STICK TO THE TEXT
By Akin Ojumu
Given by the inspiration of God Himself and directly from the Throne of Grace, the Holy Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
The written Word of God, as contained within the pages of the Bible, is all we need for life and godliness, and not the imagination of the heart of mere men that they allegedly heard directly from God.
“Every Word of God is pure.” (Proverbs 30:5).
God’s Words have been tried by fire and they are judged to be flawless. Like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, they are perfect and without blemish.
The Bible is the inerrant (i.e., free from error) and infallible (i.e., incapable of being wrong) Word of God. It contains all that the LORD Jesus taught His disciples, i.e., the true Apostles, and everything they in turn taught the Apostolic Fathers and those who succeeded them.
“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelations 22:18-19).
To inject human opinions into the Holy Scripture is to corrupt that which is divinely pure. Reading our puny ideas into the Bible is a desecration of that which is holy. It is a profanation of the sacred to insert oneself into the pages of the Bible making it seem as though the texts are all about us.
You’ll do well to remember that no debasement of Scripture will go unpunished. To pervert and twist the Bible, deliberately and perpetually, is an invitation of God’s upon oneself.
There are no gaps in the Holy Scripture. God doesn’t need your help to fill in the blanks. Your job is to discover the intended meaning of the Bible texts. Don’t add to the texts, simply let the meaning of the texts come from the texts themselves.
Do not impose your own words and philosophies into the Word of God. Be zealously committed to getting the Bible texts right as a faithful exegete. Let that be your life’s goal.
It is a sacrilegious thing to think you have the liberty to make the Bible texts mean whatever it is you want them to mean. Just stick to the text and you won’t go wrong. Trust me, there much blessing in doing just that.
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