Before going forward, it is important that we understand the difference between “interpretation” and “translation” relative to the Scriptures. Translation refers to identification; interpretation refers to meaning. For example,  the words “mi casa” in Spanish are correctly translated “my house” in English. However, if I want “casa” to mean horse, I interpret it to mean “horse.” The unwitting reader believes what he reads and, to him, casa means horse. When King James translators came across Greek or Hebrew words or statements that did not fit their religious bent, they stopped translating and interpreted the Truth to mean what they wanted it to mean. As a result the Words of God have been twisted and perverted to mean whatever the reader wants them to mean. This perversion of God’s Word is not new.

In the Garden of Eden Eve stated plainly what God had said to her relative to the forbidden tree: “God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it … lest you die.'” At this point Satan interpreted God’s Words, saying,  “You shall not surely die.” The die was caste. From that time forward men, working under the power and direction of the devil, have turned God’s Words into whatever served their purposes. This in spite of the fact that God condemns any and all interpretation of His Word (2 Pet. 1:20). Instead of teaching the plain, simple Word as written, we now have hundreds of human interpretations of it. Each interpretation has resulted in a division within “the church.” The sordid mess is officially known as “denominations” that are found within two categories of what calls itself “Christianity”–Catholicism and Protestantism–both of which are abominations to the Lord and condemned as such.

Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul warned the church in his second letter to Timothy (4:1-4) that a time would come when men would not accept sound doctrine because it did not fit their narrative, that church people would turn from God’s Truth and turn to fables put forth as “the Word of the Lord.” The Prophet Isaiah wrote about this phenomenon in 30:8-10 where he warned that in the LATTER DAYS men would demand that their ministers “Prophesy (preach) not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” WE ARE LIVING IN THOSE DAYS. Nowhere is God’s Word rejected as the standard of morality more than in the Institutional Church. The unchurched tend to ignore those like myself who present the Bible as THE Truth. The church, however, comes out in wrath against anyone who presents Jesus Christ as THE way, THE Truth and THE life. We can get away with declaring that SOME of His Words are Truth. But not all, or even most of them are deemed acceptable. Church consensus holds that Jesus lied in John 17:17 when He said to His Father, “Thy Word is Truth.” And in that He calls Himself “the Truth,” He calls Himself a living lie. Hell will be brimming over with church people. Each category of “the Church,” along with each denomination within one of the categories, has selected only certain statements made by the Lord as Words of Truth. All others are suspect at best and outright lies at worst. As a result of professing Christendom’s pick-and-choose tactics relative to God’s Truth, approximately 2/3 of the Bible is rejected, having no part to play in the “Christian walk.”

Because of these and other errors, the Bible is viewed as being riddled with confusing and contradictory statements and teachings. As a result, professing Christendom has not yielded to the Lord’s will in that she cannot determine what it is. Fear of men has kept the church masses from having an honest look at the Bible. They fear what others will say and think about them should they come to believe its precepts and obey them. This in spite of such statements as: “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness …. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments” (Ps. 111:7,8). “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). “This is the (cause of God’s) condemnation (of men), that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (Jn. 3:19). The Bible is God’s light designed to expose Satan’s darkness. People of the world, especially the church world, reject God’s light because they prefer Satan’s darkness. To be continued. L.J.