Calvinism and the King James Bible
By Will Kinney
I Timothy 2:3-5
"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who WILL
HAVE all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one
God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Much of modern Christianity pictures God as a grandfatherly figure wishing so badly that
his errant creatures would heed his pleadings and decide of their own free will to choose
to believe and cast their vote for God. For those of us who have been granted by our
gracious Lord to see the great truths of election and sovereign grace, we should be
greatly concerned to see how many of these truths have been diluted in the new bible
versions.
Comparing scripture with scripture we see that the phrase "all men" refers to
both Jews and Gentiles. It means all categories of men, not all men without exception. The
Arminian view always proves too much. There were multitudes of men who were already lost
and in hell when Christ died. So does "all men" include those who had perished
in their sins before Christ came to this earth?
In the Old Testament God chose only the nation of Israel to be his people. "For thou
art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar
people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." Deut. 14:2. But
now the Messiah has come to be the Saviour of His people which are taken out every nation,
tribe, kindred and tongue. "God did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people
for his name." Acts 15:14.
Even in the Old Testament times a Gentile could come to Israel and learn of the true God.
Notice carefully the expression used in Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple
in I Kings 8:41-43: "Morover concerning A STRANGER, that is not of thy people Israel,
but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; (For they shall hear of thy great
name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when HE shall come and pray
toward this house; Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that
THE STRANGER calleth to thee for; that ALL PEOPLE of the earth may know thy name, to fear
thee, as do thy people of Israel."
Observe that this prayer refers to one Gentile who comes to pray to the true God.
"All people of the earth" therefore does not mean every individual but all men
without distinction of nationality, be they a Jew or a Gentile. Again in Isaiah 56: 6, 7
it says: "Also the sons of the stranger (Gentiles) that join themselves to the LORD,
to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD...Even them will I bring to my holy
mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer...for mine house shall be called an
house of prayer FOR ALL PEOPLE." Obviously this does not mean every individual
without exception will join himself to the LORD, but all without distinction of
nationality.
When the apostle Paul relates his conversion experience we can see how this same thought
is expressed. In Acts 9:15 the Lord tells Ananias concerning Paul: "But the Lord
said, Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and the children of Israel." Yet in Acts 22:14, 15 Paul himself tells us
that Ananias came to him: "And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that
thou shoudest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his
mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto ALL MEN of what thou hast seen and heard."
Do you see it? All men = the Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel. All men without
distinction of nationality or social standing. Obviously Paul did not speak to Noah's
sons, the Cherokee Indians, Genghis Khan or Bill Gates.
At the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the devout Simeon came by the Spirit
into the temple, took up the babe in his arms and said: "Lord, now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of ALL PEOPLE; A light to lighten the Gentiles,
and the glory of thy people Israel." Obviously not every individual Gentile or Jew
would be lightened by this salvation, but the Messiah will save all people without
distinction of nationality, not all people without exception.
This is why Paul continues in I Timothy with these significant words. In verses 6 and 7 he
says: "Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie
not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity." Why does he say he is not lying
but telling the truth that he was a preacher and teacher of the Gentiles? Because now in
the New Testament dispensation Christ, the Jewish Messiah, is gathering from the heathen
Gentiles a people for his name and together the elect Jews and the elect Gentiles are what
make up the "all men".
This is a consistent, biblically defined use of the term "all men" or "all
people". The "all men" is not the problem with the modern versions, but the
NKJV, NIV, and NASB have all translated the verb "to will" in such a way as to
create a direct contradiction with several other verses and contribute to the pathetic god
image so common today.
The King James Bible, as well as Tyndale, the Geneva Bible, Young's, Webster's 1833
translation, the Revised Version, the Third Millenium Bible and the 21st century KJV all
correctly translate God " WILL HAVE all men to be saved", or "wills"
all men to be saved. The verb is thelo and, when used of God, means to will to do
something and since He rules over all, what He wills He does.
The NKJV and NASB say God "desires all men to be saved " while the NIV says he
"wants all men to be saved". This rendering contradicts passages where this same
verb or noun form is used in reference to God.
He "worketh all things after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL" Ephesians 1:11;
"For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son
quickeneth WHOM HE WILL" John 5:21; and in Romans 9:16 - 18 we read: "So then it
is NOT of him that WILLETH, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Therefore hath he mercy on whom HE WILL have mercy, and whom HE WILL he hardeneth."
Again with a different word but with the same thought is James 1:18 "OF HIS OWN WILL
begat he us with the word of truth."
The new versions portray a schizophrenic god who on the one hand desires or wants to save
everybody, and yet a God Who in fact saves whom He wills.
