“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”** Proverbs 30:5-6 (NIV) **
God’s Word is completely free from imperfections – flawless. Every Word. Our obedience to it is not as a burdensome, slavish task – rather a joy and delight as its Truth carries with it our very best interest and blessing. It is God’s guidebook for our lives – for our whole life. And those who neglect it do so to their own harm. The Creator knows what the created needs, Amen? Paul writes to his beloved Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV): “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Thoroughly equipped sounds delightful does it not?
God’s desire is for us to trust Him and it is our obedience to His revealed will which demonstrates our trust. Also, our obedience is not to be cold, indifferent, slavish or robotic – rather we are to desire to stand firm in it, mature and fully assured. This is a tremendous blessing as all of Scripture is God breathed and profitable. And we are not given the prerogative to pick and choose what we want to believe or not to believe as this is not a choice we have been given. It is the whole of Scripture that makes the believer whole.
God makes Himself known through His flawless Word. And He rebukes those who think they know more about Him through vivid imaginations or the delusions of their own hearts rather than what is revealed in the Scriptures. We are told neither to add to nor take away from God’s divine revelation in His Word. We do so to our own harm. God’s Word is true Truth. And we can rely and depend upon it. It never changes like shifting shadows. Indeed, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel our Lord Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV): “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
It is not merely knowing God’s Word, it is putting what we know into practice. And it is the whole of Scripture that makes the believer whole.
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.** Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV)**