“I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars” (Revelation 2:2)
The truth will always prevail. A lie can temporarily win the day; but in the end, it will be found out. “The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” (Prov. 12:19) When it comes to handling the Word of God, and being ministers of the truth of God, we are called to be “men of truth.” “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens” (Exodus 18:21)
We are not fit to rule in the house of God, or anywhere else, unless we have a stubborn commitment to discover the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We can’t cherry-pick what we want to believe; what fits our narrative; and disregard the rest. What a horrible way to lead and judge! Be assured: God’s truth will stand forever, but “our truth,” or our unbiblical doctrines and traditions, will eventually be “outed” as fraudulent. And then, because we failed to study to show ourselves workmen, approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth, we will be ashamed. (2 Tim. 2:15)
If we are to speak for another, we cannot improvise; we must be a faithful oracle of the One who sent us to speak for them. God warned His people not to alter His Word in any way because their obedience to Him depended upon their reception of His truth. “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (Deut. 4:2)
Paraphrasing the words of a fellow-human being may not get you into much trouble; but you don’t want to diminish or embellish the Word of God. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not one jot or tittle of the Word will ever pass away. In the end, it will stand, and all the ingenious twisting of it will be stripped away, and every one who dared to lie in God’s Name will be found out.
“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5,6)