To understand the warning of Revelation 22:18-19, you have to think about what it SAYS, and then apply that to what the book claims to be. It does not specifically say not to add or take away from the "Word of God," but rather, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book ofthis prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life..."

Notice the emphasis on "this book." It is not a reference to the Bible as a whole, per se, but rather to the content, the prophecy of this particular book. So what is the prophecy of this book? In other words, it is a "revelation," but a revelation of what? The future? St. John? WHAT is being revealed? Flip back to the very first words in Revelation 1. This book is "the revelation of JESUS CHRIST." The prophecy of the book is of Jesus. (Cf. Rev. 19:10, "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.")

In other words, what is being revealed in this book is who Jesus is. You see him as the Ancient of Days in chapter one. He is the ruler of the churches in Ch. 2-3. He is the Lamb of God worthy to judge the world in Ch. 4-5. He is the divine administer of wrath in Ch. 6-19. He is the coming king in Ch. 19-20. He is the Creator of Heaven in Ch. 21-22. The book is a revelation of Christ.

So, back to the warning. Can one believe any LESS than what this book says about Christ and have salvation? Can a person believe other than what this book says about Christ and make it to heaven? If the point of the book is to reveal Christ, and the basis of salvation is the acceptance of Christ, than to believe "more" or "less" about Christ would be problematic for salvation. Even Jesus Himself said in John 8:24, "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." To "take away from" or to "add to" Christ's identity is a dangerous thing, indeed.