Why hasn’t anything been added to the Bible?

Some time ago I read an article wherein the author was lambasting the Bible. One of his charges against it was that nothing has been added to the Bible in 1900 years. This illustrates what I wrote last year, “One of the worst things you can say about something is that it is old.” Here he is making one of the worst charges he can imagine about the Bible, It is old and has not been updated in a long time.

And the author is correct - nothing has been added to the Bible in quite a long time. Why not? Why hasn’t anything been added to the Bible? I mean, computers, computer programs, even smart phones get updated all the time, why not the Bible?

There is a very good reason and it is found in Hebrews 1:

1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

The Bible is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to mankind, and Jesus is the final, full, and complete revelation. Rather than explain it myself, let me quote John MacArthur - see, I don’t only quote old dead guys! In a Christmas sermon on Hebrews 1 he said:

“So God did speak and He didn't speak briefly and He didn't speak in a limited fashion and He didn't speak unclearly. The Old Testament is crystal clear, it lays out the nature of God, it lays out the nature of man, it lays out the problem of sin, it lays out the promise of redemption. And it presents the coming Redeemer, it's all there.


"God, who did speak, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son." He once spoke through human prophets, and now He's spoken in His Son. No prophet has ever grasped the whole truth, only Jesus is the whole truth. The prophets got a part of it. One prophet a little here, another prophet a little there. None of them got it all. But when Jesus came, He was the full revelation of God. When He spoke, God spoke. When He acted, God acted. He is the full revelation of God. He even said, "If you seen Me, you've seen the Father." In Christ the revelation of God is complete. The many and partial revelations are over. The shadows are replaced by the substance. And so Christ comes as the fullness of God. 


When you come to Christ you're not just talking about another prophet. You're talking about God in human flesh. Everything God wants us to know about Himself is manifest in Jesus Christ. He is God's living and final revelation. The four gospels give us the record of His arrival and ministry and life and death. The book of Acts talks about the spread of that message and the building of His church. All the epistles tell us the meaning of His life and death and resurrection and ascension. And the book of Revelation tells us that some day He will come again to establish His eternal Kingdom. The whole of the New Testament is about Christ who is the full and final revelation of God.


He is the radiance of His glory. He is heir of all. He is Creator of all. He is light of all. I don't know another way to say that. The word "radiance" is...it's a great word, really, and in the Greek language it means "the brightness." It means the radiating light. It isn't the light bulb, it's the light that comes off of it. It is the radiance of the glory of God. He literally is God shining. If you want to know the glory of God, the light of the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ.


He is not only heir of all and Creator of all, and light of all, but He is, in fact, God of all. "He is the exact representation of God's nature." He is not just the shining forth of God, He is the very person of God. He is the exact representation of God's essence. He is the precise copy, the eikon, the exact image, the exact reproduction. Language is basically pressed to its limits to try to express this. He is not just a sketch of God. He is not just a shadow like Old Testament pictures and images. He is the full revelation, the picture complete. So when you think about the One who came into the world, you're thinking of none other than God Himself.”

This is why there have been no other books added – we already have the full revelation of God. The next revelation is of Jesus from heaven, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and giving rest to those who do.

Does this mean God is not speaking to us today? Of course He is speaking to us today. Oh, I know, this gives my Reformed friends fits, because they think this means we are adding to the Bible and contradicting everything said above. That’s simply ridiculous. The Holy Spirit speaks to men today, convicting them of sin and leading them to believe in Jesus; He reveals Jesus to the saints and forms Christ in us; He takes the things of Christ and shows them to us; He bears witness with our spirits that we are the sons of God; He helps us and leads us in prayer; He manifests Himself in the Church through the gifts (including all the utterance gifts); He leads us; He teaches us. But all of this is governed by the Word of God and is directed to one goal: He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

Of course He speaks today, we have a dynamic relationship with the living God! Anything less than this would be dead religion, mere tradition and formalism. But, He doesn’t reveal anything new about the nature of God, or His purpose and plan. Anyone claiming such “revelation” is, well, not telling the truth.

That’s why nothing has been added to the Bible in over 1900 years: “Jesus is the full revelation, the picture complete.” There’s nothing more to say!

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?