SATAN'S
RELIGION
OF WORKS AND THE MODERN VERSIONS
By Will
Kinney
INTRODUCTION
The only common thread in all religions besides Christianity is a
system of works and personal effort. Their ideas about God or gods, the
afterlife, reincarnation, and the steps "to make it" all differ from
one another. The religious scene is like the tower of Babel, from which
we get the word Babylon. Satan delights in sowing confusion and
contradiction, but all his false systems of belief contain the common
element of works and self-effort.
Unfortunately, most Christians today are not resting in the grace of
God and the finished redemptive work accomplished through the shed
blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.
This unrest of spirit is caused by legalistic preaching and is further
fomented by the way most new bible versions are being translated.
In this article I want to focus on how three sets of words are being
translated and interpreted. I will divide this study into three
sections so it won't be too long to read all at once. 1) "patience" vs
"perseverance," 2) "believe" vs "obey," and most importantly 3) "to
keep" vs "to obey."
PATIENCE VS. PERSEVERANCE
What is the difference between PATIENCE and PERSEVERANCE? Stop for a
minute before you continue reading and think about it. "Patience"
implies a waiting upon God, hoping in Him, and trusting Him to fulfill
His promises in His appointed time. The word "perseverance", on the
other hand, causes us to focus on our own strength, efforts, and
ability to overcome difficulties.
In the King James Bible, as well as the older Bible versions like
Tyndale, the Geneva Bible, and even the Revised Version and the
American Standard Version, the noun form of the Greek word hupomone is
most often translated as "PATIENCE". In fact, this word is translated
as "patience" some 31 times in the KJB New Testament, and never is
rendered as "perseverance". There is a word translated as perseverance
found in Ephesians 6:18 "praying always...and watching thereunto with
all perseverance supplication for all saints", but this is an entirely
different Greek word. Prayer is not easy and it does require personal
effort; therefore the word "perseverance" is used rather than
"patience".
The word hupomone is translated as patience 31 times in the KJB; the
NKJV likewise translates this word as "patience" most of the time but 8
times has rendered this word as "perseverance". (See Romans 5:3,4;
8:25; 2 Cor. 12:12; 2 Tim. 3:10; James 5:11; 2 Peter 1:6 -twice). The
NASB and NIV both have rendered it as "patience" only once, and all the
other times they translate it by such terms as "perseverance,
endurance, or steadfastness".
In Romans 8:25 we read: "But if we hope for that we see not, then do we
with PATIENCE wait for it." The RV, ASV, Spanish (paciencia), Tyndale,
Geneva, and even the NIV (only time in the NIV), all say we wait with
patience. However both the NASB and the NKJV say: "we eagerly wait for
it with PERSEVERANCE."
Notice how the emphasis has been totally changed in Romans 5:3-4. "And
not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that
tribulation worketh PATIENCE; And PATIENCE, EXPERIENCE; and EXPERIENCE,
hope." In other words, as we go through trials in our Christian walk,
we wait upon God to see us through our difficult times and we learn by
the experience of His repeated delivering us in the past that we can
trust Him to do so in the future as well. Both "patience" and
"experience" are the readings found in the KJB, Tyndale, Geneva Bible,
Young's, Darby, Bible in Basic English, Lamsa's translation of the
Syriac Peshitta, Webster's 1833 translation, the KJV 21, Green's Modern
KJV, and the Third Millenium Bible. The Spanish Antigua Versi n
likewise reads " y la paciencia, experiencia", and the Italian Diodati
has the same with: " e la pazienza sperienza".
But notice how the meaning has been altered in such versions as the
NKJV, NIV, and NASB. In Romans 5:3-4 they unite in saying: "And not
only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation
produces PERSEVERANCE, and PERSEVERANCE, CHARACTER, and CHARACTER,
hope." - NKJV. Instead of patiently waiting upon God and experiencing
His deliverance, these new versions focus our minds on our
"persevering" and on our "character"! The meaning is not at all the
same.
