In dealing with the King James Only Crowd – there is always one question they always seem to get wrong… and that is – what’s your final authority… They believe that the KJV is the only perfect Bible – even over the original language manuscripts. They are convinced that anything challenging their belief in the KJV is a trap from Satan and thus dismissed – no matter how true it is. If one answers anything but the King James Bible – they accuse the person of being deceived by satanic Bibles. They declare that person is his own final authority, and try to bully him into submission to their belief. Whenever they’ve asked me – I’ve answered them – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – or God – and they dismiss this – believing it isn’t possible to have God as my final authority without the KJV.
The reason they cannot accept my answer is because they are asking the wrong question. The question shouldn’t be what is your final authority – it should be who is your final authority.Their position on the King James Bible – which many of them called the Authorized Version – puts them under the authority of the man that authorized it, King James of England. They way the KJV was to be translated was intended to guarantee that the new version would conform to the Church of England. In addition, all of the translators were members or clergy of the Church of England. The bottom line? The King James Version is a product of the Church of England!Though the problems with the KJV are numerous – the intention of this video isn’t to rehash them here one by one but instead to show why God is my final authority over any translation of the Bible.First, let’s consider what Jesus promised…
John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another [b]Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
Nowhere in the New Testament will you find Jesus promising to send the body of Christ a new volume of scriptures to follow. Instead, He foretold the coming of the comforter – the Holy Spirit. I happen to believe the reason Jesus did this was because He knows full well that men can and will tamper with books of authority to force their will upon people. As noted earlier – the KJV was in a sense manipulated in many ways to favor the Church of England. Despite all of this KJVOnlyists insist God authorized the KJV in opposition to the corrupt Catholic Church.
In support of this, KJVOnlyists insist that God promised to preserve His Word – generally drawn from the following Psalms 12:6-7 – this is the translation from the KJV -
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
but we really need to include verse 5 to get the passage’s meaning in context… lets look at it again, still from the KJV -
5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
God wasn’t guaranteeing to preserve the Bible here. This is a misunderstanding by many Christians.
If we look to the Jews we can see what they understood the passage to mean. Consulting the commentary by Rashi, the rabbi famed and respected for his comprehensive commentary on the Hebrew Bible which we call the Old Testament, we find the following statement – shall guard them: Those poor and needy people being pursued by this generation, who are informers.
Based on evidence from context it’s evident that Psalm 12:5-7 has nothing at all to do with the preservation of God’s Word, but instead, the passage speaks of the preservation of the poor and needy from the wicked.
So what did God say about the scriptures? In many places in the Bible we find that the Bible declares God’s Word is indeed pure and true, and that it is what it is until the end – it will never change – regardless of what men do to it – it will still be what it is… but more importantly we have to understand the role of the Bible in our lives – as we know – man does not live by bread alone but by every word spoken by God. It was Apostle Paul who best defines the role of scripture in our walk with Christ…
2 Timothy 3
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Scripture – all scripture – is a reference book for we – the believers – so as believers we can be equipped for every good work… but does this make it our final authority? One might say so if we are considering earthly influences – but the Bible is not complete on its own… because without the Holy Spirit – which inspired all scripture – it is foolishness to men!
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Without God – the Bible is just another book – the world – and the worldly – will not be able to comprehend… but with the Holy Spirit the Bible opens up to us and we can grow and learn from it.
I can testify that I’ve seen God use the KJV, NASB, the NIV and the NKJV – even paraphrased Bibles like the Living Word – with other believers. If the KJVOnlyists were completely honest – many of them would have to confess they came to the Lord reading a translation other than the King James Bible – confirming the Holy Spirit isn’t restricted to working with the King James Version.
That isn’t to say there aren’t bad translations – such as the New World translation of the Jehovah Witnesses – and that each translation has a varying degree of accuracy based on many methods of translations – and later grading, by various clergy and scholars who naturally favor their own viewpoints over others – but the real question here is what do we require learn about Christ - a specific translation of ancient languages – or Holy Spirit? If we are to believe our Bibles, the key component is the Holy Spirit!
I don’t begrudge people having a favorite Bible. If someone chooses to read one translation exclusively – amen! I can even understand believing one translation is the best – even the one true translation – but when people declare their Bible is the only Bible – and they attack other translations and the people who read them – ignoring all the good that God has brought through the various translations – I find myself called to stand against them. I hate having to point out the errors in the KJV translation in order to open the eyes of those attacking other translations – I would much rather reason and understand the various problems in all translations so we can have a more complete understanding of what God has blessed us with, but sometimes the only way to get someone to see the plank in their eye is to show it to them. But I wonder – is this all rooted in their greatest error? Is not the error is exposed in their question -
WHAT IS YOUR FINAL AUTHORITY?
They are putting the cart before the horse – the Bible before the Holy Spirit, and in my opinion – this draws into question their relationship with the Holy Spirit. Their fruit, if judged by their attacks on other translations and those who read them, shows a tendency towards hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, and creating factions. Their position is not unlike the Muslims – who without a perfect Holy Book believe they have no foundation – but the foundation is Christ Himself, not a book that testifies about Him!
The question should be WHO IS YOUR FINAL AUTHORITY? And if the answer is King James – then one really needs to examine oneself… as that is not who Jesus promised to send:
John 16
8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;
11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is able to do all this? Do you believe God is dependent on anything men have done or will do? Make God your final authority and then you will find the way to allow the teachings of the Bible become the way that you live. No longer will you seek to destroy other Bible translations – but instead – you will find the way to appreciate the way God is using all the translations in the lives of those who believe in His name.
Its my prayer that this article promotes discussion leading to unity in Christ…
