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The Infallibility of the Bible
and How to Study It
By Harry A. Peyton
Table Of Contents:The Infallibility of the Word of God(3)
Why We Need to Study the Bible (7)
Gods Literal Method of Interpreting the Scriptures
vs Satans Allegorical Method (15)
Seven Biblical Rules for Interpreting Scripture (17)
Historical Dates Given for the Books of the New Testament,
the Hebrew Massoretic Text, Jewish Writings, and Translations of the Bible(25)
A Brief History of the Bible (28)
Endnotes (40)Copyright May 30, 1996 by Harry A. Peyton under the title of The Doctrines Of Christ.
A Note from the Author:Since Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, gives
His Salvation and His Word to all freely (Rev 22:17, Mt 10:7-8), this book, and allother books, written by Harry A. Peyton are given without charge, and can be
accessed through the Internet at the following address:
http://www.DoctrinesOfChrist.com. Therefore, fell free to copy it in digital or
written form, and share it with others. Since this book is copyrighted, the author
forbids any alteration of its contents, and the reproduction of it in any form for
Marketing Purposes. This book may be placed on anyones web page, as long as my
website address is attached to it.
The author believes that the Word of God is infallible in the ORIGINAL
LANGUAGE it was written in, and all translations of the Bible regardless of how
good they may be are NOT. Since the author has implicit faith in the infallibilityofthe Word of God, the author has formed his beliefs firmly on the truth of the Bible.
This author uses the ancient ANTIOCHIAN LITERAL-HISTORICAL METHOD
OF INTERPRETING THE BIBLE, which was used by early Christian Apostles and
Prophets of the Sinless Lamb of God.
I definitely believe that the ancient Alexandrian Allegorical Method of
spiritualizing scripture, which was made popular by the ancient Jewish philosopher
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Philo Judaeus (13 BC 50 AD) and later used by the Ante-Nicene Catholic Priests,
especially Origen and his student Clement of Alexandria (200 AD), is an
abomination to our Lord. Therefore, all scriptures will be interpreted in a literal
exegetical fashion, unless the language used and the context demands a spiritual
interpretation.
The author will also quote from the Greek Septuagint translation of the
Masoretic text, which was translated by 70 ancient Jewish scholars; this translation
will be known in this book as LXX Septuaginta (LXT), which has been edited by
Alfred Rahlfs. The English translation of the Septuagint is by Sir Lancelot C. L.
Brenton and will be known as (LXE). The Greek Septuagint (the Seventy)is by far a
much older written Bible than any Masoretic text we have today, for it was
translated in the 7 year of the reign of King Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt, which
began around 280 BC and was completed about 200 BC. It is known as the
Alexandrian Septuagint, which name is given to reveal its distinction from other
later translations also bearing the name of Septuagint.
Tertullian speaking of the Origin of the Septuagint wrote: Now in ancient times thepeople we call Jews bare the name of Hebrews, and so both their writings and their speech were
Hebrew. But that the understanding of their books might not be wanting, this also the Jews supplied
to Ptolemy; for they gave him seventy-two interpreters-menwhom the philosopher Menedemus, the
well-known asserter of a Providence, regarded with respect as sharing in his views. The same account
is given by Aristaeus. So the king left these works unlocked to all, in the Greek language. To this day,
at the temple of Serapis, the libraries of Ptolemy are to be seen, with the identical Hebrew originalsin
them (ANF, vol 3, Tertullian, Part One, the Apology, chp 18, pg 59).
The standard printed Hebrew Bible that is used today is a reproduction of a
Masoretic text written inAD 1088. The manuscript, in codex or book form, is in the
collection of the Saint Petersburg Public Library. AnotherMasoretic manuscript, the
Aleppo Codexis from the first halfof the10th
century AD, and is the basis for a new
publication of the text in preparation at Hebrew University in Israel. The author
will also use the Complete Jewish Bible when quoting Old and New Testament
scriptures, which is published by the Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., and
is distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources International. The history of the Bible
with its manuscripts and translations will be given at the end of this book.
All CAPITALIZATION and ITALICIZATION in QUOTES used in this book is
alwaysMINE. All Biblical quotes used in this book will be in dark red, and from the
New King James version of the Bible, unless another version is stated as the
reference. The vast majority of all translations of the Bible, as well as Hebrew and
Greek Lexical definitions and grammar, will come from BibleWorks computer
software program version 7.0. The author in most places will quote verses from the
Bible instead of commenting on a verse and giving a reference; for He believes that
the written Word of Gods has greater power to inspire and enlighten a heart to
understand and act upon truth, than the elegant oratory or writings of any man.
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If this book has been a blessing to my beloved readers, and they would like to
send an offering to the author, feel free to do so. If anyone wishes to send any
biblical or historical materials to the author, my address is: 148 Little Creek Hills
Rd.: Alto, NM 88312: Phone # 575-336-2800: Email address:
The Infallibility of the Word of God
The great apostle Paul expressed the infallibility of the Word of God in the
strongest language that can be found anywhere in the Greek Language. He told
Timothy, his son in the Lord: All Scripture is GOD-BREATHED [theopneustos]and is usefulfor teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work (2Ti 3:16-17, NIV). Drs. Timothy and Barbara
Friberg in their Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament defined the Greek
adjective theopneustos{theh-op-nyoo-stos} as: of the Scriptures as communication thathas been ordainedby Gods authorityand PRODUCE BY the enabling of His SPIRIT; strictly GOD-
BREATHED (2T 3.16) (#13550).
The message God was giving through His Apostle was basically this: The OldTestament Prophets and New Testament Apostles spoke as Gods Holy Spirit was BREATHING
OUT of them, that is, giving them the WORDS to SPEAK!In other words, Gods Holy Spirit
was NOT moving on, that is, from the outside of them, but was BREATHING OUT
of them from the INSIDE! A good Biblical example of this truth can be found in
Acts 2:4-14, when the 120 disciples of Christ, after being FILLED with the Holy
Spirit, they began to speak in languages not learned by them; that is, as the Holy
Spirit IN them was BREATHING OUT of them and giving them the words to speak
in a known language in the world, that they had NOT LEARNED.
In other words, the words the Holy Spirit was speaking through their mouth,
using their tongue and voice in praise to God, was NOT coming from their minds,
for their minds did not comprehend the words they were speaking! The words they
were speaking were completely or totally coming from God, as the Holy Spirit
expressed Gods truths in their matter of speaking and writing or language style!!
This is why the Holy Bible is not the word or product of mans mind, but the
infallible Word of God!!! This is why the Holy Word of God is the ONLY BOOK
that can be used by ALL of Gods Children for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and
training in righteousness, so that they may perfect holiness in the sight of God, and
exercise their God ordain ministry as Gods Holy Priesthood (1Pe 2:1-10)!!!!
Another good illustration of how the Spirit of almighty God spoke and gave the
Word of God in the prophets and apostles can be found in what Paul said about
speaking in unknown tongues. The great Jewish apostle declared: For he who speaksin a tongue [an unlearned language]does not speak to men but to God, for no one UNDERSTAND
him; however, in the Spirit he speaks MYSTERIES. Therefore, if I do NOT KNOW the meaning
of the LANGUAGE, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will bea foreigner
to me. Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue [an unlearned language] pray that he may
interpret. For if I PRAY in a tongue [an unlearned language], my spirit PRAYS, but my
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UNDERSTANDING is UNFRUITFUL. What is the conclusionthen? I will PRAY with the Spirit [in
an unlearned language], and I will also PRAY with the understanding [in a language I do know]. I
will SING with the Spirit [in an unlearned language], and I will also SING with the understanding [in
a language I do know] (1Co 14:2, 11-14).
The Holy Spirit confirmed Pauls teaching when he declared through the apostle
Peter: Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet'sOWN [ivdia- idios]interpretation[evpilusewj- epilusis]. For prophecy never had its origin in the will ofman, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2Pe 1:20-21, NIV).
German Professor Walter Bauer in his Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
and Other Early Christian Literature, revised and edited by Frederick William
Danker, defined the Greek adjective idios{id'-ee-os} as:pertaing to belonging or beingrelated to ONESELF belonging to/peculiar to an individual ivdi a evpilusij 2 Pt 1:20 ones OWNprivate interpretation (#3654); and the Greek noun epilusis{ep-il'-oo-sis} as: the act orprocess of explaining, explanation, interpretation (so Sext. Emp., Pyrrh. 2, 246; Vett. Val. 221, 9; 330,
10; Heliod. 1, 18, 2. Callisth. 2, 1, 5 Stasagoras complains about the unfavorable interpretation of
an omen by a prophet in these words: su.seauth/ evpelusajto. shmei/ on = you gave the omen your OWNinterpretation(#2985).
