Adding to or Subtracting from the Word of God! Why or Why Not?

Everyone likes a good book. For those of you who are avid readers, what would happen if one day you pick up your favorite book to read it again and the chapters were different. The book had been shortened or lengthened and the author's name had been changed. Would this matter to you? Would it change the content of the book to maybe make it read completely different? Any change to the book would alter its meaning and could change the whole outcome of any story.

God has written a book called the Bible. Over the years man has re-written it and called it a paraphrase. Is a paraphrase the same thing as the original text? Webster defines a paraphrase as a free translation or explanation. What about a translation? To translate means to render from one language into another: interpret. Don't you like this terminology a lot better than paraphrase? This means that the many scholars that translated the Old and New Testaments took it from the Hebrew and Greek and put It into English so we could read it ourselves. Does this mean that some of the original meaning could be lost? There is a chance that this could happen but if God knew this translating was being accomplished so that more of the world could hear the gospel don't you think He would have put a stop to it if it was being translated incorrectly? Just a thought!

Over the years, man has put some very unusual twists on different portions of God's word. For example, some say that all a person has to do to be saved is believe or have faith or just confess Jesus. We know that all these are true but none of them alone has saving power. Would you say that man has added to or taken away from the word simply by misinterpreting It? Could be!

We need to know what God's word plainly states about adding to or taking away from His inspired word (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:6; Jer. 26:2; Rev. 22:18, 19 and Gal. 1:8, 9). If you have ever wondered about these scriptures, hopefully by rereading them you will have answers to your questions. Have a blessed day & always remember that God is in control.

His humble servant!