In the seventh chapter of Mark’s Gospel we find the Lord using the word “hypocrite” and defining one of the most vile sins known to man. In verses six through nine the Lord goes into detail concerning His take on what the Jews had been doing since days of old. He notes that their words did not match their thoughts, that they did indeed worship Him, but that their worship was all in vain because they rejected His commandments and embraced the commandments made by men, which He calls “the traditions of the elders” (vs 3). He summarizes His attitude toward their religion by telling them that, by rejecting what they had been taught by the prophets and embracing what their elders taught them, they “MADE THE WORD OF GOD OF NO EFFECT” to them and their followers. Nothing has changed.

The problem was that the leaders did not teach the people God’s Law/Word/Truth/Will, rather, they taught them the “traditions of the elders,” known as the Talmud–a collection of the thoughts and opinions of their Jewish elders during the 70 years while the nation being held in Babylonian captivity. I have read some of the Talmud and have found it to be a vile, sin-filled tome whose author is Satan. Recall that as Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul had been a high-ranking Pharisee. When writing about his pre-conversion life Paul noted that he had surpassed his contemporaries in obedience to “the traditions of the elders” (Gal. 1:14). Like all those who had been taught the Talmud, Paul believed that he was doing exactly what God wanted done. He said about the days when he was riding high as a leader of the Pharisees: “I was (spiritually) alive,” not knowing the Law of God. But when I read the Law, I (spiritually) died.” He realized that he had been a Law-breaker (guilty of iniquity)–a walking dead man (Rom. 7:7-11). He did not know that all the while he had been serving and worshiping the very enemy of the true God.

Note the common characteristic held by both the ancient Jewish leaders and today’s church leaders–THE DENIAL OF THE IMPORTANCE OF GOD’S LAW AND THE CONTINUAL EFFORT TO KEEP GOD SEEKERS FROM STUDYING HIS LAW. Man knows that in order for a society or a religion to survive it must have a system of laws that must be obeyed. Otherwise, there is chaos and anarchy in which people do as they please which creates anarchy in which each person “does what is right in his own eyes” (Prov. 12:15; 16:25; 21:2). God calls such people “fools” who “call good evil and evil good” (Isa. 5:20). Sound familiar?

Nothing has changed–not the Lord, not His Law and not His commands to obey that Law. The Gospel which God (the God of the Old Testament, also called “the Scripture” and “the Word”–Jn. 1:1-4,14) taught Abraham is the same Gospel God’s true apostles teach today (Gal. 3:8/Eph, 2:20/2 Tim. 3:14-16/ Mat. 4:4/ 2 Cor. 1:20/ 1 Cor. 10:11/ Mat. 4:4). The Scripture also spoke to Pharoah concerning His (God’s) Israelite children (Exo. 9:16/ Rom. 9:17). Unless one is obeying God’s Law, including commandment #4, one is physically alive but spiritually dead. Such a one is the slave of Satan, the great deceiver (Rev. 12:9). One must be “a doer (obeyor) of the Law and not a hearer only,'” otherwise one is “deceiving himself” (Jam. 1:22). Read James 2:10,14,17,18,20,24,26 where he repeats the word “works” numerous times relative to faith. “Works” means obedience to God’s Law, which Paul describes as “holy, just and good” (Rom. 7:12). Paul wrote those Words about the Law approximately 25 years after the founding of the New Testament Church. Nothing has changed.

In Mark 7:9 Jesus, having called Law breakers hypocrites (vs 6), tells the Jews that they rejected God’s Law in order to keep a good relationship with the priests by continuing to obey the dictates/traditions of the elders. In verse 13 He told the people that by setting aside God’s Law they “made the Word of God of no-effect”–useless and powerless. Sound familiar? It should because “the Law was nailed to the cross” message being preached relentlessly throughout the world has made Catholicism/Protestantism the most dangerous and deadly religion on earth. Once lured into it God’s Biblical Truth is summarily rejected.

What had initially sparked the contention between the Jews and Jesus in John 7 involved a tradition of the elders that dictated a washing of the hands before eating. This was, and possibly still is, a very important rule within Judaism. Jesus noted that it was not what went into the mouth that spiritually defiled a man, but what came out of it–words (vs 15). He explained that what enters the mouth does not enter the heart (mind). Instead, it goes into the stomach whose gastric juices nullifies the effect of any dirt that might be on the food and sends it out of the body through the excretory system, which the Godhead designed, along with the mind and everything else within man.

