The Best Bible Translation

By Gary Amirault
(Rather lengthy, but important article)

Probably more than any other question, I am asked Which Bible

translation is the most accurate or the one closest to the original
Hebrew and Greek? Comparing Bible translations and various
Biblical texts is something I spend a great deal of my time on. I have
hundreds of Bible translations, Parallel Bibles, Hebrew-Greek-English
Interlinears, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Aramaic, Syrian texts and Bible
dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, commentaries, etc. My
computer is filled with incredible software to aid in determining the
wording of the Bible that is most probable of being the original form.
These tools are very valuable to me. But even if I had the perfect
original, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek even if I had a perfect English
translation, I believe there is something far more important than
either of them. Let me explain:

Many years ago, I was in the middle of a very busy business day,
about to enter a printing shop when I saw a homeless person come
to the door of my car. I knew he was going to ask me for money.

Under my breath I said, Lord, please dont put him in my life right
now. I am too busy. What a stupid thing to say! Of course the Lord
put him in my life.

He was a chronic alcoholic who lived under a bridge and often found
himself in trouble. He had no teeth. One of his relatives had them all
pulled, but never got around to getting him dentures. Although he
was in his 50s, his mental abilities were that of a child.
I ended up spending several weeks trying to get him help with his
alcoholic problem and other serious needs. The experience showed
me how ineffective our social service programs for helping alcoholics
are. At one point during these few weeks, I took him to a minister in
hopes of having him delivered of unclean spirits. We commanded
everything under the sun to come out of him, but he just stared at
us, annoyed.

We began to quote various Scriptures to him. We hoped the word of

God, (King James Authorized Version, of course) would set him free.
We tried binding and loosing everything we could think of.

Getting a little irritated with our zealousness, pointing to the Bible in

my hand, he said to me, Did you ever read the @#^*? As I
mentioned already, he had no teeth and I often did not understand
what he was saying. I told him I didnt understand so he repeated
himself. I still didnt understand. He repeated, Did you ever read
the @#^*?! He was angrily poking the open pages of my Bible with
his index finger. Finally, I made out what he was saying. He said,
Did you ever read the white?! Instantly, those words pierced me
with the divine revelation behind his words. Light broke through.
Could I read between the lines. The words on pages of a book are
black marks on white pages. When we read, we only look at the
black ink, but the ink is actually on a white page. Each black letter
was surrounded by white. It was the large white page that carried
the small black letters. Could I see beyond the black ink -- beyond --
it is written!? THE LETTER KILLS, IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT GIVES
LIFE! (2 Cor. 3:6) Could I read by the Holy Spirit? Could I go beyond
the literal word and REALLY get the meaning? That is what this
drunk sage was trying to tell me.

The words I love you for example can have many different
meanings depending upon who said them, at what time and to
whom, and for what purpose. True meaning goes far beyond the
actual spoken or written word. This article is about learning to go
beyond the It is written Church mentality which has brought
legalism, fundamentalism and many other isms which have
prevented us, His people, from moving into the Spirit of His Holy
Word. There are many forces in this world arrayed against Gods
people to prevent us from entering into our inheritance. Bible
translating and interpreting has been an area in which the devil has
had a field day. In the coming years, this is going to change. Get
ready for a mighty outpouring of revelation that will truly set His
people free that we may go into the world and into creation itself to
set it free from its bondage to corruption. We need to get free to
love with His love first.

Reading the White

My drunken friend ended up dying of alcoholism. Before knowing the

Lord, I swore Id never go to a funeral. (Dumb again.) His family
asked me to preach his eulogy. Before he died he told me that one
time he went to heaven. Somehow, I believe him. After all, where
else can one learn to read the white? Have you ever read the white?

Let me give the reader another example of reading the white and
the profound effects such an experience can have on ones life and
the lives of those around them:

Martin Luther and Righteousness Through Faith

In the early 1500s a Catholic monk named Martin Luther tried to

live a life holy enough to be accepted by God. Unlike most Christians
of that time period, he could read the Bible. The Bible was off limits
to the common people. Most Christians could not read, but even if
they did, the Church forbid them from reading the Bible. Church
leaders at that time (like many church leaders today) did not think
the average Christian was capable of understanding it they felt
Christians needed priests to explain to them what God demands of
them. Actually many Christians do not believe they can really
understand the Bible on their own. They attend churches who have
trained ministers who tell them what the Bible really means. Things
havent changed as much as we would like to think.
During the time when Christians were not allowed to read the Bible,
the Church did not allow it to be translated into common languages
such as English, German, Spanish or French. Latin, to the Roman
Catholic Church, was the sacred language. Therefore, church
services were done in Latin. Most people couldnt understand Latin.
In his way, the Church leadership kept laypeople in darkness. Martin
Luther, however, was a monk; therefore he had access to the Bible
in its Latin form.

He read in Romans 1:17 that in the gospel the righteousness of God

is revealed. He was really struggling with that verse. How
desperately he wanted to attain to the righteousness of God. He
fasted, beat himself, denied himself all sorts of earthly pleasures to
gain this righteousness of God according to what he thought was
the word of God. But his conscience was always a witness against
him. The more Luther tried to attain the righteousness of God by
doing what he thought Gods Law demanded, the further away from
God he felt he was. The church of his time was very law-centered.
(While most Christians cannot discern it, the modern church is very
law-centered too, but in a more disguised form than in Luthers day.
Perhaps the reader can identify with Luther.)

What really troubled Martin Luther about this verse is that it stated
that the righteousness of God (which Luther wanted more than life
itself), was revealed in the Good News, that is, the Gospel. But
Martin saw no good news in the Good News. He saw nothing but
condemnation. Luthers problem is one countless Christians face
today as well.

Luther read the words in the Bible through the theological definitions
of Dark Age theologians who twisted the meaning of words like
grace, sanctification, justification, faith, righteousness, justice, etc.
from their true original meaning. This is exactly what the Jewish
leadership did with the Scriptures when Jesus came to Israel 2,000
years ago. Jewish Rabbis like Hillel, Shamai, Gamaliel, etc.,
reinterpreted the meaning of words and concepts in the Bible so
that people couldnt see the truth anymore even when they were
reading the Scriptures themselves. Their teachings put scales over
peoples eyes preventing them from seeing the truth because the
words and concepts were redefined, turning the truth into a lie.

Church leaders did the same thing in Luthers day as many still do
today. Even though Luther was sincerely trying to understand Gods
will, these traditions and teachings of men prevented him from
seeing what was plainly written. (See Matt. 15:6-9)

Every denomination does this. Some key people in the past (usually
men) interpret words, phrases, or books of the Bible a certain way,
attract disciples which form churches which create institutions to
perpetuate that teaching, add more teaching, build centers of
education to train men and women to perpetuate this faith,
excommunicate those within who deviate from this new system,
develop Sunday School curriculum, build publishing houses which
publish only books that stay within that system and wholla a new
denomination which locks its members into a mindset invented by
some men and/or women long dead.

Luther saw the righteousness of God through the lens of the

teachings of the School of Scholastic theologians of the latter part
of the Middle Ages (1100-1500 AD). Scholastics like Duns Scotus,
Peter Lombard, and Thomas Aquinas taught that the righteousness
of God was Gods means of meting out justice or punishment. To the
Scholastics of the Roman Catholic Church, the term righteousness
of God was simply another word for law for Gods demands upon
man demands which were really unattainable as Martin Luther or
any other sincere person soon found out. Their righteousness of
God was really the same burden as the pack of rules that the
Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers and scribes put on the backs of the
people while unwilling or unable to lift a finger to help them. This
hypocritical Pharisaic Spirit has been alive and well in all three of the
Western monotheistic religions right up to our own times.
Luther in his writings said that whenever he came across the term
righteousness of God it struck my conscience like lightning. It
was like a thunderbolt in my heart. His conscience continually told
him he was an unrighteous sinner who fell short of what he thought
was Gods standard for righteousness. Because of his inability to
attain it, his torment and anguish caused Luther to come to the
place of utterly hating this righteousness, the God who demanded it
and himself. To Luther, God became a fiend who expected from
fallen man what he (Martin) was incapable of giving. It nearly drove
Luther insane. (Some historians and theologians believe Luther did
go insane, at least temporarily.)

After days of meditation in much darkness and great torment of

soul, daylight broke through. Luther was given the revelation that
true righteousness was actually imparted to us through the faith of
Jesus Christ. Righteousness was an imputed gift; it was not
something we had to attain through our self-efforts.

After the light broke through, when those very same words the
righteousness of God were seen through the revelation of the Holy
Spirit, Luther said that he was altogether born again and had
entered paradise itself through open gates. Luther had entered the
peace that passes understanding which Jesus promised to give all
those who received His faith. This peace is a supernatural peace
nothing in this world can duplicate. The true understanding of a
handful of words in a corrupted Latin text read by the light of the
Holy Spirit completely changed Martin Luthers life. This is
REVELATION. This is what reading the white is all about.

