Don’t Change God’s Word

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AStudying God’s Word

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Studying God’s Word

Introduction

Last week we talked about the collection of books we know as the New Testament and how it came to be.

• Who remembers the common thread that tied the New Testament authors together? They were all recording eyewitness accounts under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
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  What was the Holy Spirit’s role in the production of the New Testament? The Spirit brought to remembrance the words and deeds of Christ so that these men could accurately record the texts that were collected as the New Testament (John 14:26).
• Does anyone recall the approximate date of the final New Testament writings? Most of the books were completed before AD 70, but the Gospel of John and Revelation were likely written around AD 90, though there is some debate on this.
• Why was it necessary for a list of the New Testament canon to be recorded? False teachers were presenting their own writings as Scripture and editing the accepted Scriptures to their own benefit. Organizing a canon was necessary to respond to these false ideas.
• What general claims about the New Testament do we need to be prepared to respond to in order to defend the faith? Skeptics often claim that the books were chosen by the church councils to represent their views and give them authority over the people. They also claim that many books should have been included but were not or that the books and letters were written hundreds of years after the actual events. Many manuscripts demonstrate these claims to be false.
• Did adding the books to a list make them Scripture? No! These writings were Scripture and carried their own authority. It was their authority that demanded they be included in the list, not the other way around.

The Test of a True Prophet

Our lesson today is going to extend our discussion of what belongs in the canon of Scripture into the modern era. Many claim that the Bible is not enough and that more revelation has come to mankind from God. Knowing how to test the claims of these self-described prophets is the goal of our lesson today, and we will examine several of them to practice our biblical discernment.

We are going to start back in the Old Testament and look at how God told the Israelites to judge the prophets among them. Who would like to read Deuteronomy 18:17–22? Have someone read the passage aloud.

Now, let’s ask some questions of the text to make sure we look at all the important facets.

• Who is speaking in this passage? God.
• Who is the audience? God is speaking to Moses who is recording the statements for the instruction of the children of Israel, the “them” of verse 18 and the “you” of verse 21.
• What promise does God make in verse 18? To raise up a Prophet from Israel.
• Why is this singular and not plural? This is a prophecy of the Messiah, looking back to Genesis 3:15 and then forward to its fulfillment in Christ (see John 1:19–27 and Acts 3:22–26).
• What will this Prophet do? He will speak all the words God commands him.
• How will God react to the people who will not listen to his Prophet? The phrase is “he will require it of him” indicating God will demand an accounting for the rejection. This is a phrase that must be interpreted in the light of the rest of Scripture, likely pointing to damnation for those who refuse to heed the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This prophecy is reflected in Jesus’ words in John 12:44–50 where he said these words. Read the passage for the class.

• What identifies a prophet according to the Deuteronomy passage? A prophet speaks on God’s behalf as God commands him (vv. 18, 20)..
• How are the people to know if what the prophet has spoken is from God? If the prophecy does not come to pass, it is a false prophecy.
• In what other name can someone claiming to be a prophet speak? In the name of other gods.
• What is prescribed for a prophet who speaks on his own authority but claims God as the source of his proclamation? He should be put to death.
• What word is repeated in verses 20 and 22? Presumes/presumptuously.
• What is the main point of the passage? Prophets who claim to speak on God’s behalf, but are shown to speak falsely, are to be put to death.
• What does the passage tell us about God? He is serious about the words that he gives to his prophets and hates those who would presume to speak in his name and lead his people astray.
• Are there other passages in Scripture that relate to this passage? Deuteronomy 13:1–5 speaks of the same sentence for anyone who tries to draw anyone away from serving God alone. Jeremiah 23:25–34 also carries a similar message. Students might mention many other passages as well, pointing to false teachers in the New Testament passages.

Discover the Truth

Now that we have asked questions about the text, let’s talk about the main idea of knowing who is indeed speaking on God’s behalf.

• Based on this passage, how do we know if a prophet is truly speaking on God’s behalf? What he speaks in the name of God will come to pass or be demonstrated to be true.
• This definition of prophecy seems to focus on future-telling. Is the role of a prophet always to forecast the future? No; a prophet’s role is to speak the words of God. This could be a call to repentance, a forecasting of events, providing new information about God, or other specific roles.
• Is there anything about the language in this passage that makes it difficult to understand, such as figures of speech, difficult words, or other difficulties? The passage is very straightforward and leaves little room for questioning the passage’s intent.
• Why does God demand such a strict punishment for this offense? His Word reflects his character. If someone speaks presumptuously on God’s behalf, he is speaking against God’s character. Leading people astray is also a serious concern.

  Since God takes this offense seriously, we should also take it seriously. It is no light matter that someone claims to have special revelation from God. We should clearly understand who is speaking for God and who is not; those who make false predictions are false prophets. If time allows, you could give some specific examples of false predictions made by cult leaders and false prophets.

