I received this article from a fellow Kiwi Bro and thought I would post it on the net in order for for those who desire truth to see how much folly is being propagated as light.  Following is what scripture says in regards to false light (may the truth set us free!):

2 Co. 11:14.  "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."

The correspondence below has got to be the biggest piece of intellectual hogwash I have read in recent months as I could not resist in addressing it in my own style.  I know some of you will call this a sacrilegious or sarcastic response (please get over it).  Others will see it as either a funny exercise or their Brother proving a point and counteracting gross folly and straight out heresy.  With a great opportunity nevertheless, to reveal how some will stoop so low to steel your Bible away from you, so they would feel they've done the Lord a great favour in setting themselves up as your finale authority in replacement of the holy scriptures. 

Personally, I'm not sure weather my Kiwi counterpart was trying to really convince me into his way of thinking by sending out this crazy treatise, or whether it was a blatant attempt to annoy.  However, after initially sending me some thought provoking material he had written himself, I could no longer remain silent when his renditions started to become obvious to where he was really coming from.  Especially his previous treatise where he was out to alienate the precious Holy Spirit from the rest of Godhead as being independent of the Godhead in expressing its femininity.  In other words (proving from the phantom Aramaic) how God can be understood to us all, as a parent god  ...  as if almighty God could be experienced as both our Father and our Mother.  The lie that Jesus is the masculine side of God whereas the Spirit is the feminine side of God.  Oh, as I keep reiterating ...  you can prove any thing from the originals; whether Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic; simply because they no longer exist.

Following is the article he commended to me, written by another writer, which now includes my response.  This is Bible thievery and treachery at it's worst, which totally contradicts sound doctrine, and would render the following verses fully impotent:

Rom. 4:3.  "For what saith the scripture?"
Rom. 9:17.  "For the scripture saith"
Rom. 10:11.  "For the scripture saith"
1 Tim. 5:18.  "For the scripture saith"
Gal. 3:8.  "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would"
Gal. 3:22.  "But the scripture hath concluded"
Gal. 4:30.  "Nevertheless what saith the scripture?"
Js. 4:5.  "Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain"
1 Pet. 2:6.  "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture"
Acts 7:38.  "This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us"

Above are just a few verses (in this particular segment) where scripture places such a large emphasis on the scriptures.  Not only that ...  but it looks to me that scripture has sooo much authority that it is actually speaking to us (For the scripture saith), as well as foreseeing and concluding!  Phew!!!  The reason why if scripture can be undermined ("hath God said") then the believers very foundation to his faith can be destroyed as he is only left with one alternative again, to place his trust in man.  Who  would no doubt come in the form of a wise, qualified scholar, imposing or offering his expertly advice.  This article even goes much further than this!  Read on (my response written in this colour):

On purpose, I have deliberately

left this page white in order

for those coming onto this page

to ponder over, fathom and

glance at.  To your right, and all

over, is extra white space in order

for you to exercise you faculty

and try and penetrate the depth

until you find it's hidden, esoteric,

unfathomable, mystical, unsearchable,

and incomprehensible meaning.

..............  * Ponder! Think!  Search!  Contemplate!  Meditate!  Breathe in ...  this

May the space be with you!!     

The Best Bible Translation

I would like to commend this excellent article for your prayerful contemplation.  It is longish but well worth the read.  If you are just looking for fast food (leavened & pre-served), try your local McChurch.  Love, Ian.

Perhaps more than any other question, I get asked which Bible translation is the most accurate or the one closest to the original Hebrew and Greek. I have hundreds of Bible translations, Parallel Bibles, Hebrew-Greek-English Interlinears, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Aramaic, Syrian texts and Bible dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, commentaries, etc. My computer is filled with incredible software to aid in determining the wording of the original autographs of the Bible These tools are very valuable to me. But there is something far more important when it comes to understanding what the Bible really says than a perfect translation of the original text (which, by the way, no longer exists). Let me explain:

 

Many years ago, I was in the middle of a very busy business day, about to enter a printing shop when I saw a street person come to the door of my car.  I knew he was going to ask me for money. 

 

Under my breath I said, “Lord, please don’t put him in my life right now.  I am too busy.”  (What a stupid thing to say!)  Of course the Lord put him in my life.

 

He was a chronic alcoholic who lived under a bridge and often found himself in trouble.  He had no teeth.  One of his relatives had them all pulled but never got around to getting him dentures.  Although he was in his 50’s, his mental abilities were that of a child.     

 

I ended up spending several weeks trying to get him help with his alcoholic problem.  The experience showed me how ineffective our social service programs for alcoholics are.  At one point during these few weeks, I took him to a minister in hopes of having him delivered of demons.  We commanded everything under the sun to come out of him, but he just stared at us quite annoyed. 

 

We began to quote various Scriptures to him. We felt “the word of God,” (King James Authorized Version, of course) would set him free. We quoted Bible verses, tried to bind and loose all sorts of things until we were exhausted.

 

Getting a little irritated with our zealousness, pointeding to the Bible in my hand, he said to me, “Did you ever read the @#^*?  As I mentioned already, he had no teeth and I often did not understand him.  I told him I didn’t understand so he repeated himself.  I still didn’t understand.  He repeated, “Did you ever read the @#^*?!”  He was shaking the Bible and pointing to the pages.  He was getting rather mad by this time.  Finally, I made out what he was saying.  He said, “Did you ever read the white?!”  Instantly, those words pierced me.  It finally occurred to me what this seemingly ignorant drunk was saying -- the words on pages of a book are black marks on white pages.  When we read, we only look at the black ink, but the ink is actually on a white page.  Each black letter was surrounded by white.  It was the large white page that carried the small black letters. Could I read between the lines?
 