Respecter of Persons
There is a subtle twisting of God's inspired words taking place in many modern versions in
how they are rendering the phrase "respecteth not persons". This is so subtle,
that I believe most Christians have not noticed it. The change in meaning produced by
versions like the NKJV, NIV, and NASB unfortunately fits in with so much of modern,
popular theology, that many would actually consider it to be an improvement over the KJB's
reading. It fits the philosophy of the natural mind of man.
The concept that "God has created all men equal" does not come from the Holy
Bible. God obviously has not created all men equal, nor does He deal with every single
individual or nation in what seems to us as a fair and impartial manner. Many have become
so influenced in their thinking by the reasoning of the world, that they cannot discern
this obvious truth.
God has created, formed and made each of us. Yet He has not given to all equal
intelligence, good looks, physical skills, nor spiritual gifts. "He divideth to every
man severally as He will." Exodus 4:11 tells us "And the LORD said unto him, Who
hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have
not I the LORD?".
Not all are born in a country which even has the word of God in its culture, or where it
would be openly taught and encouraged. Psalm 147:19,20 "He sheweth his word unto
Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation:
and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD." Some are
born in abject poverty, disease and ignorance, while others are blessed with abundant
crops, education and families that care for them. "The rich and poor meet together:
the LORD is the maker of them all." Proverbs 22:2.
The phrase "to accept the persons of men" or "to respect persons" does
not mean, as the modern versions have translated it, "to show partiality" or
"to show favoritism". One of the chief arguments of the Arminian side against
the doctrine of election is: "God does not show partiality or favoritism, so election
cannot be true." The new bibles are reinforcing this fallacious argument.
Not to show partiality is to treat all men equally; and this God does not do, as His word
clearly testifies. Daniel Webster's 1828 dictionary defines "respecter of
persons" as a person who regards the external circumstances of others in his
judgment, and suffers his opinions to be biased by them. God's dealings with a man are not
based on outward appearance, position, rank, wealth or nationality. Rather, His own
sovereign purpose and pleasure of His will are the only deciding factors.
We are told in Deuteronomy 7:6-8 "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God:
the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people
that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose
you, because ye were more in number than any people: for ye were the fewest of all people:
But because the LORD loved you". Deuteronomy 10: 14-17 "Behold, the heaven and
the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after
them, even you above all people, as it is this day." Verse 17 "For the LORD thy
God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which
REGARDETH NOT PERSONS, nor taketh reward." Here both election and not regarding
persons are used in the same context.
God says He chose only the fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and their seed to be His
people, and not the others. That He "regardeth not persons" means that He does
this, not on the basis of their nationality, nor their good moral character (for they were
a stiffnecked and rebellious people), but because is was His good pleasure to do so. Other
Bibles that agree with the KJB here are the Revised Version, the ASV of 1901, the Geneva
Bible, the 1936 Hebrew-English, Youngs, Darbys, the Spanish versions and
Websters Bible. However the NKJV, NIV and NASB have "shows no partiality".
If God chose Israel to be His people, and not the others, is not this showing partiality?
Deut. 14:1,2 "Ye are the children of the LORD your God...and the LORD hath chosen
thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the
earth." Why did not God choose the other nations to be his children and to know his
laws? Isn't this showing partiality or favoritism?
One verse among the hundreds that have been messed up by the NKJV, NIV and NASB is 2
Samuel 14:14. Here Joab saw that king David's heart was toward his son Absalom. So Joab
sends a wise woman to speak to the king. In verse 14 she says: "For we must needs
die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again: NEITHER DOTH
GOD RESPECT ANY PERSON: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from
him." In other words, we all must die, whether rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, man or
woman, king or servant; God does not look at our social station and on this basis exclude
some from death.
Agreeing with the King James reading here are the 1917 Hebrew English, Young's, the Geneva
Bible, Websters Bible, the KJV 21, Third Millenium Bible, and the Spanish Sagradas
Escrituras. But many bibles, including the NKJV, NIV and NASB have the ridiculous reading
of "YET GOD DOES NOT TAKE AWAY LIFE", instead of "neither doth God respect
any person". This is a lie and a contradiction. In this very book in chapter 12:15
"the LORD struck the child" of David and Bathsheeba and it died. In I Sam. 2:6
we are told "The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and
bringeth up", and in Deuteronomy 32:39 God says "See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is
there any that can deliver out of my hand."
It is not that the Hebrew will not allow the meaning found in the KJB, that the NKJV, NIV
and NASB have so badly mistranslated 2 Samuel 14:14. They all likewise have translated
these same words in other places as they stand in the KJB and others.
