"Do We Have the Inerrant Word of God Today?"
Yes!
Don't believe it when people tell you that the word of God is found only in the originals--which NOBODY has. Jesus made a promise, and we know that He cannot lie:
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." -Matthew 24:35
Many Bible college students, professors, pastors, teachers and lay people talk about, "we believe in the inerrancy of the scriptures as found in the originals"---NOBODY has the originals. They are saying that we don't have God's word today which directly contradicts what Jesus said in Matthew 24:35. The faith of many young Christians is shattered by the time they leave Bible college. Don't fall prey to this trap.
Questioning the Word of God
Remember Satan's first words to Eve in the garden:
"Yea, hath God said...?" -Genesis 3:1
Satan questioned Eve about God's word and we know the results of her listening to him. That is what is happening today...
"Well, the Greek doesn't really say that."
"The Authorized King James does not say that properly."
"The Authorized King James is hard to read and outdated."
"You need to go to the Bible college and take some Hebrew classes so that you better understand the Bible."
I will NEVER go to school to translate the Bible. I've got the best teacher in the universe and beyond--His name is the Holy Ghost. I've also got the word of God--the Authorized King James Bible. I have NEVER once gotten increased understanding from a preacher's "explanation of the Greek". The forceful, unabated, irreverent attack on the Authorized King James Bible that has served Christendom for almost 400 years is the result of liberalism gone amuck. When some false prophet tries to turn us away from what we know, we need to say, "Get thee, hence Satan for thou desiredst not the things that be of God, but those that be of men!"
We Need to Get Down to Business
Instead of worrying about the Greek and the Hebrew and self-esteem and Christian financial seminars we need to get some spiritual power by OBEYING God's commands. The Lord's business is being left undone:
- we need to be out on the street witnessing and seeing souls saved,
"He that winneth souls is wise."
- living holy and not watching Satan's TV and movies,
"Be ye holy, for I am holy."
- keeping the Lord's commandments and stop saying, "I just don't measure up."
"Whosoever loveth me keepeth my commandments."
- teaching our kids about Jesus and stop giving them video games to keep them quiet
"And, ye fathers...bring [children] up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
- praying for our Pastor, families, enemies, strangers, acquaintances, friends, co-workers, government
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
- wives, learn to submit to your husbands
"...as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing."
- husbands, learn to love your wives as you love yourself
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it."
There's plenty more that we can do, but as you can see, we have pressing business for the Lord.
Are the "Originals" Important to God?
With all this talk about the originals, let's take time out to see what God thinks. Look at Jeremiah 36:23, 32. God had Jeremiah to write down His words. What happened? The originals were destroyed and Jeremiah re-wrote them. If the originals were that important to the Lord, He wouldn't have let them be destroyed. Let us not place an emphasis on the originals that God doesn't place there.
Is this Discussion Important?
Someone once commented in an e-mail that I'm "arguing" about an unimportant point. That is untrue. The New Testament is full of warnings about Satan and false prophets trying to deceive us. Are these warnings given to us in vain? No, they're not. Let us be like the Berean Christians and check out everything that comes our way in the light of the Word of God comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
The Bible says that we are in a war. That means that we are fighting and contending for the faith once delivered to the saints. If you don't find yourself standing and fighting for the things of God, you've got to re-examine your walk. Can you see how our faith would be all messed up if Satan could change the Bible to say whatever he wants it to say? Can you see how all these different "versions" are desensitizing even true Christians to manipulation of God's word?
I have a very pitiful quote by a man who sat on the NASB translating committee--he laments that he ever had anything to do with messing with the word of God and tells people that Satan is behind all new versions.