parents and grandparents did it, so I am going to continue so that we have a long and glorious history behind our beliefs and actions." Such attitudes demonstrate a rejection of the commands of God!(Also, there are those who refuse to leave a liberal-minded congregation that follows practices and ideas not found in the New Testament. Some will even leave the truth to follow the liberalism of some churches. How sad!)

2) When Christ plainly taught men of their responsibility to God, He confronted those who refused to listen to His plea. The Lord cried out to those who refused the truth by saying, 'He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day"(John 12:48). Refusing the instructions of Jesus meant one rejected the commands of God. In our days, when men refuse to listen to Christ's teaching on the church, on baptism, on Heaven and Hell, or any other truth, they are rejecting the only hope they have for salvation.

3) When a person learns the commands of Christ and what the Lord expects of the individual, turns away from obedience to those commands, he is rejecting the will of the one who created him. John found that even the religion teachers in his day "rejected for themselves the counsel of God, being not baptized of him"(Luke 7:30). Those of today need not be so eager to condemn those Pharisees, Sadduccees, Herodians, and Lawyers: it is well to look at one's own attitude. How often has it been said(or thought): "I don't see why one has to be baptized?" Or, "I don't see any reason to become a member of the church." All such statements reflect the same disposition of those Jews in the days of John the Baptist who would not submit to the simple command of God to be baptized by John. One may not fully realize his rejection of the Lord's way by his refusal to obey what is in the New Testament. He is still refusing what Christ has commanded of all who want to please the Lord.

4) A study of God's Word makes it obvious that rejectors of the commands of the Lord are not limited to the moral reprobates, the hardened criminals, or the zealous idolaters. A host of others view themselves as OK in the Lord's sight because they are religious and moral. Multitudes who have this attitude allow themselves to be captured by sectarian and denominational teachings without turning to the New Testament to find out what Christ desires of all men. When one replaces the word of God with some human tradition, there is a rejection of the plain sayings of Christ or a refusal to do what Christ commands, he is rejecting the commands of God.

Let none of us have the attitudes shown by the Pharisees and other rebels of Christ's day capture us. Resolve that we will accept whatever the Lord teaches above every tradition, every personal ambition, and every human ideal. Only a total commitment to the word of the Lord will insure approval in the sight of Jehovah.