GOD IS!

Binding Religious TraditionsReligions that focus on humanemotions and feelings, while ignoringthe Bible, are religions that lead oneinto self-deception. Remember,strong emotional conviction in religionis not a guarantee that one is of thetruth, and thus, saved. Having a zealfor God without knowledge of God is auseless religious exercise in referenceto our salvation (Rm 10:2; Gl 4:17,18).Cornelius was a devout man who didmany good works (At 10:1,2). However,he had to hear and obey the gospelbefore he could be saved (At 11:1-14). Simon was such a strong religiousleader in the city of Samaria that everyonein the city believed him (At 8:9-11). However, he also had to hear andobey the gospel in order to be saved(At 8:12,13). It is not good enough tobe religiously committed, devoted orzealous toward God in order to besaved. One must obey God’s word!The only way you can know for sureif you are doing what God would haveyou do is to search the Scriptures. Beas the Bereans. Luke wrote of them,“These were more noble-minded thanthose in Thessalonica, in that they receivedthe word with all readiness ofmind and searched the Scriptures dailyto see whether those things were so”(At 17:11).We challenge you therefore tosearch the Scriptures in order to determineif your religious practices arebased on the word of God or on thewill of man. We want to challenge youwith the following two questions. Youranswers to these questions will determinewhether or not you are willing tolisten to God concerning His solution17for your salvation and how you will seekto please Him in this life.YES NO If you discover in theBible that you have been servingGod according to human traditionsand not according to theword of God, are you willing tochange in order to do what theBible instructs you to do in orderto find a solution for sin?YES NO If you discover somethingin the Bible that contradictsyour present religious behavior,are you willing to correct such inorder to do what the Bible says?SELF TEST1. ____ When we worship God according toour own traditions and not by the directionof His word, our worship is ... (A) ...pleasing to God, (B) ... in vain, (C) ... inagreement with God’s word2. ____ In order to keep their own religioustraditions, what did the Jews do to theword of God? (A) Study, (B) Obey, (C)Reject3. ____ What were the Jews keeping as religiouspractice that led them to reject theword of God? (A) Civil laws, (B) Romanlaws, (C) Religious traditions4. ____ If one falls away from the word ofGod, what is his last stage of religiousbehavior? (A) Acceptance of God’s word,(B) Rejection of God’s word, (C) Study ofthe BibleYES - NO Since God has given His law toyou, does this mean that you still have theright to develop your own system of salvation?SCRIPTURE READING: Mt 15:1-9 (Is 29:13); Mk 7:1-9;Rm 1:21-32SCRIPTURE RESEARCH: Traditions: Ep 5:6; Cl 2:8,20-23; 1 Tm 6:20, Deception of traditional religions: 2 Th2:10-12; 1 Tm 4:1-5; 2 Tm 4:3-5; 2 Jn 9,10, Seeking God:Mt 7:7,8; 11:28,29; Rv 3:20