It greatly grieves me to know that there are millions of Christians

who go to church every Sunday and yet have never EXPERIENCED
the peace that passes understanding, the unspeakable joy
which Jesus promised to bring, the forgiveness which the blood/life
of Christ brings to the conscience, the unconditional love of God
which brings security that nothing in this world can take away, the
Living Word etc. Ive met so many Christians who have been taught
that true faith is not a feeling; that one is just supposed to trust that
if they believe that Jesus died for their sins that they will go to
heaven and that that should be good enough for them. Go to church
regularly, listen to the pastor or priest, sing a few songs, pay your
tithes, shut up and wait for Jesus return and hope youre right with
Him when He comes. Thats church in a nutshell. Maybe if youre in
a Pentecostal or Charismatic church, theyll let you shout or dance a
little too. Poppycock!

Being in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, being filled with the
Spirit, etc. floods one with the supernatural; and He greatly affects
our feelings, both physical and spiritual. The gifts of the Holy Spirit
and the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the works of the Holy Spirit
should explode from our being and should manifest in great
expressions of feelings! Revelation, like when the light of God
touches down on a portion of Scripture brings a delight that is often
indescribable a delight that most literalists, legalists,
traditionalists, fundamentalists have not yet enjoyed. Why? Because
they are DEAD! The dead have no feelings.

Literalism and Legalism is Joyless

On the day of Pentecost, when the tongues of fire fell upon the 120
disciples, they were DRIVEN into the streets of Jerusalem declaring
the wonderful works of God in all the languages of the world. Let
me tell you, these men and women were FEELING wonderful! When
the Holy Spirit moves through a Christian they KNOW it. True faith is
not blind. The faith of Christ in a believer brings them into a
relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ that affects every
part of the body, soul and spirit including the emotions. Show me a
Christian who says he trusts in the Lord but is not emotional about
the things of God and Ill show you a dead Christian who has
swallowed the traditions of men and not the Living Word of God!

True faith will bring tears of great joy. True faith will bring an
exhilaration that makes what the world calls exciting look quite dull.
A Spirit-filled Christian life should be exciting, adventurous, holy, full
of compassion, full of joy, full of love and great peace. True, we
should not trust in our feelings. Feelings can be misleading, but
when the faith of Christ truly comes into our hearts, there will be
indescribable joy which is a feeling. And if these things are not a
part of ones Christianity, they really should seek Christ again in a
fresh way and seek out fellowship with other hungry believers who
express the Life of Christ. True faith really gives one the ability to lay
down their life for the gospels sake.

Im not talking about ritualized hype. Raising hands, jumping up and

down, falling over, etc can be just as much a ritual as standing to
sing hymns in more traditional churches. However, when the real
faith comes and the Holy Spirit stirs within there will be a natural
tendency to want to physically express what is going on the inside.
Raising hands, jumping up and down for joy, screaming Hallejujah
is as natural to one baptized in the Holy Spirit as it is for a baby to
smile.

The Pharisaic Spirit (hypocritical), which is produced through

legalism, whether in Jews, Christians or Moslems will produce two
conditions in a person; it will produce a blinding pride from self-
righteousness and at the same time it will produce a hidden self-
loathing because the conscience will convict the soul that it has
fallen short of the standard the person has set up for others. The
law (legalism) works wrath. Fear has torment. When we are in
this condition we become tormented and in turn torment others. We
turn that wrath towards our perceived enemies. However, as we
judge, we judge ourselves and will ultimately reap the bitter fruit of
our judgments. (Rom. 4:15) As you sow, so shall you reap. (Gal.
6:7) In the same measure you give out, that same measure will be
given back.(Luke 6:38) If we use the law to condemn others (as a
self-righteous legalist always does), condemnation will come back to
us, though often it is through a different form or person. When we
become self-righteous, we exalt and glorify ourselves by putting
other people down. Thats one of the short-comings of the Law of
Moses. The glory of the Mosaic Law is condemnation. Paul even
called the Ten Commandments, which was the highest part of
Mosaic Covenant, the ministry of death and the ministry of
condemnation. One might ask how condemnation can be
considered glorifying. Lifting ourselves above other people by
judging them as below ourselves through standards other than
Gods own standard lifts us above them in our own eyes. This is how
glory is used in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. We temporarily feel good
about ourselves when we can put other people beneath us through
judging them. I am writing about this nasty judgmental spirit as a
person who is personally very familiar with how it works because I
have been seduced by it on more occasions than I care to admit. It is
a spirit that is constantly looking for an opening in ones heart.
Unfortunately, once weve been seduced by it, the first effects of it
are blindness. We cant see how self-righteous we have become. We
think we are merely being holy when, in fact, we stink of self-
righteousness, legalism and hypocrisy.

The Law in the Bible usually refers to the books attributed to

Moses, especially the part that contains the Mosaic Covenant.
Understand, however, we all really do set our own laws. We pick and
choose religious laws from various places to fit our own lifestyle. We
pick churches that fit our comfort zone. We will also twist or tweak
laws in systems we join to fit our own standards. The Jewish
Pharisees were experts in twisting the Mosaic Laws in their favor and
against others, especially against the poor, women, the sick and
Gentiles. Jesus rebuked this behavior more than any other. One does
not have to be an adherent to the Mosaic Law or portions thereof to
play the hypocrite.

The Wrath of God Abides

One may rise to great heights in religion, business and politics by

stepping on other people, but there is a spiritual cost. If we become
greedy and judgmental, we will not enjoy the love of God, the peace
that passes all understanding and the unspeakable joy the Holy
Spirit brings to us when we are humble. Yes, we may attain high
positions in this world, but we will abuse the power and destroy
many peoples lives. We may gain many houses, much money and
power and fame, but our inner being will become a living Hell which
will spill over into many other peoples lives. We may become
presidents, prime ministers, and officials in high places in
government, business, and institutions of all kind including
educational and religious ones; we may even become dictators
ruling almost the entire world. Even though on the outside we may
put on the display of absolute confidence, on the inside we will be
full of self-loathing. Much of that self-loathing may fester below the
conscious level for quite some time but eventually it will rupture
up to the conscience like a boil. Many world leaders go through this
experience. They look so confident and righteous in the media, but
behind the scenes lurks a self-loathing monster of huge proportions.
Romans 1:18 through all of chapter two has something to say about
this.

These people are miserable in the inside. The wrath of God abides
on them. (John 3:36) But his wrath is not something God imposes
upon them; it comes as a result of not having the love of God in
their hearts. To be deprived of the goodness of God is to experience
wrath. God is not actively bringing circumstances into these lives to
make their life miserable. They bring the misery upon themselves
because they are cutting themselves off from opportunities of
receiving love and kindness.

Darkness in Traditional Christianity

Having been in hundreds of churches in dozens of different

denominations, I am convinced that millions of Christians today are
in exactly the same condition Luther was in before he got his
revelation. Through Sunday School and Bible study material written
at denominational headquarters, through training church leaders at
seminaries, Bible colleges and text books, every denominational
headquarters injects traditions of men and doctrines of demons,
and definitions, creeds, articles of faith, catechisms, etc. which
render the word of God of no effect. I have had many scales placed
over my eyes through various Christian institutions but far less
than the average Christian who was raised in church because I was
an atheist for much of my life. These Christian traditions of the
elders do the same thing to modern Christians that they did to the
Jews 2,000 years ago. The common people couldnt recognize the
Messiah because the leaders taught the Messiah would be a
political/military man. When the Messiah showed up, they wanted to
kill Him. The Christ many Christians have been taught to expect at
any moment will be to many modern Christians as different as Jesus
was to the image of the Messiah the Jews were expecting.

The very best Bible translation, which may be a perfect transference

of the original languages to our own language, may become an
instrument of death unless the Holy Spirit opens its truth through
the Spirit of Truth which Jesus promised to send to his disciples. Dear
friend, please spend some considerable time in prayer and
contemplation over what I am stating. It is possible to have an
accurate translation of the original and still have a false
understanding of the text. Not only is it possible, I submit that this is
the norm of the typical Christian in a typical mainline church. The
state of Martin Luthers mind prior to his seeing the light is the state
of the average Christian in this part of the twenty-first century. Of
course few of us actually believe this because we are quite comfy in
our dark little corner. Our pastor is nice, went to Bible college or
seminary, the church is well-established in the community surely
we are on safe ground. And as long as we refuse to step outside the
boundaries of our church or denomination, we will feel quite secure
in our beliefs. In America, there is security in numbers. But
remember in the Bible, the majority was usually against the Spirit
of God.

I have spent a great deal of time in prayer and study learning about
the traditions of men which have been injected into the minds of
the modern Christian which render the word of God of no effect.
There are countless thousands of them. (The books Pagan
Christianity by Frank Viola and The Way Church Ought To Be by
Robert A. Lund are excellent sources for information about how far
the church has strayed from the teachings of Christ and His
apostles.) I have been forced to step out of my comfort zones many
times. While in the short run it has been very discomforting, in the
long run having to be forced to compare teachings and traditions
among many different denominations has been extremely beneficial
to my spiritual growth. I only gave one example in Martin Luthers
life to illustrate the power traditions of men have over our minds
and hearts. This one revelation on the righteousness of God made
Martin Luther one of the most influential men on the face of the
planet. This single revelation was a major source of light that began
to dispel the Dark Ages. A single person being freed from religious
darkness can literally revolutionize the world. Who knows, perhaps
you are the next one.

