Randy Bell
5 May 2018

Be Sure You Are Going To Heaven

Are you really, Biblically, personally following Jesus? Part 5 Following Jesus means obeying God’s will for your life, whatever it is and whatever it costs you

Luke 9:57-58 (GW) As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I’ll follow you wherever you go.” Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep.”

How do we know what God’s will is for our lives?

1/ God’s Word tells us God’s will

The Bible is the clear and concise truth that shows God’s will for every person. Everything that we need to know to please God is given to us from God’s Word. If you need to take a trip to a distant location you do not need a complete world map of every road and location. No, all you need is a small piece of the truth that leads you to your destination.

There is no further truth that is hidden, has been hidden, or ever will be needed in this life. God Almighty made sure we got exactly what WE NEEDED TO FOLLOW JESUS! Anything else would be a distraction.

You see, Jesus is the eternal TRUTH, the eternal WORD of God. We are told, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. So the Word became human and made his home among us …and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1,14a (NLT), John 1:14b (NKJV) Before He came to earth through a supernal birth in a human baby and was resurrected proving He was God and our life, He was the full and complete TRUTH.

The Greek is “logos” that we translate into “word”. This Greek word is always used to describe the scripture which is our Bible. But, we do not have the full and complete TRUTH today. John also tells us in John 21:25 (NLT), “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.”

But it does not matter, we have enough. All the commands and information included in the Bible give us everything we need to follow Jesus. The Lord clearly commanded the first disciples what we need to do because He commanded, “Therefore, go and make disciples…Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 (NLT)

At the beginning of His public ministry He gave the first command to all mankind. “From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’” Matthew 4:17 (NLT)

The second was proclaimed immediately after the first command. “Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’” Matthew 4:19 (NLT)

And keep reading. These are not suggestions, but the very commands that Jesus told them to teach to every new follower of Jesus. His will is that all believers know these commands, follow them, and teach every new disciple to live by them generation after generation until He returns to earth.

But are we left alone to complete this task? Don’t we need divine guidance? How does God guide us?

2/ The Holy Spirit helps us understand God’s will

We find in our instruction book examples of God’s guidance. For example Peter was given an assignment to reach a Roman soldier with the gospel. But, Peter needed some prep work to get him ready to do something that was contradictory to everything he was raised to believe. They would never enter a gentile’s home because they thought it dishonored God.

So God gave him a vision that commanded him to eat food that the Law commanded to never eat. That confused him and he resisted doing something wrong. But God was not talking about food. We learn in Acts 10:19-20 (NKJV), “While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”

So the Holy Spirit spoke a word (rhema not logos), which is divine guidance, telling Peter to obey the command and “go and make disciples”. And yes, this man was a Roman not a Jew, but a man who needed the gospel. You need to understand this was not some new revelation that added to the Word of truth, but simply divine guidance.

Before Jesus was crucified and resurrected He began explaining how God would guide them as His followers. But, they could not understand at that point.

John 16:12-15 (NLT2)

12  “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.

13  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

14  He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.

15  All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

Peter had to learn the truth that God always loved the Gentiles. And the Holy Spirit had to give him a vision, then nudge him, guide him to fulfill God’s will, and share the GOOD NEWS.

We have another example when Paul and the church at Antioch received a rhema through the Holy Spirit when they were praying for God’s will. We find in Acts 13:2 (NKJV), “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” The Logos did not change, but the rhema helped them to know God’s will.

If you fear God is not speaking to you because you never heard “His voice” do not worry. Whenever a specific scripture captures you, flashes into your mind, or grips your heart you can be assured the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. This is a rhema from the Lord and He is guiding you just like He did with the first Christians.

The Holy Spirit and Jesus Are Under Authority

John 8:25-27; 12:49-50 (NLT)

25  “Who are you?” they demanded. Jesus replied, “The one I have always claimed to be. 26  I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won’t. For I say only what I have heard from the one who sent me, and he is completely truthful.” 27  But they still didn’t understand that he was talking about his Father…

49  I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50  And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

The Holy Spirit is Under Authority to Help You Understand God’s Will (the whole truth)

Here is what Jesus explained in John 16:13 (AMP) “But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].”

The unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is very real. The Holy Spirit resides in true believers to lead, not follow. Under the direction of the Father, He speaks to you helping you obey the commands of Christ. He will guide you into the truth, push you to change your way of thinking, lead you to God’s will, and help you do what is right. He never sleeps and is always with you.

