10/17/17 – Eph 6:2-3, The Ten Commandments, Pt 16, The 5th Commandments, Pt. 2, Lesson #17-111
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5mafdo-wRY

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard Grace Fellowship Church

www.gracedoctrine.org
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Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, (If You have - Trusted in Him for Eternal Life), it is important to prepare yourself to: Take-in God’s Word and/or Participate in a Communion Service, so take a moment to name, cite, or acknowledge your sins privately, directly to God the Father. This will assure that you are in fellowship with God the Father & the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry will then be able to teach you as the Holy Spirit is the real teacher.

1 John 1:9 says— “If we confess [simply name, cite, or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown & forgotten sins].”

For those of you who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord & Savior, please see: The Salvation Message @ the end of this document.

2 Pet 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

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The Doctrine of the Ten Commandments Related to the Church Age, Part XVI.

The 5^th Commandment.

We now continue our study of the 5^th Commandment’s utilization in the NT, by noting the other times this Commandment was used by our Lord.

As a reminder, this Commandment is used six times in the NT, in three events.

1. The first is found in, Mat 15:4; Mark 7:10.

2. The second is found in, Mat 19:19; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20.

3. The third is Paul’s usage in, Eph 6:2-3, which is the only time the attached promise is given to the Church Age, Eph 6:3, “So that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”

Jesus understood this commandment as applying to adult children, cf. Mat 15:4-6. However, the young are not excluded, as Paul noted in Eph 6:1-2.

1. The first utilization of this Commandment in the NT is found in Mat 15:4; Mark 7:10, which is the story of Jesus refuting the Pharisees for adhering to man-made traditions, rather than having truth resident in their heart, (right lobe of the soul), applied towards God.

The issue began with the Pharisees rebuking Jesus’ disciples for not ceremonially washing their hands before eating, as was the rabbinical tradition passed down through their generations. Because Jesus was the disciples’ leader, in the Pharisees minds, He was guilty of being a lawbreaker. He was not accepting the so-called binding character of these man-made regulations.

Notice that Jesus’ reply to them is quoting Scripture. First, He quoted the Law and then Isaiah. In the Matthew account, the quote from Isa 29:13, comes after our Lord speaks to the application of the 5^th Commandment, whereas in the Mark account, it comes before.

In both accounts, we see the falsehoods of man-made religion with its lists of do’s and don’ts that are not found in Scripture. More importantly, if there are any commands that we are to keep, we are to do so from the heart, right lobe of the soul, in love, praise, and service of God, rather than keeping a ritual for ritual sake, or a tradition that is man-made.

The “traditions,” is the Noun PARADOSIS, παράδοσις. Traditions consisted of hundreds of minute details and ceremonial stipulations from the “doctrines” of the rabbis, which were written down in the Talmud that were supposedly handed down since the time of Moses, so that the Israelites could better keep the Law. In the eyes of the Pharisees, they had equal authority to the Scriptures, and were considered to be binding upon the faithful. Jesus rejected their claims and called their traditions human commandments, Mark 7:8-9.

In Mat 15:3; Mark 7:8-9, our Lord turns the Pharisee’s rebuke of His disciples back to them. He points out that they transgressed the 5^th Commandment of God. What the Pharisees proudly claimed to be the “traditions of the elders,” Mark 7:3, our Lord called the “tradition of men,” vs. 8, and “your own tradition.” Through these traditions, the spirit of God’s law was being broken.

Mat 15:3, “And He answered and said to them, ‘Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?’”

Mark 7:8-9, “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men. ⁹He was also saying to them, ‘You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition’.”

The Pharisees were treating God’s commandments as invalid when they came in conflict with their own traditions. They were displacing God’s holy Law with man’s fallible traditions. In effect, they were setting themselves up as gods with the prerogative of establishing Divine law, cf. James 4:11-12.

Jesus set the law of God over/against the tradition of the elders. By saying, “your,” Jesus personalized these traditions as theirs and not His, thus disassociating Himself, and not identifying Himself with that which was not of God. For Him, only the Law of God had binding authority.

Col 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

Jesus understood that this law did not merely require a child to obey and respect his or her parents. It also dictates that someone love, respect, and if necessary care for one’s parents when they are old.

