7d • Wisdom
Let the Bible Be
“Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:6
After declaring in the previous verse that “Every word of God is pure,” Agur gives the natural conclusion: if God’s Word is already perfect, man has no right to improve, alter, or add to it. To add to Scripture is to act as though God left something incomplete. Agur warns that doing so ultimately makes the person, not God, the liar.
This principle appears throughout Scripture. Deuteronomy 4:2 says, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it.” Revelation 22:18 gives a similar warning against adding unto “the words of the prophecy of this book.” God takes His words seriously because they carry His authority, not ours.
Jesus strongly condemned the same problem when religious tradition was elevated to the level of God’s commandment. He said, “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition” (Mark 7:13). We can add to God’s Word not only by literally changing its text, but also by presenting our own preferences, traditions, or opinions as though God Himself commanded them.
This requires humility. It is easy to confuse “I strongly believe this” with “the Bible clearly says this.” Second Timothy 2:15 commands us to be “rightly dividing the word of truth.” We should be careful to distinguish between what Scripture explicitly teaches, what can reasonably be inferred from Scripture, and what is simply our own judgment.
The warning “lest he reprove thee” also reminds us that God Himself is the defender of His Word. Human ideas may sound convincing for a time, but anything that contradicts what God has spoken will eventually be exposed. Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true, but every man a liar.”
Practically, Proverbs 30:6 should make us very careful with phrases like “God says” or “the Bible teaches.” Before placing God’s authority behind a belief, we should make certain Scripture actually supports it. God’s Word does not need our additions; it needs our submission. The safest position is not to make Scripture say what we want, but to allow Scripture to correct what we already think.
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