Change Not a Jot or Tittle
Why is it so hard to believe that the God who spoke this world into existence can also keep his Word pure though out the ages? With so many translations of the Bible in the world today, people wonder which Bible they are supposed to read and believe to be true.
I use the King James Version of the Bible, and I will show you why I believe it to be the true translation of God’s Word and why the other translations are used to confuse the true meanings of God’s Word. These are strong words, but God said that not one jot or tittle would pass away.
Matthew 5:18 – For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Our Lord uses even stronger words in Revelation.
Revelation 22:18-19 – For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
So let’s look at some changes that are made to God’s Word that show that these other translations are merely false versions. First, let’s answer the question, what is the Word of God?
John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
We find that Jesus is the Word, which is why the Word can’t change. Do we not remember what happened when the Word of God was changed in the beginning? It brought about the fall of man and the curse!
Genesis 3:1 – Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall “not” eat of every tree of the garden?
The word “every” was added to the wrong place of what God had originally told Adam, and it started a chain of events that brought us to where we are today! The changes in God’s Word today keep us from truly understanding God’s Word from the beginning.
This is what God said and Did not say we can not eat of every tree.
Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
With the newest translation out, the New International Version makes the Bible a gender-neutral Bible so that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their god without having to change their sinful lifestyle. Just because you change God’s Word to accommodate a certain lifestyle doesn’t make it right. The God of the New Testament’s grace is still the same God of the Old Testament’s justice. Sin must be punished. Please don’t get me wrong about the gay and lesbian community, because there is only one unforgivable sin in the Bible, but He does give a long list of those that will not inherent the kingdom of God. You will get to see that list later, but for now ponder on this:
Matthew 7:21-23 – Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Let us start in the beginning of God’s Word:
Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
All other translations change the word “heaven” from singular to plural. It is taught that all of Creation started at Genesis 1:1. So by changing the word “heaven” to plural, they are including all four of the heavens mentioned in the Bible. While I agree that there are four heavens, Genesis 1:1 isn’t speaking of all four. The King James Version is speaking of the beginning of the Realm of Angels, then the formation of the earth to accommodate Man. The angels existed before the Creation of man, when God started his creation in Genesis 1:1, and the earth was inhabited before we came along. Read the following quote from Vernon McGee: “I believe that the entire universe came under this great catastrophe. What was the catastrophe? We can only suggest that there was some pre-Adamic creature that was on this earth. And it seems that all of this is connected with the fall of Lucifer, son of the morning, who became Satan, the Devil, as we know him today. I think all of this is involved here, but God has not given us details. The fact of the matter is that He has given us very, very few details in the first chapter of Genesis.”[1]
As you read your Bible, you will find God tells us exactly what happed in heaven before He created our world. We only have to look to the Scriptures to find the answers:
Isaiah 14:12-16 – How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Satan was cast down to the ground, which is the earth. However, the earth was not what it is today, because it was without form and void. Specifically, it was Hell before God changed it. That’s when God began to bring order out of the chaos.
Revelation 12:7-9 – And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
You might be wondering why didn’t God just send Satan straight to the Lake of Fire as we read in the last chapter of Revelation. The reason is because there were two thirds of the angels that didn’t follow Satan! God had to prove He was just and right in casting Satan and his minions out of heaven. It didn’t take God by surprise when Satan wanted to be god. Ultimately, this is why Jesus was sent to the Cross:
Revelation 13:8 – And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
You see, even Satan and all that follow him will worship Jesus, “The Lamb.” But all this is changed in God’s Word by adding an “s” to heaven.
For more information on the changes and differences between Bible versions, see the web page “King James Version Bible Page” (http://av1611.com/kjbp/). They show the many changes that are made to God’s Word. Whole verses are removed. Words are changed, and they compare changes from the King James Version Bible and other translations, showing the close comparison of these translations to the New World Translation used by Jehovah Witnesses—an obvious distortion of God’s Word.
It kind of threw me for a loop to think that the word toilet is in their Bible, which was definitely not in the original text. 1 Kings 18:27 (TLB) says, “About noontime, Elijah began mocking them. ‘You’ll have to shout louder than that,’ he scoffed, ‘to catch the attention of your god! Perhaps he is talking to someone, or is out sitting on the toilet, or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!’” This is a stretch for any translation, much less for the so called Living Bible.
I’m going to share a true experience of mine while working as a manager of a company that promotes a lifestyle that is contrary to God’s Word. I had a fellow manager who, before coming to this company was an ordained minister, was a practicing homosexual that performed marriages for other gay couples—specifically for another set of managers who worked for this company in the state of South Carolina. At the time of the marriages, I believe gay marriage was illegal in the State. I wondered how could this ordained minister claim that he truly worships God while engaging in the practice of sodomy. It defies understanding.
