Strange title…I know. However the topic I am about to discuss has been something that has ignited an inexplicable fire in me for as long as I can remember. For some reason (maybe so this post can be written) it has become more pertinent in my mind. The topic is, adding or taking away from the word of God. Now, I hope that this post does not come across as a rant because that is not my aim. I just want to share what I understand about the word of God and its perfection.
Often time, we have all probably been guilty whether we accept/know it or not, we like to add a little salt here and a dash of pepper there to the word of God. We want it to be more cutting or less cutting. We want it to be accessible (or not), we want people to relate to it etc. There are times where in order to seem like the knower, keeper, finder, only wise understander of the truth, the perfect word of God is twisted for the sake of vain conceit. It is not only twisted, it is added to or even taken away from. Where God did not draw a line, one is drawn, where He did not command, a command is given. Why?
What hurts me most and what I actually do rant about to my poor friends sometimes is how the death of Christ is treated. Why did Christ die? He died to set us free from the power of sin and death (Romans 8:2). In Christ we know the truth, we have the complete word of God in the bible, so why do we keep ourselves and each other in bondage? Where we have received incomplete or no revelation we claim to hold the absolute truth and therefore become a stumbling block. One thing I know about God is that He makes all things beautiful in its time (Ecc 3 vs 11). There is no rush, there is a time and season for everything. There is a time to speak and a time to be quiet. Who knows how many lives can be touched and hearts changed if we only took a few more minutes, hours, days, years even to incubate what God is teaching us. It is pride that wants to speak as soon as it has even the slightest hint of something that seems wise, whether right or wrong. When the Holy Spirit speaks through us there is no need to add anything to make the word delivered more powerful or more encouraging. It is said how it should be because we are being taught what to say, how to say it, who to say it to and when. A word in season holds more power than we estimate (Prov 15:23).
All in all we should know the word of God for ourselves so we are not placed in a bondage of ignorance. It is all too easy to be swayed by wise sounding men and women. Or things that ‘make sense’ always ask ‘where is the evidence for this in the word?’ We are told to test every spirit, do not just accept all that you hear. It cannot all be true, else the truth that false prophets have gone out into the world, would not be a truth at all (1 John 4:1). There is also danger that because of ignorance we too can become a false preacher (ouch). Listen, research and pray. Also, we should not always be in a rush to share what we are learning because we may not have the complete lesson just yet. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, He will never lead us awry, when it is time to speak, do so, when it is time to incubate, do so.