Picture an old balance scale. On one side sits the standard. On the other, whatever you're testing. The standard never moves. The standard decides. For the church, that standard is the Word of God. Every tradition, every teaching, every prophecy, every sermon gets weighed against it.

The trouble starts when somebody sets a tradition on the same side as the Bible, as an equal weight. Paul knew that world. He was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. This week we put our own traditions on the scale first, then read Rome's system in its own words: the Catechism, Vatican II, and the 1950 dogma of Mary's Assumption.

This isn't about people. It's about a system.

When tradition and God's Word disagree, which one wins?

1. The Mirror. Our own traditions go on the scale first, from old holiness rules to Pentecostal excess.
2. The Personal Scale. Scripture plus Tradition, with one teaching office alone to interpret it, is a scale you bring yourself.
3. The Dogma. How a teaching the Bible never gave became binding on every Catholic on earth.

To the law and to the testimony. The Word wins. Every time.

Download the full notes and all other resources for Galatians at https://www.brianoverturf.com/galatians/the-scale