Therefore, the words that came out of the Old Testament Prophets and New
Testament Apostles mouth was not their own private interpretation of what God
was saying as the Holy Spirit moved on them, but it was the WORDS Gods Holy
Spirit in them was speaking out of them! This is why Gods Spirit speaking through
the mouth of the Prophets Solomon and David could say: EVERY WORD of God isPURE [Heb. tArhoj. Sept. a`gna], a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do NOT ADD to HisWORDS, lest He indict you and you be proved a liar.
The WORD of the LORD are PURE [Heb. tArhoj. Sept. a`gna] WORDS, silver purged in anearthen crucible, refined sevenfold. You, O LORD, will KEEP THEM, guarding EACH from this age
EVERMORE (Pro 30:5-6; Psa 12:7-8, JPS TANAKH, is a new translation into contemporaryEnglish of the traditional Hebrew Masoretic text published. by The Jewish Publication Society.).
The Masoretic text reads thus in Psalm 12:7-8: qQ'zUm. #r< a"l' lyli [B;@Wrc' @s,K, tArhoj. tAr m'a] hw" hy>tArm]ai7`~yIt'['b.vi`~l'A[l.Wz rAD h;- miWNr< C.Ti~rEm.v.Tihw" hy>-hT'a;8; and the Greek Septuagiant read this way:7 ta. logia kuriou lo gia agnaav rgurion pepurwmenon dokimion th/gh/ kekaqarisme non eptaplasiwj8sukurie fulaxeij hma/j kai.diathrh seij hma/j avpo.th/ j genea/j tauthj kai.eivj to.n aiv w/na.
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by Drs. R. Laird Harris, Gleason
L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke defined the Hebrew adjective tArhoj. or tahor{taw-hore'} as: be PURE, clean. It is used almost exclusively of ritual or moral PURITY.The LXX generally translates hr and its derivatives by kathariz, katharos, katharismos, etc. toPURIFY, PURE, PURITY. In a material sense the adjective hr is used to describe the PUREgold of the appurtenances of the tabernacle in numerous passages in Ex. The WORDS of the Lord
are PURE WORDS, (JB) without alloy, as silver (Psa 12:6 [H 7]) (#792).
Our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ stated this truth this way: It iswritten, Man shall notlive by bread alone, but by EVERY [Grk. panti. - pas]WORD that proceedsfrom the MOUTH of God (Mt 4:4). Our Lord was quoting the Words He spoke through
the mouth of Moses. The Greek Septuagint states this truth this way: And He afflictedthee and straitened thee with hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that He
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might teach thee that man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY [Grk. panti.- pas]WORDthat proceeds out of the MOUTH of God shall man live (Deu 8:3, Moses is the one speaking see 5:1-
3; The English Translation of The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament by Sir Lancelot C. L.
Brenton).
Jesus speaking about His Prophetic Word declared: If anyone takes anything awayfrom the words in the book of this prophecy, God will take awayhis share in the TREE of LIFE and
the holy city, as described in this book (Rev 22:19, CJB; also see Deu 13:1). Gods Humanity in
His High Priestly prayed stated the following great truth concerning His Infallible
Word: Just as you sent Me into the world, I have sent them[i.e. the apostles]into the world. Ontheir behalf I am setting myself apart for holiness, so that theytoo may be set apart for holiness by
means of the truth. I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of
THEIR [the apostles] WORD (Jn 17:18-20, CJB). With this infallible statement, our
Savior not only placed His approval on the WRITINGSof the Apostles, but He placed
the salvation of mankind on believing the WORDSthey wrote!!!
How could the Prophet David, who lived a 1000 years before Jesus was born at
Bethlehem, explicitly describe the suffering of Christ: My God, My God, why have Youforsaken Me? But I ama worm, and no man; A reproachof men, and despisedby the people. All
those who see Me ridiculeMe; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,He trustedin the
LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delightsin Him! I am poured out like
water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is
dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of
death. For dogs [Gentiles Roman soldiers] have surrounded Me; The congregation [Jewish High
Priest and Elders]of the wicked has enclosed Me. Theypierced My hands and My feet; I can count all
My bones. They look andstare at Me. They divide My garmentsamong them, And for My clothing
they cast lots (Psa 22:1-18).
How could the Prophet Isaiah, who lived 700 years before Jesus, speak of the
childhood, the physical appearance, and sufferings of Christ: For He shall grow upbefore Him as a tender [young] plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has NO form or
comeliness [hansome]; And when we see Him, There isNO beautythat we should desire Him. He is
despisedand rejectedby men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief [sickness]. And we hid, as
it were, ourfaces from Him; He was despised, and we did NOT esteemHim. Surely He has borne our
griefs [sicknesses] And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for OUR transgressions, He was bruised for OUR iniquities; The
chastisement for our peace wasupon Him, And byHis stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD
has laid on Him the iniquity ofUS all. He was oppressedand He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His
mouth; He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He
opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His
generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living [put to death] for the transgressions of My
people He was stricken. And they made His gravewith the wicked -- But with the richat His death,Because He had done NO violence [SIN], Nor was anydeceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD
to bruise Him; He has putHimto grief. When You make His SOUL an OFFERING for SIN. He
poured out His SOUL unto DEATH, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He BORE
the SIN of many, And made intercession for the transgressors (Isa 53:1-12).
How could Isaiah declare that the earth was circular in shape, if it was not the
Holy Spirit speaking through his mouth when he said: It is He who sits above theCIRCLE of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a
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curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in (Isa 40:22). How could the Prophet Job,
who lived around 1800 BC, speak of the suspension system or force (gravity) that
held up the earth in empty space so accurately, if is was not God who spoke in and
through him: He stretches out the north over empty space; He HANGS the earth on NOTHING (Job
26:7).
How could Moses, who live around 1488 BC, speak of how God created the
universe, for example, how He made a three layer water atmosphere of the earth,
and how the middle layer or mesosphere would be cold enough to contain ice
clouds: And God said, Let there be an expanse[raqiya i.e. mesosphere]between the waters toseparate water from water. So God made the expanseand separated the water UNDER the expanse
[i.e. stratosphere]from the water ABOVE it [i.e. thermosphere]. And it was so (Gen 1:6-7). The
Prophet Ezekiel, who lived around 600 BC, described Gods ice cloud mesosphere
this way: Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse
[raqiya i.e. mesosphere], sparkling like ICE, and awesome (Eze 1:22, NIV).
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by Drs. R. Laird Harris, Gleason
L. Archer Jr., Bruce K. Waltke define raqiya` {raw-kee'-ah as: expansion. Itidentifies God's heavenly expanse. The Mosaic account of creation uses rqa interchangeably for theopen expanse of the heavens. The LXX rendered rqa by [the Greek noun] sterema,suggesting some firm, solid structure. qa may refer to a limited space, such as that of thecanopy over the cherubim, under the throne in Ezekiel's vision (Ezek 1:22, 26) and even Ezekiel's
limited canopy (rqia) is as the [lit.] eye of awesomeICE (Ezek 1:22), i.e. transparent, shininglikeCRYSTAL (RSV) (#2217b).
The Jewish Encyclopedia under the heading of Astronomy spoke of Gods
transparent solid water\ice mesospheric atmosphere this way: According to Gen. 1:6,this rakia was set in the midst [i.e. middle] of the waters, and it divided the waters above from those
beneath. God made it of matter ALREADY EXISTING at the time of Creation; that is, He did
NOT create it at that time. The rakia representing the sky in Ezek. 1:22 resembled ICE; therefore
it is quite possible that the author of Genesis, like Ezekiel, regarded the sky as being composed of
SOLIDIFIED WATER or ICE. Such a sky, being TRANSPARENT, would permit the stars, which
are located ABOVE its vault, to be seen through it (vol 2, pg 245).Merrian-Websters Collegiate
Dictionarydefine mesosphere as: the part of the earth's atmosphere between the stratosphereand the thermosphere in which temperature decreases with altitude to the atmosphere's absolute
minimum of about-112*F(-80*C).
On May 26, 2006 BBC News reported an article that was released by Goddard
Space Flight Center, which was entitled Mysterious Glowing Clouds Targeted by
NASA. The article stated: Glowing, silvery blue clouds that have been spreading around theworldand brightening mysteriouslyin recent years will soon be studied in unprecedented detail by a
NASA spacecraft. The Aeronomy of Ice in the MESOSPHERE (AIM) mission will be the first
satellite dedicated to studying this enigmatic phenomenon(http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html).