Revelation 14 speaks of the coming judgment upon Babylon and tells us
that if anyone worships the beast and receives his mark he will suffer
the wrath of God. Then in verse 12 we read: "Here is the PATIENCE of
the saints; here are they that KEEP the commandments of God and THE
FAITH of Jesus." This is the reading found not only in the KJB, but
also in the NKJV, RV, ASV and many others. We are to trustfully wait
upon God and His time to judge the wicked, guard and hold onto His
commandments and His truth, and not be drawn away by the false religion
of antichrist. To KEEP something is to guard it, hold on to it and not
let it go. THE FAITH is the doctrine concerning the Person and work of
Jesus Christ. Compare Galatians 1:23 "they heard only, That he which
persecuted us in times past now preacheth THE FAITH which once he
destroyed". See also Jude 3 "ye should earnestly contend for THE FAITH
which was once delivered unto the saints."
However the NASB reads here: "Here is the PERSEVERANCE of the saints
who keep the commandments of God and THEIR faith IN Jesus." There are
no words in any Greek text for "their" or "in". The NIV is worse yet
with: "This calls for PATIENT ENDURANCE on the part of the saints who
OBEY God's commands and REMAIN FAITHFUL TO Jesus." This is a paraphrase
that changes the meaning of the verse and puts words in the sentence
that are not found except in the mind of the translators.
Read again the KJB and then compare it to the NIV. How does your spirit
react to each reading? Are you trusting in God Who cannot fail and
holding onto His word, or are you relying on your own strength and
trying to do the best you can hoping you will stay faithful and make it
through?
I will close this section of the study with one more example of the
word "patience". In Luke 21, Christ is telling us of the last days
before His return. There will be a terrible time of tribulation and
persecution. He says: "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's
sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. IN YOUR PATIENCE
POSSESS YE YOUR SOULS." Luke 21:19. This is the reading of the KJB,
NKJV, Tyndale, Geneva and many others. The word "patience" is also
found in the earlier RV and the ASV. In the midst of all these trials,
we can keep our sanity and remain confident that our God is coming to
judge the wicked and to take us home.
However, again, many modern versions change the meaning of this verse.
The NASB keeps on changing both its texts and translations from one
edition to the next. In the 1960-1972 editions the NASB read: "by your
PERSEVERANCE YOU WILL WIN your SOULS", but then in 1977, 1995 they
changed this to read: "by your ENDURANCE YOU WILL GAIN your LIVES." The
NIV does the same thing from edition to edition as the NASB. The NIV of
1977 says: "BY STANDING FIRM YOU WILL SAVE YOURSELVES", then the NIV of
1978 and 1984 says: "BY STANDING FIRM YOU WILL GAIN LIFE.". Now, I
don't know about you, but I gained life by the substitutionary death
and sacrifice of my blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the cross;
certainly not by my standing firm or by my perseverance.
TO
TO BELIEVE VS. TO OBEY
John 3:36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and HE
THAT BELIEVETH NOT the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him." This is the reading of the KJB, Tyndale, Young's,
Douay, Spanish Reina Valera, Italian Diodati, Luther's German, Bible in
Basic English, the NKJV, Green's MKJV, French Louis Segond, Worldwide
English Bible, Wycliffe, Webster's, the KJV 21 and the Third Millenium
Bible.
Words have different meanings depending on the context. For example, in
Hebrew the same word can mean either to "curse" or to "bless". In the
book of Job the same word is translated as "blessed" in Job 1:10 and 21
where God blessed Job and Job blessed the name of the LORD. Yet the
same word is translated as "to curse" in Job 1:5, 11; 2:5 and 9 where
Satan said Job would curse God to His face and Job's wife told him to
curse God and die. Another Hebrew word (Strong"s #2617) is usually
translated as "mercy", "goodness", "kindness", yet only once is this
same word rendered as "reproach" in Proverbs 14:34 "sin is a reproach
to any people".
Likewise the word used in John 3:36 and translated as "believeth not"
has several meanings depending on the context and sound theology. The
word is apeitheo and can mean "to be unbelieving", "to believe not",
"to not be persuaded", and "to be disobedient". Even the NASB has
translated this word as "disbelieved" in Acts 14:2 "the Jews who
disbelieved...", and the NIV renders it as "refused to believe" in Acts
14:2; as "unbelievers" in Romans 15:31, and as "he who is unbelieving"
in 1 Peter 3:1. So we see they too have adopted the meaning of "believe
not" in other passages.
