Some Recommended Bible Versions to use alongside The Authorized Version (AV) or King James Bible would be The Amplified Bible and/or Young’s Literal translation. . .
This year, 2011, marks the 400th Anniversary of the Authorized Version, or King James Bible. Is it outdated? “All those ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ make it difficult for me to read,” I hear you say, but may I respectfully put it to you that learning to read with ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ is no more difficult than learning and remembering to use the new mobile phone texting language of ‘dey’, ‘gr8’ and ‘ur’. But more importantly, I must make you aware, that if you read a more modern version of the Bible it is not simply the personal pronouns (you, he, she, him, me etc) that have been altered; it is not the case that the English has simply been simplified, but sadly, it is fact that some fundamental alterations exist in modern translations which blur the absolutes which God wrote originally. Read on . . .
Is it important what Bible version I use?
Years ago I was taught that the modern versions are simply out there to make the Bible more readable and this is still a popular misconception. As someone who grew up with the Living Bible (TLB) but who now reads the Authorized Version (AV) I am persuaded and convinced that choosing the AV over the The Living Bible is not a matter of taste or reading prowess, but it is a matter of extreme and (dare I use the word) fundamental importance. In fact the modern versions were not just re-written English but, as in the case of the NIV, different questionable source texts were used. Interestingly, a list of English words used in the NIV compared with a list of English words used in the AV reveal that there are as many less-familiar English terms used in the NIV as there are in the AV. However, for a more thorough and detailed article on this subject please go to: www.pentecostalpioneers.org/articles and you will read of evidence of the errant sources used for modern translations which are all under copyright (the AV has absolutely no copyright). This fact alone should raise alarm bells.
But what is the relevance of Bible Versions to “Julie’s Story” and anyone who may be seeking to be free from a life of sin? Well, as with any issue of Christianity, we must go to Scripture, our touchstone, and in this case we must search for original Scripture and original, accurate translations of what God really says about a sinful lifestyle but before we do I want you to consider the path of a space-rocket. . .
If at the beginning of the journey there is the slightest deviation of the true path or vector settings of a space-rocket on a journey to Mars, it will travel drastically off its path find its way to Jupiter and not Mars; millions upon millions of miles away. There need be only one slightly errant passage in the Bible to take millions upon millions of souls off the “narrow way.” The following scripture is an example of that deviation — a deviation to a path of destruction.
Is it important what Bible version I use?
Years ago I was taught that the modern versions are simply out there to make the Bible more readable and this is still a popular misconception. As someone who grew up with the Living Bible (TLB) but who now reads the Authorized Version (AV) I am persuaded and convinced that choosing the AV over the The Living Bible is not a matter of taste or reading prowess, but it is a matter of extreme and (dare I use the word) fundamental importance. In fact the modern versions were not just re-written English but, as in the case of the NIV, different questionable source texts were used. Interestingly, a list of English words used in the NIV compared with a list of English words used in the AV reveal that there are as many less-familiar English terms used in the NIV as there are in the AV. However, for a more thorough and detailed article on this subject please go to: www.pentecostalpioneers.org/articles and you will read of evidence of the errant sources used for modern translations which are all under copyright (the AV has absolutely no copyright). This fact alone should raise alarm bells.
But what is the relevance of Bible Versions to “Julie’s Story” and anyone who may be seeking to be free from a life of sin? Well, as with any issue of Christianity, we must go to Scripture, our touchstone, and in this case we must search for original Scripture and original, accurate translations of what God really says about a sinful lifestyle but before we do I want you to consider the path of a space-rocket. . .
If at the beginning of the journey there is the slightest deviation of the true path or vector settings of a space-rocket on a journey to Mars, it will travel drastically off its path find its way to Jupiter and not Mars; millions upon millions of miles away. There need be only one slightly errant passage in the Bible to take millions upon millions of souls off the “narrow way.” The following scripture is an example of that deviation — a deviation to a path of destruction.
Psalm 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil
John 8:11 And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Ephesians 5:8 “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:
walk as children of light:”
Sin is condemned by God and sin does bear consequences.
It is not drugs or alcohol or other addictions which are the problem
— these are merely the symptoms of the problem — the problem is sin, and men and women loving their sin.
In order to avoid these consequences and His judgment though, God originally instructed us to walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh. When we walk after the Spirit we will be guided, led and convicted by the Spirit — God’s Holy Spirit — as to where to go, what to do and what to say, that we might remain in God’s will and it’s only in His will that you and I are free.
Perhaps the greatest plague of humanity of all ages is the plague of ‘walking after the flesh’ which is simply selfishness or self-gratification, which is at the very heart of drug abuse, alcohol abuse and all forms of fornication. It certainly is not in God’s will for you to smoke, nor take drugs, nor alcohol, nor fornicate and all of this is clear in God’s original Word.
Like Julie in that police cell when she had come to the end of herself, she cried out: “Only God have I sinned against, ONLY God have I sinned against!” Drug abuse, alcohol abuse and a lifestyle of promiscuity have bad physical consequences and affect the lives of loved ones of the abusers, but too often it is left at this level — the human level — and we forget that a Holy and loving God cannot tolerate sin.
I know that one of Julie’s greatest burdens when she shares in churches and when she testifies to groups of lost sinners of how Jesus washed her in His blood and set her free, is that they come to true Salvation and that they know what it means to be truly cleansed from all sins then to COUNT THE COST, DIE TO SIN and SELF and walk in the Spirit. May this truth make you free indeed!
Perhaps the greatest plague of humanity of all ages is the plague of ‘walking after the flesh’ which is simply selfishness or self-gratification, which is at the very heart of drug abuse, alcohol abuse and all forms of fornication. It certainly is not in God’s will for you to smoke, nor take drugs, nor alcohol, nor fornicate and all of this is clear in God’s original Word.
Like Julie in that police cell when she had come to the end of herself, she cried out: “Only God have I sinned against, ONLY God have I sinned against!” Drug abuse, alcohol abuse and a lifestyle of promiscuity have bad physical consequences and affect the lives of loved ones of the abusers, but too often it is left at this level — the human level — and we forget that a Holy and loving God cannot tolerate sin.
I know that one of Julie’s greatest burdens when she shares in churches and when she testifies to groups of lost sinners of how Jesus washed her in His blood and set her free, is that they come to true Salvation and that they know what it means to be truly cleansed from all sins then to COUNT THE COST, DIE TO SIN and SELF and walk in the Spirit. May this truth make you free indeed!