Beginning with verse twenty Jesus gets to the crux of the sin-custom conflict, saying: “That which comes out of the man (spiritually) defiles the man. For out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride and foolishness. All these evil things come from inside the heart of man and defile him.”

This Truth is also found in James’ epistle where he notes that sin develops in the mind (heart) when man allows temptation to enter his will and conceives with a desire to give in to the temptation. At that point sin is produced within the heart in that man has already committed the sin before physically carrying it out. As Jesus said, when one looks upon a woman and LUSTS FOR HER (wills to have her), he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. The same rule applies if one lusts for things, the rich man written about in Luke 18 being a prime example. Jesus told him that he would not receive eternal life because of “one thing.” Though he was “very rich” he lusted for more, which meant he refused to stop breaking commandment number twelve. Come, let us reason together–would breaking commandment number four carry any lesser of a penalty? Absolutely not. God is no respecter of persons and no respecter of commandments. As James 2:10 tells us, to break one of the Ten Commandments is to break all ten of them in the eyes of the Lord. Note that # 4 was not exempted. First John 3:4 tells us that “to break the Law is sin, for sin is the breaking of the Law.” Paul tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” THIS IS NEW TESTAMENT TRUTH. It is true that “the gift of God is eternal life” (Rom. 6:23). However, one must qualify for the gift by obeying His Law, thereby proving one’s LOVE FOR GOD AND CHRIST. Read John 14:15,23; 15:10/ Mat. 19:17 and First John 2:5. No obedience=no love for God=no salvation.

The key to overcoming temptation is the Holy Spirit, without which no one, not even Jesus of Nazareth, can prevent sin from developing. The Holy Spirit is given at the point of true conversion. Conversion takes place when one is justified (has all past sins removed–Rom. 3:25), has completed a spiritual about face and is walking away from darkness and into God’s light. The transition is not automatic when one completes the prescribed ritual, gets baptized, etc. One must mature spiritually by leaving the breastmilk of spiritual childhood and partake of God’s “strong meat” (Heb. 5:12,14) so that one can “walk as Christ walked” (1 Jn. 2:6). This means that one must, by obedience to God’s Word, rid himself of sins such as those listed in Mark 7:21,22 along with those listed in Romans 1:26-32 and all other sins not listed in either passage. Study those passages very carefully. God means what He says. To be a true saint of God and rise from the earth in the first resurrection, one must, through the power of the Holy Spirit, RID HIMSELF OF SIN by following God’s command to “RESIST THE DEVIL” (Jam. 4:7). Then notice from whom the devil will flee–“from YOU.” Read First John 3:1-10. I have called on readers to read that passage many times in the past and will do so many times in the future for it proclaims God’s command to QUIT SIN UTTERLY, just as Jesus told the woman caught in adultery (Jn. 8:11) and the man in Bethesda (Jn. 5:14). God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). What is commanded of one is commanded of all. Conversely, what is promised to one is promised to all– IF, and ONLY IF one obeys His commands. “Only believe” will not save the soul (Jam. 2:14). Nor will “just repent” (Mat. 15:8).

It is in this spiritual arena that Satan’s control over the Institutional Church reaches its deadly apex. He has convinced salvation seekers that they must sin due to Adam’s sin transferal miracle. Read Original Sin. Key word–Original. Satan’s universally-embraced message is as follows. Knowing that church people have no choice but to sin, Jesus died so that they could obey Satan with impunity. This soul-destroying lie is being taught in seminaries today. I know because a seminary student told me that personally. All that is necessary is to repent following the “saved, born again and sanctified” sinner’s inevitable sin. One man told me that it was too much trouble to repent following each sin. His solution was to accumulate his sins over time and repent of them en masse. To prove Satan’s power over and control of the church, I present three statements made to me personally: “Obeying God is too much trouble.” “It is impossible to obey the Law.” “Don’t worry about sin; God will forgive you.” All three statements were uttered by bastions of the church. And Satan smiles.

The “just repent” ruse is one of the many such “truths” being put forth as “thus saith the Lord” by Satan’s false prophets. A list of other such “truths” are listed on the homepage of this website. These and other such doctrines comprise the modern version of “traditions of the fathers” that are put forth as Biblical fact, along with “the Law was nailed to the cross” lie. Like the Apostle Paul, one must have his “I am dead” moment, leave the traditions of the church fathers behind, embrace God’s Law and obey it in order to join Jesus upon His return. Read The Kingdom of God and The Three Resurrections. Key words–Kingdom and Three respectively. L.J.