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theologies today follow rigid ideas just as the teachers of the Law in their
time. Hebrew laws fell short, but ultimately served the Divine precepts of
love. Here is an example: “So, the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked
Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders
instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?’ He replied, ‘Isaiah was
right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:’
‘The s e
pe op l e hono r me wi t h t he i r l i ps , bu t t he i r hear t s ar e f ar f r om me .
They
worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have
let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of
men.’ And he said to them:
‘You hav e a f i ne way o f s e t t i ng as i de t he
c ommands o f God i n o rde r t o obs e r v e y our own t rad i t i ons !
For Moses
said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his
father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his
father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from
me is Corban’ [that is, a gift given to the temple instead of the parents], then
you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify
the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do
many things like that’”
(Mark 7:5-13).
Paul understood, in part, that traditions were intended to be accurate, but in
fact tradition became a firm belief, which served only those who postulated
a belief system. In fact, the rigid traditions nullified the word of God, and
Jesus’ statement for Paul created a similar belief. Paul’s words ring perfectly
true, however, at the time those words were recorded, the limits of their
belief nullified the word of God because certain conclusions were
reached—they did not completely comprehend. They expected Jesus to
return very soon, and thought the following words described what Jesus
would do according to their traditional beliefs: ‘“Since
t he y d i d no t know
t he r i gh t e ousne s s t ha t c ome s f r om God
and sought to establish their own,
they did not submit to God’s righteousness [but thought they did].
Chr i s t
i s t he end o f t he l aw
[who is he] so that there may be righteousness for
everyone who believes [they know, not just believe, and that faith]. Moses
describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The man who
does these things will live by them.’
Bu t t he r i gh t e ousne s s t ha t i s by f a i t h
say s
: ‘Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ or ‘Who will
descend into the deep?’ But what does it say? The word is near you; it is in
your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming
that if you confess with your mouth
, ‘Jesus is LORD,’
[upper case] and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and
i t i s wi t h
y our mou t h t ha t y ou c on f e s s and ar e sav ed .
As the Scripture says,