Truth About the Word of God

Kelly P. Gallagher

As English speaking people and Christians, I believe that we should be knowledgeable about the great gift that God has given us, the Bible in our own language.  We must acquaint ourselves with the brave people who risked life and limb to get us this Bible and honor them and God by diligently studying the Word of God. 

The book of Revelation, for example, is a love letter to the churches in Asia. There were seven of them (although there were more than seven churches in Asia, God chose these 7 as representatives).  John, the apostle, wrote the book of Revelation in 96 A.D., approximately 64 years after the death and resurrection of Christ.  The Bible consists of 66 books, written by some 40 human authors, but clearly inspired by God Himself.  In fact, the Greek word theopneustos means ‘God breathed’.  God Himself breathed life-giving words into the spirits of just men who faithfully recorded His words so that we could live by them. 

(2Ti 3:16)  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The word is God is profitable, not for money, but for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.  Not only do the words of God teach us how to be righteous, they give life-giving power to become righteousness.

(1Co 1:30)  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Christ became for us righteousness, sanctification and redemption and wisdom.  These things are found mainly through the Word of God, and through the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We can diminish the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives in these areas if we do not diligently seek God through His Word and prayer. 

The Old Testament was faithfully copied by priests and scribes and was preserved so perfectly, that Jesus said that the scriptures available to Him in his day were perfect. 

(Mat 5:18)  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Even the punctuation points in the Hebrew letters were preserved perfectly.  Do you believe God would not do the same perfect work of preserving His Words in the New Testament?

(Psa 12:6)  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

(Psa 12:7)  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

God promises to preserve His Word from the generation of David to today and forever.  We will be judged by the Word of God, so God must preserve them perfectly if He is to judge  us perfectly by them.

(Joh 12:48)  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

The emperor Constantine in the year 325 A.D. made Christianity legal for the first time in the Roman empire.  Christians before this were persecuted in waves, often being eaten by lions for entertainment.  Nero burned Christians to light his garden at night.  While this persecution lasted, the church was relatively pure, but when Christians were promoted and honored by this world, corruption came to the church.  Many of the gods of the Roman pantheon were replaced by saints, the Virgin Mary and many of the Roman pagan holidays were turned into so-called Christian feasts.

The apostles who turned the world upside down with true power of God’s Spirit were eventually replaced by a professional priesthood and a hierarchy of cardinals and popes, many who did not know God personally.  Simony, the selling of church offices was rampant and for a price, one could even buy the office of pope. 

The Word of God, hand copied from the original letters of Paul and Peter and others spread all over the world.  Corrupters of the scriptures like Marcion and Origen, heretics of the early church added to and took away from God’s Word whatever they did not like.  Yet, God preserved His Word through all of this and there were a remnant of true believers in God throughout the church history, even in the 1000 years known as the “dark ages” when the scriptures were illegal except to priests who could read Latin.  Those who translated the scriptures into their own languages were persecuted and their writings destroyed. 

The question arises then, how do we know what the true scriptures are?  Do our bibles today purely represent the Word of God in our own language?  Even the choice of which books are to included in the canon of scripture? 

How do we know for sure that the 66 books of the Bible are the only books to be included and furthermore that these 66 books are complete and accurate translations of the original authors? 

Peter answers this question for us;  he says, under divine inspiration that the scriptures are complete, including the writings of Paul and are all we need to live lives of godliness. 

(2Pe 1:3)  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

(2Pe 1:4)  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

William Tyndale and Martin Luther both translated the Bible into their mother tongues;  Tyndale into English, Luther into German.  God blessed these men with keen minds and integrity.  Neither would add or subtract one word in translating if given the whole world.  Both risked their lives in doing so.  Tyndale paid the ultimate price, he was burned at the stake for doing this. 

There was a blind girl who was three years old in England when Tyndale was burned alive.  She could only make money by spinning cloth or rope, yet she bought an expensive and illegal English Bible and paid people to read it to her, even though it risked death.   By the time she was 21, she had memorized large portions of the Bible, though blind.  Today, young and old take it for granted that the Bible is available in many translations and yet spend little or no time honoring God’s Word by studying it, and even less, memorizing it. 

Yet it is through this Bible that we can become partakers of the divine nature.  We also are made wise unto salvation and inheritors of eternal life.  Many churches have no bible studies and the Word is often not preached at all in many pulpits.  Is it any wonder that we are spiritual children with a lack of discernment when false teachers abound?