The Dark Light of Legalism and Traditions of Men

Law works wrath! (Rom. 4:15) When I speak of legalism, I mean

any human tradition, laws, ordinances, rituals, moral codes, etc.
created by human institutions which are joined to the righteousness
of God found in the Bible. Legalism is much more than just using
laws in the Bible mercilessly. Legalism encompasses much more
than Bible laws whether found in the Old or New Covenants. Gods
true righteousness is in the Living Person of Jesus Christ. Even as the
understanding of the Scholastics hindered Luthers ability to see
what was plainly written, even so, many borrowed laws and
traditions from societies which Christianity conquered have been
brought into the church. Mosaic Law, English Common Law, Teutonic
customs, Greco-Roman laws and culture these and many more
have been combined with the righteousness of God to create a
Western Christian moral code much of which has nothing to do with
Gods righteousness.
I was shocked when years ago I attended a huge anti-abortion rally
in Washington D.C. Constitution Avenue was closed off for the
marchers. I lived in the Washington D.C. area for a number of years
but never really saw the buildings. For the first time, I saw the
buildings as they really were. They were all Greco-Roman
architecture. The Roman Pantheon of gods was on one building.
Gargoyles guarded our National Archives building. Almost every
major government building copied the styles of ancient Rome and
Greece. The Washington monument was borrowed from the ancient
Egyptians, the needle of Horus, a Phallic symbol. Americans have no
idea how much of our society has been borrowed, not from the
Bible, but from ancient pagan societies. What was remarkable to me
is that I had never seen this connection until that day even though I
drove into that area and visited these buildings for business
purposes many times before. This was another one of those Have
you ever read the white? days.

It is easy to add human inventions to Gods righteousness:

Cleanliness is next to Godliness. God helps those who help

themselves. Women should not be ministers. Children should be
seen and not heard. In Germany the slogan Arbeit machts frei
(work makes free) was a slogan often used in Church thus
connecting it to Gods demands upon His people. The Protestant
work ethic has more to do with Northern European tradition than
with Scripture even though the Bible does emphasize honest work.
Church buildings should have steeples. On and on it goes
thousands upon thousands of traditions and laws which make the
word of God of no effect. There are scores of traditions and rituals
in every church which are not found on the pages of the Bible but
were Christianized, that is, borrowed from pagan religions and
cultures. These all become blinding agents.

It is the doctrines and traditions of fallen men, especially religious

fallen men -- that sends us into outer darkness into ignorance.
However, we must be mindful that it is not doctrine that saves, or
enlightens or empowers, even true doctrine -- it is the very Spirit of
God Who seeks to move through us and teach us all the mysteries
contained in Jesus Christ, the TRUE WORD OF GOD. Please
understand that there is essentially nothing wrong with many
customs and laws created by various societies around the world. It is
when these extra-biblical laws and traditions are subtly or
sometimes not so subtly joined with Gods righteousness, Holiness
or requirements that causes the problem. Of course, in addition to
the teachings of men, our own prejudices, racism, bigotry, biases,
resentments, anger, jealousies, etc. can have a profound effect on
what we think we see in the Bible as well.

Projectionism

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your
whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body
also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not
darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of
it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp
shines on you. (Luke 11:34-36)

After over two decades as a Christian, I have found that a person

can and will find whatever they want to in the Bible to justify
themselves or condemn or judge others. If a person is a racist,
he/she can find a verse or two to justify their racism. Ku Klux Klan
literature is full of King James Bible quotes. If a person is a sexist, he
can find scores of verses to support his bias. If greedy people want
to justify selling or buying slaves, they can find support in the Bible.
Jews, Christians and Muslims have throughout the last 2,000 years
used the Bible to support countless abominations which they have
done in the name of the Lord. But those verses were read with dark
light, not with the light of the Holy Spirit. An evil person will project
their own evil upon those they hate. They will also project their hate
onto the pages of the Bible. If we are filled with things like
nationalism, racism, prejudice, jealousies, greed, unrighteous anger,
blame-shifting, self-righteousness, biases, denominationalism,
cultural biases, resentment, unforgiveness, etc. -- these things are
dark light which will cause us to project onto the pages of the
Bible and on other people our own darkness of soul. We will end up
forming God into our own image through what psychologists call
projection. We also project our own short-comings onto perceived
enemies through this same technique.

For example, some Jews in former times and even in modern times
believe the Bible teaches that they are the only true representatives
of God, that the rest of mankind are not true Adamites, they are not
true human beings. They say that Arabs and those who think like
them or support them are Amalakites who Jews are commanded to
wipe off the face of the planet. Where did they get such teachings?
From the tradition of the elders found in the Babylonian Talmud,
the foundation of modern Judaism. The Talmud is a collection of
commentaries of supposedly the wisest of Jewish Rabbis of ancient
times. Modern Judaism is directly descended from the Pharisees of
Jesus day. The Jewish Talmud is filled with all sorts of racist and
elitist material which lends support to the kind of things carnal
minds are filled with.

I have also come across Christians who believe that white Christians
are the only true representatives of God, that darker skinned human
beings are beasts of the field, not really human beings. And they
use certain verses and certain interpretations of those verses to
prove to themselves they are correct. Neither Jews nor Christians
who teach these abominations are correct!

The Holy Spirit: A Doctrine or Life

As I have stated, the Bible, regardless of the translation (or even in

its original languages) is NOT the true word of God. The true Word
of God is a Person. His Name is Jesus the Messiah of the whole
world. If we truly have Him and give His Holy Spirit pre-eminence in
our lives, then we have life indeed. But if the traditions of men and
the doctrines of demons cloud our conscience or we live in the flesh
and allow our base appetites to have their way, then we will reap
from our lives and our Bible reading corruption and death.
Remember, the letter kills, it is the Spirit that gives life. Again,
keep in mind, even the Ten Commandments regardless of how well
they are translated are a ministry of condemnation, a ministry of
death. (2 Cor. 3: 7-18) I am purposefully repeating myself here
because these false doctrines have been so deeply ingrained in us
that it requires repetition to break through the thick crust.
Sometimes it takes a jackhammer, spiritually speaking, for
breakthrough to occur.

The driving force behind a Christians life is the Holy Spirit. But even
He has become nothing more than a doctrine or creed in many
denominations and churches. Even the best doctrines or teachings
or creeds about the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, are as dead as
fallen trees. The Holy Spirit is alive and must be alive IN US if we are
going to be effective in the Kingdom of God. He is not a concept
He is not a doctrine or a statement of belief even if the statement is
perfectly phrased. The Word must be quickened, made alive by the
Living Presence of the Living Word of the Creator. Inspiration,
revelation, impartation, intercession, travailing, quickening,
prophesying, manifesting, etc.these are the manifestations of the
Spirit of Truth. It is a great travesty that these very things are often
utterly rejected by much of the church world -- and we wonder why
the church is so spiritually ineffective. The Holy Spirit must pour out
of us in great power like rivers of Living Water in a dry parched
desert. Nothing less will do.

For the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy. (Rev. 19:10)
Do not despise prophesying. (1 Thess. 5:20) Oh foolish Galatians!
Who has bewitched youThis only I want to learn from you: Did you
receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are
you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made
perfect by the flesh? (Gal. 3:1-3)
In short, Paul was saying that any attempt to try to relate to God via
our own efforts, our thinking, our concepts, etc. is utterly foolish,
useless and actually contrary to Gods way. Gods way is by HIS
Spirit. The love, power, the word, the truth, the gifts, the fruit of a
life of righteousness all come via His Spirit they do not come from
our intellect, our efforts, our theology, etc.

It seems natural for man to fall back into the old way even when one
has received the Holy Spirit. It is not only possible, but quite
probable for a Christian to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit and to
miss or bury the things He gives us. To grieve or quench the Holy
Spirit is as natural as succumbing to the power of gravity. The very
forces of this world are arrayed against the power of the Holy Spirit
within a person. Satan does not go after Christians who talk a good
talk but are useless in the kingdom of God. Those individuals are
already under his power. He goes after those who are still full of the
power of the Holy Spirit. Satan is not upset there are Christians in
the world. Names mean nothing to him. It is the power of the Holy
Spirit residing in a Christian who has learned how to maintain a
living vibrant relationship with God through Him that is a danger to
Satans kingdom. The book of Acts is an example of what every
church in the world should look like regarding the power of the Holy
Spirit and how He can change things through His Body. To the
degree our church does not look like the body of Christ in the book
of Acts, to that degree it has grieved or quenched the Spirit.

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto
the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30) Quench not the Spirit. (1
Thess. 5:19)

Paul, nearing the end of his course must have been deeply grieved
as he watched much of his work return to darkness:

Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard of me, in
faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was
committed unto you keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us. This
you know, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of
whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. (2 Tim. 1:13-15)

The Great Falling Away Occurred Long Ago

If much of the church was falling away from what Paul termed my
gospel during his own lifetime, imagine how far the modern church
may be from Pauls teachings which he honestly believed was the
only true gospel to be preached. Paul told Timothy to hold fast the
form of sound words heard from him from which many were turning
away. The church plunged into the Dark Ages because it turned from
Pauls gospel. Being led by the Holy Spirit was replaced with
thousands of traditions of men and doctrines of demons. Those
traditions and teachings have filled the earth. The natural course of
human kind seems to gravitate towards religion instead of an
intimate relationship with God. It seems the greatest effort or
work on our part once we have received the faith of Christ in our
bodies is to keep the Spirit of God within us stirred and active. Paul
uses the analogy of fire to describe how we can become spiritually
ineffective: I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is
in you through the laying on of my hands. (2 Tim. 1:6, NIV)

Friends, regardless of how studious and faithful we think we have

been, we have all drunk from the fount of religion, a fount of deadly
poison. And this poison has polluted our minds. Martin Luther is no
exception to the Christian life. The traditions he swallowed
prevented him from seeing what was plainly there all along. We all
have our filters, our religious baggage, our traditions of men which
make the word of God of no effect that hinder us from receiving a
true word of life from our Scripture reading -- all of us, including you
and me.

