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Aids vs Additions #2 – When Are Aids Wrong?
All through God’s word He warns against Going Beyond (2 John 9), Adding and Taking Away (Deut 4:2), and Turning to the Right or Left (Deut.17:11), which is another way of saying don’t add or subtract. Obviously additions are not approved by God.
While aids are scriptural and additions are not, when does an aid become unauthorized?
One obvious answer is when the aid becomes a substitute. An example of this is when David had the ark being carried on a cart by oxen. This is the scene what Uzziah died (2 Samuel 6).
Was using oxen to carry the ark easier? Yes.
Was using oxen to carry the ark smart? Yes, from a human perspective.
Was using oxen to carry the ark authorized? No, which was the problem.
“But, but, but…at least Uzzah and Ahio were Levites”. Josephus distinctly says that Uzzah was of a Levitical family (Ant. 6:1 4).
When an aid substitutes for the real deal, it is unauthorized. With David’s bad example we see how an aid can add and take away.
When churches allow outside forces to make decisions for them, whether a sponsoring church or official headquarters, local shepherds have been substituted out, being supplanted by that which is foreign to God’s word.
God is holy, and the Bible is God’s revelation. Don’t change by adding and taking away what is holy and replacing it with something that isn’t – man’s additions.
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