Boiling Blood and a Cringing Spirit

“All alterations and amendments of the Lord’s own Word are defilements and pollutions… There is an inherent blasphemy in seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in His dying moments declared to be finished or to improve that in which the Lord Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Several years ago, a Christian friend shared a horrific story with me that perfectly illustrates Charles Spurgeon’s quote above…

My friend was serving on the pulpit committee at his church, which had just lost its senior pastor. As they reviewed the piles of resumes from prospective pastors, it soon became apparent that some of the committee members were looking for one type of candidate whereas others favored a different set of qualifications.

Specifically, my friend and a few others wanted a conservative who believed and taught that the Bible was inspired (God-breathed) and is therefore both inerrant and infallible. However, a small but vocal minority held out for a liberal candidate who felt that most of the Bible was apocryphal and open to personal interpretation. In fact, the only parts of the Bible that these heretics believed to be the actual Word of God were the “red letter” passages where Jesus Himself speaks.

When my friend asked the leader of the liberal coalition what gave him the right, let alone the authority, to decide which parts of the Bible were true and which ones weren’t, the man pointed to his head and said, “It’s sitting on my shoulders.”

I don’t know about you, but that kind of intellectual arrogance makes my spirit cringe and my blood boil. After all, no less a biblical scholar than the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Not some Scripture… but ALL Scripture!

“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” – Revelation 22:18-19 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President