Translating the Scriptures

All I have shared is not to say there is no need for newer and better
translations of the Bible, there certainly is. Most of the popular
English Bible translations are still riddled today with Dark and Middle
Age theology which entered into the Reformation Bibles. These early
English translations still have a strong hold on modern day
translators who are still translating according to the tradition of the
elders instead of being inspired by the Holy Spirit and using sound
translation techniques. There are key Dark Age doctrines which have
crept into the pages of our modern Bibles through translators whose
minds are still bound by false teachings about God and His plan for
the of salvation of mankind. This article cannot go into all of that.
Suffice it to say, while weve come a long way from the time the
church did not allow lay people to read the Bible a time in which
the only official Bible was the corrupt Latin Vulgate which Jerome
translated in the fourth century AD -- we still have a long way to go
regarding purer translations of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek
Scriptures into current languages. (The reader is encouraged to
subscribe to our Tentmaker Bible Matters Email List for helps with
Bible translations. Past articles appear
at http://www.tentmaker.org/Biblematters/bible-index.htm) Even the
popular English Bible translations such as the following ones have
serious errors in them which greatly misrepresent the God of the
Bible and His plan of redemption of mankind: King James Version,
New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New
American Standard Version, New English Translation, Complete
Jewish Bible, International Standard Version, New Century Version,
Good News to Modern Man, Amplified Bible, Living Translation, New
Jerusalem Bible, Third Millenium Bible, New King James Bible,
Modern King James Bible, Twenty-first Century King James, Scofield
Reference Bible, The Message, and many more.

Methods of Bible Translating

I just want to lightly touch upon an important subject regarding Bible

translations. There are several different methods for translating the
Hebrew and Greek into common modern languages. Various scholars
use different terms to describe these methods. Ill use John A. Kohler
IIIs terminology:
1. Concordant method - This is the woodenly literal, word-for-word
method. It is based upon the idea that each Hebrew or Greek word
should be translated into an equivalent English word. It also
attempts to follow the grammatical structure of the original
language texts. Examples of translations produced by this method
are Youngs Literal Version and Rotherhams Emphasized New
Testament.

2. Mildly Concordant Method - This is the literal, word-for-word

method. It is not as extreme as the Concordant Method, but it tends
toward a choppy style of translation that does not flow smoothly in
the English. Also, it translates Hebrew and Greek idioms very
accurately, but they do not always make good sense in English.
Furthermore, it makes excessive use of conjunctions at the
beginning of sentences, which makes for very poor English. Besides
these weaknesses, most translations of this kind are based upon
inferior Hebrew and Greek texts. Examples of translations produced
by this method are the American Standard Version and the New
American Standard Version.

3. Static Equivalence Method - This is the word-for-word, idea-for-

idea method. It attempts to follow the original Hebrew and Greek
text word-for-word as long as this results in good idiomatic English
that accurately conveys the intention of the Biblical writer. It does
not always attempt to follow the grammatical structure of the
original language texts and is concerned about the readability of the
English text. Examples of translations produced by this method are
the King James Version and, to a lesser degree, the New King James
Version and the Revised Standard Version.

4. Dynamic Equivalence Method - This is the idea-for-idea method. It

is not concerned with literal, word-for-word translation in most cases
and often paraphrases Gods Word. It does not seek to translate the
actual words of Scripture as much as it attempts to employ idiomatic
equivalence. Examples of translations produced by this method are
the New International Version, New English Bible, and Todays
English Version.

5. Free Paraphrase Method - This is the extreme idea-for-idea

method. It simply attempts to restate the gist of the Biblical text in
the translators own words. It is not at all concerned about word-for-
word translation of the Biblical text, but seeks to express Biblical
content in popular, readable, contemporary language. The leading
example of a translation produced by this method, though there are
many others, is Kenneth Taylors The Living Bible. (Petersons The
Message is another example.) Endquote.

Personally, I do not believe any of these five methods will produce

the best Bible translations. But that subject is beyond the scope of
this article. Suffice it to say, there are a variety of ways to translate
the Bible, each with its own problems and short-comings. Some
methods, however, are clearly more likely to reproduce the meaning
the original writers had in mind when they wrote.

The early Reformers had very few resources with which to determine
the true meaning of the texts before them. The Hebrew and Greek
scholarship at that time was greatly lacking in the Church due to the
fact that Latin had become the sacred language of the Roman
Catholic Church. As a result, there were many words, phrases,
concepts, persons, places and things in the original languages with
which translators were unfamiliar. However, even Jewish Biblical
Hebrew scholars in modern times have difficulty determining the
actual meaning of many parts of the Old Testament. The modern
Jewish Publication Societys Tanakh (a recent translation of the Old
Testament) notes hundreds of words and phrases of which Jewish
Hebrew scholars even today do not really know the meaning. This
kind of integrity is greatly lacking in the Christian publishing
industry.

The Inerrant Bible is a myth that still covers the Christian Bible
translating community and prevents them from being as honest as
they should be with those purchasing their translations. For example
the original 1611 King James Bible contained many marginal
readings which revealed their lack of understanding of certain
words. These marginal readings have since been removed from
modern printings of the KJV to bolster belief in the Biblical Inerrancy
Doctrine. The Translators to the Reader Preface found in the
original KJV has also been removed. Why? Because their statements
clearly contradicted the idea that their translation was original and
without error. (See The English Bible From KJV to NIV by Jack Lewis,
Baker Publications)

Bible translations needful and important? Absolutely! I believe

Christian Bibles are the most important literature in the world. But
NO translation is The Word of God, especially the Inerrant Word
of God despite thousands of preachers holding up their favorite
translation and saying, Lets look into the word of God and see
what God says about this. The True Word of God is a Living Word
anointed by the Holy Spirit. It is a word from THE WORD, the Son of
God and the Son of Man and Anointed with the fullness of the Holy
Spirit.

On Hearing Our Heavenly Father

Let me give you another example of how the Anointed Living Word
works. Richard Wurmbrandt was an atheist Jew (now deceased) who
was converted to Christ through the love of a German carpenter in
Romania. He became a Lutheran pastor.

During the Russian invasion of Romania, Wurmbrandt and his church

handed out many Bibles to the Russian soldiers. The demand was so
great they ran out of Bibles. So they started tearing apart the Bibles
and gave each soldier only one page.

One day Richard considered whether handing out a single page of

the Bible in Russian would have any effect on anyone. So he asked a
Russian named Ivan whether he gained anything in the reading of
his Bible page. Ivan related to Richard that the page he received had
the name Jeremiah in the title. He understood practically nothing he
read. The page contained information about names and places Ivan
knew nothing about. But five words on that page leaped out at Ivan:
And God spoke to Jeremiah. Ivan thought this to himself as he
pondered those words:

This Jeremiah must not have been a very important man. Ive never
heard of such a man. Stalin, Lenin, these are important men. Ive
heard of them. Now if God would speak to such an unimportant man
like Jeremiah, perhaps he might speak to me.

And from that moment on, he related to Richard Wurmbrandt, he

has heard the still small voice of God in his heart which brought him
joy unspeakable! This voice within began to teach him the ways of
God. When tempted to steal, he would ask the Word within whether
it was ok or not and he would hear clearly that it was not ok. He
didnt need to read Thou shalt not steal in Exodus. Why? Because
the Living Word of Jesus was washing his conscience clean. He was
being washed by Living Waters, not dead letters on a page made of
a dead tree. He was eating from the Living Tree of Life, Jesus, the
Living Word from the Father of all Creation.

Speaking of Washings

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church,
and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such
thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians
5:25-27)

As is often the case, stories in the Bible contain much deeper truths
than what one finds on the surface. Jesus washing His disciples feet
holds a special place in many peoples hearts. (John 13:3-17) The
surface lesson is that we should humble ourselves, take the lowly
position, and care for your brothers and sister in the Lord. But there
is something much deeper here. When Peter realized he made a
mistake with his comments, he asked Jesus to wash all of him, not
just his feet. But Jesus told Peter that only his feet were dirty they
were what needed to be cleaned. Feet speak of walking. Spiritually
this world is dirty. Jesus prayed not that His disciples be taken out of
this filthy world, but that they be protected from the evil of it. (John
17:14-20)

We are Jesus feet in the earth. Jesus must clean His Body, which
we are, because we live in a dirty world. Jesus told Peter he could
have no part IN HIM, unless he allowed Jesus to wash his feet. In
essence, Jesus was saying that His feet (his disciples which we are)
must be washed clean by the washing of the word every day.
Sanctification is connected with being washed by His Word. If we are
going to represent Him in His holiness, we must allow Jesus to wash
us daily. We are bombarded with sinful images and foul words and
ideas every place we go. Watch a couple hours of television while
allowing the Holy Spirit to show you what He sees. Our walk, His feet
must be cleansed daily for our sake as well as Jesus sake.