Cynthia OCarroll, of Goddard Space Flight Center, in an article entitled NASA
Satellite Captures First View of Night-Shining Clouds released on 6/28/07 gave us
a little more information about Gods ice clouds in the mesosphere. She declared:These MYSTIFYING CLOUDS are called Polar MESOSPHERIC CLOUDS, or PMCs, when they
are viewed from space and referred to as night-shining clouds or Noctilucent Clouds, when viewed
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by observers on Earth. The clouds form in an upper layer of the Earths atmosphere called the
MESOSPHERE during the Northern Hemispheres summer season [and] during the summer
months in the Southern Hemisphere. VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN about HOW these clouds form
over the poles, WHY they are being seen more frequently and at lower latitudes than ever before, or
WHY they have been growing brighter. AIM will observe two complete cloud seasons over both
poles, documenting an entire life cycle of the shiny clouds for the first time
(http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/aim/mystery_clouds.html; Release No. 07-75).
God is truly omniscient and omnipotent. When one examines these truths of
scripture, all on can do is stand in AWE at Gods omniscience and power. There are
not enough words in the English language, or any other language, that can describe
Gods greatness. God is truly awesome! After reading these clear, undeniable
passages of Scripture, can any honest hearted person deny that the Bible does not
only contain the Words of God but EVERY WORD in it is the Words of God.
Therefore no one, who claims to be a Child of God, can say they believe some parts
of the Bible are true but other parts are false; either believe EVERY WORD of God
or believe none of it, for either all of it is true or none of it is true!
Please do not let Satan deceive you the way he deceived Eve when he told her:
Did God really say (Gen 3:1, JPS Tanakh)? The very moment you begin to question the
validity of the Word of God, that is, the Hebrew text, the Greek Septuagint, and the
Greek New Testament, you make yourself god or the infallible one who sits in
judgment of what God has really spoken in the Bible! I say again, even though God
used human instruments for His Holy Spirit to speak in and through, the Words
that came out of their mouth was not from their finite mind!
Since EVERY WORD was GOD-BREATHED, God places a curse on everyone
who adds to His Words or takes from His Word, and does not keep His Word. God
said it this way: You shall NOT ADD to the WORD which I command you, NOR TAKE FROM,
that you may KEEP the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you ; and Soyou shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left,
to go after other gods to serve them. But it shall come to pass, if you do not OBEY the VOICE of the
LORD your God, to observe carefully ALL His commandments and His statutes which I command
you today, that all these CURSES will come upon you (Deu 4:2; 28:14-15).
Why We Need to Study the Bible
Beloved, permit me to ask you, why did Gods children in Jesus day reject the
truths He taught them? Did they not have God Himself as their preacher or
teacher? Did they not believe in the one true God? Did they not believe that the
Bible was Gods Word? Did they not attend church every Sabbath Day? The answer
is obviously yes to all these questions, so why did many of Gods children not believe
the teachings of Jesus?
The answer can be found in second Corinthians 4:4. This verse reveals that Satan
blinds the minds of those who do not believe the truth, meaning any of the truths
that are taught in Gods Holy Word. How did Satan blind the minds of the believers
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in Jesus day? He accomplished this by using false prophets, who may have been or
may not have been honest and sincere, to fill their minds with false beliefs.
It was for this reason, Jesus warned all believers to: beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees (Mt 16:6). What did Jesus mean by the term leaven? In
verse 12, the Bible gives us the answer: Then they understood that He did not tell themtobeware of the leaven of bread, but of the[false] doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.Even
though some of these false prophets may have dazzled and mesmerized Gods
Jewish children with their oratory and teaching skills, their doctrines were still
false. Our Savior spoke of these deceived prophets when He said: in vain they worshipMe, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Making the Word of God of no effect (Mk
7:7, 13). It is quite evident that these deceived men followed the traditional teaching
of some of their forefathers in their organization, and as a result they became false
prophets.
Therefore beloved take heed, for even though a teacher may be able to paint
beautiful spellbinding word pictures, or a preacher may be able to speak very fast
and give fiery orations, this does not necessarily mean what they are preaching or
teaching is the truth! Evidently, not everything these Doctors of the Law and pastors
taught was a lie, for Jesus told them: Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good
things (Mt 12:34)?
Since Jesus was the new and unknown preacher in town, who resoundingly
taught the Bible antithetically or contrary to the theologians, pastors, and preachers
of His day, the people chose to believe the teachings of their pastors and religious
organizations instead of His teachings. It must have broken our Lords heart! It
saddens me to say that this is exactly what many sincere Pastors and Christians do
today, when they hear or read some the truths that were taught by Jesus and His
apostles.
When I understood how Satan blinds the minds of believers, I soon developed a
healthy fear that maybe I was not studying the Bible with an open and unprejudiced
mind. I subsequently reexamined all my beliefs. I then discovered that several of my
beliefs were incorrect, and I needed to repent and change them. Even though I was
afraid to change my beliefs, being an Apostolic Pentecostal minister with a BA in
Theology, I made up my heart and mind to walk in the Light as He is in the Light. I
also came to the realization that I am not married to the doctrines of any preacher,
church, Bible College, or denomination, but to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
Infallible Word of God and the Truth (Jn 1:1; 14:6).
Beloved, if you and I expect to hear Jesus say to us: Well done good and faithful
servant (Mt 25:21), then we must not be afraid to change our beliefs, when we
perceive that they are not in agreement with the written Word of God; for the Bible,
not men or organizations, is the only source of absolute truth. Let us not forget, the
people who hated the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, were not the sinners
among the Gentiles or the Jewish people as a whole, but the Church Officials such
as: the High Priest, Doctors of the Law, elders or pastors, and priests, who were
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entrusted with leadership positions. These church officials were more dedicated to
the traditions of their organization than they were to almighty God and His Word.
Therefore, it becomes very evident that none of these church officials were
infallible teachers of the Bible, even though their followers thought they were.
Because Gods people blindly followed the teaching of these officials of the church,they rejected our Saviors teachings and die lost. This cold but sobering fact should
be a warning to all believers today, to make no man or organization their infallible
teacher.
Now, since my name, your name, your pastors name, your churchs name, and
the name of your denomination, are not written in the Word of God, none of us are
infallible teachers. Therefore it is senseless for us to make any man or organization
our infallible teacher, regardless if they call themselves: a pastor, a Doctor of
Divinity, an apostle, a prophet, a prophetess, the pope, the holy one, or the little
flock. Every believer needs to love and respect their teachers, but they should never
place them on a pedestal and worship them as their infallible golden calf, wherebyeverything that comes out of their mouth is thus says the Lord. Most believers are
not aware that this is idolatry and God hates it.
Beloved, when God saved me and delivered me from this kind of idolatry, I made
a vow to God that I would never again place my faith in any preacher or religious
organization, but only in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Infallible Word. I
promised my God that I would not believe anything about the Bible, until I could
personally pray about it and search it out for myself! Now God has blessed me with
some great pastors and teachers, whom I love and respect even to this day, but I can
honestly say that I never worshipped any of them by making anyone of them my
infallible teacher. Please do not take what I am saying in the wrong way; I am not
condemning or belittling the biblical and holy office of a bishop, but I am placing it
in a biblical and historical context.
Beloved, you may have a pastor who is a good teacher, or even a great teacher,
but I promise you he is not infallible, and I am happy to tell you that neither am I.
Now someone might ask me, why are you happy about not being infallible? Do you
not want people to think that your teachings or books are infallible? No, I do not!
You might ask why not? Because if I lead anyone to think my teachings or books are
infallible, I cannot change or correct them, if I later discover that any part of my
teachings are incorrect.
Therefore, I do not want to placed myself in the position, where I cannot say, I am
wrong, please forgive me. I make an honest and sincere mistake, but I will correct it and teach it correctly. As
a pastor, an assistant to a pastor, an evangelist, and a student of the Word of God
for the last 38 years, I have always admonished Gods people to become students of
the Bible, and I would challenge them prove what I taught them was the truth. I did
this for two reasons: First, I wanted their faith to be in the Infallible Word of God
and not in fallible man; also I knew that the Word of God could not get down deep
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into their hearts, unless each of them prove to themselves by their own research,
what is truth and what is error. Every child of God needs to take their salvation
seriously, for it is too precious to place it in the hands of any man.