The Bible speaks of the desire to ever learn in the last days:
2 Timothy 3:1-7 – This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Satan has been a liar from the beginning. He is the one that has been behind the changing of God’s Word in all these translations, and the church has bought into the lie. Satan is taking the souls of men to hell in a hand basket. One of the reasons given for the “necessity” of changing the King James Version of the Bible is to supposedly make it easier to read, but if Jesus is the Word, isn’t He the one that gives understanding of His Word? Satan is continually trying to deceive the faithful:
1 John 2:24-27 – Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Pay attention to this quote from the Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament - The Bible Exposition Commentary – New Testament, Volume 2:
It is interesting to observe that antichristian groups rarely try to lead lost sinners to their false faith. Instead, they spend much of their time trying to convert professing Christians (and church members, at that) to their own doctrines. They are out to "seduce" the faithful.
The word "seduce" carries the idea of "being led astray." We have been warned that this would happen: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons" (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1).
Jesus calls Satan the "father of lies" (John 8:44), The devil's purpose is to lead Christians astray by teaching them false doctrines (2 Cor. 11:1-4, 13-15). We should not accept everything a person tells us simply because he claims to believe the Bible, for it is possible to "twist" the Bible to make it mean almost anything (2 Cor. 4:1-2).
Satan is not an originator; he is a counterfeiter. He imitates the work of God. For example, Satan has counterfeit "ministers" (2 Cor. 11:13-15) who preach a counterfeit gospel (Gal. 1:6-12) that produces counterfeit Christians (John 8:43-44) who depend on a counterfeit righteousness (Rom. 10:1-10). In the Parable of the Tares (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43), Jesus and Satan are pictured as sowers. Jesus sows the true seed, the children of God; but Satan sows "the children of the wicked one." The two kinds of plants, while growing, look so much alike that the servants could not tell the difference until the fruit appeared! Satan's chief stratagem during this age is to plant the counterfeit wherever Christ plants the true. And it is important that you be able to detect the counterfeit and separate the teachings of Christ from the false teachings of antichrist.
How does a believer do this? By depending on the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Each believer has experienced the anointing (the unction,1 John 2:20) of the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who teaches him truth (John 14:17; 15:26). False teachers are not led by the Spirit of Truth; they are led by the spirit of error (1 John 4:3, 6).
The word anoint reminds us of the Old Testament practice of pouring oil on the head of a person being set apart for special service. A priest was anointed (Ex. 28:41), and so was a king (1 Sam. 15:1) or a prophet (1 Kings 19:16). A New Testament Christian is anointed, not with literal oil, but by the Spirit of God—an anointing that sets him apart for his ministry as one of God's priests (1 Peter 2:5, 9). It is not necessary for you to pray for "an anointing of the Spirit"; if you are a Christian, you have already received this special anointing. This anointing "abides in us" and therefore does not need to be imparted to us.
We have seen that false teachers deny the Father and the Son; they also deny the Spirit. The Spirit is the Teacher God has given us John 14:26), but these false Christians want to be teachers themselves and lead others astray. They try to take the place of the Holy Spirit!
We are warned against letting any man be our teacher, for God has given us the Spirit to teach us His truth. This does not deny the office of human teachers in the church (Eph. 4:11-12); but it means that under the guidance of the Spirit you must test the teaching of men as you search the Bible for yourself (cf. Acts 17:11).
A missionary to the American Indians was in Los Angeles with an Indian friend who was a new Christian. As they walked down the street, they passed a man on the corner who was preaching with a Bible in his hand. The missionary knew the man represented a cult, but the Indian saw only the Bible. He stopped to listen to the sermon.
"I hope my friend doesn't get confused," the missionary thought to himself, and he began to pray. In a few minutes, the Indian turned away from the meeting and joined his missionary friend.
"What did you think of the preacher?" the missionary asked.
"All the time he was talking," exclaimed the Indian, "something in my heart kept saying, 'Liar! Liar!'"
That "something" in his heart was "Someone"—the Holy Spirit of God! The Spirit guides us into the truth and helps us to recognize error. This anointing of God is "no lie," because "the Spirit is truth" (1 John 5:6).
Why are some Christians led astray to believe false teachings? Because they are not abiding in the Spirit. The word "abide" occurs several times in this section of 1 John, and it would be helpful to review:
· False teachers do not abide ("continue") in the fellowship (1 John 2:19).
· The word (message) we have heard should abide in us (1 John 2:24).
· The anointing (the Holy Spirit) abides in us, and we should abide in the Spirit (1 John 2:27).
Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament - The Bible Exposition Commentary – New Testament, Volume 2.[2]
All this is to say God is able to keep His Word pure, even if we are not able to. The whole purpose of changing God’s Word is not to make it easier to understand, but to confuse the reader and to keep them from the TRUTH!
[1] Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee Gen1:2 Creation of The Universe (Word Search Bible Software). [2] Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament - The Bible Exposition Commentary – New Testament, Volume 2(WordSearch Bible Software, 1John 2:26-29).
