ACCURACY IN THE USE OF SCRIPTURE

2 Peter 3:16

Morning Meditation 7/18/2014

"As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

One of the most important things in Christian work is, that we should be accurate in relation to the Scriptures, for a careless reader of the Book never makes a close walk with God, nor an efficient worker for Him. Every businessman knows that attention to details, is one of the essential things in business, to make it a success..

As the title of the chapter suggests, it is most important for the Christian worker to be accurate in his dealings with Scripture, for there are two mistakes into which we are apt to fall, and these are, to misquote the Scriptures in attempting to quote them, and to misrepresent them in the application.

MISTAKES IN QUOTING THE SCRIPTURE

In misquotation, one of the following mistakes is generally made, namely, addition, saying more than is written; and alteration, misrepresenting what is written. Eve, in the garden of Eden, did all three of these when adding to the Word of the Lord, took from it, and altered it. Let us briefly note her mistakes.

1. Subtracting from the Scriptures. Genesis 2:16, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:" Eve's answer to the serpent's tempting question was: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:2). It will be seen that the woman left out of God's direction the word “freely,” and by doing so, she not only took from His word, but cast a reflection upon God's character.

2. Addition to the Word. God made one exception to the trees, from which our first parents were to eat, and that was, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. His commandment was: “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

Eve's reply to the tempter is as follows: "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." The woman added to the words by saying, “Neither shall ye touch it lest ye die” (Gen. 3:3). The Lord did not say anything about touching the tree. His command was, that they were not to eat of the fruit of it.

3. The consequences of disobedience was stated very clearly and emphatically. The Lord said, “Thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Thus minimizing the sharp and pungent words of God by saying, “Thou shalt not surely die.”

The following stories are told in a book on University life at Cambridge:—A certain candidate, when asked for the substance of Paul's sermons at Athens, stated, that “he cried out for the space of two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Yet another was asked to give the parable of the Good Samaritan. He went on very well until he came to where the Samaritan said to the innkeeper, “When I come again I will repay thee.” Then the candidate made the following addition: “This he said, knowing that he should see his face no more.”

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White