Adding or Subtracting From God's Word

Deuteronomy 4:2 states: "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." (ESV) Yesterday's post revealed what can happen when men make up rules that exceed what the Word says. The only limit to how ridiculous the rules can become is the boundaries of one's imagination. Look at the word "add" in the text. It is the Hebrew word yasap and it means to do something, to do something repeatedly, to enhance, increase something, or to do something after a period or inactivity." Notice the word enhance. To enhance something is to enlarge it. God wants His people to follow His Word, not an enlargement upon it created by church councils or denominations. Ponder the thought for a moment about what occurs when man increases the obligations imposed on the Word. Man, in effect, says to the Sovereign Lord that He has forgotten something or left something out. I suggest that this is dangerous ground.

The same holds true for those that would "take" from God's Word. The Hebrew word is gara and means to reduce, diminish, cut short, trim; withdraw, remove. It is equally error to reduce what God's Word says about homosexuality, murder (abortion), fornication, theft, etc. This is equally dangerous ground.

If one adds or subtracts from God's commandments, then those laws are changed from God's original intent. We must stand for truth, Biblical truth. While we don't want a bunch of silly man made rules to make us to think that they we are holy; neither do we want to throw God's laws away to permit lawlessness. There are laws that the believer needs to obey, God's laws. We obey them not to secure our salvation (the only salvation is by God's grace through faith), but because of the work of regeneration He has done in us when He gave us His Spirit and gave us a new heart.