A Word about The Word of God

It is important to note that the Word of the Bible is far more

encompassing than an audio voice through ones ears or a still small
voice in ones heart or conscience. The Bible begins, In the
beginning, God The book of John in what is commonly called the
New Testament or Covenant begins,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things
were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that
was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend
it. (John 1:1-4)

Paul, the apostle, adds the following in his letter to the Colossians:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are
on the earth, visible, and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or
principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for
Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And
He is the head of the body, the ekklesia, Who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the
preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness
should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him,
whether things on earth, or things in heaven, having made peace
through the blood of His cross. (Col. 1:15-20)

As one can see from the above two verses, it is impossible to get a
complete handle around the word of God. The universe and every
book and human being combined cannot hold the Word. We must
greatly enlarge our understanding of what the Word of God found
in the Bible is all about especially when it comes to communicating
with this Word.

Do not think the Word of God is limited to hearing Him audibly

through your ears and interpreted by your mind. Occasionally, God
speaks to someone like that. Often He speaks to someone in a still
small voice which seems to come from the conscience or the heart
some inner place. But He uses many other means to communicate
even as we, human beings, use many methods of communicating
ideas besides written or spoken words. We must open our minds and
hearts to the many different ways the Word expresses himself to
His disciples. These other means of communication are also part of
the Word. He may enlighten words on a page of the Bible or
another book by His Holy Spirit whereas we may normally be
reading through our carnal or natural mind which Paul says is at
enmity with God. I am touching upon a very sensitive area here.
Paul wrote:

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the
man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts
of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of
the world but the Spirit Who is from God, that we may understand
what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words
taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit,
expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the
Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes
judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any
man's judgment: For who has known the mind of the Lord that he
may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. Brothers, I could
not address you as spiritual but as worldly-- mere infants in Christ. I
gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.
Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is
jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not
acting like mere men? For when one says, I follow Paul, and
another, I follow Apollos, are you not mere men? What, after all, is
Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came
to believe-- as the Lord has assigned to each his task. (1
Corinthians 2:11 - 3:5, NIV)

Paul is stating quite plainly that it is quite possible for someone who
calls himself a Christian to still be quite carnal to think with the
natural mind instead of the mind of Christ. Denominationalism (I am
of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Luther, I am of Wesley, etc.) is NOT
spiritual. Therefore, if a Christian is doing carnal things like dividing
the body of Christ into denominations and sects or participating or
supporting such behavior, can they possibly be using the mind of
Christ? What would Paul say if he were alive today about the tens of
thousands of different denominations of Christianity in the world
today? Can anything spiritual come from such carnal divisions?
Can such sectarianism handle the solid food of which Paul speaks?
Judge yourself before He has to make the judgment.

Other Means of Communications

 He may use an angel. He may use a jackass if He so desires as in
the case of Balaam. God often sends us dreams and visions which
require interpretation. The dream or vision may or may not contain
words. But even if it contained words, God may use them differently
than we normally would.

When Peter in his vision of a blanket full of all sorts of unclean

animals heard a voice saying, Peter, arise, kill and eat, those
words were not really referring to actual animals. (Acts 10:9-36)
Neither did He expect Peter to actually kill these animals and eat
them. When Peter went to Cornelius house, Peter received the true
meaning of that vision and the words. Jews considered gentiles
unclean animals. They often called them dogs. The Holy Spirit was
telling Peter that God had cleansed the gentiles He had broken the
wall of partition. It was acceptable not only to eat with them, but to
communicate with them, to exchange words, to receive from one
another. When we listen to someone else, are we not taking a part
of them and adding that to our being? In that sense, are we not
eating them? We see here that God was not using the words kill
and eat in the natural human sense of those words. Under the Old
Covenant sense of warfare, they literally killed their enemies with
the sword. They took territory through putting to death the
inhabitants. But under the New Covenant, we conquer by laying
down our lives and winning our enemies with love. And we do not
plunder them -- we win them into the kingdom of God through love
and thereby inheriting the heathen. Every natural type and
shadow of the Old Covenant many of which seem almost barbaric
and gross become beautiful realities of Gods love and mercy.

Under the New Covenant, we do battle with spiritual warfare, not

with natural weapons. Nor do we physically kill. Jesus destroyed
the works of the devil through His own death. Through His own
death, Jesus killed death.

Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O

Hades (Hell), where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, Who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:54-56)

Jesus killed so to speak the works of the devil. Jesus spoiled, that
is, conquered and took possession of Satans possessions, and gave
them to His body. In that sense, we may now kill and eat. (Col
2:10-23) The heathen are our inheritance (Psalm 2:8; 79:2) We are
to plunder Satans kingdom of souls lost in darkness. However, if we
interpret verses like this with the carnal mind, we may think, (as
some modern Jews and Christians believe today) that God is saying
to kill unbelievers and take their physical possessions. In Israel
today, there are many Jewish settlers who feel Biblically justified in
killing Palestinians and stealing their land because certain verses of
Scripture command them to do so according to their fleshly
interpretations. And tens of millions of Christians support these Jews
in this endeavor.

The Bible is full of many verses which are often taken literally and
turned into total nonsense as a result. This sometimes affects
millions of Christians as well as the world we are called to influence.
For example, Jesus said,

Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in

remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the
cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in
my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
(1 Cor. 11:24-25)

In another passage, Jesus says,

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye
eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life
in you. (John 6:53)

From a semi-literal interpretation of these verses, some

denominations of Christianity teach that when Christians eat the
bread and wine/grape juice at the Eucharist or Communion, they are
actually eating the very flesh of Jesus Christ and drinking His blood.
While most Christians do not carry their literalism to this extreme
and do not fall into this gross misinterpretation of the meaning of
these verses, there are many other passages of Scripture which ARE
taken too literally and not understood by the true Spiritual meaning.
Millions of Christians today still dont understand the importance of
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John
6:33)

Much more needs to be said regarding literalizing things, words,

visions, etc which really must be seen spiritually. However, that is
beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say in regards to
spiritual eating; crackers and grape juice doesnt cut it. Neither does
a lamb chop, bitter herbs and salt water (modern Jewish Passover
ritual). The Father gave Jesus food to eat, My food is to do the WILL
of Him Who sent Me and to finish His work. (John 4:34) As we can
see, the food from heaven is much more substantial - spiritually
speaking, than the rituals religionists substitute for it. (For more
information on the food from heaven, read our The Bread of Life
booklet.)

God may speak to us through the gift of speaking in an unknown

tongue. There are many different teachings about this gift and I
cant cover them all nor go into what I believe. Suffice it to say, in
church this speech must be interpreted.

He may give impressions. He may use one of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit or one of the gifts of men spoken of in the book of
Ephesians. His Presence may rest upon a person in such a way that
they actually feel His weight, His glory upon them. He may
communicate through unutterable groanings. (Rom. 8:26-27) While
we may not understand what He is saying or doing, we know God is
active in us as we participate in His intercessions through us. He
may use symbolic actions like the man who took Pauls belt, bound
himself with it and prophesied that Paul would be imprisoned if he
went to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:11) He may briefly open ones spiritual
eyes and allow one to see something others cant see as in the case
of Elijah and the armies of the Lord in the clouds. Those who seek to
truly be led by the Holy Spirit must open their hearts and minds to
being spoken to by any of these means as well as others. There are
many Christians today, who will not allow God to use them in many
of these ways. This limits Gods Word in them. This is the sin of
unbelief which is very prevalent in the church. Being led by the Holy
Spirit requires great trust a trust which many Christians do not
have. People love rituals, ruts, rote, regulations. Many of the rituals
in religion, I believe, are demonically inspired. It is the demons who
love these things. And if one tries to take these empty forms away
from people, one will often notice a violent reaction. Try taking
Easter, Christmas, Mass or Rosary beads away from some folks and
you may see a violent, demonic reaction.

