#DailyDevotion We Need To Guard Against Adding Or Subtracting From God’s Word
Mark 7 :9-13 9He added: “You have a fine way of setting aside God’s commandment in order to keep your rules! 10For example, Moses said: ‘Honor your father and your mother,’and: ‘Anyone who curses father or mother must die.’ 11But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “Anything by which I might help you is Korban (that is, a gift to God),” 12then you don’t let him do anything for his father or his mother anymore. 13In this way, by the rules you have taught, you set aside what God has said. And you’re doing many things like that.”
Well I think a number of congregations would run Jesus out if he talked to them as he does the Pharisees here. He certainly isn’t being nice. He sounds fairly sarcastic here, doesn’t he? “You have a fine way…,” Jesus says. Why does he speak to them in this way. Well, when the Law is hitting someone squarely on the head I do believe God has a two-fold purpose. The first is to call the offenders to repentance and to faith. The other is to serve as a warning for others not to follow in the bad path those guilty are on.
The Pharisees are on a bad path. When Satan asked Eve, “Did God really say?” what did Eve do? She repeated what God said and then she added her own little spin to it (don’t even touch it). The LORD told the Israelites, 2 “Don’t add anything to what I order you to do or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I order you to keep.” (Deut 4) The LORD told Joshua, 7“Only be strong and very bold to be careful and do everything in this Law that Moses, My servant, ordered you to do. Don’t turn to the right or to the left from it; then you will succeed everywhere you go.” Jesus tells us in Rev. 22, 18“I warn everyone who hears what the prophecy of this book tells him: If you add anything to this, God will add to you the plagues written in this book. 19And if you take away any words in this book of prophecy, God will take away your share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.”
What happens when we start messing with God’s word, even if we add something to “protect” what God has said? We set aside what God originally told us. Eve did it. The ancient Israelites and Judeans did it. Now Jesus points out the Pharisees are guilty of the same thing, forbidding what God has not forbidden and commanding what God has not commanded. Hence we call people Pharisees who do these things—though some are called that for exactly being faithful to what God has said. The laws, commandments, precepts, words, rules etc. of God which are written plainly for everyone to read are freeing in this one aspect, they keep from having to do or not do a lot of things God never commanded us, at least at the point of sinning.
Keeping the LORD’s will is tough enough. Just try honoring your parents in all you say and do all the time. That would be a full time job. Or love your neighbor as yourself. My whole day is now full. Thanks be to God we have someone who has fulfilled God’s Law perfectly for us and in our stead. That would be Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is the only one who ever has and has been able to keep God’s law perfectly in thought, word and deed. He credits us his righteousness when we believe in him. He gives us his Spirit that we may desire, have joy in and commence doing the LORD’s will for us in our lives.
Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for your Law and Jesus who obeyed it for us. Give us your Holy Spirit so we may love your Law and do your Law through faith in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.