Another Call not to Add to God’s Word

Proverbs 30:5-6

5 Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.
God’s words are all true, every one of them. All Scripture is perfect and perfectly inspired by God. As believers, our lives hang on that truth. If God’s word is untrue, there is simply no source of authority upon which we can rely. Since God has spoken, inspiring a perfect word, we can know him and know what he requires.

In the proverb above, we also see the wise reminder that we must not add to that holy and perfect word of God. If we do, God will prove us to be liars.

Where does it happen that mankind attempts to add to the word of God? Some add to God’s word by declaring that god has said to them things he did not say. Be very careful when you claim that God has told you something. It is much wiser for a Christian to express that he or she feels like something is the Lord’s will or that he or she, after much prayer, has a strong desire to do this or that. But when a person says that God has told them something, he or she is walking on dangerous ground. If that thing that you claim that the Lord has told you proves to be untrue, are you not entering the realm of the false prophet?

But it is not merely the false claim of divine communication that is adding to the word of God today. Many add to the word of God because they are submitting to the culture around us and extrapolating principles from secular thinking to read back into God’s word. The person who adds to Scripture a secular standard of justice is, in a sense, adding to the word of God. The person who reads into Scripture modern sexual ethics is adding to the word of God. The one who reads into Scripture modern views of gender that differ from the clearly given Scripture is adding to the word of God. And the word of God tells us that, in all these, the person who reads such things in such ways will be proven a liar by God himself.

May we treasure the word of God. May we remember that there is no value that we can add to the word of God. We are far better off honoring God by simply reading, understanding, and faithfully explaining the word of God. God wants you to know his word, understand his word, apply his word, and live by his word.