Category: King James Bible Authority

The Future Generations

Thursday, September 1, 2011

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV).

The greatest gift a parent could ever give his or her child is a firm foundation in God’s Word, the rightly divided King James Bible. God, knowing this, put today’s Scripture in His Word.

In Deuteronomy chapter 5, Moses taught God’s Law (the Old Covenant) to Israel. The LORD commanded the Jews to daily meditate on His Word, memorize it, and write it everywhere in their homes (Deuteronomy 6:8,9). In addition, they were to educate their children in God’s Word (verses 6,7): “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Parents, not preachers and teachers, should be the primary instructors of their children. God has given the father-husband the role of teaching the children (his wife helping him, of course). In Ephesians 6:4, Paul writes: “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Bishops and deacons were to have godly children instructed in God’s Word (1 Timothy 3:4,5,12).

Comparing 2 Timothy 1:5,6 with 2 Timothy 3:15, we learn that Timothy’s mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois taught him the Old Testament Scriptures… and just where was his father?!

The local church should then build on the foundation that the parents stored in their children. Older men in the church served as role models for the younger men in the church, and older women served as role models for the younger women in the church (Titus 2:1-8).

One day, if the Lord tarries, our generations will pass, and new ones will take over. As adults, we owe it to the future generations to teach and preach God’s Word now, while we still can. Those future generations need a firm foundation in God’s Word so they can pass it on to their future generations.

Babes in Christ

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1 KJV).

The Apostle Paul stated six times he did not want “ignorant” Christians (Romans 1:13; Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). “Ignorant” describes people who are uninformed (or misinformed), not people who are stupid.

Most professing Christians today are ignorant of the Bible because they seldom hear God’s Word properly taught, if at all. Sadly, many churchgoers attend “church services” that resemble circuses! Preachers usually rattle on and on about worthless topics. Rituals are performed with impeccability, and yet they are nothing but vain, faithless activities. Sadly, many people attend church to feel “religious,” to be entertained with “Christian” rock and rap music, to socialize, or just to shake the preacher’s hand.

In today’s Scripture, we gather that the Corinthians were spiritually immature. They loved emotional highs and supernatural experiences, yet the Corinthian assembly was plagued with fornication, lawsuits, and drunkenness. There was almost no spirituality within the Corinthian church, and yet, the same applies to “the Church” today!

Corinth had great apostles and teachers, particularly Paul and Apollos. Yet, whatever sound doctrine the Corinthians heard, they never placed their faith in that sound doctrine. However, “the Church” today is not as fortunate as the Corinthians. Today, many church members do not even hear sound doctrine in the first place.

To avoid the Corinthians’ pitiful spiritual state, and the shameful spiritual state of today’s Christendom, we need to study the Holy Scriptures “rightly divided” and believe them! After all, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect [spiritually mature], throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

The only way to reach spiritual maturity is to study God’s Word “rightly divided,” apart from denominational eyeglasses, and then place our faith in God’s Word. Otherwise, we too will be “babes in Christ.”

Do You Really Need an Easy-to-Read Bible?

Monday, August 22, 2011

“All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge” (Proverbs 8:8,9 KJV).

The most frequent complaint raised against the King James Bible is that it is “hard to read.” Modern Bible publishers, seeing opportunity to make some quick cash, pass off their products as “easy-to-read revisions” of our Authorized Version. Sadly, the masses have accepted that lie.

Honestly, my research these past few years shows that modern Bibles tend to read harder than the King James Bible. The King James’ simple Anglo-Saxon words have been replaced with harder, multi-syllable Latinized words (for instance, “provoke” is now “exasperate,” “schoolmaster” has become “disciplinarian,” and “swelling” now reads “bombastic”).

According to the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula, used here in the United States to gauge the grade level of reading material, English Bibles read at these grade levels:

  • King James Bible (KJV): 5.8
  • New International Version (NIV): 8.4
  • New American Standard Version (NASV): 6.1
  • Today’s English Version / “Good” News Bible (TEV/GNB): 7.2
  • New King James Version (NKJV): 6.9
    (Source: Gail Riplinger’s New Age Bible Versions, 1993, p. 196)

Will the modern Bible publishers ever use this information when marketing their Bibles? Obviously not, for modern Bibles would never sale! Consumers would observe that modern Bibles read harder, contrary to their claim of being “easier-to-read.”

We always hear of “easy-to-read” English Bibles. Interestingly, we never hear of “easy-to-read” Greek Bibles, Hebrew Bibles, or Latin Bibles. Why? English Bibles make more money because English is most commonly spoken and read!

