Power or No Power (Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:13)

POWER

TL OSBORN

TL Osborn, the great missionary statesman, and apostle of love, has been quoted as saying, "There are only two things that are important in your Christianity: What you believe, and what you do about it". What you believe affects your behavior, which strengthens or weakens your relationship with the Lord. In addition, what is preached/announced from the pulpit is the gospel that the congregation will experience.

MATTHEW 15:6 says, [referring to not honoring a persons father or mother], "...you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition"

MARK 7:13 says, [referring to the same subject], "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition,..."

MATTHEW

Matthew uses (ἠκυρώσατε), ēkyrōsate, : aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural. A completed, definitive action: "you have made void / you nullified." It reads like a verdict on an accomplished result—by your tradition you have voided God's commandment.

MARK

Mark uses (ἀκυροῦντες), akyrountes, : present active participle. Ongoing, characteristic action: "making void / nullifying." Where Matthew states it as a finished deed, Mark describes it as their continual practice—this is the sort of thing they habitually do.

ACTIONS: PAST & PRESENT

Matthew states that their actions have [past tense], rendered the word of God powerless, and Mark says they are continually doing so, by what they teach and the corresponding action.

OF NONE EFFECT

(ἀκυρόω), G208, is built from the alpha-privative ἀ- ("not/un-") plus κῦρος (kyros), meaning "authority, force, validity, binding power"—the same root behind κύριος (kyrios), "lord," i.e. one who holds authority. So (akyroō) literally means "to un-authorize": to strip something of its authority, deprive it of force, render it invalid, annul, cancel, or void. It carries a legal flavor—the word used for annulling a will, contract, or covenant. Paul uses it exactly this way in Galatians 3:17, where a ratified covenant is not "disannulled" (akyroō) by the later law. So the sense is stronger than merely ignoring or disobeying God's command; it's the charge of rendering it legally null—treating God's word as though it had no binding authority left.

CORBAN

In both accounts Jesus is confronting the Corban practice — declaring one's resources "dedicated to God" to escape the duty of supporting one's parents. His point with (akyroō) is sharp: human tradition doesn't merely supplement God's law, it cancels its authority while the practitioners still claim to be honoring Scripture.

TESTIMONY

In January 2026, the pastor of one congregation felt God strongly wanted him to emphasize healing scriptures in his messages, teach people what the scriptures declared about being healed, and then intentionally pray for the healing of members suffering from various sicknesses and diseases. The result was that within a three-month period of consistently preaching on healing, and then praying for people to be healed, between 80-100 people were healed of everything from minor ailments to death sentences of cancer!

CHOICES

You can either render the Word of God legally powerless in your life, or you can experience the supernatural expression of His presence in every moment of your existence.

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours