Bible version can be a sore topic with some. My intention here is not to open wounds among the true body of Christ, but rather to encourage a renewed, stronger faith in the Word of God itself.
The message of salvation comes from the Word (Rom. 10:17), and as far as I know, every Bible version contains this message. Therefore what I am saying is, that I do not doubt a person’s salvation based upon the Bible version he/she may be holding in their hands.
When we are redeemed, however, God does not immediately transfer us in to Heaven! The Bible tells us that we are to live by every Word of God (Deut. 8:3, Matt. 4:4, Luke 4:4), so they are important to know beyond measure. We will be judged by God’s Word (John 12:48), and He has magnified it even ABOVE all His name (Psalm 138:2)!
Beyond that, the Lord has promised to perfectly preserve His Word forever. The King James Bible is the fulfillment of this promise; “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” –Psalm 12:6,7.
While initial salvation may not be dependent upon a Bible version, we do need God’s true words to grow strong in faith, and avoid deceit. We are at such a time in history where it is vital for our spiritual survival to know God’s Word. I personally believe that we are within about 6 months of the rule of the antichrist. The great majority of professing believers will be swept up into this powerful deception, receiving their arch foe as their savior. Don’t be one of the deceived! Arm yourselves with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. – see Eph. 6:12-18.
There is a lot of info about this topic, but due to the perceived space restraints of blogs in general, I will try to keep it short and simple. I think that the truth of this subject can be simply known, without the years of deeper study that I have devoted. In the end, however, I will be listing sources of information for deeper study on your own, should you be so inclined.
When Bible revision began in earnest back in the mid-to-late 1800s, the focal “battle cry” was to update the language of The Holy Bible, later to be identified as the King James Bible. Indeed, if this were the honest intent of the revisers, and the outcome, there might be no real problem to speak of. And this is how the different Bible versions were marketed to Christians; that they were the same message from God as the KJV, only with more “modern” language- that they were also more understandable because of it. Since now the KJV has been almost completely rejected by the organized church, its critics have broadened their attacks upon it. Yet still, today the average layman believes that all Bibles are the same, at base level. We have been holding to an undue respect of persons, esteeming religious leaders that have been trained by the systems of men. All Bibles are not the same, and the differences are not only in the “type” of language used. We have fallen victim to the lies forwarded first in our Bible colleges and seminaries, year after year, then repeated to the congregations and society in general. We rely upon the “learnedness and integrity” of sinful and fallible men, never looking into matters for ourselves; when the very eternal destiny of ourselves and many others depends on our handling of the truth (John 17:17).
Wasn’t this the cause for the Reformation- the Protestant break with Roman Catholicism? The Roman clergy dominated the scriptures, and suppressed all outside attempts to learn them. Once we had them and had studied, it became clear that Christian faith was not what the religious system of Rome claimed it to be; it was another gospel, and accursed (Gal. 1:6-9)! We are doing the same thing today, when our only belief about the scriptures is what “respected and learned” Christian leaders have to tell us about it. God has preserved His Word through the blood of many faithful servants throughout the years. Brethren, we will give an account to Him for how we have handled it.
No comments:
Post a Comment