Funny thing, though, whenever I picked up an NIV or some other modern translation, it didn’t speak to me, it felt like I was holding a balloon that was rapidly leaking air. I can’t explain that, I only know that’s what happened.
A few weeks ago, we opened up the NTEB Bible Believers Bookstore here in Saint Augustine, and the Lord is blessing us with favor in the community and online as sales remain encouraging and steady. But more than a few people who have visited the store have asked why we don’t sell any other bible or commentary other than the King James. The answer is really quite simple, and I would like to share my thoughts with you on that today.
“Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?” Ecclesiastes 8:4 (KJB)
I didn’t come to be a King James Only Christian because of any one charismatic bible preacher or teacher, and I was not introduced to the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement until years after I was saved. I became a King James Only Christian on March 14th, 1991, because I held that Book in my hands, read it, believed it, and got saved. That Book spoke to me, and God allowed me at once to see that it was the truth. Now, I didn’t know any Christians, no one ‘led me to the Lord’ other than the Holy Spirit, and I had never set foot inside a Christian Church. All I had was God, the King James Bible, and salvation. I was blissfully unaware that the ‘King James Only Controversy’ was even a thing.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (KJB)
After getting saved, things happened quickly. I soon found myself in a small, non-IFB Baptist Church, where the pastor was not King James only. But that made no mind to me because I had my bible and no one was going to talk me out of it. Funny thing, though, whenever I picked up an NIV or some other modern translation, it didn’t speak to me, it felt like I was holding a balloon that was rapidly leaking air. I can’t explain that, I only know that’s what happened.
I began to read Christian literature and biographies of great men that God used like DL Moody, Robert Sheffey and others, and what did I find? I found them all to be King James Bible people. I had little to no interest in most of the ones in the 20th century other than people like Clarence Larkin and Peter Ruckman, and when I got to that stage in my journey, it was there I was introduced to the raging battlefield that is the IFB Movement. But following sound advice to ‘eat the meat and spit out the bones’, I soon made substantial progress.
One thing that puzzled me was why nearly all of the ‘brain boys’, the Greek and Hebrew scholars, all seemed to be highly critical of the King James, and nearly all of them defaulted to versions like the NIV, ESV and others. Why would such smart people want a book that, to me, had no power? Good question, we’ll answer that in a bit. One day, I thought it would be fun to compare scripture in the King James with scripture in the NIV, and what I found shocked me.
|
King James Version – KJV
|
New International Version – NIV
|
| Why did Jesus come to earth? | |
| Luke 9:56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.Matt. 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. |
Luke 9:56 and they went to another village.Matt. 18:11 (missing) |
| Is repentance important? | |
| Matt. 9:13 …I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. |
Matt. 9:13 …I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. |
| For whom did Jesus die? | |
| I Cor. 5:7 …Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: |
I Cor. 5:7 …Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. |
| In Whom must you believe to be saved? | |
| John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. |
John 6:47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. |
| Was Joseph really the father of Jesus? | |
| Luke 2:33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. |
Luke 2:33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. |
| Did Jesus give His disciples power to heal? | |
| Mark 3:15 …power to heal sickness, and to cast out devils. |
Mark 3:15 …authority to drive out demons. |
| If it’s hard to do, should we just remove it? | |
| Mark 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. |
Mark 11:26 (missing) |
| Who is in charge? | |
| I Cor. 10:28 …for the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: |
I Cor. 10:28 (last part of verse missing) |
| How must we deal with our enemies? | |
| Matt. 5:44 …Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. |
Matt. 5:44 …Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. |
| Where did Jesus go? | |
| John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. |
John 16:16 In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me. |
| Is it John or the Devil? | |
| Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. |
Revelation 13:1 The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. |
I don’t know how to explain that, do you? And what you see there is only a few examples, there are hundreds and hundreds more. How could there be such a great discrepancy between the King James and the NIV? Was it done out of ignorance, was it intentional, what was behind it all? Those questions would be answered when I bought my first copy of ‘New Age Bible Versions’, and read the amazing, Holy Spirit-led research done by Gail Riplinger. I highly recommend you get yourself a copy, we happily sell it at the bookstore.
Do you know the one thing that all bible versions over that past 410 years have in common? I bet you don’t. The one thing that all bible version from the King James on forward have in common is that they are all different. Common sense and logic would dictate that things that are different cannot be the same. So if they are all different, which one is the one where God has preserved His word? Since the word of God cannot contradict itself, can you show me where God has preserved His word? I can. Now look at the following verses from Psalm 12 in the King James and in the NIV. The King James gives you a promise that God will preserve His word on earth for all generations, and then the NIV swoops in and erases that promise! See for yourself.
- GOD’S PROMISE TO PRESERVE HIS WORDS IN THE KJB: “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Psalm 12:6,7 (KJB)
- GOD’S PROMISE TO PRESERVE HIS WORDS REMOVED: “And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold[fn] refined seven times. You, LORD, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked,” Psalm 12: 6,7 (NIV)
If you’re a bible believing Christian who loves the Book, that one example alone should make you fighting mad, does it?? The King James in verse 7 gives you God’s absolute, rock-solid promise to preserve His words throughout every generation, that’s a huge promise! What does the NIV do? It erases it and substitutes it with meaningless nonsense that has nothing to do with preservation of scripture at all. Verse 7 in the NIV is not anything at all like verse 7 in the King James. I’m from New Jersey, we call this a scam, the old ‘bait-and-switch’. Verse 7 in the King James is talking about the preservation of words, verse 7 in the NIV is talking about the preservation of people. Not even remotely close on any level.
This is why I have been King James only for 30 years now, and why I will not ever, by God’s grace, move from that foundation at any point in the future. I hope you have enjoyed this snapshot of my faith in the King James Bible, and who knows, maybe this will become an ongoing series. But let me challenge you today to pick one modern bible where you think God has preserved His words, there can be only one, and defend your choice by comparing it to the King James. If you do it honestly and before the Lord, you will come to the exact same conclusion that I came to.
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. Even all the way to South Africa. We even restarted our weekly radio Bible study on Sunday nights again, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. If every one of the 15,860+ people on our daily mailing list gave $4.50, we would reach our goal immediately. If every one of our 150,000+ followers on Facebook gave $1.00 each, we would reach 300% of our goal. The same goes for our 15,900 followers on Twitter. But sadly, many will not give, so we need the ones who can and who will give to be generous. As generous as possible.
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJV)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