Paul says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 (NLT)

3/ The Holy Spirit also guides us with His grace

You cannot forget grace is the divine influence upon your heart. This is why Paul explained in Philippians 2:13 (NLT) “…God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” And as you see in Mark 1:12-13 the Holy Spirit pressed, pushed, and drove Jesus in his heart to go into the wilderness to face severe temptation.

Mark 1:12-13 (NKJV)

“Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”

It may be hard to explain, but the Holy Spirit motivates us to fulfill God’s will by pouring into our hearts strong holy desires that drive us to follow His guidance.

And this also goes deeper because like an umpire the Holy Spirit also guides us by our gut. Well what I mean is an unexplained peace prevails inside us as we walk in His will or an unsettling frustration grows when we need to stop and change course. Paul explains in Colossians 3:15 (AMP), “let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].”

As you humbly seek God’s will also let the umpire direct you with His divine influence on your heart..

-1 The Holy Spirit will guide you through rhemas and grace

-2 The Holy Spirit is under authority to reinforce what the Father and Son already revealed in the Bible

-3 The Holy Spirit transforms your character by changing the way you think

-4 As you submit to HIS authority you will LEARN God’s will for you

Our example is Jesus who meekly submitted to his parent’s authority.

Luke 2:46-52 (NLT)

“Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. His parents didn’t know what to think. ‘Son,’ his mother said to him, ‘why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.’”

“’But why did you need to search?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?’”

“But they didn’t understand what he meant. Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart. Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.”

As you can see the eternal Son of God submitted to His Father’s authority through human authority. His submission to obey Joseph and Mary helped him grow in wisdom which greatly pleased the Heavenly Father. Yes Jesus, was God, but at that time was trapped inside a boy’s body. He was an immature twelve year old physically, His hormones, his brain, and his body were still developing so that even though he had great knowledge and youthful zeal to do the will of God. He needed to have wisdom for the timing of His ministry.

God the Father used his earthly parents to prepare him for that day. God uses our human authorities to guide us also. If we truly are meek as Jesus lived and taught us, we will change the way we think and allow God to direct us through our human authorities. In fact, one of our great downfalls is failing to hear God through those responsible for us and we lose God’s grace because of it. Yes we resist God’s divine influence upon our hearts simply because we are blind to God trying to give us wisdom as He did with his twelve year old Son.

How can Christians not receive the powerful grace of God?

Hebrews 12:15 (NLT) “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”

Romans 13:1-3 [NKJV]

1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

The Bible explains human authorities are established by Him, and He requires us to submit to them to prove we are submissive to Him and to receive the character development necessary for spiritual maturity. You can either be a rebel or servant to God, and if you ignore God or make your own rules, you are a rebel!

The hardest thing for Americans to understand is to be like Jesus means you submit to authority to fulfill the will of God. No one seems to know that Jesus and the Holy Spirit willfully submit to the will of the Father. Christ said, “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.” We are commanded to follow Jesus but tend to resist and refuse to follow human authority.

So many resist their parents, hate the president, rebel against their boss, quite the church and turn in bitterness because they did not get what they wanted from them. Someone died and they blame God for it. They lose their job and want revenge from the company. But, every time this happens they forget “ that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Joseph was dragged off to be a slave in Egypt so later he could save his family. Moses was stolen from his mother so he could be prepared to save all Israel. Solomon built the temple that his dad left him to finish. And the innocent Jesus was crucified for all the crimes we committed. The will of God is given to us through the authorities we are under.

The arms and hands of God the Father are the human authorities in your life. You are a valuable diamond in the rough that the Father wants to cut to make a great and glorious diamond to show off for all eternity. Human authorities are meant to chip away at you transforming your character to be like Jesus. You must be like Jesus and surrender to their control to grow in wisdom. The unwanted and unfair actions of your authorities teach you faith, humility, forgiveness, patience, kindness, and how to love your enemies, just like Jesus. Will you receive God’s grace or reject His grace and experience the poison of bitterness?

But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).

7  So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. 8  Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].

9  [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins].

10  Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. James 4:6-10 (AMP)

The path to God’s will is always through a humble admission of sin, sadness over our rebellion to His authority, and surrender to His will that we do not understand or comprehend. Do not rest until you yield all your rights to Him. Offer your life, all of it, to DO THE WILL OF GOD!

We learn from King Saul that partial obedience is viewed by God as full blown defiance and rebellion. In 1 Samuel 15:23-24 NKV we read, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he also has rejected you from being king.” Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.”