However in John 3:36 instead of saying "but he that BELIEVETH NOT the
Son shall not see life", the NASB, ISV, ESV say: "but HE WHO DOES NOT
OBEY the Son, shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him."
The NIV is not nearly as bad as these others here but paraphrases as:
"whoever REJECTS the Son will not see life".
Let's examine for a moment the NASB, ESV reading of "he who does NOT
OBEY the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
According to the NASB, it is not enough that we only believe in Christ
as our Saviour but we must also OBEY Him or else the wrath of God
awaits us. It does not say "try to obey" or "wish to obey" or "obey 90%
of the time" but OBEY. Do you obey, not just attempt to obey, much of
anything the Lord told us to do? Do you love all Christians and even
your enemies more than yourself? Are you sometimes critical of others,
judgmental, proud, selfish, or unkind? Do you have lustful thoughts? If
you think you are always obeying the Lord, I don't think you know your
own heart very well.
Praise God for His grace and unconditional love to us His people. May
they awaken within us a greater desire to please and obey Him. But this
holy desire will spring out of a motive of love for our Saviour and not
out of a fear of His wrath if we do not perfectly obey Him, which
neither you nor I can do in this life.
Other verses that have been changed are found in the book of Hebrews
chapters 3 through 4. There we read of the history of the children of
Israel in the wilderness to whom the gospel was preached but it was
"not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have
believed do enter into rest" (Hebrews 4:2-3). "And to whom sware he
that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that BELIEVED
NOT? So we see that they could not enter in because of UNBELIEF."
(3:18,19)
"Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they
to whom it was first preached entered not in because of
UNBELIEF"..."Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any
man fall after the same example of UNBELIEF." (4:6,11)
In all these verses not only does the KJB say "believed not" and
"unbelief" but so also do Tyndale, Douay, Youngs, Spanish Antigua
Versi๓n, Italian Diodati, Webster's, Green's MKJV, KJV21, and Third
Millenium Bible.
However the NKJV, NIV, NASB and many other modern versions change the
meaning in these four verses by saying: "He sware they would not enter
His rest to those who did not OBEY"..."did not enter because of
DISOBEDIENCE"..."be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall after
the same example of DISOBEDIENCE." Is it faith and believing God that
allow us to enter the land of rest in Christ, our our obedience?
Agreeing with the correct theology of faith or unbelief as seen in the
KJB is the Old Testament itself. In Numbers 14:11, when the children of
Israel feared to go in to take possession of the land of promise, God
says: "How long will it be ere they BELIEVE ME, for all the signs which
I have shewed among them." Deuteronomy rehearses the history of Israel
before entering the land and God says he "bare thee, as a man doth bear
his son, in all the way that ye went until ye came unto this place. Yet
in this thing YE DID NOT BELIEVE the LORD your God"...and the Lord
sware surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation
see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, save Caleb
... and Joshua" Deut. 1:31-35.
One more clear verse showing it was unbelief that prevented them from
entering the land of rest is Deut. 9:23 "Likewise when the LORD sent
you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have
given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your
God, and YE BELIEVED HIM NOT, nor hearkened unto his voice."
Is it true, as the NASB, ESV, ISV teach in John 3:36, that "he who does
not OBEY the Son, the wrath of God abides on him"? Consider the first
disciples themselves. Instead of taking up the cross, denying
themselves, forsaking all to follow Jesus, Peter denied the Lord three
times with cursing and an oath and "all the disciples forsook him and
fled" Matthew 26:56.
In 2 Peter chapter one we are exhorted to add various virtues to our
faith and told that IF these things are in us we will not be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord. "But HE THAT LACKETH THESE
THINGS is blind, and cannot see afar off, and HATH FORGOTTEN THAT HE
WAS PURGED FROM HIS OLD SINS." (2 Peter 1:9) The person referred to
here who lacks these virtues is still a blood bought child of God, who
has been purged from his old sins. He is then told to make his calling
and election sure,- not to God, for He knows already, but to himself.