Jesus also quoted Ex 21:17; Lev 20:9, in regard to the capital punishment one should receive for “cursing,” that is speaking evil of, his parents. This was in comparison to the man-made tradition of washing the hands, to show the greater severity for breaking the 5^th Commandment.

Jesus then gives an object lesson in Mat 15:5-6, “But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God," ⁶he is not to honor his father or his mother.' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” Mark expounds on this a bit more in Mark 5:11-13,

While the Law regarded dishonoring your parents as a grave offense, vs. 4, the Scribes and Pharisees created a way to circumvent the offense in order to fill their own coffers and allow children to abuse their parents and keep the money that otherwise should have gone to support their parents. They said in essence, “if you make a vow to give your money to the temple,” versus to your parents who were in need, “you are ok with God.” This was a loophole in the law that they created. According to tradition, one could pledge goods to the temple and God, and thus be released from one’s responsibility to others. Underlying this was the rabbinic principle that viewed actions related to the temple ritual and procedures, as more important than works of love and mercy, i.e., attitude and behavior; cf. Mat 23:23-26. Yet, Jesus taught otherwise, cf. Mark 12:28-34.

In Mark 7:11, the phrase for this loophole is, “it is Corban,” KORBAN, κορβᾶν, which means, “a gift dedicated to God or the temple by a vow.” Thus, the parents received nothing, while the offspring either gave all of it or a portion of it to the temple, or just outright retained the entire vowed gift as their own, which was typically the case. This was ok, according to tradition.

In practice, this tradition proved even worse than its theory, because children not only neglected their parents, but they were able to fill their own pockets by pretending to be religious. The temple vow allowed some of the aid that should have gone to parents to remain in the child’s possession. Even in the most favorable circumstances, the decision to dedicate a gift to the temple was voluntary, yet, to honor one’s mother and father was a commandment. That is what religion does, it creates loopholes, so that you think you are good with God, yet in reality you are not.

Principles:

1. People use human traditions to avoid what God expressly commands.

2. They rob the Word of its power and authority, making it meaningless and of no effect.

3. The substitution of man-made religion and traditions is a double delusion:

  a. It leads men to believe that the correct observance of religious forms and ceremonies satisfies God’s requirements.

  b. It leads people to disregard the plain teachings of the Word of God.

Mark 7:12-13, “You no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³thus invalidating the Word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that."”

The Word of God, including the Law of Moses, calls for obedience out of love and gratitude to God, Deut 6:5, 21-24; 10:12. Samuel told King Saul in 1 Sam 15:22, “to obey is better than sacrifice,” Micah declared that a walk in humble fellowship with God, rather than outward appearance, is what pleases Him, Micah 6:6-8.

Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Everything that God commands of us is for the means of entrance into fellowship with Him, and is not a substitute for a personal walk with Him. That is why in Mat 15:7-9, the Lord calls them hypocrites.

“Hypocrite,” is the Greek noun HUPOKRITES, ὑποκριτής, that means “hypocrite or pretender; an actor, one who pretends, or one who wears a mask,” cf. Mat 6:2, 5, 16. Figuratively, it refers to someone who appears to be different in character and identity from what he really is; a phony, a pretender, a fraud.

In 536 B.C., it was used by Thespis who introduced an individual who replied to the chorus, (a group of male dancers and singers), in the festival of Dionysius held every spring in Athens, as Hupokrites. In addition, to the Jews, it meant one who is “estranged from God, godless.” So, you can imagine the impact this word had on the Pharisees. 

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A PERSONAL NOTE FOR YOU

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.”

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have;” it says, “has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it, and it can never be lost or taken away from you [John 10:28-29]. Furthermore, the gift of everlasting life [also called eternal life in Scripture] is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I am here to tell you that Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His life for you. God the Father also loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His only Son for you by sending Him to the Cross. At the Cross Jesus died in your place. Taking upon Himself all of your sins and all of my sins. He was judged for our sins and paid the price for our sins. Therefore, our sins will never be held against us.

Right where you are, you now have the opportunity to make the greatest decision in your life. To accept the free gift of salvation and eternal life by truly believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was raised on the third day as the proof of the promise of eternal life. So right now, you can pause and reflect on what Christ has done for you and say to the Father:

"Yes Father, I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ, 

died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins."

If you have done that, I Welcome You to the Eternal Family of God !!!

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Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher: James H. Rickard

23 Messenger Street, Unit 3

Plainville, MA 02762

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