Deuteronomy 4:2

No one is to add to it, for the simplest of all reasons: there is nothing lacking. No one is to take from it, because there is nothing unnecessary. Everything we need is there, and nothing that is there can be done without... To suppose that anything can be added to God's word is, on the face of it, to deny that it is God's word. And if we admit that it is the word of God, then it follows of necessity — blessed necessity — that we could not do without a single sentence of it. If a single clause were dropped from its place, there would be a gap in the book that no human hand could fill.

We are not speaking, of course, of translations or versions, but of the Scriptures as God first gave them — His own perfect revelation... And to take away even the smallest letter or stroke from it is to say that the Holy Spirit wrote what was unnecessary. So God guards the holy book at both ends.

The voice preaches obedience. But obedience is only obedience when it is uncompromising loyalty, never tampering with the law book. There must be no addition, which would lift man's word up to God's; no subtraction, which brings God's word down to man's.

By setting up another authority, I displace and cancel the whole word of God, which claims all authority. If someone else can give orders, I am not the only master, and the man is not my servant. This does not just mislead the servant; it pushes the master aside. Anyone who adds one tiny stroke sets aside God's authority, and His revealed will as authority, completely... God, therefore, is jealous of His word, because whenever we step outside it, we step into the darkness and bondage of Satan.

"Hear," and "do"; that you may "live" and "possess." This is a lasting principle for everyone. It was true for Israel, and it is true for us. The path of life, and the real secret of possession, is simple obedience to God's holy commandments... God has given us His word, not to speculate on it, or discuss it, but so that we may obey it.

No one was to add anything to the law, and no one was to take anything from it. Sadly, people have not listened to this warning. The elders, with their traditions and their man-made commandments, added to the law and put the word of man above the Word of God. Later the Sadducees took away from the law and brought the Word of God down to the level of the word of man. People do the same today in the ritualistic and rationalistic parts of the Christian world.

To add to Scripture is ruinous. It does not matter who does it, or what holy motives people claim. God is jealous about it. He will not have His word enlarged or amended. Revelation is complete, and our simple business is to obey the word of God.

So we should take the warning of verse 2 to heart... It comes in a book of history (Deuteronomy). Scripture poetry gives a similar warning: "Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar" (Prov. 30:6). Scripture prophecy gives another (Rev. 22:18–19).