This phrase "no respecter of persons" is found six times in the New Testament,
and every time the modern versions have distorted the true meaning. Romans 2:11, Ephesians
6:9, Colossians 3:25, James 2:1 and 9, and Acts 10:34. In each case it has to do with not
receiving the face, outward position, nationality or social rank of another. But God does
not treat all people the same, nor are we told to do so either. We are to withdraw from
some, avoid, exclude, reject, separate from, and not cast our pearls before others. Most
importantly, God Himself chose His elect people in Christ before the foundation of the
world and "of the SAME LUMP" makes one vessel unto honour and another unto
dishonour - Romans 9:21. This is definitely showing partiality, but it is not respecting
persons.
Romans 2:11 says "For there is no respect of persons with God." So also read the
ASV, Geneva, Revised Version, Spanish "acepción de personas", Lamsa, Webster's,
21st Century KJB, TMB, and the KJB II of Green. Young's says there is no "acceptance
of faces". But the NKJV, NASB say "no partiality" and the NIV says
"not show favoritism". The Worldwide English N.T. says: "God does not love
some people more than others". Yet this very book declares in Romans 9 "For the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works but of him that calleth...Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated...I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy...So then it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth
mercy...Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he
hardeneth."
Please consider the true meaning of the phrase "no respecter of persons" and
contrast it with the modern rendering. I hope you will see that it is not the same at all.
Only the KJB contains the whole truth of the counsel of God.
Faith is a gift from God.
Faith or belief is a gift from God. Faith is not something we can produce on our own. God
has to give it to us. Those who are not His sheep do not believe because they are not His
sheep. John 10:26. Jesus said to the Pharisees "But ye believe not, BECAUSE ye are
not my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me."
The reason you and I believe the gospel is because God Himself gives us faith. Romans 12:3
"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to
think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as
GOD HATH DEALT TO EVERY MAN THE MEASURE OF FAITH."
The "every man" in the context is the "every man among you" or those
who are already Christians. Not everyone has faith. 2 Thes.3:2 "for all men have not
faith" and obviously there are unbelievers.
Phil. 1:29 "For unto you IT IS GIVEN in the behalf of Christ, not only TO BELIEVE ON
HIM, but also to suffer for his sake."
Eph. 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS
THE GIFT OF GOD."
Eph. 1:19 "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward that believe,
according to the working of his mighty power" Tyndale and Geneva Bibles note that
Faith is the work of God only, even as the raising up of Christ. The same power that
raised up Christ, is the power of God that causes us to believe the gospel. This truth has
been obscured in the NASB and NIV. They both add words not found in any Greek text and
change the meaning of the passage.
The NASB says: " and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who
believe. THESE ARE in accordance with the working of the strength of His might..."
The NIV has: "and his incomparably great power for us who believe. THAT POWER is like
the working of his mighty strength..."
Scripture speaks of "the faith of God's elect" Titus 1:1
We are told that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith - Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
Acts 3:16 "yea, the faith which is by him (not just 'in' him, but BY Him) hath given
him this perfect soundness "
Acts 18:27 "he helped them much which had believed THROUGH GRACE." It wasn't
just that they believed "in" grace, by it was 'through grace' that they
believed.
Acts 14:27 "they rehearsed all that God had done among them, and how He had opened
the door of faith unto the Gentiles." If God doesn't open the door, there is no
faith.
Acts 16:14 "Lydia...whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things
which were spoken of by Paul"
Acts 15:9 "and put no difference between us (believing Jews) and them (believing
Gentiles) purifying their hearts by faith." God purified their hearts by faith, not
'because of' faith. God did it and He did it by faith which He himself gave them. It was
not "their part".
Acts 13:48 "and AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED." Their having
been ordained to eternal life preceded their believing. The reason they believed is
because God had ordained them to faith in the gospel.
1 Peter 1:21 "Who by Him believe in God that raised him up from the dead" Again,
it is BY HIM that we believe in God.
2 Peter 1:1 "to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the
righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ".
They obtained this faith, they did not have it to begin with and then did their part to
exercise it.
1 Cor. 12:9 "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom... to another faith
by the same Spirit."
Gal. 5:22 one of the parts of the fruit of the Spirit is faith. The Spirit produces faith,
but the new versions like the NKJV, NIV and NASB have changed this to 'faithfulness'.
1 Cor. 3:5-6 "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye
believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God
gave the increase." You can preach and teach gospel truths, but unless God Himself
gives the increase and causes the seed to sprout and grow, there is no belief and no life.
The NASB & NIV have both changed the meaning of this section, added words not in any
text, and don't even agree with each other. The NASB says: "through whom you
believed, even as the Lord GAVE OPPORTUNITY to each one." This fallacious reading
pictures God as giving the opportunity to believe, as though faith comes from us. This
fits with today's Arminian theology.