Part of the problem with being led by the Holy Spirit is the many
counterfeits which also operate which give an appearance of coming
from God. Yes, there are false prophets by the train-load. Yes, it is
easy to misinterpret dreams and visions. Peter, himself, seemed to
have problems in this area. Yes, there are false impressions. Yes,
there are leaders whose intention is to draw disciples after
themselves. Yes, one can hear inner voices that are not from God.
These and many more reasons are why countless Christians do not
move deeper into being led by the Spirit. We do not want to be
deceived. But the fact of the matter is, if we do NOT move into being
led by the Spirit and open ourselves to the many ways He
communicates with us which are not normal to natural human
communication, then we are already deceived. The carnal mind is at
enmity with the Spirit. And if we do NOT use the means of
communication God has ordained in the Scriptures, if we default to
the natural mindset, if we will not yield ourselves to the means of
communication the Holy Spirit employs which are quite unnatural for
us, then we are not advancing the Kingdom of God. We are really
working for the devil while pretending to be serving God.
The contrast between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is
tremendous; (read our The Pillar Laws of the New Covenant and
Old Covenant Versus New Covenant.) Literal or natural readings of
many passages of Scripture actually cause one to turn evil to good
and vice-a-versa. Misreading the Bible can bring spiritual death.
Mixing Mosaic Law with the Law of the Life in Christ Jesus has
brought spiritual death to many Christians. Literal reading of
passages meant to be seen in the light of the Holy Spirit often turn
the word of God into an abomination. One of the apostle Pauls
biggest problems was getting people to see the types and shadows
of the Old Covenant by the Spirit, not with natural eyes. At the end
of his life, Paul stated that most of his disciples in Asia had
abandoned him. Very few Christians, even today, really understand
what Paul was saying. That which appears as life in the natural is
death in the Spirit and vice-a-versa. In the natural, it is better to
receive than to give. Not so in the Spirit. In the Spirit, one must first
die before they can actually live. Whoever finds his life, will lose
it, and whoever loses (kill, spiritually speaking) his life for My sake
will find it. (Matt. 10:39) See? So much between the natural secular
world and the Spiritual world of Jesus are opposites or in reverse.
That which the natural world (or religious world) calls good very
often is evil in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Getting on Target

As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at

Ephesus, in order that you may instruct certain men not to teach
strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless
genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather
than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the
goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good
conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these
things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be
teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either
what they are saying or the matters about which they make
confident assertions. (1 Tim. 1:3-7, NAS)
Much could be said about Pauls admonition to Timothy in this verse,
but I want to draw the attention of the reader to a couple of
important points. Rather than furthering the administration of God
which is BY FAITH, these men were getting entangled in fruitless
discussions dealing with endless genealogies (which the Mosaic
Law concerns itself with), and other aspects of laws of the Old
Covenant. They had begun in the Spirit, but had fallen from grace
through mixing natural understandings and speculations of the
Mosaic law with spiritual things. (Gal. chapter 3, 4, 5) They were
Judaized. Paul was so furious over this issue, that he wished those
who were deceiving his disciples with these teachings (such as
circumcision) would go all the way and castrate themselves
completely so they couldnt spread their poisonous seeds into Pauls
congregations. (Gal. 5:12, Of course, Paul was speaking
metaphorically.) This mixture, which began in the first century, has
been going on since then. One need not look for a great falling
away in our generation, the falling away began a long time ago.
Today is the time of restoration the time of putting off all these
abominable teachings which the church has been full of for
hundreds of years.

We must get back to Love from a pure heart and a good conscience
and a sincere faith. Now there is a prayer. Lord, give me a heart
pure enough and a conscience good enough and faith sincere
enough for your love to flow purely and freely. Amen. Anything that
prevents us from moving in these waters is probably not from Him.
Legalism, literalism, etc. is to flowing in the Spirit like cholesterol is
to arteries. We must avoid it at all costs if we are to be effective. We
must allow our hearts to be enlarged to receive and impart the
fullness of His Word and His Spirit. God seeks to impart to us His
Word and Spirit because He desires we worship Him in Spirit and in
Truth. His Word is Truth. As we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth
the world will be drawn to Him through us. Truly the world, that is,
the heathen, are our inheritance as we share Him with them. It is
truly a joy -- it is true living to bring the Word of Life to the
unbelieving world. THIS is our inheritance! This is what Christians
are called to do -- to give Life to a dead world! It IS truly better to
give than to receive.

Mount of Transfiguration

In the seventeenth chapter of Matthew (also Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:28-

36), we find what Jesus calls a vision which He told John, James
and Peter to tell no one until the Son of Man was raised from the
dead. In this vision, Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah. Then a
cloud enveloped them all and suddenly a voice came out of the
cloud saying This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well-pleased.
Hear Him! The disciples fell on their faces in fright. Jesus touched
them and told them not to be afraid. There is much to say about this
particular passage of Scripture, but I will have to pass over most of it
because it would require too much space. Suffice it to say, at the
age of thirty in the Mosaic tradition, the son who would take over his
fathers business. He would be taken by the father to the gate of the
city where the elders met, and he would say to the elders, This is
my son; today I have adopted him. This was a Hebrew expression
meaning the father has made the son a full-partner in his business.
The Sons word in business was as good as the Fathers they were
one. In the natural, Jewish men brought their son to the gate of the
city to make that declaration to the elders of that city who then
became witnesses to that declaration. In the Spirit, God the Father
brought Jesus to the heights of Hermon, a symbolic type of the gates
of the kingdom of God, and declared to the elders of the Old
Covenant (Moses and Elijah) and the elders of the New Covenant
(John, James and Peter) that from now on Jesus was a full-fledged
business partner with Him. Jesus was now officially Gods Word in
the earth.

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Father also spoke
the words This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. But
this time on Mount Hermon, He added, HEAR HIM! Under the Old
Covenant, the voice the children of Israel were to hear was the Law
of Moses and the prophetic utterances of the prophets. Elijah, on the
mount of transfiguration represented the Prophets and Moses
represented the Law. God the Father overshadowed them all and
then Moses and Elijah disappeared they faded away. This
symbolized the passing away of the Law and the Prophets. The letter
of the Law was being replaced with the Living Word of the Son of
God Who is ever at the right hand of the Father making intercession
for us. This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well-pleased. Hear
Him! Oh, if we could just fully embrace the fullness of the
importance of those words!

Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and
His clothes were as light. This is one of many types and shadows
and scriptural proof that the Mosaic Law was done away. Yet many
denominations of Christianity resurrect parts of it thinking it would
be beneficial when in fact it only produces death. This scene
occurred on Mount Hermon, the snow-covered Mountain north of
Israel which represents God the Father. All the waters that give life
to Israel whether in the form of dew at night or the Jordan River
originate from Mount Hermon. Its strategic placement, it being
snow-covered year around, it being the highest mountain in the
region, etc., all speak volumes. This vision speaks of the fulfillment
of the type of the Feast of Tabernacles found in the Mosaic Law.
That is why Peter wanted to build three tabernacles, one for each of
the glorious beings on the mountain.

In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant, representing Gods

presence in the midst of His people, was contained in tents or
tabernacles. Peters revelation regarding the Feast of Tabernacles
and its fulfillment in Christ was not quite complete. In the New
Covenant, it is we, Gods people who become tabernacles for the
Lord. God lives inside of us, and we are truly moving dwelling places
for Gods Holy Spirit. Just like Gods glory traveled with the
tabernacles of Moses and abode in Davids tabernacle on Mount
Zion, a Christians body filled with Gods Holy Spirit is the reality of
that Old Covenant type. Every born-from-above, Spirit-baptized
believer in Jesus Christ is a living tabernacle (tent) in which the very
presence of God dwells, moves and has His being. What an
awesome truth! How wonderful the Old Testament Scriptures
become when seen through a mind cleansed by the Living Word of
Christ! The types and shadows of the Old Covenant Scriptures all
end up pointing to the reality of those things which are found in
Christ, the Living Word.

The Father said, HEAR HIM! Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. (Rom. 10:17) This is how faith comes NOT by
reading the KJV, or the NIV or any other translation. It must be a
Living Word. We are NOT saved by our faith in Jesus Christ we are
saved by Jesus faith placed in us. It is the faith OF Jesus Christ that
saves, not our faith. If we receive the faith OF Jesus Christ through
hearing His voice, then the process we find in Ephesians 2:8-10 has
room in our lives:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Dead Works Versus Gods Works Prepared For Us.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of
the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, Who through the
eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Heb. 9:13-14,
NASB)

Cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Here is the great battleground of Christians. For most of us, it is not
going back to the sins of the flesh it is being trapped into a life of
producing dead religious works that have an appearance of
producing life, yet they are dead. Slavery in Egypt represents
slavery to the flesh in the Bible fleshpots of Egypt, (Ex. 16:3). But
slavery in Babylon represents slavery to religion doing things that
appear to be holy, but which produce no life. Preston Eby, in the
52nd part of his series From the Candlestick to the Throne, writes:

And by the angel of the church in Sardis writeI know thy works,
that thou has a name that thou livest, and art dead (Rev 3:1). The
Holy Spirit says to the church in Sardis, You have aname -- a
reputation and recognition by the people that you are alive. This
name that they have relates to their works. They have a name that
they live because they are filled with all kinds of activity, but the
sentence of the great Judge of all is, Thou art dead! Instead of
operating in the power of the Holy Spirit Who is the life of the body
of Christ, like computerized robots they go from the form of flesh-
generated programmed activity that appears to the undiscerning
eye to be evidence of life. But their works do not originate out of life,
but stem rather from a realm of death the death of the carnal mind
and human zeal. Endquote.

Although few of us would care to acknowledge it, those carnal, dead

works characterize most churches and those who attend them.
Whether we care to acknowledge it or whether we are even aware of
it, the traditions of men which make the word of God of no effect
have deceived us all probably even as they deceived most Jews in
Jesus day. (Matt. 15:6-9) What will it take to break this power?
Honesty an honesty that seems difficult to find among Gods
people, especially in leadership.