No believer would openly worship the devil or blatantly practice witchcraft and still claim they are followers of Jesus. But when we stubbornly refuse to fully yield our lives to God’s sovereignty we are no different than those who openly blaspheme the Lord. Our meek and lowly life must be real. Therefore it is up to us to be thorough and root out every bit of self-will and rebellion hidden inside our hearts.

These 12 areas will always be our road to anger and bitterness or the place of peace as we rest in the protective hand of God

01 Yield your right to self-will, and what you want to do with your life   

02 Yield your right to choose who you date-relationships  

03 Yield your right to pick your clothes-appearance

04 Yield your right to spend your money your way, and give your possessions to His control

05 Yield your right to choose what knowledge to have and give ownership to Him

06 Yield your right to what friends you have

07 Yield your right to what music you listen to   

08 Yield your right to choose your future

09 Yield your right to have perfect health and surrender to what God allows in your life

10 Yield your right to what you think is a good reputation

11 Yield your right to make your own schedule and give God control of your time

12 Yield your right to choose your activities

Your path to peace with God includes admitting who or what makes you angry. Like a warning light in your car, that which makes you angry is your sign that you have not yielded a right to God. What about your job angers you? How dare those stupid drivers get in your way? Who do those neighbors think they are to let their dog poop in your yard? Who do they think they are trying to tell you what to do? No one tells me what to do! What is wrong with those slow people in front of me in the checkout line? Well I think you get it.

1 So identify the rights you have not given up through your anger

2 Then surrender that right to God. For example, “I turn the right to spend my money any way I want over to God’s control.” Take responsibility to support your family, your church, and pray about how to spend your money. Read the Bible and follow the instructions of God. This is a whole new way of life.

So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. Romans 12:1 (NCV)

3 Offer your whole life to Him. Transfer your whole life and everything you have to His ownership. Become a manager, not an owner. Truly surrender your all. Become a servant of God with nothing held back from Him.

4 Once you really give over everything to Him you will find you are no longer angry. And then you can actually thank God for your circumstances because you know “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God.” Whether to test your faith, build your character to be like Christ, or open doors of ministry thank God for His sovereign love that leads you to the will of God.

Paul says, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 (NLT)

So have you given your all and are you really, Biblically, personally following Jesus? What is more important to you than obeying God’s will for your life, whatever it is and whatever it costs you?

Luke 9:57-62 (GW)

57   As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

58  Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep.”

59  He told another man, “Follow me!” But the man said, “Sir, first let me go to bury my father.”

60  But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You must go everywhere and tell about the kingdom of God.”

61  Another said, “I’ll follow you, sir, but first let me tell my family goodbye.”

62  Jesus said to him, “Whoever starts to plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 10:1-3 (GW)

“After this, the Lord appointed 70 other disciples to go ahead of him to every city and place that he intended to go. They were to travel in pairs. He told them, ‘The harvest is large, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord who gives this harvest to send workers to harvest his crops. Go! I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves.'”

 

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Randy Bell
3 Feb 2018

StraightTalk Articles

Why Are There So Many Different Bibles?

 

It seems that there are a lot of different Bibles today, which can be very confusing if you are trying to know God and His will for your life. If you go to a store you can buy a KJV, NASV, NKJV, RSV, NIV, CSB, NLT Amplified, NCV, and many, many more.  The Catholics have their Bible, The Mormons their book, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have their version, and all the churches have their preferred version. How can anyone get to the truth with all the conflicting ideas, writings and translations?

I hope you slow down and think this through with me. The Bible was written thousands of years ago, in basically two languages, Hebrew and Greek. Therefore, because there are many English translations does not mean there are different Bibles. Since you and I cannot read or speak Hebrew and Greek we need a translation into our language.

The one Bible gets translated into thousands of languages so that the billions of people of the world can read and understand it for themselves. Language is a complicated thing. It is fluid and changing all the time that it is a living language. It is not like mathematics, so words in Hebrew do not always have equal English words to match. Greek and Hebrew do not have equal words that always clearly define a Spanish word, and so on. Therefore, the way someone translates becomes very important!

And not only that, people are prejudice in their thinking. When two people disagree on politics, they interpret the same words of our president in very different ways, even though they all speak English. Now, add this to translating a person’s words into another language too. Then add locations of the world where customs and figures of speech are different, this makes the translation even harder, so the readers can actually understand the sense of what God is revealing to them.