Second, I knew from the Word of God that a pastor was not the only mouthpiece
God had in the Church. I knew every humble Holy Ghost filled child of God, couldreceive revelation of truth from God (1Co 14:26). Therefore God placed them there
not only for a pastors to equip them for the work of the ministry, or to become able
ministers or teachers of the gospel (Eph 4:11-12), but also for a pastors to learn from them;
for God gave them to pastors for their protection, so that they could correct him if
he went into error.
If this is not the truth, then who and what will prevent any pastor from going into
false doctrine. Because the majority of Gods churches today, do not have several
pastors of equal authority over a congregation, who could also correct them and
even reprimand them if they went into sin, Gods pastors today are without
protection. The Bible reveals that only pastors have the authority to reprimand oreven chastise or rebuke their fellow pastor in any given congregation (1Ti 5:19-20). I
know many pastors think that God will use their fellow pastors in their
denomination to keep them from going astray; but this is a lie of Satan, for every
pastor knows that their fellow pastors, in their denomination, will never hear
ninety-nine percent of what they preach or teach.
Beloved, it is a shame that many pastors have allowed, or in some cases
encouraged, their people to believe that they are the epitome of knowledge, and
every word that comes out of their mouth is straight from the throne God. They are
doing a great injustice to the people of God. It is a shame that these men have made
themselves the only mouthpiece of God in the Church. They should be fulfilling
their God given responsibility to not only to teach Gods children sound doctrine,
but also how to study the Word of God for themselves, so they can rightly divide the
Word of Truth and find out truth for themselves!
Because pastors have made themselves the infallible Pope in Gods Church,
Satan has placed a great fear upon these pastors that their people will not respect or
listen to them, if they change any of their teachings. Therefore, fear and pride place
a tremendous amount of pressure on pastors to close their minds to any teaching
that is contrary to theirs, whereby they are afraid to investigate the teachings of
others. If some overcome their fear and pride, they usually study the teaching of
others with a bias mind, and their biases blind them to the truth.
As a result, many pastors, seminary professors, and denominational officials have
become Nicolaitan ministers. The Nicolaitan Doctrine is one of the most
misunderstood doctrines of the entire Bible! This doctrine will be fully explained in
this book. Because many pastors, seminary professors, and officials in the hierarchy
structure of denominations, are Nicolaitan ministers, they use Satans method of
correcting those under their authority, who they feel are in error in their doctrinal
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beliefs. They usually give a strong rebuke to these ministers or saints, and then
expect them to repent or change their beliefs, simply because they are the ones in
authority.
These Nicolaitan ministers are either ignorant of or willfully rebel against the
Biblical guidelines, which God gave in His Word to correct someone who may be inerror. Because the love of God is not in the heart of these Nicolaitan ministers, or
they are so filled with pride in their own infallibility, they will not take time to sit
down with those whom they are correcting, and say in a loving way: Well brother orsister, let us prayerfully and scripturally examine your belief and my belief, and see if it harmonizes
with all the scriptures in the Bible that pertain to this doctrine (2Ti 2:24-26). When one is
looking for a harmony in scriptures and not for a debate, knowing that the Bible is
the infallible Word of God in the original language that it was written in, it is not that
hard for two people with opposing perspectives to come to an agreement, if their
true motive is to find truth. The Bible declares: Only by pride cometh contention (Pro
13:10).
In one sense, denominational organizations are like individual churches, they
close their mind and heart to anyone who has a different belief than theirs. Now this
can be good in some ways and evil in other ways. It is good in the sense that it
prevents heresy from spreading in the churches and in organizations, but it is evil
and satanic when it is truth that is prevented from spreading. Because their mind is
close and they have lost the spirit of investigation, pastors and denominations will
never receive any more truth than what they presently have; this is exactly the
reason why Christianity has so many denominations, which claim to be the true
Church of Christ. They have gone the way of the Pharisees and Sadducees and have
taken refuge in their organizations.
So, what is the answer to this church and denominational dilemma? The answer
can be found in Gods Word, for God said: Let two or three prophets speak, and let the
others judge (1Co 14:29). Paul did not say: Let two or three pastors speak, and let the other
pastors in the congregation judge,even though pastors are prophets also, but the context
or two verses down, Paul proclaimed: For you can ALL prophesy one by one , that all may
learn and all may be encouraged (vs 31). Therefore, Paul is no doubt referring to entire
Priesthood of God!
A Prophet is someone who has the Spirit of God in them, which gives them the
power to speak under the anointing and inspiration of Almighty God. In verse 32,
Paul reminded Gods Holy Priesthood that their preaching and teaching must
conform to the written Word of God. Paul said it this way: the spirits of the Prophets
are subject to the Prophets, that is, the Prophets who spoke and wrote the Old
Testament. The New Testament reveals that this admonishment also applies to New
Testament writers. Everyone in the Corinthian Church must have been a Teacher
for Paul said, For though you might have ten thousand Instructors[i.e. Teachers]in Christ, yetyou donot havemany fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel (1Co 4:15-
16).
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Therefore, God gave His Children the responsible of knowing truth and judging
what is truth, so that they would not be deceived. This in no way undermines
Pastors God ordain responsibility of correcting and reproving false teaching in
Gods Church! It is a shame that Pastors and denominations of today have flouted
Gods instructions, which He gave for their protection, so that He would not have to
judge them as a false prophet on the Day of Judgment! Woe be to the Pastors ordenomination that follow mans guidelines over Gods commands!! Ignorant is no
excuse, for there will be a multitude on the Day of Judgment who will tell the Lord
Jesus Christ: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name,and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness, or practiced mans precepts and have changed the
teachings of Gods Word (Mt 7:22-23)!
The above biblical principle of correction can be applied to an individual church,
as well as to a church organization. God told us that those priestly saints, who
believe that God has given them a revelation, or insight into His Word, should have
the opportunity to preach or teach it in the church, just as a pastor should be allow
to teach any revelation in his denomination. Therefore, let the saints of God in thechurch along with their pastors, and the pastors in a denomination, judge the
truthfulness or error of the teaching.
In a Nicolaitan Church or organization this will never be allowed, for the pastor
or denomination claims to be the only mouthpiece of God, therefore no one will ever
be able to correct them. As a result, these pastors and their organizations will never
change their teachings. Satan will continue to use these pastors and their
denominations to promote whatever lies or false doctrines he has deceived them into
believing. Because God does not want His Children to be deceived by Nicolaitan
Pastors or Teachers, and Pastors to be deceived by Nicolaitan denominations, He
commanded all of them to: Prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God(Rom 12:2); and Prove all things, hold fast that which is good (1Th 5:21); and Study to shewthyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of
Truth (2Ti 2:15, KJV).
According to the great apostle Paul, the Berean saints explicitly followed these
God given commands, for he wrote: Now the Bereans were of more noble character than theThessalonians, for they received the message with great eagernessand EXAMINED the Scriptures
every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11, NIB). In other words, these believers
did not allow their love and respect for Paul, or any other teacher, to prevent them
from examining their teachings with the written Word of God. The only way any
child of God can know the doctrine whether it be of God, is by becoming a devotedstudent of the Bible (Jn 7:17). This is the will of God! Truth may come very slowly,
but it will come as long as a Saint of God, or a Pastor, or a denomination is willing
to humble himself or itself, and change their teaching when they perceive that it is
error!!
Beloved, if you claim to be a son or daughter of Almighty God, then you must
hunger, thirst, desire, and love truth, more than life itself. God has given all of His
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Children the responsibility and privilege of knowing and finding truth for
themselves. If they do not take this God given responsibility seriously, than God will
allow them to believe a lie and be lost. Because Gods Jewish Children, in the days
of the Lord Jesus, did not take this responsibility seriously, they rejected the truths
He preached and died lost. They rejected their Savior and Messiah.
Our Savior warned all believers not to follow the teachings of false prophets, who
would deceive them, especially concerning the New Birth, which is how one enters
into the straight and narrow path, that leads into Jesus death, burial, and
resurrection (Mt 7:22-23, cp with vss 13-15). Jesus taught that we would know false
prophets and false religious denominations by their fruits. One of their fruits would
be, they would place a literal meaning on the scriptures they use to prove their
doctrine, and a figurative meaning on the scriptures used by others to prove their
doctrine false. This is what the Bible commanded us not to do, when it stated that we
should not wrest or twist or pervert the scriptures to our own destruction (2Pe
3:16). All scriptures must be taken LITERAL, unless it is a Jewish idiom or the
language and context demands a spiritual interpretation.