We briefly touched upon the types of the feasts of Israel in the

Mount of Transfiguration section. Some denominations and many
churches, particularly of the Messianic Jewish variety or those
influenced by them spend considerable time reenacting a modern
version of the feast days of Israel, particularly the feast of Passover.
They will take portions of the Old Covenant requirements, add some
extra-biblical traditions the Elders of Israel added to Moses
commands, then explain the parts of the ritual which point to the
Messiah Jesus and do this year after year thinking that something
very spiritual was done. Each of the feast days of Israel points to a
spiritual reality which a believer is to enter into. The point of the
type was not for it to be reenacted as it was commanded in the Old
Testament. The type seen through enlightened eyes of the Holy
Spirit should bring a person or congregation to the REALITY of the
type!

For example, once one sees a sign which reads To Jerusalem, is it

reasonable or sane to think one has arrived to the city simply by
seeing the sign? Should one make a holy holiday around the day on
which you saw the sign and turn it into a ritual thinking God would
be pleased with that? Or do you think that God might be more
pleased if we followed the direction the sign pointed to and actually
WENT TO THE CITY!

Jesus fulfilled all the types and shadows of the Mosaic Covenant in
Himself. The types and shadows are but pointers to spiritual realities
found in the Living Christ. We must enter the reality of the types and
shadows of the words of the Old Covenant, not repeat bastardized
reenactments which bring us no closer to the spiritual reality than
visiting a road sign annually which points to Jerusalem. Actually, the
road sign will never bring the traveler to the destination to which it
is pointing until the traveler LEAVES THE ROAD SIGN. Putting the
name Jesus into the ritual wont bring one any closer to the reality of
the type than without it. Dead works is dead works with or without
the name of Jesus added to it. One can engage in just as much
idolatry using the name Jesus as without it.

Idols cant see or hear yet we follow them much more than we
realize. Dead works is synonymous with idolatry. God spoke to
Ezekiel about the idols in the hearts of Gods priests. (Ezekiel 14:1-
11) These are akin to the traditions of men to which Jesus referred
in Matt. 15:6-9.

The Pharisees mockingly asked Jesus, Are we blind too? Jesus

replied to them, Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be
guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt
remains. (John 9:41, NIV) What is Jesus saying? Were they blind?
Spiritually, of course they were. But would they acknowledge their
sin, their shortcoming? The true meaning of sin is to miss the
mark. The Pharisees fell far short of Gods righteousness according
to the Old Covenant, but they were too proud and self-righteous to
see it. If they saw their true depraved spiritual state and
acknowledged it, Jesus could have healed them of their blindness.
How many of us are in this same condition?

The religious leadership in Jesus day could quote Scriptures as well

as anyone around. They thought they knew every jot and tittle and
tithed the smallest of seeds. They followed every ritual perfectly.
Paul, the apostle to the nations came from this crowd. He could
wrestle Scriptures with the best of them. But Paul, one who could
write great theological treatises like the book of Romans said,

Gifts of the Holy Spirit Have Ceased?

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of

man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power
of God. (1 Cor. 2:4-5, KJV)

Throughout much of the Church Age, this and many other passages
of Scripture have had the power of those words squeezed right out
of them through false theology -- through the tradition of men. I
have heard many pastors teach and preach that the power of the
early church is no longer needed. They say God gave the early
church great power because it did not have the New Testament
Scriptures. These false preachers also say that when the New
Testament Scriptures were canonized, the power of the Holy Spirit
through the gifts of the Holy Spirit were removed from the church.
They say the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased gifts such as the
word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working
of miracles, prophesy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of
tongues, and interpretation of tongues.
Tens of thousands of ministers have rendered millions of Christians
harmless to the kingdom of Satan through a single theological
dogma that the gifts of the Holy Spirit belong in the past they are
not for today. These theologians use a single verse of Scripture for
their proof text,

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part
will be done away. (1 Cor. 13:10)

They say that that which is perfect is the New Testament

scriptures. That is an utter lie! There isnt a single translation that is
even remotely perfect. And we dont have the original writings of
the New Testament Scriptures so it is rather dishonest to lead people
into thinking we do. And even if we had them, THEY are NOT, that
which is perfect. The letter killeth even a perfect letter can only
kill PERFECTLY! It is the Spirit of God that gives life! It is the Living
Word that gives life! And He is filled with unbelievable power! But
most Christians cannot avail themselves of that power because of so
much unbelief in the Church. (Write for my article, Unbelief, the
Christians Greatest Sin.)

Living Words

A perfect translation of the Bible will not bring the truth into our soul
if we are filled with traditions of men which make the word of God of
no effect or if we have corruption in our hearts. Some of the most
evil men I have encountered in my Christian walk have practically
memorized the Bible.

When Jesus was tested of the Devil after the forty day fast in the
wilderness, Satan used Scriptures to try to tempt Jesus. I have heard
in more than one sermon how Jesus defeated Satan by quoting
Scriptures. In two of the three temptations, Satan quoted Scriptures.
Jesus replied all three times quoting Scripture. But what was the last
Scripture Jesus quoted which ended that spiritual battle?:
"It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matt. 4:4, NIV)

Every word that comes from the mouth of God is far more than the
700,000 plus words found in most Bible translations. Jesus limited
Himself greatly for the first part of His ministry because part of His
role as the Messiah was to fulfill all that the Law and Prophets
spoke of Him. Jesus was born under the Law. He fulfilled all the
types, shadows and requirements which the Mosaic Law, Prophets
and Writings required of the Messiah. That is why Jesus allowed John,
the Baptist, to baptize Him, Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do
this to fulfill all righteousness. (Matt. 3:15) What righteousness?
The righteous requirements of the Law and Prophets which pointed
to who the true Messiah would be. This was how Israel could
determine who the real Messiah was. The Law and the Prophets laid
out many requirements which the true Messiah would fulfill. But
once He fulfilled them, then they were abolished then Jesus could
say, It is finished! He could then inaugurate the New Covenant
sealed with His own blood, not the blood of bulls and goats. The New
Covenant was a covenant of Living Words, not words on sheep skins
or stones, but words written on the heart.

One of the types in the Old Covenant which pointed to this New
Covenant was the gathering of Manna in the wilderness. They could
only gather what they could eat that day. Only on the day before the
Sabbath could they gather enough to last the two days so they did
not have to work on the Sabbath. This speaks typically that we are
to receive daily instructions from the Lord. Yesterdays word is
represented by yesterdays Manna it became rotten.
Denominations which are perpetuated today based upon some men
who have long died are feeding their members yesterdays manna
it is dead! Furthermore, the children of Israel who refused to move
with the Cloud and the Pillar of fire DIED in the camp because they
refused to go further. Oh, dear Christian, hear the word of the Lord!
Remember this: The Old Covenant dead letter; The New
Covenant Living Word.
Satan knows the Scriptures. So do his angels of light who are often
in the form of ministers and Bible teachers. Some of the most evil
men I have met were pastors who could almost quote the entire
King James Bible word for word. It will require something far more
spiritual than quoting Scripture verses to defeat the Devils devices
against us. The average Christian raised in a typical denomination or
Christian movement is more than likely to have been subjected and
indoctrinated to a host of ideas and definitions which are contrary to
the true Spirit of God, even as Martin Luther was.

The true God of the Bible is much more loving, powerful, merciful,
forgiving, wise, efficient and just than any denomination or mind of
man has conceived of Him. The Dark Light in fallen man still holds a
grip upon the minds of Christians even though most will not
acknowledge this or take serious steps to come into the true Light of
the Spirit of the Son of God, the Savior of the world. But I sense a
wave is on the horizon which will sweep away a lot of the traditions
of men in Christianity which have hindered the growth of those who
espouse the name of Christ. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Dark Light or True Light

Let us look at a few verses of Scripture through two different sets of

eyes. One set is the Pharisaic, legalistic, tradition-laden mind which
is quick to use the Scriptures to condemn others while pardoning
themselves. The other mind has been renewed by the Holy Spirit.
The traditionalist, who likes to sit on the judgment seat, will read 1
Samuel 2:6 and point out that God kills. The person whose eyes are
anointed with the Living Word will point out that after Gods kills
the same sentence reads and makes alive again. They are given
the revelation that God sometimes uses death the way an
anesthesiologist might use a drug to put one under for the patients
benefit.

The Pharisaic mind will concentrate on I wound in Deuteronomy

32:39 while those governed by the Living Word will focus on the last
part of that very same phrase, I heal. The mind governed by the
Living Word has come to understand that Gods harsh measures are
but a means to bring healing and restoration.

The judgmental one will see Jacob I loved, Esau I hated, (Rom.
9:13) and use the verse to prove that God hates some people even
as they are born. According to some theologians some people are
born to be eternal enemies of God destined for an eternal burning
incinerator. Love filled eyes will go to the end of the Jacob and Esau
story and find God took good care of Esau. And after Jacob, the
conniver and deceiver whom God loved was humbled at Peniel
after his wrestling match, he saw Esau in a different light: I have
seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast
pleased with me. (Gen. 33:10) (Oh, that modern Israel and modern
Jews could learn this by the Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit!)
Suffice it to say, God blessed both Jacob and Esau. He simply had
different plans for them. Part of Gods plan to bring Jacob to maturity
was to have Esau as his enemy for a season.