But wait there’s more! Add sworn enemies who try to corrupt and destroy the translation on purpose. Then add time, a lot of time and now you have the difficulty of getting to the truth of God’s Word from the modern day translators. Yes it can be confusing, but if you will be careful, you can understand why there are so many modern day translations.

The Bible is true, eyewitness accounts of people who met God through His divine revelation to them. They recorded actual events they saw and heard themselves. Like in any court of law, truth is found through actual evidence and eye witnesses, not hearsay and rumors.

One eyewitness records, “[WE ARE writing] about the Word of Life [in] Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our [own] eyes, Whom we have gazed upon [for ourselves] and have touched with our [own] hands. [2 ]And the Life [an aspect of His being] was revealed (made manifest, demonstrated), and we saw [as eyewitnesses] and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life [in Him] Who already existed with the Father and Who [actually] was made visible (was revealed) to us [His followers]. [3] What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [4] And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and your joy may be complete].” 1 John 1:1-4  AMP

The New Testament authors’ saw, heard and touched, to verify truth. The Old Testament writers have the same testimony and are proven authentic. Therefore, we know the truth is clearly written in the original languages. And remember the Bible is the most questioned and tested book in all the history of mankind. Archeologists have dug up and continue to dig up everything they can in Israel and have never contradicted the Bible, but instead proven it’s accuracy. Paul writes in the New Testament and verifies that all the Old Testament is the actual words of God [2 Timothy 3:16] and therefore trustworthy also.

The Jews considered the Bible so sacred they had experts who memorized and made hand written copies to pass on from generation to generation. These men were so meticulous that every letter was counted on every page, so no mistakes would be preserved. The New Testament was written by the people who lived with and around Jesus. They were not some writers in another century who decided to write a history, these men preserved and watched over the truth they themselves witnessed. They carefully copied the writings and spread them across the Roman Empire as quickly as possible.

We know this because the second and third generation Christians wrote letters to each other, and quoted the New Testament books over and over again. These people are known as the Early Church Fathers and in their writings alone all but eight verses of the New Testament have been quoted and verified. The Bible was well protected and preserved.

But, slowly during this time groups from Egypt and other locations began to do some dubious things. They disagreed with the original eyewitnesses on the message and truth, and invented a spin off type of Christianity. And two streams of Bibles were now available. The northern stream was continuing to flow from Antioch and stayed faithful to Christ and the original Bible. The Christians from the Antioch translations created the Old Latin Bible that made its way even to England by 200 AD.

But in the south a new Bible was beginning to circulate.

Now the southern stream was a perverted group. They wrote letters and articles and forged the famous apostles names to them, confusing many. Paul mentions this problem even during the first generation of believers. They got away with this because it was the common way the early church leaders taught. For example Paul writes, “After this letter has been read to you, make sure it gets read also in Laodicea. And get the letter that went to Laodicea and have it read to you.” [Col 4:16 TM] So it got difficult to keep the truth with forgers working to pass on their warped teachings.

Paul had to start warning the churches about forgers, “Don’t let anyone shake you up or get you excited over some breathless report or rumored letter from me that the day of the Master’s arrival has come and gone. Don’t fall for any line like that.” [2 Thess 2:2-3 TM] Paul even had to start making a clear signature on each letter for authenticity. “I, Paul, write you this final greeting with my own hand. This is the mark and sign [that it is not a forgery] in every letter of mine. It is the way I write [my handwriting and signature].” [2 Thess 3:17 AMP]

This whole movement of false teachers mixed pagan philosophy with Christianity and created a mystic religion that felt they could erase the parts of the Bible they did not like. There was a movement who rejected the fact that Jesus was God, dismissed the miracles of the Lord, and chose to remove some of Christ’s words. These southern copies became confusing because some added words to the gospels, just like cults and modern day movements do today instead of leaving the Bible alone and believing what it already says. Origen (A.D. 185-254) found much confusion in these copies from northern Africa.

Now this group progressed for several hundred years and the evidence shows they produced all kinds of versions that were  different from each other. They could not even agree what to add and subtract to propagate their lies. During the following few centuries [300-400 AD] a number of versions arose from these people such as, the Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and the Alexandrinus manuscripts which are preserved still today. These were so messed up they disagreed with each other in over 3000 places of the four gospels alone.

The Roman Catholic church eventually embraced these men and their mutilated versions, which are the foundation of many of the popular Bibles today, and is one reason for so many English translations and variations. The King James Version of the Bible is based off the Antioch stream of consistent and faithful copies. The quotes from the Early Church Fathers [100-200 AD] agree with and verify the old accepted Greek text used for the KJV version also.