A favorite saying among those who have been deceived by false prophets is: I
know this teaching is not of God because it bring in confusion.Therefore many believers will
follow the example of their deceived teachers, and will also place a literal meaning
on the scriptures they want to believe in, and a figurative meaning on the scriptures
that seems to bring confusion to them. Because they are not willing to change their
beliefs, they will not look for an interpretation that will harmonize with all the
scriptures on that subject; therefore, they would rather believe a lie, and spiritualize
away or totally forget about the scriptures that seem to bring confusion to them.
Hey friend, it is time to repent for handling Gods Holy Infallible Word in a
dishonest fashion! Do not forget, God will judge you for this on the Day of
Judgment!
I have discovered through my own experiences that we are beings, who love to
follow the traditions of our Elders, churches, and denominations. Since none of us
likes change when it comes to our beliefs, we react very negatively when someone
disturbs our feelings of security. Beloved, if we claim to be Children of the Light, we
must then walk in the Light, or darkness will overtake us (Jn 12:35-36, 46). If we truly
love our fellow man as our Lord commanded us to, then we will not be afraid to tell
each other the truth in a kind and loving manner, even if we momentarily become
offended. No surgery is pleasant while the doctor is cutting us open, but after the
tumor, cancer or disease is removed and our health is restored, what joy good health
brings.
Since our God and Savior commanded us to: Buy the truth, and do not sell it (Pr
23:23), Pastors and Saints, who preach this great gospel, should always remember
that there is a price to pay to walk in truth! Rejection, loneliness, and heartache are
often a part of this great price; nevertheless, everyone who truly loves our dear
Lord will always be willing to pay any price to walk with Him in truth! Therefore, I
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encourage my readers to open their hearts and minds, as they open their Bibles in
search for the truth.
I furthermore admonished them to believe that God said what He meant, and
meant what He said. In other words, God intended that we believe and understand
EVERY WORD,He used to express His infallible thoughts or teachings (Psa 12:6-7;Pro 30:5; Mt 4:4; 2Ti 3:16). God never intended His Word to be interpreted by the
imaginations of the mind of mankind; it makes no difference if they are called
Pastors, Prophets, Prophetesses, the Anointed Ones, Doctors of Divinity,
Archbishops, or the Pope. The Bible is a Book inspired with all of mankind in mind,
and God intended that it should be read, studied, and understood by all of mankind,
not just a selected few, for it is one of our Heavenly Fathers great and precious gifts
to us.
Therefore, let each of us become students of the Bible, and eat our daily bread
with an open and unbiased mind. Let us not be lazy; let us study the Word of God for
ourselves; let us not be afraid to search out the teachings of other ChristianMinisters. Either we will believe Satans lie, that we can not understand the Bible
because of our lack of education in theology, or we will believe what Jesus said: If
any man will do His[Gods] will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God (Jn 7:17).
Beloved, we do not understand the teachings of the Bible by our intelligence,
regardless how much or little we may possess, but it comes by inspiration from
Gods Holy Spirit. God only gives revelations to us as we love, keep, hunger, thirst,
dig, and pray for truth! You must be willing to do your homework, and study the
Word of God with an open, unbiased, humble, and honest spirit!! You must have your
mind made up, that you will settle for nothing less than truth, in your walk with
your Creator and Savior!!! If we do not buy the truth because it is not popular, or it
offends our parents, relatives, friends, church, organization, and so on, then we are
selling our salvation for the favor and praises of men. We become men-pleasers
instead of God-pleasers. We will esteem men much more highly than we esteem
God.
Beloved, permit me to give you one example of how truth is discovered. When
our government wanted to discover the truth concerning splitting the atom, they
gathered together a group of scientists from various fields of science, and placed
them in one room. These men were instructed to proposed theories of how the atom
could be split to form a bomb.Each scientist had to be willing to lay aside their pride,
as their fellow scientists did their best to disprove their theory. Every theory that could
not be disproved was then tested, until the truth was discovered. The same principle
is also applied to Pastors or Saints in a Church, or Pastors in a denomination!
A Brother in the Lord once told me that his dad, who was a denominational
minister, told him that he spent four years in Seminary School to learn the Bible,
and twenty years unlearning what he had learned. In other words, because he was
so thoroughly indoctrinated with the beliefs of his denomination, it was a real
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struggle for him to lay aside his biases, and to study the Bible with an open mind.
Beloved, do not be afraid to test or thoroughly examine your beliefs; for truth can
be placed under a microscope and thoroughly dissected, and it will shine brighter
than ever; as long as we follow the biblical guidelines that are given in the Bible.
These guidelines are given in this book!
Therefore, the author of this book is asking his beloved readers, to prayerfully
read this teaching to the end, so that they may comprehend the entire teaching.
After doing this, then dissect and examine this book by looking for a harmony in all
the scriptures that I use, and also the scriptures you know of that pertain to this
subject, as both of us interpret them in a literal fashion. After you have done these
things, then judge for yourself the validity of this teaching.
Beloved, truth is the greatest gift of love that any preacher can give to those who
listen to him speak, or read his writings. The more truth any Child of God places in
their heart, the more of Jesus they have, for He is the Truth (Jn 14:6). Beloved, you
cannot say you love Jesus and not love the Bible, for Jesus is the Living Word (Jn1:1); and EVERY WORD in the Bible is His Words.
Gods Literal Method of Interpreting the Scriptures vs
Satans Allegorical Method
So that my readers can obtain a full grasp of the importance of interpreting the
scriptures in a literal fashion, let us look at a brief history of allegorism. The
scriptures of the Bible can be used to teach any doctrine, as long as the interpreter
uses some and not all of the scriptures on any given subject, or uses Philos satanic
and corrupt allegorical method of interpreting the Bible. All false doctrines are the
product of one or both of these methods.
Dr. Charles F. Pfeiffer, in his book Between The Testaments, speaking of
Alexandrian allegorism wrote: Alexandrian Jews followed their gentile neighbors in
subscribing to a school of Greek philosophy. This resulted in that attempt to
harmonize Scripture with Greek thinking which produced the allegorical method of
interpreting Scripture. Aristobulus and Philo were the great allegorizers. To them
the literal meaning of the Bible was vulgar, misleading, and insufficient. A hidden,
deeper meaning must be sought; by reading into the Bible their pagan philosophy,
they were able to consider themselves enlightened Hellenists and orthodox Hebrews
at one and the same time.
According to Pfeiffer, around 160 BC Aristobulus, an Alexandrian Jew: taught
that the Greek philosophers had actually borrowed much of their thought from the
Mosaic Law. To Aristobulus, Moses and the prophets presented the same truths as
those enunciated by the great Greek philosophers. The most famous name in Jewish
allegorical thought is Philo... who lived from 20 BC to AD 50. A man of great
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erudition, Philo mentions sixty-four Greek writers, including Homer, Hesiod,
Pindar, Solon, the tragedians, and Plato.
To Philo, these Greeks were not pagans. They were men of God, on a par with
Israels prophets. From Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics, Philo was able
to weave for himself a philosophical system.... From the Jewish allegorists, the[Catholic] Christian church adopted a method of Biblical interpretation [allegorism]
that has persisted in some places to the present. From the time of Origen it
dominated the thinking of the Roman Church.1Pfeiffer is wrong on this point, for
allegorism did not start with Origen in Catholicism, but with Ignatius of Antioch
and Clement of Rome. It dominated Catholic teaching from AD 100 on.
Early Catholic apologists loved and used this method of interpreting the
Scriptures. Origen was without a doubt the foremost proponent of allegorism.
Professor Philip Schaff, in his History Of The Christian Church, revealed that
Origen was one of the first Catholics to follow Philos corrupt allegorical method.
Schaff said that Origen believed that this method was for those who stood: On thehigh ground of philosophical knowledge. In the application of this theory he shows
the same tendency as Philo, to spiritualize away the letter of scripture. Schaff went
on to say But this allegorizing suited the taste of the age.2
Most of the corrupt teachings of Catholicism came from its philosophical school,
which was located in Alexandria, Egypt. Dr. F. W. Farrar, in his History Of
Interpretation, said that this schools: Object, like that of Philo, was to unite
philosophy with revelation.... The first teacher of the school who rose to fame was...
Pantaenus. Who, believing in the divine origin of Greek philosophy, openly
propounded the principle that allscriptures must be allegoricallyunderstood.3
Professor Walter Martin, in his book entitled The Kingdom Of The Cults,
revealed that all cults use the allegorical method to verify their teachings of the
Bible. He said: Let it never be forgotten that cultists are experts at lifting texts out of
their respective context, without proper concern for the laws of language or the
established principles of Biblical interpretation.4 The allegorical method used by
cultists has been a curse to many of the honest hearted people in every age that
sought for the Eternal Life that our Savior offers.