  Another point I want to emphasize as we move forward with this curriculum is that we want to always be pointing to Jesus. Since we are going through the Bible chronologically, we will be in the Old Testament for quite a while. But we are new covenant believers, so we don’t want to neglect Jesus in our study of Scripture.

  The beautiful thing is that we find Jesus all over the Old Testament! As we study, we will look for the ways the Old Testament points forward to Jesus. This text is a prime example, as Moses was given the foreknowledge of the Prophet who would come to speak for God. Not just a prophet—there were lots of those—but the Prophet. And Jesus is identified as the Prophet Moses testified would come (see John 5:46, 6:14, 7:40; Acts 3:22–23).

  As we move through the Old Testament, we need to keep the phrase “Jesus is coming” in front of us at all times. This will help us recognize that the plan of salvation and redemption was not an afterthought, but something God had intended from before the foundation of the world.

Don’t Add or Take Away

Last week we looked at Revelation 22:18–19 in our discussion on the closing of the canon. Continuing from that discussion, we are going to look at some of the modern prophets who claim to have spoken on God’s behalf.

Let’s read that passage together. Have someone read Revelation 22:18–19 aloud.

• Who is speaking? Jesus is speaking through the Apostle John.
• What two things does this passage prohibit? Adding to or taking from the words of the book.
• What are the two consequences mentioned? Receiving the plagues and having a share in the tree of life taken away.
• How are the words of this book described? They are called prophecy in both verses.
• What is the main point of the passage? Don’t add to or take away from God’s words.

Discover the Truth

Now that we have asked questions about the text, let’s look at how we interpret this in light of some modern claims to revelation from God.

• Who can think of some writings that many believe are on par with the 66 books of the Bible? Mormons regard the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants as revelation equivalent to the Bible. Muslims believe the Koran is revealed from Allah through Muhammad. Jehovah’s Witnesses have the New World Translation of the Bible. Seventh Day Adventists traditionally hold to the prophetic writings of Ellen G. White (but that attitude is changing within some churches identifying as SDA). Roman Catholics set certain pronouncements from the popes as equivalent to Scripture. Many other cults have various writings and prophets that are set equal to or above the Bible.
• Is it always easy to tell that a prophet or writing is not from God? The doctrinal differences are often very subtle, and that is why so many are drawn into false religions. They often use the Bible as support or use biblical language, but with different meanings. For example, Mormons will talk about the importance of the atonement, but they mean something different when they use that word. The Mormon concept of atonement provides the possibility of salvation by works rather than securing salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:1–10). As time allows, discuss other language used by other religions that sounds biblical.

  As we discuss these ideas, please keep in mind that we are not trying to disparage any individual, but to directly challenge ideas that run contrary to the clear teachings of the Bible. These books are all examples of ideas that have been added to Scripture or teachings that have minimized and set aside the clear truths in the Bible. This is another mark of false prophets and their teachings.

  The Watchtower Society—most of you know them as Jehovah’s Witnesses—is a group that has rewritten the Bible to fit their own doctrines. One of the classic changes comes in John 1:1 where they have changed the text to read “. . . and the Word was a God.” This denies the deity of Christ by adding to God’s Word. Along with adding to Scripture, their prophets predicted the end of the world and the Second Coming in 1914, 1925, and 1975. These individuals must be identified as false prophets since their predictions were false and their ideas contradict the clear teaching of God found in the Bible.

  Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, also revised the Bible—rewriting many sections to fit his perverted doctrines. So he is guilty of both adding to the canon and taking away from what God had revealed. In Mormonism, and most other cults, additional revelation by a charismatic leader who calls himself or herself a prophet is the beginning of the end.

  The Koran was recorded by scribes after they heard the teachings of Muhammad. Muhammad allegedly received the messages from the angel Gabriel who was delivering the very words of Allah. We must understand the Koran, written in the seventh century, as an attempt to add additional written revelation from a false prophet.

  Any teacher who suggests that what is contained in the Bible is not enough or needs to be corrected is a false prophet. The Bible is sufficient, and any claims to the contrary are attacks on God’s very character.

A Different Gospel Activity

The students will be comparing the truth found in God’s Word to some statements from false prophets in order to demonstrate that their words are not inspired by God.

We have used Hebrews 6:18 and Titus 1:2 to demonstrate that God does not and cannot lie. We have also established that the Holy Spirit inspired the written text of Scripture and the words spoken by the prophets. And finally, we’ve seen that the canon of Scripture is closed. If the prophets spoke the very words of God, and God cannot lie, then the words of the prophets must be true—the prophets cannot lie when under the direction of the Spirit. This gives us a third way to test the truthfulness of claims from those who claim to be modern prophets: If anything that a prophet says contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible, then that prophet cannot be speaking on behalf of God.