I met Doctor David Otis Fuller and spoke to him about some of this matter. He traveled to England and other places researching and tracking down great evidence to verify these facts. The following quote comes from one of his sermons in the 1970’s:

Then in 1881, the Revised Version of the Scriptures was published. Brook Foss Westcott, late Bishop of Durham, and Fenton John Anthony Hort, were both professors at Cambridge University, and without question were two of the most brilliant and erudite scholars of their day, and to this day, nearly a century later. They command the attention and admiration of textual critics, both liberal and conservative. The two together had been working for twenty years on a Greek text of the New Testament. Around 1870 there was a demand made for another version of the Scriptures. Westcott and Hort spearheaded this demand and influenced many scholars and theologians to form a committee for a revised version which appeared in 1881.

The Westcott and Hort text was based upon two of the oldest manuscripts extant, Codex Aleph and Codex Vaticanus. One was found in the wastepaper basket by the great scholar Tischendorf on Mt. Sinai. The other was found in an out of the way place in the Vatican museum with dust over it. The former was discovered around 1859; the later some centuries before that; I believe in the thirteenth century or thereabouts.

These manuscripts are two of the worse in existence. They are filled with contradictions and errors, and they contradict each other. In the Vatican manuscript all of Revelation is missing, as well as all the Pastoral Epistles of Paul, and from the ninth to the thirteenth chapter of Hebrews. They just aren’t there. So it was quite a mutilated manuscript. But because they were the oldest, going back to the fourth century, there were those scholars that almost revered them and made much of the fact of these two manuscripts. The theory was that the oldest manuscript was nearest to the original autographs written by the Apostles and others.

But it so happens that this is not the case. The oldest manuscripts have proven to be the worst, because in the early days of Christianity a war was raging between Athanasius and Arius concerning the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot thank God enough that Athanasius won, even though he was banished five times by the emperor, because he was so tenacious and would not let this matter go. And when some of his friends came to him and said, “Athanasius, the world is against you,” he drew himself up and uttered those famous words, “Athanasius is against the world.” Arius and his followers were unitarian, and it is clear that many manuscripts in those days were corrupted doctrinally.

Both ideas, evolution and that of the Westcott and Hort theory, have no foundation whatever. They are made up of cobwebs, yet the Westcott and Hort Greek text was founded squarely upon these two manuscripts, with a few others, but in the main Codex Aleph and Codex Vaticanus were the ones that they relied upon the most.

See the full article here.

So even though the King James version is written like Shakespeare, it’s underlying Greek and Hebrew are the clearly preserved Words of God. But, like any translation be careful, you must be a real student of the Word.

What about all the other translations and versions? Be careful, read the introductions and research them. Just because they are new does not mean they are all of the devil or from the corrupted texts of ancient heretics. But they might be, and it is getting harder to find out and see them. Whenever I use other translations, it is as a commentary and help in understanding the original text. I use a Strong’s Concordance to verify the words and definitions. I stick with KJV and NKJV for the main research.

Take note, all the new English versions are copyrighted. So many publishers commission their own translation to give them an exclusive Bible to sell to the public. As they compete in the marketplace they advertise their version as better than the others.

Also, remember, because some Greek and Hebrew does not have exact equivalents, a variety of words can be used to give a good translation of the text. Within these good variations deeper truth can be understood.

And one last thing,  remember God finalized His Word in Greek and Hebrew, not English. We are all reading the attempts of men trying to give us God’s Word, some, not all are using corrupted text. And these corruptions are a small percent of the whole of the New Testament. The main message and doctrines are not destroyed even in the worst of our modern translations.

 

 

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Randy Bell
4 Dec 2017

StraightTalk Articles

Believe It or Not, The Bible is True and Accurate So What Would Make You Listen to the Bible?

There’s a lot of voices telling you everything about life and its meaning. Science wedded to the universities and media tells you, you are an accident of nature evolving upwardly, but life has no meaning and soon you will just die and become dirt again. Others tell you, you do have meaning and are evolving upwardly spiritually and if you play your cards right you will be wonderful some day through many life and death cycles. Others tell you, yes you die, but it is just passing into another realm and there is nothing to worry about because you still live on.

The Bible has a different story. It starts with God creating everything, including mankind. It tells you God wants a relationship with you, but our ancestors refused to play by God’s rules and rebelled from Him, leaving us an estranged and destructive people deserving God’s wrath. Through God’s master plan He justly paid the criminal charges because of our treason through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth 2000 years ago.

