I. These people who were saved, baptized and added to the membership of the
church at Jerusalem continued stedfastly
II. In the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship.
A. These people have a choice as to what they will follow.
1. They can follow what the apostles teach, or they can follow what
others teach.
2. Colossians 2:8,9 - Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all
the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
3. Be sure to read this chapter starting from verse 1, which proclaims
that everything we have is in Christ, not in the writings of men.
B. Define the traditions of men of Colossians 2:8.
1. There are two ways to define traditions – following the writing of
men, or following the writings of God in the Bible.
a. A giving over which is done by word of mouth or in writing,
tradition by instruction, narrative, precept, so forth.
b. of the body of precepts, esp. ritual, which in the opinion of the
later Jews were orally delivered by Moses and orally transmitted in
unbroken succession to subsequent generations, which precepts, both
illustrating and expanding the written law, as they did were to be
obeyed with equal reverence.
2. Traditions of men will always lead a person away from God, but
following the commandments of God will always lead a person closer to God.
III. All men who professed Christ as their Saviour did not follow Acts
2:42.
A. There was a split right at the very beginning of the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ, which was organized during his personal ministry, but
received public recognition of their status as having the keys of the
kingdom of God on the day of Pentecost.
1. Some would begin to follow more closely to the writings of men than
the writings of God in the Bible.
2. Others would stick only with the Word of God in the Bible. This is
the doctrine of Solo Scriptura.
B. The definition of tradition was different.
1. Some believed the word tradition meant that the writings of the
apostles and others was to be followed – along with the Bible.
2. True believers would follow only the Bible, using the writings of
men as a supplement to the Bible, to be followed only when those writings
agreed with the Bible.
C. The Catholic church, which was actually formed in 606, with Pope
Gregory as the first pope was the first church which held this thought.
1. They were fully formed in 606, but their history went back to the
first century as they followed the writings of many different men, whom
they considered more inspired than the Bible.
2. Actually the Catholics have done nothing different than the
Israelites did when they added their own laws to the Old Testament,
finally coming to the place where they paid more attention to their own
laws than to the laws of God.
3. This is why God turned from them and organized his own church, to
which he gave the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20.
D. Many Baptist today are following in this very same pattern, accepting
the writings of "Baptist Fathers" as more important than the
Bible.
1. Many people study these writings instead of studying the Bible.
2. Religious book stores today are full of books which attempt to
explain the Bible, but the most important thing any save person can do is
to study the Bible.
3. II Timothy 2:15 - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth.
E. Matthew 15:2-9 – the discussion between the Jews and Christ
concerning their obeying their own law while rejecting the commandments of
God.
1. See the difference between a commandment and a tradition.
2. A bad tradition is that which is devised by man, but a commandments
of God is given by him in his Bible.
F. Mark 7:1-13 – Verse 8 – laying aside the commandments of God to
hold to the traditions of men, reveals they have rejected the commandments
of God.
1. Verse 13 – they have made the word of God of none effect.
2. Our lives should be filled with all good things of God.
3. Check out Paul’s life before he was saved, before he started
following the commandments of God and was following the traditions of men.
He was full of hate, bitterness, murder, wrath, separating families
because they disagreed with him.
G. I Peter 1:18 – Our salvation did not come from following vain
traditions, but with the precious blood of Christ.