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Adding to God’s Word
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Adding to God’s Word
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by Eddie Turner
In the very last chapter of the Bible, God warns us of the severe consequences associated with “adding” to His Word.
“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18).
This is a warning that has been heeded over and over during the extremely delicate process of producing new Bible translations. The production of the New International Version (NIV) translation, for example, involved over 100 biblical scholars—each dedicated to maintaining the highest degree of accuracy in their revisions. The text was then meticulously reviewed by the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT), a team of fifteen biblical scholars whose approval ensured that the work was free from agenda, bias, and outside influences. Further updates to the text required the partnership of these same groups of scholars. Needless to say, the malicious adding of text to the Bible just does not happen.
So, how are we able to add to God’s Word? We do this when we purposefully skew the teaching of the Bible to suit our own desires. While the text does not change, the context in which we share God’s Word gets twisted quite frequently. For instance, concerning the topic of homosexuality, God’s regard to this lifestyle was made very clear in the Old Testament. Jesus, however, is often labeled as having progressed from that mindset and is believed to have been more accepting of the practice. While there are indeed many passages in the New Testament that assure us that this is not the case, omitting them to demonstrate how the Bible actually embraces homosexuality, or any sin for that matter, represents an effort to add to the Bible. My usage of homosexuality in this example is not to set it apart as some mega-sin. In fact, it is looked upon by God with the same aversion as the lies that you and I have told.
Here is another example. During my research for this article, I came across a column written by an individual who taught that Jesus was prone to making the same mistakes we do. The author’s argument included Jesus being fully human as well as his “confession of ignorance” (per the author) about when he would be returning to the earth. So, 32 // August 2021
why was it so important that the author make this case? After reading the entire article, I concluded that this person wanted others to adopt the belief that the Bible carries no weight in its defining of right and wrong.
As Christians, we are given the task of painting an accurate picture of God for others. You might even say that we serve as book covers for the Bible, which proves itself over and over to be His perfect and flawless instruction for our lives.
Bear in mind that a simple claim contrary to the Bible’s teaching is not necessarily adding to God’s Word. It is when we put our words in God’s mouth that we are adding to His.
As we progress toward our day of redemption, we can only expect to see more and more false teaching with the potential to lead God’s precious children astray. Until that day comes, may we continue to focus upon adding to the number of those who will join us into eternity. This number has already been set, of course. It simply has not been reached. How do we know this? Because we are still here.
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