Who do you believe? Why would you believe it? Does life have meaning?

What Would Make You Listen to the Bible?

The Bible has been criticized and analyzed more than any other book in the history of mankind. Sir Isaac Newton said, “I find more marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever.” Now this man developed the laws of motion and calculus. He was a powerful famous scientist and was not a religious fool. He listened to the Bible because it was found to be accurate and true.

It contains knowledge about science and prophecy that cannot be explained away. Far before mankind “discovered” many advancements in science the Bible already states them as facts. How can “evolved cavemen idiots” know scientific knowledge that we modern men have just discovered in the last few hundred years.

The Bible Contains Medical Knowledge Before It’s Time

Although the Egyptians were famous for treating diseases and were looked up to by the Greeks and other cultures, the sad fact is they thought all diseases came from evil spirits and dung mixed with other ingredients was great medicine. The average life span of these Egyptians was only 30 years. Well about 400 BC men discovered the natural cause of disease and the role of germs was not known until the 1800’s.

Yet if you read the ancient records of Genesis to Deuteronomy and you will find quarantine laws ordered by God protecting the people from germs and the spread of disease. Also examine their dietary laws [Exodus 15:26] that promised to keep the Jews free from the diseases that plagued the other nations. And know this, modern science has found much evidence proving how true the promise was. Read of their long lives compared to the scientifically advanced Egyptians. They lived 3-4 times longer than the other people.

Now explain it! The Bible has advanced knowledge only explained as insider information. Yes, Israel received information from God before scientists could catch up, understand, and follow it’s wisdom. God gave the people divine revelation to protect them and keep them healthy. Many today would rather believe in empty theories of space aliens visiting us instead of the amazing revelation of the Bible.

The same type of unusual knowledge is found in incredible prophecy fulfilled hundreds of years later in Jesus Christ. Prophets spoke with 100% accuracy, not like the psychics of today with their less accurate rate of below 10%.

What does this mean? Simple! Here where I live you are more likely to be hit by lightning than win the Florida lottery. So if a person announced to you they could pick the number and win this week you would doubt. If they actually did it, [approximately 1 in a 10 million chance] you would be impressed, but that does make him God. But if he did it the following week also, he would have to have had inside information because it is impossible to make that happen by chance.

Now look at Jesus Christ. The odds of Jesus fulfilling all the prophecies he did are far more incredible and impossible to have just been a coincidence.

Here are the odds of all of them being fulfilled by chance. Fill the state of Texas with silver dollars 1 foot deep and have someone put a red X on one. Then parachute a blind person into the state. Have them walk as long as they want and bend over on the first try and pick the red X silver dollar. This is just the odds of Jesus fulfilling 7 of the many prophecies proving Him to be the salvation of man.

The one who died for the crimes that we committed against God is not just a mythical story but a prophetic plan of God foretold hundreds and thousands of years before it came to pass exactly as God said it would be.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem as prophecy foretold. He was born of a virgin as many eyewitnesses verified. He was crucified and buried as foretold. Hundreds of eyewitnesses saw him raised from the dead. They were killed for their story and never recanted claiming it was a conspiracy. History, true history recorded it.

Who do you believe?

The Bible contains over 1000 prophecies. 668 are known to have been fulfilled. The unfulfilled are telling us Jesus is coming back to this earth and it says it would be a long time before it happens. It has been about 2000 years since Jesus died for mankind. The Bible has been proved to be accurate historically and scientifically. Prophecy proves special divine information.

Will you listen to God? Turn from your rebellion and start a new life of obedience to Him today! You must be born again!

Believe it, the Bible is the true accurate revelation of the one and only true God. His power is infinite and He is more than able to preserve His story in book form so that any person on the planet earth can get to know Him.

Think hard, is there any part of the Bible that you can really prove wrong? I dare you to try. Why? Because if I am wrong laugh at me all the way to the grave, but if you are wrong, well, you will suffer forever! God does not want that! Instead He wants you to be a part of His family.

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Randy Bell
10 Aug 2017

Kingdom Life Principles

There Is Only One Clear Way to God and Eternal Life in Heaven
Randy Bell, klptv.org
Randy Bell

A long, long time ago the Creator of the Universe dealt with a rebellion in His kingdom. His close servant and trusted friend determined he would no longer take orders from God Almighty. ⅓ of all His other subjects joined him in a mass rebellion that ended with them being cast out of heaven forever. They were temporarily placed into darkness, left for the time being until they would be permanently placed into a terrible prison. This place was designed for them, not men. But later men also rebelled in the exact same way.