My readers by now you should be able to understand the importance of sound
Biblical rules for interpreting Gods Holy Word. Let us hear what Professor J.
Edwin Hartill has to say concerning receiving illumination from God. He wrote in
his bookPrinciples Of Biblical Hermeneutics: God alone is able through His Spirit,
to open our understanding and to make us behold the glorious things in His Word.
No human teacher can do this. Sin has veiled our understanding.... Sin seals the
Book. When you cling to sin, you will find difficulty in interpreting the Book.
To the natural man the Bible is full of apparent contradictions. The Bible
student, to become a real Bible student, must obeyevery injunction in the Book that
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pertains to him.... God reveals his truth to those who are willing to walk in the
Light.... He, who will abuse the Light, will receive only blindness.... The Bible is a
mine, and you can never get anything out of it without diggingfor it.... In studying
the Word of God, we must dismiss from our minds what we have been taught.... One
of the hardest things to do is to unlearnwhat you have already learned.... This is the
only safeguard against error and evil.
5
Seven Biblical Rules for Interpreting Scripture
There are certain biblical hermeneutical principles one must use if they wish to
interpret the Bible correctly. I hope my readers will find these rules interesting as
well as informative. If we do not want to become false prophets, we must be willing
to study the Bible with an open and unbiased mind. This is very hard for all of us to
do, because most people study the Bible with a closed mind. They already know
what they believe, so they search for the scriptures that seem to confirm their belief.
This is not an honest approach to studying the Bible.
The following seven steps are not the only steps, but they are pertinent and
imperative in interpreting the Bible. I definitely believe they will guide you through
the straight and narrow corridor that leads to truth:
FIRST: We must begin our study by checking our human spirit. What is ourmotive for studying the Bible? Is it truly to discover truthso we can walk pleasing
unto God, and not let Satan lead us into false doctrine that will bind our heart and
mind, or is it so we can feed our pride and appear to be smarter than our love ones
and friends? The Word of God declares:God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spiritand truth (Jn 4:24). God desires the human spirit of His Children to seek
after and serve Him in TRUTH.
In fact, God uses truth to mold our human spirit in holiness. God said it this way:But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are
registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect (Heb 12:22-23).
Only a true hunger and love for truth will bring about Gods anointing and
revelation. We must love truth with all of our heart, in fact, more than anything or
anyone. When we do, we will have a strong enough motivation to study Gods Word
with an open mind, thereby not permitting Satan to use our present belief system,
whether it may be true or false, to blind our spirit whereby we cannot keep an open
and objective mind as we study the Word of God. If we truly desire our Lordsillumination, we must study the Bible this way.
SECOND: We should always start our study with sincere prayer to the LordJesus Christfor guidance, and be determined in our heart to loveand keepthe truths
God reveals to us. In fact, we should pray a prayer similar to that of David, when he
cried out to God with all of his heart and said: Teach me O Lord the way of Thy statutes,and I shall keepit unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keepthy law; I shall observe it
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with my whole heart. I understand more than the ancient because I keep Thy precepts (Psa
119:33-34,100, KJV).
David totally relied on God to be his primary teacher. David knew that in order
for God to become his teacher and reveal truth to him, he had to be willing to love
and keep the Word of God with all of his heart. Sin is what blinds the mind of man,
but holiness sets it free. Obedience to the Word of God is the master key for
understanding the Bible. Therefore, we must have our mind made up not to
compromise truth for fellowship or acceptance by loving ones or by a certain
denomination.
THIRD:We, who have the Spirit of God in us, as the Old Testament Prophetsand the New Testament Apostles did, must believe and expect the Holy Ghost to
teach us. Our dear Lord told us that the Holy Ghost: will guideus into all truth (Jn
16:13). He will teachus all thing, and bring all things back to our remembrance (Jn
14:26). John said: The anointingwhich you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not
need that anyone teach you[for] the same anointing teachesyou concerning all things (1Jn 2:27).The Word of God explicitly, expressly, and emphatically declared that the Holy
Ghost would be our teacher, if we will permit Him. There is not a human teacher
anywhere, which can compare to the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, for Jesus
is our Master Teacher.
This does not mean we do not need to study the Bible or use good principles in
interpreting it. What it does mean is that after we uses all the principles of
interpretation, we still must depend upon the anointing of Holy Spirit of God for a
true and complete understanding of truth. This is not a mystical thing, for the Spirit
of God in us works through the very words of Scripture to help us understand its
meaning. Therefore, as we examine the context of Scripture, the meaning of the
words God uses to express His truth, and allow Scripture to interpret Scripture
(comparing Scripture with other Scriptures on the subject), God will reveal the
truth to us.
Let us always remember that the apostle John, who is telling us to rely on the
Spirit of God to be our teacher, is a great pastor, preacher, and teacher himself. He,
like Paul and all the other apostles, knew Gods children must study the Word of
God. No amount of preaching and teaching from good pastors or men of God will
ever relieve us of our obligation and privilege to study the Bible for ourselves. In
fact, our Lord commanded us to studyHis Word, to show ourselves approved unto
God (2Ti 3:16). I have never read anywhere in the Bible where Paul or any of the
other apostles ever forbade or reproved anyone for investigating their preaching. In
fact, Paul praised the Bereans for they received the Word of God with an open
mind, and search the Scriptures daily to verify his teachings (Acts 17:11).
Therefore, if any Catholic priest, Protestant pastor, or Pentecostal pastor is
offended or angry with you because you have examined his teaching and found it
false, mark this man as a False Prophet for in his insatiable pride he has made
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himself the infallible pope or holy one. A true man of God is one who is humble and
thankful to God for showing him wherein he has taught false doctrine, that is of
course, if he has truly made an error! If you are the one who is wrong in your
teaching, then it gives him the opportunity to sit down with you in love and show
you wherein you have failed to comprehend the truth. This correction process is a
needed and helpful experience, if we are going to truly love truth and keep ourhuman spirit in subjection to the infallible Word of God. Helping each other to
know and walk in truth is the greatest act of love anyone can bestow on another!!
FOURTH:We must be hungry for truthand be willing to search diligently for it.Gods truths are like pure gold nuggets that are hidden in the earth. Unless one is
really hungry, he or she will not take the time or make the effort to dig for the
deeper things of God. For us to discover truth, we must seek and search for her as for
hidden treasures (Pro 2:4); God told us to Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you willfind; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds,
and to him who knocks it will be opened (Mt 7:7-8).
Most pastors, because they are so busy, will spend only a few hours reading a
commentary, Bible Dictionary, a Topical Bible, a concordance, or even a book that
has been written on a certain subject that they are planning to teach. Because many
preachers have been to a Bible College or a Seminary, they feel that they know the
doctrines of the Bible, which they have been indoctrinated with or taught,
adequately enough to do a quick review of the subject. As a result, they lose or never
acquire the spirit of investigation.
I know this from personal experience, since I have held several Church Offices,
such as, the office of a Pastor, Evangelist, Sunday School Teacher, and so on. I have
often found it easier to teach doctrines, I have been taught by a pastor or instructor
whom I loved. Bible College or Seminary School did not make me or anyone else an
authority on the Bible. Although, it did provide me with the fundamental skills and
tools I needed to do serious Bible research. If we are honest with ourselves, as well
as sincere with God, we will set a fixed time in our busy schedule each day to do
serious Bible studying. Searching out scriptures on any given doctrine of the Bible is
one of the most exciting, thrilling, and awesome experiences anyone can experience
in this life, especially when God reveals a truth to you that you did not know before!
There is nothing in life that is more challenging than searching and finding out the
mysteries that God has hidden in His holy Word!!
FIFTH:We must discipline ourselves to examine all the factsof the Bible withan unprejudiced mind. The best way to have an objective, impartial, impersonal viewis to go on a fact-finding mission. This is where the real work in studying the Bible
takes place. You must be willing to spend a few weeks or even months searching the
Bible for scriptures that are related to the subject you are studying. ANaves Topical
Bible has many scriptures in it on different subjects of the Bible, but it does not
contain all of them. It is still a good source to use to begin your search. Strongs
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Exhaustive Concordance of the Biblewill help you find all the scriptures, if you know
how to use it.
These Bible study helps can be very useful in locating scriptures, if you become a
WORD vulture, that is, looking for key wordsand key phrasesGod uses in the Bible,
which are related to the subject being studied. In other words, look for key words orphrases in each scripture and then look for other scriptures that have the same
words or phrases; for example, say you are studying the doctrine of hell, some of the
key words and phrases you would look up are: fire, burn, furnace, torment,
Gehenna, Lake of Fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth, the worm does not die, outer
darkness, second death, perish, destroy, destruction, devour, burned up, consume,
ashes, more tolerable, wrath, judgment, punishment, damnation, etc.