This person may lose all personal assurance that he is a child of God,
but he has been purged of his sins in the blood of Christ and is
forever secure in the grace of God.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 we read: "God hath not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us,
that, whether we wake or sleep, (watch or don't watch - same word as
"watch" in verse 6) we should live together with him." My faithfulness
in watching or sleeping spiritually is not the ground of my assurance.
It is the fact that Christ died for me and nothing else.
Psalm 119 ends with this verse: "I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
seek THY SERVANT, for I do not forget thy commandments." Even though he
has gone astray, he is still God's servant. The disciples who forsook
the Lord are still called disciples; the Christian who doesn't watch
will still live with Christ; and the man that lacks the virutes listed
in 2 Peter has still been purged from his sins.
What may confuse some saints is that there are frequent verses in the
Bible that speak of "obeying the gospel", but a closer look at these
verses shows that to "obey" is equivalent to "believe".
Romans 10:16: "...but they have not all OBEYED the gospel, For Esaias
saith, Lord, who HATH BELIEVED our report?" Notice that to obey the
gospel is to believe the report.
Acts 6:7: "...and a great company of the priests WERE OBEDIENT TO THE
FAITH"; in other words, they believed the gospel of Christ.
Romans 6:17: "...but ye have OBEYED from the heart that form of
doctrine which was delivered you."
2 Thes. 1:7-8: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming
fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that OBEY NOT THE
GOSPEL of our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Peter 1:1,22: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto OBEDIENCE and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ...seeing ye have purified your
souls in OBEYING the truth through the Spirit..."
And in Romans 16:26 we read of the mystery of the gospel which is now
"made known to all nations for THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH." Faith itself is
the obedience to the command to believe the gospel.
The doctrines of the free grace of God and salvation by faith plus
nothing are much more clearly set forth in the King James Bible than in
the confusing and contradictory multitude of modern versions.
TO
KEEP VS. TO OBEY
King James Bible - "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we KEEP
his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and KEEPETH NOT his
commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but WHOSO KEEPETH
HIS WORD, in him verily is the love of God perfected." 1 John 2:3-5
NIV - "We know that we have come to know him if we OBEY his commands.
The man who says, "I know him," but does NOT DO what he commands is a
liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone OBEYS his word, God's
love is truly made complete in him."
What do the phrases "keep my commandments" and "keepeth His word" mean?
I am convinced that many Christians misunderstand the meaning, and some
modern versions, like the NIV, NRSV, TNIV, perpetuate the error.
This may come as a shock to many but the word TO KEEP in both Hebrew
and Greek does NOT mean "to obey" or "to do"!!!. The Hebrew word
"Shamar" (Strong's #8104) is translated in the KJB, ASV, NKJV, NASB as
"to keep, to observe, to take heed to, to preserve, to be a watchman,
and to regard." The Greek word "teereo' (Strong's #5083) likewise in
these versions is translated as "to keep, to guard, to watch, to
preserve, to reserve, and to hold fast." If you are playing basketball
in the park and take out your wallet and keys and ask a friend to keep
them for you, obviously you want him to hang on to them and not lose
them.
The NIV was the first "bible" to give these words new meanings. The NIV
translates the O.T. word Shamar as "to obey" 29 times and as "to do" 5
times. It also translates the N.T. word tereeo as "to obey" 21 times
and "to do" 3 times. I believe this is due, not only to Satan's hand at
work to promote a works oriented religion, but also to much careless
preaching. Legalism is natural to the human heart. Few Bible students
take the time to actually look up a word in the Bible itself, not a
commentary, to see exactly how the Holy Ghost uses this particular word.
Here are a few examples of how the word Shamar is used. Try to fit "to
do" or "to obey" into the text and see if they fit. "Am I my brother's
KEEPER?" (Gen.2:15). "The Lord bless thee and KEEP thee" (Num. 6:24).