So the Bible says, “He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” [Matt 25:41 (NKJV)].

Why is there a hell? It is simple, for justice and fairness. Eternal beings are given eternal punishment. Crime must be punished.

Think of yourself driving down a street texting and not fully watching the road, you look up after typing a long phrase too late to see a child in your path. You kill her. You did not mean it! It was an accident. The parents should understand?

The police come and arrest you for seriously breaking the law. Your intentions do not matter. Your past good life does not count even though all your friends believe you are a good person, and all the good deeds you have done before do not erase this one terrible negligence on your part. You now must face the judge.

This one action, one event, has changed everything in your life forever.

Your day in court comes and you face the parents of the dead little girl. The judge enters and calls everyone to attention and your crimes are read aloud for all to hear. You did not take this day seriously and decided to defend yourself without a lawyer.

You have a decision to make. You ask to approach the bench and give the judge many compliments to butter him up. You then offer a deal. “I promise to wash your car everyday for the rest of my life if you will call it even.”

Angered the judge blurts out, “The girl’s life is worth far more than a car wash. How dare you insult this court and the child’s parents. Step back from me you wicked idiot!”

“Wait!’ you give a counter proposal. “I will give you a shoe shine each week. And cut the parent’s lawn twice a month.”

“You killed their child and you think that is fair?” screamed the judge.

Okay, okay I will give you $5000 and the parents $10,000, which is all I have!” You know that has to be a good deal and turn to get your debit card.

The judge firmly states, “Stop, there is only one thing valuable enough for your crime. Your life! You have cheapened life to mere money and little acts of kindness. Life is far too valuable. I sentence you to be executed.”

False religion always tries to cheat just like this. Like the devil and all his demons we “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” [Romans 3:23 (NKJV)] Sin is a criminal act of breaking the law of God and leaving the results of pain, hurt and destruction on others as real as killing that little girl. God hates all crime and does not want any person treated anyway except through love.

In God’s court all crime has one verdict and punishment. “For the wages of sin is death” [Romans 6:23 (NKJV)]. Spiritual crime is so outrageous in God’s eyes He will not tolerate any weaker punishment than what He already levied against the devil and his angels because he has to be fair. He would be a crooked judge and a criminal himself if He favored His friends or others.

False religion tries to bribe God for acceptance, blessings and eternal life. False believers try to earn their way to heaven on their terms. They think doing good deeds like being a community organizer or helping poor people earns them the name of Christian.

How could being a nice person to everyone be good enough for God? In spite of God’s view of rebellion and sin, people think they get to heaven by being good people according to their own judgment, and do not get serious about God’s moral law and rules.

False religion tries to make a way to God in their way and by their terms.

Strict fundamental belief in God’s Word is not false religion. Strong convictions that God’s Bible is absolutely true and must be followed is not false religion.

There is a clear difference between law abiding citizens and active criminals here in America. Citizens are able to obey the law. They are expected to obey the law. But criminals break the law and are punished and their rights are removed by the judge.

But remember God says all have sinned [committed crimes] and are guilty before the Eternal Judge. Because the first man and woman rebelled also, no one can follow God’s Law today since now we are all born without the strength to obey it. God looks us all in the eyes and judges us guilty criminals by His just Laws. We can’t get around this!

Let’s go back to our courtroom. If false religion tries to bribe the judge, what is true religion? After the judge gives the verdict of the death penalty, a clamor comes from behind you. In walks a man, and the judge asks, “What is it my son?”

“Father, I will give you my life instead of this guilty, wicked person standing before you. Then fairness will stand and your honor preserved. Life for a life, and the true value of the crime will be paid. Then the devil and all his slaves will never be able to point their fingers in your face and call you an unfair hypocrite.”

The Judge loves His Son Jesus, but gives His approval. He allows His son to be executed for your crime and the crimes of everyone because His son never broke the law. He was totally innocent.

This is true religion, justice fulfilled, but mercy given to guilty criminals. But, He makes His ruling with a very narrow application. This gift of forgiveness will only be given with the following stipulations:

1/ No one who claims they are a good person will ever enter His eternal heaven.

Only His Law will be the judgment of right and wrong. His Law will expose their crimes, and their “good” intentions and motives will not matter.

