did God really say? (pt 2)
In my last blog post, I talked a lot about the deception of Eve in the Garden. How the devil’s motive in the garden with Eve is still his motive today in this present age. The devil is still wanting to make God’s commands subject to our own human judgment, that His Word is not final, and that we can be just like Him. In this post, however, I want to talk about Eve’s response to the serpent and how we discern what God has really said in our lives today. We know that in Genesis 2, God commanded Adam to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die (Gen. 2: 16-17). However, in Genesis 3, what Eve says God said is different. Genesis 3:2-3 says, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” You may be thinking, “What is the big deal? She added one little thing”, but there are many dangers in adding to what God has actually said. You also could be thinking she could have been setting boundaries to not be tempted to eat the fruit. Maybe! Maybe Eve thought that although God said not to eat of it, she decided she was not going to even touch it, so we won’t be tempted. Listen, I am 100% for some boundaries. It is intentional, wise, and even biblical— but adding them onto God’s word and saying that they are His, isn’t the answer or what we should do. We have seen people add to God’s Word and live & teach and lead others to live in a way that God never intended nor approved of. For example, The Book of Mormon is supposedly another testament of Jesus Christ. In other words, added words to the already finished word of Christ. In 2 Nephi 25:23 says, “… for we know that it is by grace we are saved, after all that we can do”, while Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.” Although the Book of Mormon only has a little addition in the specific verse above, it completely changes what God has actually said. This is just one example, but there are so many! Changing what God has actually said can cause people to follow a false gospel (1 John 4:1-3). What should we do to discern what God has actually said? We live in a culture where we hear God thrown around a ton. Sometimes, about Jesus, but often times it can be about something (or someone) totally different. The best way (in my opinion) that we can for sure know what God has really said, is by checking God’s Word. We know that God can not lie (Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 6:18) and we know that all of the Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17)… if someone says, “God said…” and it contradicts with any of the sixty-six books in the Bible…. We know what’s up! Now, I want to tie boundaries and convictions back into all of this; If God has convicted you in a certain way, don’t ignore that. God will convict us in different ways and again, we shouldn’t ignore it… but we also shouldn’t put our convictions onto everyone else. There are truths that we all should live by, no doubt. But God will also convict us specifically in different ways. We have to trust that the Holy Spirit will do what the Holy Spirit does best (John 16:8-11).
“Did God really say?” We can’t add (or take away for that matter) to what He has said and believe that our understanding of His character won’t be compromised. Let us continue to be diligent in what God has said & be able to lovingly defend when anyone says otherwise.