The NIV, on the other hand, differs from them all and says: "only servants, through
whom you believed ---as the Lord HAS ASSIGNED TO EACH HIS TASK." The NIV's focus is
not on the believing being from God, but on the task God gave to Paul and Apollos.
The Faith OF Jesus Christ
One of the many serious changes being made in the modern bible versions is how they are
altering the phrase "the faith OF Christ". Many times the phrase "by the
faith OF Jesus Christ" has been changed to "by faith IN Jesus Christ". See
for example Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16, 20; 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; Philippians 3:9; James
2:1; Revelation 2:13; and 14:12.
Romans 3:22 "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith OF Jesus Christ unto all
and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference."
Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith OF Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the
law shall no flesh be justified."
Here the NKJV, NIV and NASB have all changed this to "faith IN Jesus Christ",
thus changing the truth that this faith comes from Jesus Christ and instead implying that
it comes from ourselves.
This is not a question of Greek texts differing, because they all say the same thing, dia
pisteos iesou xristou, the genitive of possession or source. We speak of the birth of
Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Jesus, the body of Jesus, the cross of
Christ, the riches of Christ, the kingdom of Christ, the glory of Christ, and many other
things using the same grammatical construction, but suddenly the NKJV, NAS, NIV, and most
modern bibles now have "through faith IN Jesus Christ."
The older Bibles - Tyndale, Geneva, Darby, Young's, Webster's 1833 translation all read as
the King James Bible, and so do the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21, but the ASV of
1901 changed about half of these references to "the faith OF Jesus Christ" to
faith IN Jesus Christ, and from then on all the references have been changed in the NKJV,
RSV, NASB and NIV.
Deuteronomy 32:5
Tremendous error and contradiction have been introduced into this section of Scripture by
the NKJV, NIV and NAS ³bibles². This is part of the song of Moses which says in verses
3-5: ³I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the
Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without
iniquity, just and right is he.²
The next verse is where the lies of the modern versions enter. The true Holy Bible says:
³They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a
perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise?
is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?²
If you look at the context, in the previous chapter God told Moses that the people would
enter the promised land and would go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land
and turn to other gods. God knew this before He brought them into the land, so their
entering the land did not depend on their foreseen obedience to the law, but rather
because of the covenant of grace made with Abraham.
They are still His children whom He bought (verse 6) , His people and inheritance (verse
9) and verse 19 still refers to them as ³his sons and daughters². They are His children
even though disobedient, just as your child is still your child no matter what he does.
Godıs children did corrupt themselves with strange gods, and the spot or blemish they
received belonged to the idolatrous practices of other people, but they are still His
children, bought by God and belonging to Him as the rest of the chapter shows.
Now look at the NKJV in verse 5. ³They have corrupted themselves: They are NOT His
children, Because of their blemish.² The NAS is similar with its: ³They are NOT His
children because of their defect². Both these versions tell us they are not His children,
and then in the very next verse tell us they are His children because He is their Father
and He bought them!
The NIV is even worse with its: ³to their shame they are NO LONGER his children². This
teaches that one can be a child of God and then lose it and no longer be His child, yet
verse 6 and 19 still refer to them as His children!
These are obvious false doctrines and contradictions. Other versions that agree with the
KJB in verse 5 as teaching they are still His children are Darby, Youngs, Spanish,
Italian Diodati, Hebrew-English of 1917, Daniel Websterıs 1833 translation, the Third
Millenium Bible and even the NRSV of 1989.
Psalms 110:3
"Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power."
This verse is often used to support the truth that it is God who worketh in us both to
will and to do of His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13. This is also the reading of the RV,
ASV, Darby, Amplified, Hebrew Names Version, Webster's, Spanish Reina Valera, TMB, and the
KJV 21.
However the NIV says: "Your TROOPS will be willing on your day of BATTLE." The
NKJV has: "Your people will be volunteers in the day of your power" while the
NASB reads: "Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power."
1 Peter 1:22
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth THROUGH THE SPIRIT unto
unfeigned love of the brethren..." This is a textual issue, but the phrase that shows
we obey the truth through the Spirit of God is found in the vast majority of all Greek
manuscripts. The NASB and NIV are based on very different manuscripts and omit this
phrase.
1 Peter 2:25
"For ye were as sheep going astray; but ARE NOW RETURNED unto the Shepherd and Bishop
of your souls." The verb here ARE RETURNED is passive, not active. If we say the
books are returned, we mean someone else brought the books back; the books didn't return
themselves.