“There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become useless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. 13 Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

19 Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. 20 For no one will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin ⌊comes⌋ through the law. [Romans 3:10-20 (HCSB)]

2/ Everyone wanting a relationship with God, the Creator and Judge, must approach Him on His terms not theirs.

His will and nature are clearly revealed in the Holy Bible, nowhere else. To find God you do not need to search the world, you only need to read His love letter to you.

THE NARROW GATE TO OBTAIN FORGIVENESS IS REPENTANCE – this is the only gate or way to God and heaven

“Jesus declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” [John 14:6 (NLT)]

Jesus preaches to everyone, “Repent ( change your mind for the better, heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Matt 4:17 (AMP)]

Peter explains, “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for your sins.” [Acts 2:38 (NLT)]

HERE IS HOW TO REPENT

1/ THE LAW OF GOD MUST BE EXAMINED AND FACED JUST LIKE YOU WOULD IN A COURTROOM [Exodus 20, Matthew 5-7, Galatians 5, Ephesians 2]- Why? because the law of God produces guilt

“Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.” [Romans 3:19 (NLT)]

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” [Gal 5:19-21 (NLT)]

2/ RESPOND TO THE GUILTY VERDICT WITH FULL ADMISSION OF YOUR SPECIFIC CRIMES, FOLLOWED WITH DEEP SADNESS – Why? because guilt produces godly sorrow

“Come close to God and he will come close to you. Realize that you have sinned and get your hands clean again. Realize that you have been disloyal and get your hearts made true once more. As you come close to God you should be deeply sorry, you should be grieved, you should even be in tears. Your laughter will have to become mourning, your high spirits will have to become heartfelt dejection. You will have to feel very small in the sight of God before he will set you on your feet once more.” James 4:8 (Phillips NT)

3/ FULLY REPENT AND FOLLOW [LIKE A SLAVE] JESUS, YOUR NEW LORD – Why? because only deep godly sorrow produces true repentance

“For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].“ [2 Cor 7:10 (AMP)]

“Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.” [Eph 4:28 (AMP)]

True repentance means first to stop your crime, and in our example of a thief that is only the first step because this is only partial repentance. Next, the thief must get a job and earn his money. But this is still partial repentance because it does not deal with the heart of the sin, GREED. A greedy person steals and cheats, but a fearful or careful greedy person just works hard to stuff his own pockets. Here the Bible explains that true and full repentance is only proven when the ex-thief makes a 180 and  joyfully gives some of his hard earned money to needy people. He no longer takes but turns around and gives.

AN EXAMPLE PRAYER WOULD BE LIKE THIS

Dear God,

I realize you are my Creator, the Almighty God, and the only one who is good and fair. Because of this you have the power to establish the law of the world, and the authority to tell me what is right and what is wrong. So I now bow to your authority and justice. I admit have broken your law _____________ [fill in the blank], and I am sick with sadness in how I have acted.

Please, please forgive me! I now understand your love and mercy so I accept your offer of forgiveness through Jesus dying in the place of my judgment. I turn from all the crimes I am practicing, I have no excuses, And I now am grateful for your mercy. Father in heaven, I choose to please You and follow my Lord Jesus by obedience to His commands all my days.

THE NARROW ROAD OF OBEDIENCE – YOU ARE EXPECTED TO LEAVE THE LIFE OF CRIME AND OBEY FROM THIS DAY FORWARD – THIS IS THE NARROW ROAD

Your new lifestyle begins with Christ’s words, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” [Matt 7:12 (NLT)]

So be careful Jesus warns many will try to make the way to heaven easier than the narrow way of repentance. “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” [Matt 7:21-27 (NLT)]

Also Jesus explained the narrow way of life his followers take, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” [Matt 22:37-40 (NLT)]

BUT WHAT IF I FAIL? YOU MAY AT FIRST, BUT YOU WILL EXPERIENCE GOD’S MIGHTY GRACE THAT GIVES YOU NEW DESIRES AND STRENGTH TO OBEY YOUR NEW LORD

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. [1 John 2:1-7 (NLT)]

Give yourself a break at first and remember you are a new baby in the faith. When babies learn to walk it takes time and even when you are older you may fall down, but it is less and less of an issue over time. Don’t be discouraged, you will find God’s strength because He gives His Holy Spirit to you and you gain the power to obey consistently. Give God time to work inside you, trust Him.

Read your Bible start with John and Matthew 5-7. Find a church that teaches the Bible literally, because you will find friends that will help and encourage you. But be careful there are false preachers that will try to deceive you.

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