“Easy-to-read” English Bibles is Satan trying to discredit the King James Bible. If children have understood and memorized the King James Bible for 400 years now, then why do modern-day “educated” theologians decry the King James Bible for its difficult reading? That is silly to the utmost.

Get the indwelling Holy Spirit by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, study the King James Bible, and then you will see it is not as difficult as most would have you to believe.

Be of the Same Mind in the Lord

Sunday, August 21, 2011

“I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord” (Philippians 4:2 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul mentions two Christian women, Euodias and Syntyche, in opposition to one another. We know not the nature of that disagreement, but it was disruptive in the Philippian church, so Paul addressed the matter and begged them to resolve it.

There should be unity within the Church the Body of Christ, but there is very little because human viewpoint and religious tradition divide. Unfortunately, even among some “grace brethren,” we find “strange doctrines” that generate arguments. We should make every attempt to get along with our Christian brethren, but we should never, ever seek unity at the expense of sound doctrine. There should be no disagreement in the Body of Christ regarding matters clearly taught in the King James Bible.

The Corinthian church was noteworthy for its divisions (“denominations!”). Some Corinthians followed Christ according to His earthly ministry, others followed Peter, some followed Apollos, and still others followed Paul (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). Paul wrote, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (verse 10). How were they to avoid these divisions? They were to follow Paul as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

The Bible says (Galatians 5:15,16): “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Arguments can get rather nasty amongst Christians (spiritually “biting and devouring” each other). As long as we “walk in the Spirit,” allowing God’s Holy Spirit to teach us to follow the doctrine in Paul’s epistles, we will believe what the King James Bible says where it says what it says, and not argue with God. This is the unity that God desires the Body of Christ to have.

Every Word of God

Thursday, August 11, 2011

“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4 KJV).

The prevailing argument in seminaries and Bible colleges is that God’s thoughts, not His very words, are important. Accordingly, many modern Bibles translate using dynamic equivalence: the translator is bound to convey the overall thought of the verse/passage, but he or she may add words to or remove words from the Bible text!! In the Bible we learn that God is interested in preserving His actual words, not just His thoughts.

The Bible says (Deuteronomy 8:3): “…man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”  Our Lord Jesus Christ quoted this verse in Matthew 4:4 (and also today’s Scripture): “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Jesus Christ said: “…the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). He also said (Matthew 24:35): “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (cf. Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33).

Moses declared to Israel: “These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them” (Exodus 35:1). Joshua 24:26 says, “And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God….” The LORD commanded Israel to memorize and teach their children His “words” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

Proverbs 30:5 says: “Every word of God is pure….” We read in Psalm 12:6,7: “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.” God promised to preserve His pure words forever.

Man lives by “every word of God.” We have “every word of God” preserved in the King James Bible, not in the inferior, depraved modern Bibles.

The Prospering Word of God

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is my favorite Bible verse. In verse 10, God speaks of rain and snow falling from heaven and watering the earth so that vegetation sprouts forth. Just as God designed precipitation to regulate plant growth, God intended His Word to produce spiritual growth. We are sure that no matter how defensive or resistant someone is to hearing God’s Word, the King James Bible has the power to overcome Satan’s opposition and that most hardened heart.

Notice these references to God’s Word prospering during the first half of the first century A.D.:

  • Acts 6:7: “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
  • Acts 8:14: “Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:”
  • Acts 11:1: “And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.”
  • Acts 12:24: “But the word of God grew and multiplied.”
  • Acts 13:44: “And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.”
  • Acts 19:20: “So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”

Paul wrote: “…The word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth much fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:” (Colossians 1:5,6). Let us never be discouraged when people reject us sharing the Bible with them. God’s Word will take care of itself… it always has, and always will… prosper!

“God that giveth the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:7).

Autographs and Apographs

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written…” (Luke 4:16,17 KJV).

The original Bible manuscripts written by the prophets and apostles are non-extant today. Either by means of disintegration or intentional destruction, those autographs have disappeared. Today, there are 5,500-plus manuscript copies of those Greek New Testament autographs. Alas, theologians relegate these copies to an inferior position to the originals. Do manuscript copies (apographs) possess the same authority as the original manuscripts (autographs)?

In today’s Scripture, the Lord Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah. Did Christ read from the original, 700-year-old document that Isaiah penned? In Acts 8:26-35 both Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch also read the scroll of Isaiah. Should we conclude that Christ and the Ethiopian eunuch shared the lone scroll of Isaiah? Preposterous! Both were manuscript copies.

