When I say traditions I mean the expression of our faith through outward appearances. Denominations have their own traditions. You are no less a "Christian" because you are a Catholic or a Baptist. As long as you believe in God sacrificed his son so that mankind can have salvation of our sins then the machinations of tradition and ceremonies are inconsequential. Going to church on Saturdays vs Sundays, abstaining from eating certain foods, clothing choice, choice of music. All of that is a personal decision and hopefully one you checked with God if that is where you personally needed to be.
Grace has always been provided. Receiving sanctifying grace? What does that even mean. God sending his child to be sacrificed was grace. Mankind lasting as long on this earth with the wicked things we've done is Grace. Being ushered into the kingdom is grace. Walking every day in the path that has been set forth for you is grace. Fasting, Prayer, communion with God and the saints, confession, anointing of the sick... all those are tools to help us. They are not grace, it is grace that we have received them. They help us on our walk in the grace that has been given. On a celibate priesthood, I get it that if one can walk in that way, then it is good that they do. As Christ said it would be better to not marry if at all possible. But there was no countenance against one to marry. That is a very personal choice. Having a denomination that holds that as a requisite to priesthood is absolutely a machination of man.
I am not sure what you are arguing. I am not saying that people who follow Christs are not to be priests. But not all shall be shepherds. And not all will be teachers. Not all will be the head a synagogue or church. Priesthood is the head of the physical body. A father to his family. A pastor/priest to his flock. The Psalms use many metaphors and Christ teaches in parables. It our duty to understand the past and to learn from the mistakes of the people of the past and to learn of the faith of the faithful. We are blessed to have the ability to read the Bible and to search the history books to get a greater understanding that adds context.
We do not disagree.
The Gentiles received the promise of God to Abraham. They were the branch grafted to the Olive tree. I do not need to be careful. This is the word of God.
Romans 11 11:31
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their [a]fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their [b]fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and [c]fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, [d]goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
Gentiles were grafted onto the tree. The root is the promise given to Abraham. That there will be a chosen people and a covenant with them. And the Gentiles have now been brought into that covenant. And if Jews who do not believe in Christ can be be brought back onto that root if they accept Jesus as the Christ instead of waiting for a train that isn't coming. And we should say thanks and keep faithful as a people who can be easily removed from the promise (like corporate churches going progressive.)
Jesus came to fulfill the law, not destroy it. The promise of Abraham has not been dissolved. It was expanded. It is clear. The law asked for Sacrifices for the sins that people would be made aware that are described in Leviticus.
Israel had strayed from God. They lost the plot and did not consider God in their matters. The remnant of Israel existed. God started to hate the sacrifices of men because they were done without faith and understanding. This is explained in Isiah 1:7-15
7 Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a [e]booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
9 Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
12 “When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
13 Bring no more futile[f] sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you [g]spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of [h]blood.
The remnant of faithful in the cities are the reason why the God still struggled with Israel. And the marked ones in Ezekiel 9:1-11
Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a [a]deadly weapon in his hand.” 2 And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his [b]battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn [c]at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the [d]temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4 and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
5 To the others He said in my [e]hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill;[f] do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6 Utterly[g] slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the [h]temple. 7 Then He said to them, “Defile the [i]temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.
8 So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”
9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 10 And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”
11 Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”
The remnant still persisted to see the Christ born on earth. Simeon and Anna as an example: Luke 2:25-38
25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 [h]And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow [i]of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to [j]the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Christians, messianic Jews, or whatever label you want to use to describe those who follow Christ are the remnant. Those who dwell in lands preaching the Gospel so that the lost can be found and also that the land is not laid to waste. Also those who follow the law written on their heart from Romans 12 who may not have had a witness to Christ but will be judged according to their actions.
Christians are not simply people who pay homage to traditions but those who
reason with God, not among themselves, and ask for his action through prayer and fasting. Who seek his will to be done and to be his sanctuary that he takes pleasure in dwelling. Ezekial 8: 5-6
5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.
6 Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary?
We are the temples of God. Not a faction. Not a denomination. Not tradition. Our body. And when we gather together, our bodies. Where the power of god may leave us and mingle in power and glory as we glorify HIM. Not some religion or sect that can die if it gets too big for its britches by taking too much pride in the acts; but HIM. We each have a ministry. What that looks like will be different for many people as fisherman have many baits.
James 1:21-27
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and [d]overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone [e]among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Religion is corruptible. The word of God is not.
Sakura Doritos
in the sense that we should be a people who worship God, rather than a people who worship our religion. I do find value in the traditions of the Church, as well. I also agree that an oral tradition should be fine; all pre-writing civilizations used oral tradition, many quite well.
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