You should also ask yourself this question, is the doctrine I am studying related
to any other doctrine that can bring light on the doctrine I am studying? For
example, lets look at the doctrine of hell again. How does it relate to the doctrine of
Eternal Life, the immortality of the soul, the word forever (ages of ages), and mostof all to Gods attributes, such as love, mercy, justice, holiness, etc. What is Eternal
Life: is it a place, a better resurrection, status of life, or does it mean life without
end? Does the Bible teach the doctrine of the immortality of the soul? All of these
doctrines are definitely related to the doctrine of hell.
Therefore, as my beloved reader can perceive by now, key word and phrase
searches are absolutely necessary in studying the Bible. Now this kind of work is
very exigent and frequently time consuming, but the truths you will discover by
doing it is well worth the effort. As you examine each scripture in your key wordand
phrasesearch, ask yourself this question, Is this scripture related to the subject?If the
answer in your spirit is yes, then write it down in a notebook under that subject
heading. Do not try to understand the scripture in relationship to your belief at this
time. You must be determined in your spirit to use each scripture, regardless of
whether or not it teaches something contrary to your belief.
Bible doctrine, as I stated before, is like a jigsaw puzzle; if you have only one-half
or even three-fourths of the pieces, but think you have all, you will see a picture, but
it will be a distorted or false one. When all of the pieces of the puzzle are present,
you will be able to see the one true picture clearly, or in other words, you will be
able to comprehend the correct interpretation of that particular doctrine. This is
why you must be willing to examine all the factsof the Bible with an unprejudiced
mind.
SIXTH: We must place a literal interpretation on every scripture, unless thelanguage used and the context demands a symbolic one. After we have found all the
scriptures we can on the subject that we are studying, we should thoroughly
examine each of them. We should search for the one interpretation that will
harmonize with all the scriptures on the topic we are investigating, for the Word of
God teaches: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2Ti 3:16). This means as I stated
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before that every single scripture is God-breathed, therefore, there is no way one
scripture can contradict another, in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE it was written in.
As I stated before, we only become confused on any given doctrine, when we
refuse to change our belief. This happens when we find scriptures on a certain
subject, which we know are not figurative and should be interpreted in literal sense,but because they do not agree with our belief, we hold to a figurative interpretation.
We desperately search the Scriptures for some symbolic interpretation that may be
applied to interpret these scriptures. Countless times in the past I have told
someone, The longer I study the Bible on this subject, the more confused I become. All the
while the Holy Spirit was telling me in my spirit to interpret these scriptures
literally and to change my belief.
SEVENTH:We must be willing to do KEY WORD STUDIES in Hebrew andGreek Lexicons (dictionaries), and translate them according to the CONTEXT God
places them in. Since EVERY WORD of the Bible is God-breathed, we definitely
need to know what the Words God uses to express His truths mean! As statedbefore, the Bible says: EVERY WORD of God is PURE, a shield to those who take refuge in
Him. Do NOT ADD to His WORDS, Lest He indict you and you be proved a liar (Pro 30:5-6, TNK).
David said it this way: The WORDS of the LORD are PURE WORDS, like silver tried in afurnace of earth, Purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preservethem from
this generation forever (Psa 12:6-7). Our Savior stated this truth this way: Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceeds from the MOUTH of God (Mt 4:4).
Therefore, let my readers take note: the Bible stated every word and not just
every thought is pure. This naturally means every word in the ORIGINAL
LANGUAGES the Bible was written, that is, the Hebrew and the Greek. Dr. Robert
Young in the preface of The English Youngs Literal Translation of the Holy Bible
confirmed this truth when he wrote: The INSPIRATION of the Bible, extends ONLY to theORIGINAL TEXT, as it came form the pens of the writers, not to any translationsever made by man,
however aged, venerable, or good; and only in so far as any of these adhere to the ORIGINAL
neither adding to nor omitting from it one particle.... A strictly literal rendering may not be so
pleasant to the ear as one where the apparent sense is chiefly aimed at, yet it is not euphony but
TRUTH that ought to be sought.
Even though there are several good translations of the Bible, such as Morris
Literal Translation of the Bible, The Interlinear Bibleby Dr. J. P. Green, Dr. Youngs
literal translation, etc., none of them have been translated perfectly, all though the
literal translations of the Bible do a much better job when it come to Hebrew and
Greek Grammar. Many Bible translations do not follow the laws of grammar whenit comes to certain doctrines of the Bible, for example, they will take a verb and
make it a noun and vice versa.
Here is one example of an improper translation of a verse, as far as the meaning of
words, such as the Greek word pneuma or spirit: Jesus said: Verily, verily, I say untothee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit [pneuma - pneumatoj], he cannot enter into thekingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit [pneuma
- pneumatoj] is spirit [pneuma - pneu/ma]. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The
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cometh, and whither he goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.8 Even the old Latin
Jerome Bibleof the fourth century and all the Latin translations there after translated
it this way. These Latin Bibles were used throughout Europe for many centuries.
The Translation of John 3:8 in theAnte Nicene Fathers: In 240 AD, Origen quoted
and translated this verse this way: The Holy Spirit, who alone searches the deep things of God,reveals God to whom he will: For theSpiritbloweth where He listeth.
9Cyprian wrote to Donatus
in AD 252, in which he used a phrase from John 3:8. He told Donatus that after he was
bornof the water: the agency of the Spirit breathed from heaven, a second birth had restored me
to a new man.10
InA Treatise on Re-Baptism,which was written in AD 255, John 3:8is translated this
way: The Spirit breathes where He will, and thou hearest His voice. It went to say: The Spiritindeed continues today invisible to men, as the Lord says, TheSpirit breatheswhere He will and thou
knowest not whence He cometh, or where He goeth.11
Cyril, the Archbishop of Jerusalem (AD
380), in his Discourse on the Holy Ghostwrote: For even Nicodemus was ignorant of thecoming of the Spirit, and to him it was said, TheSpirit breathethwhere it listeth, and thou hearest
the voice. 12
Commentaries Comments on John 3:8:The Expositors Greek Testament, edited by
W. R. Nicolli, speaking of this verse declared: In the new birth the Spirit moves and worksunseen.... TheSpirit breathethwhere he will,' as in the margin of the Revised Version.... In favor of the
other renderingit may be urged that there is nothingto warn us that we are now to understand that by
pneuma wind is meant. It occurs about 370 times in the New Testament and never means wind.... The
Vulgate renders Spiritus.... The Spirit makes Himself audible in articulate and intelligible sounds. The
breathing of the Spiritis like man's breath, not mere air, but articulated and significant voice.13
ThePeoples New Testament Commentary, in their comments on John 3:8, declared
that all the laws of grammar reveals that the Greek word pneumaused in this verse
should be translated as Spirit,and not as wind. They wrote: Most commentators haveheld that this means: As the wind moves mysteriously, so does the Spirit, and it breathes upon whom
it will, effecting the inward change called the birth of the Spirit arbitrarily. This view I believe due to
a wrong translation, sanctioned, not by Greek, but by current theology. Let it be noted that: (1) exactly
the same Greek term pneuma is rendered wind and Spirit in this verse. It is a violation of all law
[of grammar] that the same word should experience so radical a change of meaning in the same
sentence. (2) That the word pneumais not translatedwind elsewhere, although it occurs scores of
times in the New Testament, but is always rendered Spirit.
(3) Another word in the Greek, anemos is usually used to represent wind. (4) The erroneous
idea creates a confusion of figures. It makes Christ to say: The wind bloweth where it listeth; so is
every one born of the Spirit. It affirms of him who is born just what is affirmed of the wind, a thing
the Savior never did. These facts are sufficient to show that the rendering wind is wrong. All we
have to do is to translate pneuma here, as is done in the latter part of the verse and elsewhere in the
New Testament. The verse then reads: The Spirit (pneuma) breathes where it pleases and thou
hearest the voicethereof, but canst not tell whence it comes nor whither it goes. So is every one born
of the Spirit (pneuma). The meaning is: The Spirit breatheswhere it wills and you recognize its
manifestation by its voice.14
This is positive proof that we must do key word studies because translators are
not perfect, as Dr. Young has so accurately pointed out. The real problem the
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translator faces is choosing the word that exactly expresses what the author intended,
since Hebrew and Greek words, like English or any other language, have more than
one meaning. There is a literal meaning and there is also a figurative meaning. Each
translator must choose the word that FITS the CONTEXT of the scriptures
surrounding the word. Hopefully, they can do this without allowing their own
religious beliefs to hinder them from choosing the correct word.