(Eph 4:14)  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

(Eph 4:15)  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Children are tossed to a fro like a ship on a rough sea, driven by every wind of false doctrine.  They are led from one deception to another because they do not know the Word of God.  250 Baptists a week are lost to the Mormon church alone due to lack of even fundamental Bible knowledge. 

The Bible says that God’s people often love to be deceived by false prophets, who are today’s false teachers.

(Jer 5:31)  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Peter prophecies about false teachers coming in abundance, especially in the last days before the return of Christ. They will make merchandise of God’s people because of lack of knowledge and discernment in God’s Word.

(2Pe 2:1)  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

(2Pe 2:2)  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

(2Pe 2:3)  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

How much money is being wasted by gullible Christians giving to false teachers, charlatans and ego-kingdom builders today?  How many missionaries and Bibles could have been sent to the world with this money.  Perhaps the reason Christ has not returned yet is because the money of the church has been stolen by these men and women, pulpit pimps.  One sign that must be fulfilled before the return of Christ is the preaching of the gospel to every tribe and tongue.

(Mat 24:14)  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Jesus warned of false prophets and false Christs coming in abundance before the end.  The worst false Christs are not the David Koreshes or the Jim Jones of this world.  The worst false Christs are the doctrinal false Christs.  Many cults abound that deny the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the blood atonement, the inspiration of the scriptures, the resurrection of Christ.  A false Christ who is only love or only wrath, both are not Christ, for He is both good and severe.

(Rom 11:22)  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

A true pastor or teacher is responsible for what he teaches and preaches.  A true pastor will feed the flock of God with wisdom and knowledge from God’s Word.  He is responsible for any damage done by what he teaches and how he lives the Word also.  We need to honor those who labor in the Word of God with honest hearts and those who draw persecution, unpopularity, loneliness and misunderstanding for teaching and preaching the truth. 

(1Ti 5:17)  Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

For a true pastor or teacher, this is a labor of love.  One of the qualifications of pastor, elder or teacher is being able to teach.  Few, I fear, are really able to teach the Word of God, because they don’t know it.  They can entertain, titillate, even inspire people to be successful in this world, but if they can’t teach the pure Word of God, they are abject failures according to the scriptures. 

(2Ti 2:24)  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

(2Ti 2:25)  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

(2Ti 2:26)  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

So great was the genius of men like Tyndale and Luther that they alone did great jobs translating the scriptures.  Tyndale's bible was carried almost word for word into the King James Version about 90 percent of the time.  47 of the greatest minds in the world translated the Bible for King James and finished in the year 1611.  It replaced all other translations and is still the best seller today.  The beauty of its prose, the ease of memorizing and the accuracy of word for word translation far surpasses today's so called “dynamic equivalences” where men take it upon themselves to tell us meaning instead of just giving God’s inspired Words.  We even have paraphrases of the Bible, condensed Bibles, ebonic Bibles, but I wonder if these are doing more harm than good.  It is the God-called pastors and teachers job to teach the meaning of the scripture, not the translators.  Many who do these tasks are new-agers, occultists and non believers and their unclean spirits come out in their work.  Many times they translate the very opposite meaning intended by the originals. 

Amos prophesied a famine would come of hearing the true words of God.  This has been fulfilled in our day at least two-fold.  One, the Word is not being preached by many and two, the Bible translations have diminished the power and truth in the Word of God.  

To answer the question posed earlier, how do we know what are the true words of God?  The answer is – the aggregate, true body of Christ, the born-again Christians throughout the church age overwhelmingly agree that these 66 books and these alone are the Word of God.  Also, the very words accepted through the centuries have been witnessed by godly men and women by the witness of the Holy Spirit within them. 

We talk of being anointed, of having a true Holy Spirit revival in our midst.  Yet how can we have either if we are not strongly fed the pure Word of God?  How can we be balanced if the entire counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation is not taught.  Many pastors avoid or diminish books of the New Testament and some ignore the entire Old Testament.  Paul, however, taught all of it, in balance.

(Act 20:27)  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

(Act 20:28)  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

(Act 20:29)  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

(Act 20:30)  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

(Act 20:31)  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

(Act 20:32)  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

(Act 20:33)  I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.

(Act 20:34)  Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.

(Act 20:35)  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

These are the words of the apostle Paul, who was also a pastor, prophet, teacher and evangelist.  He lived a life of power, the power and anointing that comes with commitment to the truth.  If we want to change our corner of our city, let alone reach the world, we need to emulate Paul.  How many true pastors and teachers are there?  Not too many I think.  But God promised to send them.  We should pray for those who try to live up to Paul’s example and thank God for pastors and teachers who feed the church and help them grow strong no matter what the cost. 

(Jer 3:15)  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.