"KEEP me as the apple of the eye" (Ps. 17:8). "O KEEP my soul and
deliver me" (Ps. 25:20). "PRESERVE me, O God." (Ps. 16:1). "I have set
WATCHMEN upon thy walls, O Jerusalem." (Isa. 62:6)
Try to fit "to do" or "to obey" into these New Testament examples.
"thou hast KEPT the good wine until now" (John 2:10). "Holy Father,
KEEP through thine own name those whom thou hast given me...I have KEPT
them in thy name...KEEP them from evil" (John 17:11-12,15) "Peter
therefore was KEPT in prison." (Acts 12:5)
A good way to get the sense of a word is to compare it with the
contrasting or opposite words used with it. "a time TO KEEP and a time
TO CAST AWAY" (Ecc. 3:6). "They that FORSAKE the law praise the wicked,
but such as KEEP the law contend with them" (Pro. 28:4). Speaking of
wisdom God says: "FORSAKE her not and she will PRESERVE thee" (Pro. 4:6
- same word as "to keep"). "My son, ATTEND TO my words, INCLINE THINE
EAR unto my sayings; Let them NOT DEPART from thine eyes; KEEP them in
the midst of thine heart" (Pro. 4:20-21). "Only TAKE HEED TO (same
word) thyself, and KEEP thy soul diligently, lest thou FORGET the
things which thine eyes have seen and lest they DEPART from thy heart
all the days of thy life..." (Deut. 4:9)
Notice too the distinction drawn between TO DO and TO KEEP in
Deuteronomy 4:6. This passage contains four separate things the
Israelites were to do. "And Moses called all Israel and said unto them,
HEAR, of Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears
this day that ye may LEARN them, and KEEP, and DO them." They were to
hear, to learn, to keep, and to do. The same concept is seen in may
passages but one more may help to illustrate. "Ye shall therefore KEEP
my statutes and my judgements which I speak in your ears this day that
ye may LEARN them, and KEEP, and DO them."
When the Bible speaks of us KEEPING the commandments of the word of the
Lord, God is telling us not to forsake, let go of, forget or turn away
from them, but rather to guard, preserve, hold on to and cling to them.
By God's grace we hopefully will not only keep them but also do and
obey them; but, to KEEP and to OBEY are two distinct and separate
concepts.
This difference between to keep and to obey is often illustrated for us
in God's true words. Let's look for a moment at the life of king David.
In 1 Kings 11 we are told: "And it came to pass, when Solomon was old,
that his wives turned away his heart after other gods...for Solomon
went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the
abomination of the Ammorites...Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon,
Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and THOU HAST NOT KEPT My covenant
and My statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend thy
kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant" (1 Kings 11:4,5,11)
Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will
make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake,
whom I chose, BECAUSE HE KEPT my commandments and my statutes." (1
Kings 11:34)
In 1 Kings 14:8 God, through His prophet Ahijah, rebukes king Jeroboam.
"...and thou hast not been as my servant David, WHO KEPT MY
COMMANDMENTS, and who followed me with all his heart, to do right in
mine eyes; but hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou
hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to
anger, and hast cast me behind thy back."
The principal sin of Solomon and Jeroboam was turning to other gods -
apostacy and idolatry. God says David KEPT His commandments, yet David
certainly disobeyed the commandments of God by comitting adultery and
murder. But king David never turned away from Jehovah as being the only
true God of his life. He held onto God's revelation of Himself in His
word and never forsook Him to follow another religion or other gods.
Now, let's look again at 1 John 2:3-5. "And hereby we do know that we
know him, if we KEEP his commandmants. He that saith, I know him, and
KEEPETH NOT his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
but WHOSO KEEPETH HIS WORD, in him verily is the love of God perfected."
The NIV has changed the sense entirely. "We know that we have come to
know him if we OBEY his commands. The man who says, 'I know him' but
DOES NOT DO what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But if any man OBEYS his word, God's love is truly made complete in
him." If the NIV is the correct interpretation, then I do not know of
anyone that is a Christian. Don't give me that old line about "a
pattern of obedience". Do you sin in thought, word or deed at least
once a day? Or how about once an hour? Is this not then a pattern of
sinning?