For this reason, it would behoove every sincere student of the Bible to be
prepared to do key word studiesemploying a good lexicon. I would recommend for
beginners the Strong Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, for it not only gives the
literal and figurative meaning of Greek and Hebrew words used in the original text,
but also their root meaning. It also gives every English word the King James
translators used to translate it as well.
Here is example of an improper Greek Grammar translation of a scripture: Untothe angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his
right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (Rev 2:1, KJV; the NKJ, ASV,
NAS, NIV all neglect the rules of Grammar in this verse). The Holy Bible, New LivingTranslation translated this verse this way: Write this letter to the angel of the church inEphesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who
walks among the seven gold lampstands (2nd edition). This translation does a better job
grammatically then the other translations, but it fails to understand God message.
In the Greek, this passage appears this way: Tw/av ggelw|th/ j evn VEfesw| evkklhsiaj grayon\(Robinson-Pierpont Majority Text & Friberg NT -UBS3/4).
The Greek noun aggelos or messenger is in the dative case, which is an indirect
object; consequently, it should FOLLOW the verband not come before it. According
to Daniel B. Wallace in his book, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: The dative
substantive is that to orfor which the action of a verbisperformed. The indirect object will only occurwith atransitive verb, when the transitive verb is in the active voice. The word churchis in the
genitive caseor the case that expressespossession, which should be translated of the
church.The Greek preposition evnor inmodifies the word Ephesus,which is alsoin the dative case; therefore it to should FOLLOW the verband not come before it.
The verb write is in the AORIST tense, active voice, IMPERATIVE mood,
second person, and singular number. Imperative moodis the mood that expresses a
COMMAND with the subject being you or you write. Because the aorist tense
refers to continuous action, regardless of when the action began, Jesus is not only
referring to the Church that existed in Ephesus in that day, but also the Church that
existed in that age. Therefore Revelation 2:1, 8, 18, 3:1, 7, & 14 all should read: You
[John] write OF the CHURCH, the MESSENGER inEphesus, Smyrna, and so on.
Since the Church consists of Gods holy Priesthood of all born-again
believers, every child of God in the church is Gods one and only Messenger to the
world during the period of time he or she lives. The word of God states this truth
this way: As NEWBORN BABES, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer up
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spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. You are a chosen generation, a
ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation (1Pe 2:2, 59; Mt 28:19-20; Acts 8:3-4).
Gods Priests are His Messengers: For the lips of a PRIEST should keep knowledge,And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the MESSENGER[Septuagint a;ggeloj-aggelos] of the LORD of hosts (Mal 2:7). Another example of the Greek noun aggelos
being translated as Messenger is: When the MESSENGERS[aggelos]of John had departed,
He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John (Lk 7:24). Therefore Gods Messenger
in the Church is His Holy Priesthood of all born-again believers; and grammatically
speaking, all the above verses should be translated as: You [John] write OF the
CHURCH, the MESSENGER inEphesus, Smyrna, and so on.
If we do not want Satan to blind our minds against the truth, then we must be
willing to study the Bible by doing Lexical Word Studies and hopefully Grammar
Studies if possible. BibleWorks is an excellent computer program that will definitely
help you do both Lexical and Grammar Studies on every verse in the Bible!
BibleWorks address is: P.O. Box 6158, Norfolk, VA 23508, and it can be found on
the web at: bibleworks.com. These are just some of the principles one should use in
studying the Bible. Beloved, some may become upset when reading the seventh step,
but I would be doing my beloved readers a grave injustice, by leaving this step out
and not telling them the full truth on Bible interpretation.
Historical Dates Given for the Books
of the New Testament, the Hebrew Massoretic Text,
Jewish Writings, and Translations of the Bible
52 AD:the apostle Paul wrote First Thessaloniansfrom Corinth.53 AD:Paul wroteSecond Thessaloniansfrom Corinth.
57 AD:Paul wrote First CorinthiansfromEphesus,Second Corinthiansfrom
Macedonia, and Galatiansfrom Corinth.
58 AD:Paul wroteRomansfrom Corinth.
60-61 AD: Paul wrote his 4 Prison Epistles from Rome:Philippians, Ephesians,
Colossians, andPhilemon.
63 AD: Paul wrote 2 of his Pastoral Epistles: 1 Timothyand Titus.
65 AD: John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark, when Paul was in Spain and
Britain.
67 AD: the apostle Peter wrote Second Peter and the year he was crucified by
Nero.68 AD:the apostle Paulwas imprisoned in Rome when he wrote his 3rd
Pastoral
Epistles Second Timothy and probably Hebrews shortly, that is, shortly before he
was beheaded by Nero in May. Jude wrote the Epistle of Jude at this time. John
Mark was dragged to death through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt on Easter; the
apostle Bartholomew was martyred in India; the apostles Philip and Thomas, along
with Jude were martyred at Hierapolis after being beaten with clubs, flayed alive
and crucified in Armenia.
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81 AD:the Targums, the Aramaic versions of the Old Testament began to appear
at this time.
85 AD:the apostle John wrote the Gospel of John.
90 AD:John wrote the Epistlesof I John, II John and III John. Jewish Rabbis
gathered at Jamnia to establish theJewish Canon of Scripture.
95 AD:John wrote theBook of Revelationwhen he was banished from Ephesus toPatmos by Roman Emperor Domitian.
170 AD:According to Eusebius, Bishop Muratori, who epistle was lost, declared
the Church accepted TWENTY New Testament books as canonical, genuine or
inspired from God: the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Book of
Acts, the 13 Epistles of Paul, 1 Peter, and 1 John. There was according to Eusebius a
question about the Book ofHebrews, the Epistles ofJames, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John,Jude,
andRevelation, which were later accepted as canon.
200 AD: Rabbi Jehudah Hanasi compiled the Mishnah, and later the Gemara
was added to become thePalestinian Talmud.
240 AD:Origen composed theHexapla, which was a 6-column compilation of the
Hebrew Old Testament and five Greek Translations, that is, Aquila, Symmachus,Theodorion, theSeptuagint, and a transliteration.
330 AD:the Greek Sinaitic New Testament Manuscriptwas produced by the Arian
Eusebius at the orders of Emperor Constantine for 50 Greek New Testament.
Eusebius perverted several passages of Scripture in these manuscripts concerning
the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Birth, and some prophecies in the
Book of Revelation. Many of the newer translations of the Bible favor this corrupted
manuscript!
367 AD:ATHANASIUS, bishop of Alexandria, wrote his 39th Festal Letter and
listed the present 27 New Testament books we now have.
380 AD: AMPHILOCIUS of Iconium produced the earliest list to correspond
exactly to our New Testament in both order and content.
383 AD:JEROME was commissioned to make a Latin Bible.
385 ADJEROME translated the New Testament from Hebrew to Latin, a work
which was completed in 404.
500 AD:The Babylonian "Talmud" was compiled.
1227 AD:STEPHEN LANGDON divided the Bible into 1,189 chapters.
1229 AD:The Synod of Toulouse forbade Bible reading by laymen.
1250 AD:The Bible was divided into chapters by Cardinal HUGH deSANCTO
CARO.
1300 AD The "Zohar", a single source book of Kaballah, was produced for
Jewry.
1382 AD:JOHN WYCLIFFE, the "Morning Star of the Reformation", founded
the Lollards and published his English New Testament, the first complete
manuscript.
1384 AD: JOHN WYCLIFFE died. NICHOLAS of Hereford completed the
translation of the Old Testament into English.
1408 AD:JOHN HUSS was accused of heresy and deposed. English subjects were
forbidden to make or read a version of the Bible in their native tongue.
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1415 AD: The Council of Constance deposed all three popes and declared its
"Sacrosancta" on April 6th. The Council also ordered JOHN WYCLIFFE'S body
exhumed and desecrated. JOHN HUSS was burned at the stake in Prague on July
6th.
1455 AD: JOHN REUCHLIN, who composed a Hebrew grammar and
dictionary, was born.1456 AD:The Latin Bible, called the Mazarin Bible, was the first printed book by
JOHANN GUTENBERG on his printing press.
1488 AD:The first complete Hebrew Old Testament was produced.
1492 AD:On March 30th, all Jews were expelled from Spain "under penalty of
death, never to return". Many migrated to Tiberias and Safed, where they
developed the Kabalah.
1501 AD:The Pope ordered all b