Useless Rituals

 Hebrews 5-8

“Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death…”

Hebrews 6:1

Foundational to maturity in our relationship with Christ is repentance - repentance from sin, not just at the time of our salvation, but as an essential discipline of sanctification. Repentance from acts that lead to death, or dead works, or useless rituals, goes beyond our personal sin-choices. The useless rituals in which believing Jews were trusting involved the sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law and its many purification rituals. 

Followers of Jesus today can dismiss the temptation to trust in these old, useless rituals; but, how about the rituals in which we are trusting?

Our worship services and their ritualistic nature are dead works if the Spirit of God is not refreshing our worship forms and content. Any religious activity quickly becomes ritualistic if our full confidence and hope are not in Christ.

What dead works are we being called to repent of so we, too, can move on to maturity?

“Lord God, my life comes from you. Convict me of my useless rituals that have no life, for your glory.”