With that, let’s look at some statements from those who have claimed to be providing new revelation from God, and test their ideas against Scripture—our ultimate authority. We could pick lots of different examples, but for this lesson we are looking at three main false religions: Islam, Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Pass out the A Different Gospel worksheet. In Galatians 1:6–9, Paul rebukes the church in Galatia for following after a false gospel. The purity of the gospel is at the core of the Christian faith. If anyone teaches against the gospel, even an angel, they are to be accursed (damned). Contradicting the clear words of Scripture is a mark of a false prophet or teacher. Any attacks on the person and work of Christ are attacks on the gospel. This worksheet contains statements from three sources that claim to be prophetic. Compare those statements to the Bible passages given, and we will discuss the conclusions in a few minutes. Organize the students into small groups and discuss the answers as they finish.

Connect to the Truth

• How do these allegedly prophetic claims stand up when compared to the Bible? The quote from the Koran calls it blasphemy to believe that Jesus is God while the passage in Colossians affirms the deity of Christ. The Book of Mormon quote says that salvation comes from a mix of grace and works while Ephesians 2 makes it clear that salvation has nothing to do with works. The quote from the Jehovah Witnesses says that Christ did not have a physical body after his resurrection while the Bible makes it clear that his resurrected body was gone from the tomb, touched by the disciples, and a key component of the pure gospel. We can easily conclude that all of these are false prophets, as is anyone who claims to speak for God but contradicts his truth.

  I hope that you can see how it is important to compare the claims of those who would call themselves prophets to what the Bible actually says. A true prophet of God cannot speak what is contrary to the clearly revealed Word of God.

  In summary, we can say there are three basic errors promoted by false teachers: 1) They change the gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone; 2) They deny the deity of Christ or another member of the Godhead; 3) They deny the physical death and/or resurrection of Jesus.

Application

We have examined three ways to test the claims of the various writings that have been produced through the centuries. These tests allow us to clearly distinguish between those that are the Word of God and those that are not. You can record these on your worksheet.

Does it make false predictions?

Does it add to or take away from the 66 books of the Bible?

Does it make statements that contradict the Bible?

Making claims of the Bible’s exclusivity as the only book that is from God is a very dangerous thing in our society. Most people would tell you that all of the religious books contain truth and we can take all of the good things out of them and combine them in a way that is meaningful to us. These people would say that Jesus, Mohammed, Gandhi, Buddha, and the like are all good teachers, but none of them was totally right. This syncretistic philosophy flies in the face of the biblical worldview. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matthew 12:30). And he claimed to be the only way to the Father, not one of many (John 14:6). God is the exclusive God, and he holds the exclusive claim to truth.

If you are having a discussion with someone and you steer the conversation toward the gospel, you must point to the Bible as the authoritative source of truth.

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  How would you respond if someone says that he follows a different prophet who has heard from God and that the Bible needs to be reinterpreted for us to understand it correctly (e.g., Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses)? Ultimately, this comes down to an issue of authority; false predictions and internal contradictions can be used. As Christians, we must never abandon the authority of the Bible as we defend the faith. It is the sword we wield in the spiritual battle, and we should not step into the battle and leave it on the sidelines.
• Many religious people use biblical words, like atonement and forgiveness, but they apply unbiblical definitions to these words. Which of the three categories of error does this fit into and why is it so dangerous? This would fall under adding to or taking away from God’s Word. Scripture is used to interpret Scripture, so we must derive our definitions of spiritual terms from the Bible. Changing the definitions has the effect of changing the Bible’s actual meaning. This is so dangerous because people can be talking about how important the atonement is to them, but they have an unbiblical understanding of who Jesus is and what he accomplished on the cross. The best lies are sprinkled with truth.
• How do we guard against being influenced by language that sounds biblical but carries different definitions? Asking probing questions is important to get to the heart of what the other person is saying and what he really means. “What do you mean by salvation?” or similar questions can help us understand what the other person is thinking. Then we can direct them to the truth found in Scripture.
• If a prophet claims to be speaking for God but is found to be a false prophet, what/who is the source of the prophecies? If not from God, then these prophecies must be coming from other gods (Deuteronomy 18:20). The Bible in 2 Corinthians 11:13–15 points to Satan who transforms himself into an angel of light to deceive people. His ministers, the demons, are the power behind the false gods that promote these false prophecies.
• Why is it important to be able to discern who false prophets are? For the sake of the purity of the gospel and the acclaim of Christ, we must prevent ourselves from being swayed by false teachers or allowing others to be. Ultimately, the eternal state of men and women is at stake, and we must do this out of compassion for their souls and for the glory of God.

Group Prayer

Be sure to pray with your class before you dismiss them.

• Praise God that he has given us his true Word by which we can test all things.
• Ask God for wisdom that each person will examine the things they hear against the Bible’s clear testimony.
• Thank God for those in the church body who help guard sound doctrine.