The commandments, or the Biblical teachings, are the words of God. In 1
John 3:23 we are told: "And this is the commandment, that we should
believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as
he gave us commandment." This same chapter tells us "Little children,
it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come,
even now are there many antichrists...they went out from us, but they
were not of us...who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son...Let
that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning..."
(the original teaching concerning the Person and the work of Christ;
don't leave that truth for a new or false religion) "These things have
I written unto you concerning them that seduce you."
The epistle of First John speaks of two different kinds of sin. "If any
man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask,
and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a
sin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it." 1 John 5:16.
Here is a BROTHER who is sinning a sin not unto death. He is a brother
in Christ who continues in some kind of sin, (it is a present
continuous tense), a garden variety sin to which we are all prone. But
5:16 also mentions a sin that is unto death, for which he is not to
pray. I believe this sin is that of forsaking the doctrine that Jesus
is the Christ, denying it, and following the false religion of
antichrist. The prophet Jeremiah was likewise told not to pray for
those who, having been warned repeatedly, turned to other gods. See
Jeremiah 7:16 and 11:14.
New Age teaching and Eastern Religions such as Hinduism are very
similar to each other. They teach that Christ is a divine spirit or
consciousness within us all. They teach that soon we will all become
this Christ Consciousness. No! This is not true at all. The Bible tells
us that JESUS IS THE CHRIST; there is no other. He died and shed His
blood for the sins of His people. There is no other Saviour. If anyone
denies this truth, the apostle John does not say that they should pray
for this sin unto death.
The true Christian can never sin in this way of continuing to deny that
Jesus is the Christ. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for
his seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of
God" 1 John 3:9. The seed mentioned here is most likely the word of God
- "the seed is the word of God" (Luke 8:11); "being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God..." 1 Peter
1:23.
Notice too how the word TO KEEP is used in 1 John 5:18: "We know that
whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God
KEEPETH himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not." When it says
that he that is born of God sinneth not, it cannot be consistent with
the rest of Scripture and our own experience to say that this refers to
ANY SIN AT ALL. This would contradict 1 John 1:8 where it says: "If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us." This verse then, in the context of the whole epistle, refers to
the sin unto death - that is, to deny that Jesus is the Christ.
To sum up the argument: He that KEEPETH His commandments, and KEEPETH
His word is the Christian who holds onto, guards, preserves and retains
the doctrine of Christ and does not forsake it to follow the antichrist
religion. "Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from
the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall
remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father." 1
John 2:24.
In light of what the phrase "keepeth my commandments" really means, it
adds a new dimension to the Bible version controversy. Most of the
modern versions are based on a very different Greek text that omits
some 5000 words, including many entire verses, from the New Testament
and they often depart from the Hebrew texts in the Old Testament. With
this in mind, consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when He says:
"He that hath my COMMANDMENTS and KEEPETH them, he it is that loveth
me...He that loveth me not KEEPETH NOT MY SAYINGS: and THE WORD which
ye hear is not mine, but the Father's that sent me." John 14:21,24.
Commandments = my sayings = the Father's word. "I have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world; thine they
were, and thou gavest them me; AND THEY HAVE KEPT THY WORD...For I have
given unto them THE WORDS which thou gavest me; and they have received
them" John 17:6-8 - Keep them, preserve them, hold them fast, and do
not let them go, depart or disappear. If we love our Lord and Saviour,
we will have a high regard for His words and not treat them lightly or
allow them to be taken from us.
CONCLUSION
The common thread in all religions with the one exception of true
Christianity is a system of works and personal effort for salvation.
Satan delights in sowing confusion and contradiction, but all his false
systems of belief contain this common element of works to be saved.
Even most "Christians" today are not resting in the grace of God and
the finished redemptive work accomplished through the shed blood of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. This unrest of
spirit is fomented by way new bible versions.
The King James Holy Bible is always correct. We may not understand all
that is revealed in its pages, but we firmly believe that God has
providentially guided in such a way as to preserve His pure, complete,
inspired and infallible words in the English language of the Authorized
King James Bible.