The tradition blinded believer will see the story of Sodoms

destruction in Genesis as the ultimate expression of Gods eternal
wrath. Sodom, to them, represents the grossest of sinners. Yet love-
filled eyes will see that the self-righteousness of those who condemn
Sodom was twice as ugly to God as was the sin of Sodom. In Ezekiel
chapter 16, God said the sin of Jerusalem, the city of Gods priests, a
type of modern Christians who are to be a royal priesthood, was
far more repugnant to him than the sins of the Sodomites. As a
matter of fact, according to Yahweh, the sins of Jerusalem, the
priesthood of the chosen people JUSTIFIED the people of Sodom.
(Ezekiel 16:51, 52) It would be good for all Christians to read this
chapter regularly to help stay humble. Sodom, according to Ezekiel
will one day be restored to her former estate and be given to
Jerusalem as a daughter.

A law-minded, legalistic persons eyes will always be looking for the

worst in people. They will create in their own minds a God of wrath
and judgment. This god will be hypocritical, just like themselves.
Their minds cannot see Gods mercy except for themselves and
those in their inner circle a circle which is usually very small. A
legalist (and Judaism, Christianity and Islam are full of them) will
place a God of judgment, wrath and punishment upon the throne of
judgment instead of the Slain Lamb which takes away the sin of the
world found in Revelation 5:6 (see also John 1:29). The law-centered
heart is quick to judge; quick to force Gods hand; quick to put a
glistening sword into Gods hands to justify their own murderous
hearts. But the Christian who is filled with the love of God reads,
Mercy shall triumph over (exalt over, have victory over) judgment.
(James 2:13)

The Pharisaic mind which floods the three monotheistic religions is

short-sighted it can barely see anything, and yet it is quick to kill
it kills both foe and friend alike. At the destruction of Jerusalem in
70AD, far more Jews were killed at the hands of other Jews than at
the hands of the Romans. (See Josephus War of the Jews.)

Summarizing

In summary, the true Word of God is not the Bible, it is Jesus the
Messiah, the Son of God and Savior of all mankind. John, the apostle
wrote,

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were
written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have
room for the books that would be written. (John 21:25, NIV)

For millions of Christians, the Bible has been made into an idol. For
them, God has become a set of rules and rituals contained on a
couple thousand pages of paper covered with a couple pieces of
cow, sheep or pig skin. If you dont believe it, throw a Bible on the
floor in some churches and watch the reaction. Visit a Jewish
synagogue and watch the rituals performed around taking Torah
scroll out of its special closet.
The Bible is letters on a white page. Jesus is the True Letter, so to
speak. He is the Word of God, the Father -- He is the Law of the New
Covenant the Law of the Spirit of the Life in Christ Jesus, as Paul
states in Romans 8. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is the white
page on which the True Word is written. (John 4:23-24, 14:16-18,
15:26, 16:13-15) Without the white or the light it would all be dark
and we could not see anything. It is He, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus
said He would send to lead us into all Truth. Remember, Jesus was
looking for a people who would worship the Father in Spirit and in
Truth. (John 4:42) The Truth is an Anointed (Spirit) Word. He did not
instruct us to create thousands of institutions with tens of thousands
of different ideas about God and how to do things to please Him. To
the degree ones Bible translation, Sunday School, Bible studies,
sermons, books, etc. help bring us to the Father through the True
Word of God, Jesus and His Holy Spirit, these things are helpful.
However, much of the activity in most denominations of Christianity
is simply man-made traditions void of Gods power and purpose and
therefore not only useless for establishing the kingdom of God, but
actually a hindrance to it.

Generally speaking, human beings like to live in ruts, we do not like

change. Old habits die hard. The old way is usually considered the
best. Give me the old time religion. Well, the old time religion
they speak of brings death, not life. I have heard many Christians
tell me they are dyed in the wool Baptists, Methodists or whatever
and that they are going to die in that condition. Well, they need not
go to the grave to die in that condition. They are already quite dead
according to Jesus, Paul and others who know something about
being led by the Holy Spirit.

How can a sincere believer in Christ get in a stream which leads to

truly being led by the Holy Spirit and not by some well-worn
traditions of fallen men? In the Gospel of Mark we see a man with a
son who was terribly demon-possessed who begged Jesus to heal
him. Jesus told him that all things were possible to those who
believe. Immediately the sobbing, poor man implored Jesus, I
believe, please help my unbelief! (Mark 9:20-30) If the reader is
quite content and satisfied with the religious stuff he or she is
presently getting or doing, then thats what he/she will probably die
with unless some rut-wrecking disaster comes along and knocks
them out of their rut. Books dont lead, not even correct Bible
translations can lead us unless the Spirit of God uses them to speak
something to us. It is only the Holy Spirit, the Living Spirit of Truth
sent by the Living Word of God Who was sent by the Father to
redeem all mankind Who is the only one who can LEAD a disciple of
Jesus on the path chosen from the foundation of the world for that
unique individual. Paul, speaking to Christians said,

we have an obligation-- but it is not to the sinful nature, to live

according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will
die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,
you will live, because those who are LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD are
sons of God. (Rom. 8:12-14, NIV)

Whether we care to acknowledge it or not, religion, even Christian

religion, is mostly of the flesh the natural man. The true body of
Christ is NOT composed of various denominations which cause
believers to divide from one another. The body of Christ is made up
of individuals, not organizations whose leadership seek to draw
disciples after themselves and perpetuate their system. To the
degree one is led by institutions and dead men, he is in the flesh
and not led by the Holy Spirit. It has grieved me greatly many times
in the past when wanting to share Christ with another person I
would meet along the way, to have them only interested in getting
me to come to their church or meet their leader or to put their label
upon me.

Recently, I met a Christian in a high position with one of the

mainline denominations. He had no interest in sharing Christ he
wanted me to join his denomination. This man was as dead to the
leading of the Holy Spirit as Martin Luther was prior to his dramatic
conversion. This man set himself under the tradition of his
denomination and was dead. As many as are led by the Holy
Spirit not dead men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley,
John Paul II, or even living ones for that matter. There is One Spirit,
One Word, One Father and One Body of Christ. It would behoove
Christians to begin to acknowledge them and begin to walk away
from ANY tradition that moves one away from the One Truth. I find it
absolutely amazing that this Christian has probably heard about
Luthers conversion many times could probably write an excellent
article on the subject of faith which was Luthers cornerstone -- and
still be spiritually absolutely dead. Amazing. What about you? Do
you know the real Jesus? Or is He just a great character in a great
book? Is He just a Sunday School character? A character used in
sermons to illustrate good moral behavior?

Which is the Best Bible Translation

What is the purpose of a Bible translation in the first place? Is it not

to know the purpose of our being? Dont we go to our translation to
find out Who God is and why He created us and how we are to relate
to others? Dont we go to the Bible to look for direction for our lives
and the lives of those around us? Every Bible translation I know
describes a Man riding a white horse and Whose name is the Word
of God. (Rev. 19:13) That Man, the Word of God needs to be riding in
our hearts. Will you give Him the reins? Is He really reigning in your
heart? Is He extending His kingdom on the earth through you in
power and glory? Have you become a living epistle of God to be
read of men? (2 Cor. 3:2-3) Is the Living Word turning you into a
Living Word also? a living epistle to be read by others?

One of the most successful television commercials was one for

hamburgers, Wheres the beef? The idea behind the commercial
was to emphasize their brand had more real beef than their
competitors. A Christian seeking fellowship and seeking to
demonstrate to the world that God lives in them should not be afraid
of the question, Wheres the power of the Living God in your life?
There should be signs that God is with us if we are truly walking with
the Lord of Glory. If not, the world has a right to ask, Wheres the
beef? Where is your God?

But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and will know, not
the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the
kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. (1 Cor. 4:19-20, KJV)

In our lives, in our church, in our denomination we should ask

ourselves, Where is the power of the Holy Spirit that is supposed to
be bearing witness to the Living Word which is supposed to be living
inside of me? Be sincere. God knows when we are faking it. The
important question is, Do WE know when we are faking it? From
the beginning, Satan was a liar and is the father of all lies. Perhaps
the greatest enemy we have is our own ability to lie to ourselves
and actually believe the lie. Paul wrote:

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart
and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Tim. 1:5, NIV)

The English word sincere comes from the Latin and means
without wax. In ancient days, dishonest potters would sell pots
that contained cracks by filling the cracks with wax. They then
covered the wax with clay dust to hide the wax. When the heat
comes, of course, the defect would be revealed by wax melting
causing the water to spill out. The only one who can really check our
vessel to see if we have been deceived or have deceived ourselves
is the fiery Holy Spirit. Sincere faith is a faith that honestly opens
itself to the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit. It is not proud. It does not
desire to hide anything, but to bring it to the light so that it may be
properly dealt with by God.

When Jesus told the man with the demon-possessed son that all
things are possible to those who believe, he replied, I believe, help
my unbelief! May we all have a faith that is ever being submitted to
God for inspection. Only God knows how corrupt we truly are.
Sooner or later, we will go into the refiners fire. Everyone will be
salted with fire. Why not volunteer to go to the head of the line.
From a spiritual perspective, it will greatly improve our quality of life
on earth.

In summary, the Best Bible Translation is one that will conform your
life to the incorruptible image of Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed
One, the One full of the Holy Spirit without measure. If you want to
be translated into His marvelous kingdom, then let the true Word
of God, Jesus, and His Holy Spirit completely have their way with
you. They will indeed lead you into all Truth. And your Bible
translation, regardless of which one you use, will be transformed
right before your eyes.