Nullify the Word of God

The word tradition has many definitions. The accepted definition is "the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice." Christian theology defines tradition as "a body of teachings, or any one of them held to have been delivered by Christ and His apostles but not originally committed to writing." It is this end of the theological definition that strikes me the most. It says, "but not originally committed to writing." Christians have a habit of creating traditions that have little to no basis in the Bible. When a person challenges these traditions, they can be met with a dismissive attitude rather than one of love, which results in reasoning from the scriptures like Bereans. A couple of these subjects are the sovereignty of God and Mary, the "mother of God."

God's Sovereignty

Everyone agrees that God has ultimate power and authority over His creation. However, to what degree does God extend His authority and power? A widely held belief is that "everything that happens is, at the very least, the result of God's permissive will." Once people accept this definition of God's sovereignty, the problems begin. If everything that happens is the result of God's will, then we end up making God responsible for all that occurs in the world. Can we blame God for every natural disaster, all acts of violence, each problem, and crisis suffered by all 7.8 Billion people on earth? Where do God's "permissive will" end and our individual responsibility begin? God not only loses His claim to be a righteous, kind, and loving God, but He now becomes responsible for evil and the author of confusion. When everything is God's fault, nothing is humanities doing. In my opinion, God can know and control everything but chooses not to exercise that ability all the time for reasons that are His own. One of those reasons, I believe, is so He can enjoy having a relationship with His people, which I think are seen in scriptures like Genesis 2:19 and Genesis 18:20-21, to name a couple. 

Pastor Aaron Budjen was asked about his perspective on the topic of the sovereignty of God. "There isn't really that much to say," Budjen began. "And I know that is going to sound really disappointing. Especially because the subject of the sovereignty of God, for a lot of people, is a huge subject ... The belief that people have concerning the sovereignty of God, and I have a belief that God is sovereign, [centers around] what does that mean? ... We need to have a total definition of that. Most people are saying that according to the sovereignty of God, God is in control of absolutely everything to the extent that there is no maverick molecule in the universe. I say that the sovereignty of God is such that God has control over what He wants to have control over. And there is a lot that I can tell that He is not asserting control over." We do not know how God decides what He controls and what He does not. We do not know the criteria He uses to determine when to intervene in our lives. God has not revealed enough about His sovereignty for us to come to the conclusions about it that we would like to have. If His "permissive will" is to control everything, then we have problems explaining His love, free will, personal responsibility, and so much more. 

The Mother of God

In a Christian forum, a series of questions were asked. Those questions were, "Is there salvation without Mary?" "Is she the mother of our salvation?" Is she "our hope?" The answers are yes, no, and no, respectively. However, to give a more thoughtful response, I replied with, "And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior (Luke 1:46)." If Mary is the "mother of our salvation," she would not have admitted her need for a Savior." Without delay, this triggered the response of someone who believes that the answer to all those questions is no, yes, and yes. When they responded to me, they added one more statement, which was that Mary is the "mother of God." The reasoning is that since Jesus Christ is God and Mary is His mother, she is the Mother of God. The Bible does not support this logic. But, it is supported by religious dogma. Religious dogma often overrides biblical truth. There is no problem with having a disagreement about scripture, but how much of the Bible is undermined in defending dogmatic beliefs. 

Regarding Mary being the mother of God, here is part of my answer. "She is not the mother of God. Jesus was God before Mary gave birth (i.e., John 8:58). If she is the mother of God, then she is greater than God. If she is the mother of God, who was it that impregnated her? Did she make herself pregnant? Why did God have to send an angel to tell her she was pregnant? She should have already known. If she is the mother of God, why did Jesus say, "The Father and I are One (John 10:30)?" Why didn't Jesus include Mary? Why isn't Mary mentioned when the scriptures talk about God as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? How come Jesus said, "I only speak what the Father tells me to speak (John 12:50)?" He didn't mention Mary. I could go on. Jesus also said, "Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters (Mark 7:13)." Obviously, traditions are more important than the word of God."

When it comes to traditions, whether it be the traditional belief about the sovereignty of God or the religious tradition that Mary is the mother of God, the word of God is nullified by the handing down of these traditions. We have to address these conflicts as more than just differences of opinion or the variance in the interpretation of the Bible. When traditional beliefs undermine the clear teaching of scripture, they become enemies of the Gospel and biblical truth. We must nullify the traditions if they hinder us from handing down the Word of God.