Thursday, March 14, 2024
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29 KJV).
What is this “corrupt communication?”
The Bible should be our final authority in all matters of faith and practice. If it is, we cannot be comfortable with an assortment of counsellors—one Bible version reflecting this translation philosophy, another Bible version produced using that translation method, this Bible version popular with this denomination, that Bible version courtesy of that sect. People wish to distort (“tone down” or “re-translate”) the Holy Scriptures so as to accommodate or support any belief system—Christian or otherwise. After all, we are told to be “inclusive,” respectful of various ideas and diverse opinions (and our pure Bible is a hindrance to that end!).
We are castigated, “Do not be so ‘narrow-minded’ or ‘divisive’ about Bible versions!” Yet, read Ephesians 4:3-6: “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Are there 200 Bodies of Christ? Are there 200 Holy Spirits? Are there 200 hopes of our calling? Are there 200 Lords? Are there 200 faiths? Are there 200 baptisms? Are there 200 Gods and Fathers? Then why are there 200 English Bibles available, and why are we being pressured to accept them equally?
Are we so inconsistent as to teach there is more than one Bible for English-speaking Christians? This is not a biblical position, but a humanistic position (human reasoning superior to Divine reasoning). Is it divisive to emphasize one standard; or it is divisive to favor many standards? Moreover, is it not strange that all modern English versions are copyrighted, so they legally must read substantially different, but they all “teach the same?” Have our critics taken leave of their senses? Are they thinking about the Bible as the Bible would have us think about it, or are they letting human opinions govern what they think about the Bible?
Beware of their “corrupt communication….”
333 Words of Grace 