Moreover it is
required in stewards
that one be found
faithful.
But with me it is a
very small thing
that I should be
judged by you or
by a human
court. In fact,
I do not even judged
myself.
For I know of nothing
against myself,
yet I am not
justified by this;
but He who judges me
is the Lord.
1 Corinthians 4: 2 --
4
Paul who
was assigned to preach to the Gentiles the Gospel had to deal with many false
teachings and doctrines that were in fasting the church and was in need to be
corrected, Corinthians being one such church that has allowed many false
practices to become the norm as though they were signs of true
Christianity. Paul in writing to
Timothy in his first letter to Timothy who was also facing many heavy burdens
and great responsibility in the church at Ephesus had great need to meet the
challenges of the false teachings and doctrines that were attempting in many
ways to turn Christians always from the faith.
Paul was helping Timothy and reminding him that he had the
responsibility to meet this challenge:
"O Timothy! Guard what was
committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and
contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge-- by professing it some have
strayed concerning the faith. Grace be
with you. Amen" (1 Timothy 6: 20
-- 21). Paul given by Jesus Christ
the gift of sacred grace and even if it does not please anyone and they condemn
him, they would also then be condemning the whole Church of Christ, his
teachers, apostles, and prophets. As
Paul instructs Timothy to be on guard for false teaching that command and
instruction is for all Christians even you today: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Galatians
1: 8). How often it is that men
want the glamour of being a celebrity and wish to be judged by how they say or
act and not by the truth of Holy Scripture.
It is not that they do not quote from the Bible, that is if they use a
Bible that actually is interpreted from the many texts that have shown to us
that God's providential he reserves his word, and uses such things as the
Message Bible, or some other paraphrase: example: Men such as Max Lucado quote
from the Message Bible:
Message Bible
John 3:16 — “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his
Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed;
by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”
| King James Version |
John 3:16 — “For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
This is the only an attempt to take the inspired word of God
and put it in some contemporary translation and all that has been done is to
produce a non-literal translation and setting aside the original languages of
the Bible. Notice the difference as the
Message Bible and put a twist on John 3:16 to make the words of Jesus be
palatable and yet has not spoken to a reader as to what Jesus actually said. Yes God loves the world, did he not create a
world? Do you not say that the world
and all that he created was good? And
did not God destroy the existing world and people by the Great flood? The question then which will be answered as
I continue this blog as to the Greek word "κόσμος" In its various meanings, but for now I wish
to address that God not only loved the world but he did not just give His Son,
He gave His Only Begotten Son. If Jesus
said to be only a Son then this begs the question as to the relationship of
Jesus to God. The Greek word is:
"μονογενή" And can only be
translated as: μονο: only: γενή: be gotten: therefore there is no question that
Jesus is the only begotten of God and is of the same substance as God and not
just His only Son. God the father did
not just call him: His Son as though He were speaking of a separate person or
if this was true then the word "μονογενή" Would not have been spoken by Jesus. Then this paraphrase speaks that because that God loved the world
and that He gave his only Son no one need be destroyed is not found in the
manuscripts for it is not that no one need not be destroyed for only those who
are believing in Him who will be saved.
The Greek word for believes is in the present and participle and is to
be understood as those who are presently believing will be saved. Furthermore, our belief is no assurance that
we will have a whole life in this world. We will not have a lasting life if we
have not truly converted and are presently believing in all times upon our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ for if we are not believing in this manner we will
perish but for those who are doing so by believing upon him have the whole and
promise of an everlasting life.
This is an
important fact; we are to be the guardians of the reserved word of God and to
guard it with our lives. When we are
teaching and preaching the truth of God's Word we should not be judge by any
man or by any human court. Paul was not
here telling us that we are not to judge false teaching for, was doing in this
letter to the Corinthian church. What
we are to judge is whether or not a person is being faithful and true to the
Word of God or preaching some other form of Christianity derived from such
dumbed down paraphrase. Too many
churches today are using such corrupted translations just to make it be your
ticket leaned by using contemporary language.
The use of contemporary language is not altogether wrong, it is whether
or not a person is preaching from the actual translated words from the reserved
texts that we have in number in the thousands.
What Bible
are you using to learn about God? This
is an important question for by the answer that is given will tell how you
believe God to be and what He is doing for His children, furthermore this
influences you pragmatically. I pray
that you are using the correct translation and coming to a correct
understanding of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
You are my portion, O LORD;
I have said
that I would keep
Your words. I
entreated Your favor
with my
whole heart; be merciful
to me according to Your word. I thought about
my ways,
and turned my feet
to Your testimonies.
I made haste, and did not
delay to
keep Your commandments.
Psalm
119: 57 -- 60
Praise God for He has preserved His word
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