So what about the teachings and texts that aren't in the Bible?
When determining whether or not a teaching, ‘missing book’ or some additional piece of evidence is inspired by God, we must compare it to evidence gathered from the totality of the current continuum of the Bible (Old and New Testament). Sometimes additional scriptures will offer contradictory evidence or statements to what is generally recognized as God inspired texts. The Old Testament perfectly predicts the New Testament, the New Testament often times has books that are disputed but Matthew-John are four separate accounts of Jesus’s life and many of the other books are recognized as being from the Apostles who spread Christianity. Revelation which is a disputed chapter has gained greater acceptance as it is revealed that it predicts the journey of God’s word through the dark ages.
When regarding new pieces of information, we must remember that Satan is known as the deceiver. This means that his approach to mis-leading those who seek God (or simply keeping those who don’t away from God) will not be direct. When you look at the description for the anti-christ (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) you can see that Satan’s greatest form of deceit will come by way of portraying himself to be God.
So with that being said, you can judge any additional books or Christian teachings by the fruit (the character and actions of its followers) it produces (Matthew 7:16). Satan is fully aware of God’s plan to redeem man and has been since the fall of man. His goal is to have as many of us as possible fail to recognize and accept God. So if a particular piece of scripture or religion is said to have pre-dated the Bible itself, we must keep in mind that we follow the Bible because we believe the words are inspired by God, not because we believe it is the oldest book or religion. Pre-dating God’s plan/law/wisdom with scripture that is similar but leads people astray one of many tactics at Satan’s disposal since his existence pre-dates man.
Often times you’ll find popular churches or Christian movements will produce judgmental and callous people who are not representative of Jesus’s character. In instances like this, what these people have been taught should be called into question as not representative of scripture. Paul clearly states the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness
Paul also mentions what to look for when it comes to any teaching that leads to the below as being from man and not from God, Galatians 5:19-21:
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
As Satan pursues deceit, we must know his intentions and keep them in mind when reviewing knew pieces of information, remember:
He wants us to suffer
He wants us to mis characterize God
He wants to be right and portray God’s creation as flawed and resulting in our suffering.
He wants to be like the most high, and told the Angels they could still be Holy separate from God’s law.
Some edicts, principles and scriptures not found in the existing Bible continuum may serve the purpose of supporting Satan's arguments against God (God's creation is flawed, the belief that God isn't just, you don't need to follow God's moral law to be good). Eliminating God from being hands on in creation, going against the Bibles claim that we have a sinful nature and finding integrity within ourselves may make us feel more comfortable (and support Satan’s argument against God) but it also goes against the 10 commandments which are supported as laws in the old and new testament and by Jesus himself (‘The heart is deceitful above all things,’ Jeremiah 17:9). Whatever the truth is, it will bring inconvenience and reprimand for our actions, so we have to be careful with accepting a truth that makes us comfortable. Many people feel that the 10 commandments died when Jesus did, however Jesus (Matthew 5:17,18) the writer of Revelation who predicted the Dark Ages (Revelation 22:14) and James after Jesus’s death (James 1:25, 2:8) have all stated this to be untrue.
This does not mean that commandments alone are the path to salvation, dedication to Jesus (accepting Christ thanks to the grace of God through faith) is the path that will naturally make you want to follow his commandments if you truly accept him. A fundamental truth in the Bible is that sin leads to death and the 10 commandments define ‘what sin is’. For morality to be individual contradicts the fact that morality is a part of universal law from God in the Bible. Paul refers to the law as righteous even after Christs death (Romans 7:12), and he is generally recognized for birthing modern Christianity. The law is so set in stone with God (no pun intended) that even Jesus had to die for our sins so that we would not have to pay the penalty, we simply need to believe in him to accept what he did for us.
Now, concerning Jesus, he quotes the Old Testament a lot, which supports the Old Testaments connectivity to the new. He leads his followers to believe scripture holds the answers (John 17:17), when he was tempted by Satan in the dessert, he turned to texts from the Old Testament to respond. As far as the New Testament, he promised to give his disciples help in remembering his words and writing from his inspiration for the New Testament (John 14:27). However the idea that all knowledge and wisdom in Christianity can be found in the Bible is contradicted by other schools of thought within Christianity. So while it is true, there are lost books of the Bible that are referenced by the Bible but were not voted in as part of Bible canon. There are still other books and schools of thought that contradict God’s word. Using what we currently know in scripture and discerning principles based on the fruits that they produce, we can make wises choices as to what may be God inspired and what may be fallacy.
Great care must be taken when it comes to supplementing God’s word, not only because it can lead others astray, but it is not the direction that he would like us to go in (Revelation 22:18-19).
