Study Guide: God's Word, Not Human Tradition
Quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB); please check each one in your own Bible.
The Big Idea
The big idea: Jesus set the commandment of God against the tradition of men (Mark 7:8–9, 13): what the apostles taught binds, and that teaching is now held in Scripture; no later tradition or direction may bind the believer where Scripture does not.
Read Aloud
Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?” He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,”’” that is to say, given to God, “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making void the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”
— Mark 7:1–13
“Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Don’t you add to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar.
— Proverbs 30:5–6
Where We Stand
Scripture says
- In vain do they worship God, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men (Mark 7:7).
- A tradition can set aside the commandment of God and make his word void (Mark 7:8–9, 13; Matthew 15:6).
- Their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught (Isaiah 29:13).
- You shall not add to the word, nor take away from it (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32).
- Don't add to his words, lest he reprove you (Proverbs 30:6).
- Learn not to think beyond the things which are written (1 Corinthians 4:6).
- No one is to rob you after the tradition of men, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8).
- Men's rules appear like wisdom but are of no value: “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch” (Colossians 2:21–23).
- The traditions the apostles taught bind those they taught, by word or by letter (2 Thessalonians 2:15).
- Paul's own hand is the sign in every letter (2 Thessalonians 3:17).
- The apostles' council agreed with the words of the prophets and laid no greater burden than necessary things (Acts 15:15, 28).
- The Scriptures make the person of God complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
- Leaders who spoke the word of God are to be remembered, their faith imitated, and their watching obeyed (Hebrews 13:7, 17).
We conclude
- Our conclusion: what the apostles taught binds, and that teaching is now held in Scripture; no later teaching binds a believer unless Scripture teaches it (1 Corinthians 4:6).
- Our conclusion: direction from any church, council, or headquarters binds the conscience only so far as Scripture binds it; beyond the text, it is advice to be weighed, not God's word to be obeyed (Mark 7:7–9; Acts 17:11).
- Our conclusion: a creed or confession binds only in what it restates from Scripture; as a summary it serves the text, and where it adds to the text it carries no authority of its own (Proverbs 30:6).
- Our conclusion: teaching a day, or its avoidance, as God's command where Scripture does not command it is this same error in miniature (Mark 7:7; Colossians 2:21).
The Hard Questions
- Doesn't Paul command us to hold the traditions taught by word as well as by letter (2 Thessalonians 2:15)? See The strongest objection under You Set Aside the Commandment of God.
- Didn't Paul praise the Corinthians for holding the traditions he delivered (1 Corinthians 11:2)? See A second objection under You Set Aside the Commandment of God.
- Didn't John say that much of what Jesus did was never written (John 21:25)? See The strongest objection under Don't Add to His Words.
- Doesn't Paul set up a chain of faithful men teaching others (2 Timothy 2:2)? See A second objection under Don't Add to His Words.
- Didn't the Jerusalem council bind the churches by the Holy Spirit's own decree (Acts 15:28)? See The strongest objection under The Council That Laid No Greater Burden.
- Didn't Jesus give Peter the keys, to bind and to loose (Matthew 16:19)? See A second objection under The Council That Laid No Greater Burden.
- Aren't Paul's letters hard to understand — doesn't the church need an authorized interpreter (2 Peter 3:16)? See Hard to Understand Is Not a License.
- How are the two teachings stated by those who hold them — Scripture and Tradition together, and direction received as God's guidance? See The Teaching We Differ From.
- Does salvation depend on settling these questions? See Whether salvation depends on these questions under Questions Answered.
Discussion Questions
- What did the scribes ask Jesus about his disciples, and what did he answer them?
- In the Corban example, what had the tradition done to God's commandment — and what does Jesus call it? (See You Set Aside the Commandment of God.)
- What warning and what sign does Paul give inside the very letter that says “hold the traditions” (2 Thessalonians 2:15)? (See The strongest objection under You Set Aside the Commandment of God.)
- How did the Jerusalem council treat burdens, and teachers who taught beyond their sending? (See The Council That Laid No Greater Burden.)
- Why is “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16) not a reason to hand Paul's letters to an authorized interpreter? (See Hard to Understand Is Not a License.)
- What does it mean for you that the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever? (See Hope.)
Hope
Paul, facing death, did not entrust the Ephesian elders to a successor or a channel. He entrusted them “to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). The word is able.
For the Leader
Allow about 40 minutes for one session. Read Mark 7:1–13 first, then Proverbs 30:5–6. Invite everyone to open and check each verse in their own Bible.
© 2026 Elvis Lucas, Open the Text. Original: https://openthetext.com/series/test-the-teaching/04-gods-word-not-human-tradition-study-guide/
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