The Bible is written to change you so don’t try to change it

Some people in vain try to change the Bible. They try to re-interpret it as per their convenience. However, when it comes to understanding the Bible, context is king. In fact text without a context is just pretext.

 

 

Jesus himself condemns the misuse of the Bible regardless of what reason anyone would give. He even exposed them in the following Bible verses of Mark 7:8-13:-

You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die’; but you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God) — then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do.”

 

If Jesus condemned the Pharisees of those days, how can we even expect the Risen Lord to now condone anyone to rewrite the Holy Scriptures! I’m not telling you sometime thing new. This has already been confirmed in the Bible:

 

1)Rejecting the Scriptures (the Word of God) by not doing as per it results in Judgement

If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. (John 12: 47-48)

2) God will prove all those who add to the Scriptures to be liars

Do not add to God’s words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. (Proverbs 30:6)

3) God has not given anyone permission to removing anything from the Scripture

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2 )

 

You might ask what makes this relevant to today’s context. I’d answer that by saying people are still doing the same error like the one’s Jesus condemned the Pharisees for. People still come up with many crafty religious explanations to justify their vile deeds.

I remember many years ago, a preacher and some of his helpers came to my house reminding my family to pay our offerings to God. I happened to notice one of them was someone who had just passed out of college. So I asked this girl, “Are you going to pay your offerings to God as well?”. And she angrily replied, “No, since I sing in the Church choir my service equals all financial offerings that I could ever give”. Immediately the preacher was upset with her answer and said, “I’d deal with you later” to her. And he continued to speak to my family about why we should be making our financial offering to God.

Therefore, you must always follow the Holy Scriptures (the Word of God) in the right context or you will just find ways to avoid doing what God told you in the first place. Try to understand why the Holy Scriptures are given to us and you will do well.

 

What are the Holy Scriptures given to us for?

1. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation (2 Peter 1:20)
2. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ^that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
3. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deutronomy 29:29)

 

Instead of trying to rewrite the words of the Scripture in our own image and likeness, simply follow it as God meant it to be followed. It will save you a lot of trouble and give you a lot of benefit as well.

 

And finally please do remember the punishments for trying to add or removing are not just one-off punishments that end in a few minutes. These are eternal punishments! So take heed because you have been warned for your own good.

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 which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.  (Revelation 22:18-19)