FOR MANY PEOPLE, especially in the 21st century, religion is very confusing. There exist today countless churches that label themselves as Christians, yet with differing doctrines and teachings, despite their claim that their sole basis is the Holy Scriptures.
In this day and age, many take the position that everyone has the right to his own interpretation when it comes to God's teachings written in the Holy Bible. But what does God strictly command concerning His words written in the Bible? God says in Deuteronomy 12:32: "Carefully obey all the commands I give you. Do not add to them or subtract from them"(New Living Translation).
God revealed His commands by speaking at various times and in various ways (Heb. 1:1-2). To make His words reach the future generations, He commanded that His words be written (Jer. 30:2; I Cor. 10:11) in a book, the Holy Scriptures (II Tim. 3:15), which today is commonly called the Holy Bible.
It is of utmost importance to receive God's words correctly to have the right understanding and to ensure careful obedience to His commandments.
The need for a true messenger
Though God commanded that His words be written, one is gravely mistaken to think that His written words are easy to understand or that they are open to personal interpretation. In Apostle Peter's second epistle , he gave a warning,saying: "This is what he says in all his letters when he writes on the subject. There are some difficult things in his letters which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with other passages of the Scriptures. So they bring on their own destruction" (II Pet. 3:16, Today's English Version).
Apostle Paul tells us that the gospel has been kept secret, hidden in mystery since the world began (Rom. 16:25). Because of this, it has been God's policy since ancient times to use and send messengers to proclaim His words so that they may be communicated and received clearly and accurately by those to whom the messengers were sent. This is why Apostle Paul emphatically declared: "And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the Scripture says, 'How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!" (Rom. 10:15, TEV).
Source: God's Message (Iglesia Ni Cristo Magazine - May 2013 pp.20-22)
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