The RV, ASV, Tyndale, Geneva, Hebrew Names Version, World English Bible, Third Millenium
Bible ,and the KJV 21 all correctly translate this as "are now returned" unto
the Shepherd. Even the Douay-Rheims says: "but are now converted to the
Shepherd". This is not only grammatically but theologically correct. It is Christ our
Shepherd who brings us back to Himself. The Lord Jesus said in John 10:16 "And other
sheep I HAVE, which are not of this fold: them also I MUST BRING, and they shall hear my
voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
The NKJV, NIV and NASB all make it sound as though we had returned on our own. They say:
"you HAVE RETURNED TO the Shepherd".
1 Corinthians 4:7
"For who MAKETH THEE TO DIFFER FROM ANOTHER? and what hast thou that thou didst not
receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received
it?"
This precious verse teaches the distinguishing grace of God. We are no better than the
non-elect. God makes of the same lump one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour.
All is of grace and we can boast in nothing found in ourselves.
The reading or meaning is the same in the RV, ASV, NKJV, Young's, Darby, even the NIV and
others. However instead of "Who maketh thee to differ from another" the NASB
says: "For who REGARDS YOU AS SUPERIOR?". How would you even answer this
question in the NASB? Does God regard you as superior? Is there something special in you
that is not found in another? It doesn't even make sense.
Psalms 78:36
"Nevertheless they DID FLATTER him (God) with their mouth, and they lied unto him
with their tongues."
Psalm 78 rehearses the repeated sins of God's people and His continued faithfulness and
mercy to them. We can flatter God by saying nice things about Him, yet walk contrary to
His ways. This is called hypocrisy. The reading is the same in the RV, ASV, NKJV, RSV,
NRSV, Geneva Bible, NIV and many others - they did flatter God. However the NASB actually
says: "But they DECEIVED HIM with their mouth." Can the all knowing, sovereign
God be deceived by mortal man? Does the NASB portray the true God of the Bible, one that
can be deceived?
Numbers 23:21
In the book of Numbers chapters 22 - 24, the false prophet Balaam had been called by Balak
the king of Moab to curse Israel. God allowed Balaam to go with Balak, but rather than
cursing the people of God, Balaam was compelled to bless them instead.
In Numbers 23:19-21 we read these beautiful truths: ³God is not a man, that he should
lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it?
or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to
bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.²
The next verse, 21, expresses a great truth in the KJB, but this is where the error of the
new versions occurs. Verse 21: ³He hath NOT BEHELD INIQUITY in Jacob, NEITHER HATH HE
SEEN PERVERSENESS in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is
among them².
God has always dealt with His people according to the everlasting covenant of grace
revealed to Abraham and his spiritual seed, confirmed to them and fulfilled in Christ.
Galatians 3:12-29. ³And if ye be Christıs, then are ye Abrahamıs seed, and heirs
according to the promise.² God had redeemed His people out of Egypt (Exodus 6:6) and
forgiven their sins, even though they were a stiffnecked people ( Numbers 14: 19, 20).
Just as God sees us as blameless, holy, and without spot (Ephesians 1:4; I Corinthians
1:8), not because of our own obedience or righteousness, but because we are covered with
the righteousness of Christ, so too, were His people in the wilderness. This is a very
important aspect of the doctrines of grace.
But see how this truth has been lost in the NASB, RSV and the NIV. The NASB says: ³He has
not observed MISFORTUNE in Jacob; Nor has He seen TROUBLE in Israel.² The NIV has: ³No
misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel.² There had been plenty of
misery and misfortune in Israel, but God is speaking a blessing through Balaam upon His
redeemed people and stating how He sees them because they are His own peculiar people.
³Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Godıs elect? It is God that justifieth.²
Romans 8:33. This great comforting truth in Numbers 23:21 is lost in the NASB and NIV .
I do not believe any other English bible contains all of Godıs perfect, preserved,
inspired words except the King James Bible. Frequently, the new version proponents like to
gang up on the KJB, as though it were the only Bible to read a certain way.
Other versions which agree with the KJB here are the Hebrew into
English versions of 1917, 1936, put out by the Hebrew Publication Company and the Jewish
Publication Society of America, the Revised Version 1881, the ASV of 1901, Geneva Bible,
Youngıs translation, Darby, the NKJV, Amplified, KJV 21, TMB, World English Bible, Hebrew
Names Version, Bible in Basic English, Webster's translation, New Century Version and the
Spanish Reina Valera of 1602 and 1960.
There is a huge battle going on in these days of falling away from the faith. The
authority and truth of God's inerrant, perfect words and the doctrines of grace are under
direct attack. Only in the King James Bible are all of God's perfect words of truth found
today.
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