Hold To The Traditions
“So then, brothers (and sisters), stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”
The word tradition is defined as “the transmission of beliefs or customs from one generation to another,” or as “a long established custom passed on.” A tradition is viewed as something important and worthwhile. Some traditions are good and others are bad. We can make good use of traditions and we can also abuse them. Traditions imply longevity. They have been around for a while. Bad traditions can last for a long time. By holding to bad traditions, we perpetuate that which is not good (Matt. 15:6).
Bad traditions may be held in ignorance, just as good traditions may be. It is always important to know why we hold to traditions. Countries and cultures have traditions. Children grow up holding to national traditions simply because they grew up with them. They learn what those traditions mean and represent. Families have traditions. They do things in a regular and consistent way. They do them because it provides stability and fosters organization. Sometimes we hear others say, “But we’ve always done it that way.” Traditions may be improved upon and traditions may be weakened or lessened. Traditions tend to be held tenaciously. They have a strong hold over us and we don’t like the idea of replacing them or abandoning them or even adapting them.
They’re like a python wrapping his sinewy coils around his prey. Very difficult to let go! As far as the Apostle Paul is concerned, there were obviously some traditions that he regarded as vital and necessary. He begins his injunction to the Thessalonians in this verse by urging them to stand firm. This is an imperative, a command. It must be done. Paul knows that the command to stand firm makes it easier to hold firmly to the traditions that he has passed on to the Thessalonians. By standing firm they will not be easily swayed by false doctrine or evil practices.
In verse 2, Paul urges the Thessalonians to “not be easily shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter…” They were not to be deceived by anyone or any false word or practice (vs. 3). They were being disturbed by reports that the Lord had come (vs. 1). The Thessalonians had become Christians through the preaching of the Apostle Paul (see Acts 17:1–9). The church at Thessalonica comprised Jews and Gentiles. They then imitated Paul and the Lord (1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14). The Gospel had come to them in power and by the Holy Spirit with full conviction (1 Thess. 1:5). They not only had received God’s Word with joy, but also were spreading the Gospel themselves, and they had gained a reputation for their evangelizing (1 Thess. 1:8). So they received what Paul told them and then spread it everywhere they went. The power of the Word rests in the power of a transformed life. The Gospel saves and delivers. Paul tells the Thessalonians that when they received the Gospel from Paul and his companions, they actually received the Word not as from men but as the Word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). Paul’s traditions then would have to do with what he passed on to them, either as something directly from the Old Testament or something that he said or wrote. Think of the offices of elders and deacons in the early church. They are grounded in the Old Testament practices and teaching, yet in the New Testament, are completely new. In the Old Testament, the prophets and scribes taught and the priests ministered or served. In the church, the elders teach and the deacons serve. I use this as a simple illustration. There are, of course, other responsibilities associated with elders and deacons.
Therefore, if we hold to bad traditions they probably will be passed on in some form or other. The Pharisees had their traditions (Matt. 15:6; Mark 7:3–13). Jesus denounced them and their traditions, because their traditions replaced the commandments of God. It is a very serious thing to replace God’s Word with the traditions of men.
In a similar way today, the Christian Church is being inundated by new ideas. Some of them, no doubt, are good, but the moment we start talking about improving the worship of God or adjusting the doctrine or teaching of the Word, we put ourselves on slippery ground. To leave the commandments of God for the traditions of men is always dangerous. It is never right. Jesus says to those Pharisees that they voided the Word of God by their traditions (Mark 7:13). New ideas always seem appealing, but they must be examined in the light of the principles and practices of the Bible. It is also a dangerous thing to reject practices without careful examination of the Word. We must never tamper with God’s Word to suit ourselves. Good traditions are those that are based on the Word. They conform to the teaching of the Word, and they bring glory to God. The Apostle Paul urges Timothy to charge others “not to teach any different doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:3). Paul also gives Timothy what I think is the strongest motivation behind holding to the traditions as Paul conveyed them. In 1 Timothy 1:5, he says that “the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” It is love that springs from the heart and conscience grounded in the faith. Swerving from these leads to wandering away and to ignorance of the truth (1 Tim. 1:7; 2 Tim. 2:17). For some in the early church it led to a shipwreck of the faith (1 Tim. 1:18–20). Timothy was to “keep a close watch on himself and on the teaching” (1 Tim. 4:16). The “teaching” is obviously the Word of God that he had received. It was sound doctrine. It was the words of the faith. It was as Paul said to him in 2 Timothy 1:13: “the pattern of sound words” that he had heard from Paul. It was the “word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). These things all point to having the “knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:25).
Paul understood that in the later times there would be those who would “depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). Every age of the Church must face heresy and false doctrine. Paul cautioned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29 to watch out for fierce wolves who would tear the congregation apart, not sparing the flock. These wolves would come from within the church. They would speak twisted things, drawing the saints way after them. It is possible to be deceived by the wolves. They wear sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). The wolf comes for one purpose: destruction (John 10:12). The false shepherd, like the hired hand, always abandons the sheep (John 10:12, 13).
Standing firm in the truth is not an easy thing. God’s Word has always been assaulted throughout the centuries. Man always seeks to lessen the import of God’s Word. Standing firm will bring criticism and rebuke. Sometimes you will feel as if you are the last person standing. God’s truth as Luther sang, “abides still.” It always will remain. It is “forever firmly fixed in the heavens” (Ps. 119:89). We can stand firm in confidence because it is not our word. Our confidence is in God himself. We are to hold to the Word. The word hold means to hold fast. Don’t let go. Be firmly resolved to keep the faith. Holding to the truth will mean loneliness at times. That was how the prophets of old felt. This is when we must guard against self-pity. I love how Paul concludes 2 Thessalonians 2. Here’s why we stand and hold. “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” Be comforted and established by these truths. So stand and hold!