Did Timothy’s family possess the original Old Testament Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15-17)? Was Paul quoting from the original manuscripts of Isaiah and Hosea (Romans 9:25-29)?

Note that whenever Israel’s king would assume the throne, God instructed: “He shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:… and he shall read therein all the days of his life…” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). God instructed the king to study his copies, not the original manuscripts.

Psalm 12:6,7, Psalm 33:11, Matthew 24:35, and Mark 13:31 are but a few examples of God’s promise: “My words shall not pass away.” The Bible says that God has preserved His words. Undoubtedly, immediately after an autograph was completed, it was copied and distributed. Although the autographs and their first copies have disintegrated, their text is preserved today in subsequent apographs.

The original manuscripts have been gone for centuries. God’s words must exist today in manuscript copies. The autographs and apographs are equal.

Brethren, Press Toward the Mark!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13,14 KJV).

Soul salvation is instantaneous. The Christian life, however, is a process. We have to die daily to the old thinking patterns and the former lifestyle (Ephesians 4:20-24). Our minds have to be continually renewed and transformed by the washing of God’s Word (Romans 12:1,2; Ephesians 5:26).

Positionally, in Christ, we Christians are “sanctified” (set apart) (Acts 26:18). God wants to transform our conduct so that it reflects our sanctified position in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:1-7). This is spiritual maturity (“perfection”): “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12).

In today’s Scripture, Paul explains that he is “pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We Christians have a goal! Our goal is to know Christ and the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:8-10). Furthermore, our goal is to understand why God saved us and get a firm grasp of what He will do with us in the ages to come in the heavenly places.

We all need spiritual growth, some more than others. Every Christian grows at a different rate. We all, however, should be focused on the same goal that Paul had: spiritual maturity. Our desire should be to have a greater understanding of who Jesus Christ is, what He did for us, and our role in God’s purpose and plan for the ages. “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,” (Ephesians 1:18).

Study God’s Word rightly divided, believe it, and you will be pressing toward the mark!

Never Settle for Eve’s Bible

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

“And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (Genesis 3:2,3 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, Eve is speaking to Satan, who previously asked her what God’s instructions were (verse 1). Although her statements appear to be true, they are not. Poor Eve is using the wrong Bible version!

Genesis 2:16,17 relay God’s original instructions: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Compare today’s Scripture with the above paragraph. Eve omitted “freely,” denying she and Adam had free will. Interestingly, Eve added, “neither shall ye touch it,” an erroneous statement that God never spoke. Lastly, Eve watered down God’s Word, changing “thou shalt surely die” to “lest ye die” (“surely” was more affirmative).

It is rather fascinating to learn that modern Bibles utilize these same techniques to attack God’s Word! For example, NIV has 64,000 words less than KJV. Modern Bibles water down offensive terms (“sodomite” to “male shrine prostitute,” for instance).

With little to no manuscript authority, some modern Bible editors add words to or subtract words from Bible text, sometimes altering the whole meaning of the verse. Many modern Bibles are translated using “dynamic equivalence,” meaning editors are given permission to add or remove words from the Bible, as long as they convey the original thought of the passage.

Satan, just as he attacked God’s Word in Genesis 3, continues his quest to diminish or destroy the power of God’s Word. Alas, “the word of the Lord endureth forever” (1 Peter 1:25). The Bible will surely outlast its greatest critic.

In the Authorized Version King James Bible, we have the privilege of reading God’s Word (and His words) in our language. Never settle for Eve’s Bible!

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

Sunday, June 25, 2011

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith.” We, as members of the Church the Body of Christ, are soldiers. In Philippians 2:25, Paul calls Epaphroditus his “fellowsoldier.” Paul also mentions Archippus, he and Timothy’s “fellow-soldier” (Philemon 1:2). The Apostle encouraged Timothy, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3,4).

Ephesians 6:10-18 describes the battle between God’s purpose and program and Satan’s purpose and program. The Bible says we must put on “the whole armour of God” if we are to endure that spiritual war. Verse 12 reads, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

How does Satan triumph over the Christian? It starts within the mind! We read in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

We must renew our minds by studying the King James Bible “rightly divided” on a daily basis (Romans 12:1,2; Ephesians 4:22-24; Ephesians 5:26). The Word of God is “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). Let God’s Word that you have believed defend you as Satan attacks your mind.

Some of the Apostle Paul’s final words read (2 Timothy 4:6,7): “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”

Let us too keep the faith! Let us too fight the good fight of faith!