You ran well
who hindered you
from obeying the
truth?
This persuasion does
not come
from Him who calls you.
A little leaven
lemons the whole lump.
I have confidence in
you, in the Lord,
that you will have no
other mind;
but he who troubles
you shall bear
his judgment, whoever
he is.
Galatians 5: 10
As the
Galatians called to consider from where they had come and why they had become
altered, so we also should consider our state of Christianity. Has our Christianity been altered? But you may say, that you have become
zealous and are working in ways that are Christian. Often when we have taken time to examine ourselves, we discover
that our behavior was only agreeable to our character and our profession. The question then is, is our character in
our profession guided by the principles of the Bible and according to the truth
in the Bible. As Christians we are in a
race and the Ecclesiastical writer stated:
"I returned and saw under the sun that – ‘the race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of
understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them
all’" (Ecclesiastes 9: 11).
The writer to the Hebrews wrote:
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let
us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:
1). Paul adds further in regards to this race: "I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (Timothy 4:
7). Can you or I say that we have
fought the good fight? Can we say that
we have kept the faith? This race that
we are in holds forth to every Christian the trophy of eternal life and if we
are to obtain this prize that we are to run this race faithfully. Not that we can lose our salvation for that
was determined before you were ever born, rather the prize that you will
receive maybe determined upon how you handle and lived the faith of Jesus
Christ. We don't run this race simply
by profession of Christianity, we must run well by living up to that
profession. The Galatians had to run
well for a while, but then they were turned the other way, and they faltered. Sound familiar? You know anyone who is struggling in this regard? If so are you lending a hand that they
may need to get past this for we don't run this race alone. An apostle is asking how it came to be that
they did not hold onto the faith were they had begun to run so well. Christians should always question themselves, and to
seriously consider whether or not they really had any reason to listen to those
who gave them this disturbance that faltered them. Do not Paul and Thessalonians tell us to test all things and hold
fast to that which is good? Yes! Remember this old saying: "The first
time the dog bite you; it is a dog's fault." One of the ways that leads Christians aside is due to poor
interpretation of Scripture. In this
world in which the culture is pluralistic, that is, everyone has their own
truth and their own meaning and we are not to question that too deeply, if at
all. That is fatalistic thinking, there
is only one absolute truth, anything less than that is a lie. Due to poor interpretation of Scripture and
using manuscripts that were translated by those men who were either led by
Neo-platonism or Gnostic thinking and are now that thinking is applied to the
newer translations. It may be found
that this could simply be poor understanding of the original language and of
the historical reason for those manuscripts, or it is simply seductive and
intentional saying what is false. You
can find many people who have intended to deceive, even those who do not wish
to be deceived. Let me give you an
example that I was associated with and how the old Arian heresy has surfaced
leading thousands into error. First,
let me explain Arianism: simply put, this teaches that Jesus was a created
being even though he was used by God to create all things and even used by God
to be Savior. One such Scripture that
they point almost always is John 1:1.
They say they interpret Scripture according to the Greek language soul
there in New World translation that was translated from the critical text by
Griesback, the same basic critical text used to translate into Bibles were familiar
with such as the ASV, NIV, and ESV which makes me wonder why they would use
those manuscripts that make up what is called the critical text to develop this
New World translation when in all times past they had used the King James. Just makes me wonder! There are some good things in the translations I
listed and yet I find some problems and many questions. So I and I hope you will, continue to study. Let's look at this Jehovah's Witness Bible
and this particular verse whereby they added the letter "a" on the last part of
that verse: "and the Word was a god." Let me quote that verse from the Greek: " Ἐν ἀρχῇ
ἦν ὁ
λόγος,
καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς
ἦν ὁ
λόγος. Here
is what the English found in Bibles other than the New World translation: " In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Was it proper for the Jehovah's Witnesses to
add the letter "a" saying that they're following some sort of grammar
but when that same grammar is used in verse 14 they do not add the letter
"a" why? This dichotomy of
thought and translate. To explain: the
subject of that verse is the Logos (Word) and not Theos (God). The word God is a normative word and is a
predicate adjective describing Logos (Word) so while it is in an anarthrous noun a noun without the article, it is not necessary here
for the word God is describing the word therefore the correct translation is
not a god, rather God, so the New World translation has interpreted wrong. Are led astray from the faith and began to
run and in other direction, a different race.
This persuasion does not come from the truth of the Bible rather from
men who are interpreting it according to their theological beliefs and not that
necessarily of the Bible. As Paul said
a little while leavens and the whole lump.
My confidence is that when you learn these things you'll take the time
to examine everything. I am not a King James
only person, but I find it to be more correct by what I have studied, and in the
end we need to have no other mind except that which Scripture actually teaches
them for those who are teaching differently they shall bear the judgment.
As
a Babylon has caused the slaying of Israel to fall,
so at Babylon the slain of all the
earth shall fall.
You
who have escaped his sword, get away!
Do not stand still!
Remember the LORD a far-off. And let Jerusalem
come
to your mind.
Jeremiah
51:49 -- 50
Remember
the Jerusalem above
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