The Bible, or Human Tradition?

We at Tomorrow's World believe we should truly stand for something. We believe that if religious people say they "believe" in the God of the Bible, they should really teach and believe what the Bible actually says. In the pages of this magazine, you will find constant references showing that what we teach comes from Scripture, not just from some human tradition. We often challenge you to prove what we are saying by checking the pages of your own Bible.

Truth is powerful, for genuine Truth can be proved over and over again. It can be tested in various ways, and will not be found wanting. Jesus Christ set forth a basic criterion that can be applied to many different fields of study, but especially to the study of religion. Jesus said: "Beware of false prophets ["preachers"], who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit" (Matthew 7:15–17).

We need to think carefully about the "fruit," or the result, of different religious teachings. When we do this thoughtfully and honestly—not just to reinforce what we already believe—it becomes obvious that individuals and nations are blessed and bring forth "good fruit" to the degree that they follow the laws and teachings of the Bible. But as we turn more and more away from any biblical foundation, we will find that our nations—and most individuals—will suffer accordingly.

After the prophets Moses and Joshua died, ancient Israel began turning away from the laws of God. The Bible records the chaos that ensued: the family disruptions, the wars, the murders, rapes and the attendant suffering. After describing the confusion and suffering that occurred in those days, God's Word tells us: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).

In a very thoughtful and powerful article last May, syndicated columnist Cal Thomas correctly analyzed what has been happening in the United States. He wrote: "Cultural tsunamis, like those that begin under oceans, are caused by something deep within. When high water hits the shore, it is the result of a subterranean earthquake. When the state of Massachusetts on Monday began offering marriage to people of the same sex, this 'wave' was preceded by a seismic shift in the moral tectonic places…. Once that shift has taken place in sufficient numbers, once we become indifferent to immutable truths, the floodtide is not a matter of if but when…. Paul the Apostle long ago saw what happens when people remove boundaries: 'For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.' That day has arrived like a tsunami in Massachusetts and soon in the other 49 states. It's because of the earthquake that cracked our foundation."

Please take time to think about this! Think about where we are headed over the next several years—not just in America, but in Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and most of the professing Christian world.

How did we get to this state of affairs? Although most western nations profess Christianity, do they get their version of "Christianity" from the Bible, or from human tradition? I hope that most of you subscribers carefully read our last issue's eye-opening article, "The Two Babylons," which spelled out—with clear biblical and historical proof—how and from where most people have unwittingly received their religious ideas and philosophies.

Have you, personally, genuinely proved for yourself the existence of the great God of the Bible—the Creator of heaven and earth and the God who is right now beginning to intervene powerfully in world affairs? Have you proved to your own satisfaction the inspiration of the Bible as the divine revelation from God to mankind? And, if so, will you commit to doing what the Bible actually says?

Those three questions are the starting point toward a genuine relationship with God and the true Jesus Christ revealed in the Bible. Tomorrow's World will continually challenge you to prove these basic things and to carefully study your own Bible.

I now challenge each of you subscribers to prove to yourself the correct answer to each of the three questions posed above. Additionally, I challenge you to start studying the Bible as you would a college mathematical textbook or a basic textbook for a course in European history.

For Christians, a good place to start would be to begin carefully reading and studying through the first book of the New Testament, the Gospel according to Matthew. Just read right through it as you would any other important book that you really want to understand. One technique I have employed is to carefully study two or three chapters of Matthew, then quickly review these chapters before stopping. And, next time, going over them again before reading another two or three chapters. This system of read, review, review, read—plus even marking certain key passages as you go along—will cause your mind to review each passage three or four times during the course of studying a book of the Bible.

Then, at the end of studying any given book, you may wish to skim over the entire book and review key passages you have marked so that they are imprinted in your brain. In that way, the thoughts of the Bible become deeply embedded in your mind. You will be "eating and drinking" of Jesus Christ—His mind, His thoughts—as the Bible instructs us to do. This is one way you are fulfilling Jesus' instruction in John 6:56–57: "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me."

By constantly drinking in of the Bible, meditating on it and asking God to help us remember it and live by it, we are spiritually "feeding" on Jesus Christ!

It is important to read all of the New Testament in this manner. In reading the Old Testament, one may read somewhat more quickly long historical passages—especially passages like "so and so begot so and so." But, even then, it is good to be sure that we understand what the Bible really says—not what people tell us the Bible says. For, if you are careful with this and truly honest, you will find that most of the churches of this world do not really understand the Bible or teach it in this way at all.

Most individuals and religious organizations are more concerned with "tradition," and "going along" with what the majority thinks, than they are with genuinely studying and then living by every word of the Bible—with the Old Testament, of course, magnified and interpreted by the New Testament.

Tomorrow's World magazine—and this Work of the living God which sponsors it—are absolutely determined to restore Apostolic Christianity. As many of you older readers no doubt understand by now, we are sincerely and urgently trying to follow the admonition the early Christians near the end of the first century were given when a massive apostasy was getting underway: "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

In this mixed-up world, heavily influenced by Satan the Devil and his desire to cause confusion, it is vital that we actually become willing to "contend earnestly" for the true faith that was "once for all" delivered to God's true saints. Why should we do anything less? What kind of reward will the great God give us if we knowingly accept anything less?

Some of you may wish to go even deeper, with the help and guidance of others who are determined to follow the above approach. I encourage you to contact us (at the address nearest you listed on page 2 of this magazine) and request, absolutely free and with no obligation whatsoever, enrollment in our Tomorrow's World Bible Study Course. It will help you study and understand the Bible, and prove for yourself the Truth, so that you may not be deceived and disoriented by false teachings born of human tradition. Please write for your free enrollment today!