Oh, I see!!!  The written words of the Lord are not good enough!  There is more to our Bibles than what is written?  There is more to our Bibles than meets the eye?  That there happens to be obscure, or invisible, or hidden words the Lord has purposely left out somewhere in the background, beyond the black written words, somewhere that we need to search for and extract out of blankness ourselves?  The so-called phantom words which only the Holy Ghost can cipher off just for us, His yearning and disabled saints!  Which means we need to learn, by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, how to read the blank spaces.  Not that the Lord play tricks or anything, and that the words of the Lord really can't be plain to those who have understanding.  It's all in how we discern the great white blankness in the background!

Could I see beyond the black ink -- beyond -- “it is written!?” “THE LETTER KILLS, IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT GIVES LIFE!” (2 Cor. 3:6) Could I read by the Holy Spirit? Could I go beyond the literal word and really get the meaning of the words? That is what is this drunk sage was trying to tell me. This article will reveal that the methods of translating and the way to read Bible translations taught by the traditional church in the past has led to devastating consequences for Christians and those Christians are trying to influence.

Yes, there is a hidden mystical meaning behind each written sentence and passage after all, something I never really thought about before.  How about that!?  Only the Holy Ghost can discern beyond the written pages.  I guess the Holy Spirit or the Holy Bible lies when it says the Holy Ghost would confirm the truth (not the other way around) ...  which is the written word that sets us free!  Looks like the mystics and those who undermine a literal Bible were right after all ...  that the word is subservient to the Spirit, not the other way around!  That the Holy Ghost is our final authority, not the Holy Bible, in all matters of faith, revelation and practice!  I did not know the Lord was sooo aloof!  However, he can't be, as someone well read and versed like yourself can point us into the reliable and deep meanings of the great white blankness for guidance and revelation in the background.  Which must mean God has just changed His mind by now favouring the wise, clever and intellectual to reveal Himself to, above Babes and the base of this world?  Such uncanny wisdom eh!

Reading the White

My drunk friend ended up dying of alcoholism.  Before knowing the Lord, I swore I’d never go to a funeral.  (Dumb again.)  His family asked me to preach his eulogy.  Before he died he told me that one time he went to heaven.  Somehow, I believe him.  After all, where else can you learn to read the white?  Have you ever read the white? 

Wow, we no longer have to just read the written word where Jesus promised to come in the volume of the book, but we should heed the wise council of a devil influenced simple minded, unrepentant drunk.  Whom you acknowledge as a sage ...  an aged and seasoned wise teacher.  It sure looks like God has changed His mind or something!

 Let me give you another example of “reading the white” and the profound effects such an experience can have on one’s life and the lives of many others:

 

In the early 1500’s a Catholic monk named Martin Luther tried to live a life holy enough to be accepted by God. Unlike most Christians of that time period, he could read the Bible. The Bible was off limits to the common people. Most Christians could not read, but even if they did, the Church forbid them from reading the Bible. Church leaders at that time (and many today) did not think the average Christian was capable of understanding it – they felt Christians needed priests to explain to them what the Bible really says. Furthermore, it was not permitted to translate the Bible into common languages. Since Latin was the only language the Roman Catholic Church accepted as the “sacred language,” there were no translations into common languages such as English, German, French, etc. In this way, the Church leadership kept laypeople in darkness. But Martin Luther was a monk; therefore he had access to the Bible in its Latin form.

 

He read in Romans 1:17 that “in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.” He was really struggling with that verse. How desperately he wanted to attain to the “righteousness of God.” He fasted, beat himself, denied himself all sorts of earthly pleasures to gain this “righteousness of God.” His conscience was always a witness against him. The more Luther tried to attain the righteousness of God by doing what he thought God’s Law demanded, the further away he felt he was. The church of his time was very law-centered. (While most Christians cannot discern it, the modern church is very law-centered too, but in a disguised form.)

 

What really troubled Martin Luther about this verse is that it stated that the righteousness of God (which Luther wanted more than life itself), was “revealed” in the “Good News,” that is, the Gospel. But Martin saw no good news in the “Good News.” Luther’s problem is one countless Christians today face as well.

 

Luther read the words in the Bible through the theological definitions of Dark Age theologians who twisted the meaning of words like grace, sanctification, justification, faith, righteousness, justice, etc. from their true meaning. This is exactly what the Pharisees did with the Old Testament Scriptures which prevented the common people from knowing what the Bible really said. Jewish Rabbis like Hillel, Shamai, Gamaliel, etc., reinterpreted the meaning of words and concepts in the Bible so that people couldn’t see the truth anymore even when they were reading the Scriptures. Their teachings put scales over people’s eyes preventing them from seeing the truth. Church leaders did the same thing. Even though Luther was sincerely trying to understand God’s will, these traditions and teachings of men prevented him from seeing what was plainly written. (See Matt. 15:6-9) In addition of false Church traditions and reinterpretations of key words and concepts in the Latin text, we must also keep in mind that the Latin text Luther was reading was also greatly flawed.

 

Luther saw “the righteousness of God” through the lenses of the teachings of the “School of Scholastic theologians” of the latter part of the Middle Ages (1100-1500 AD). Scholastics like Duns Scotus, Peter Lombard, and Thomas Aquinas taught that the righteousness of God was God’s means of meting out justice or punishment. To the Scholastics of the Roman Catholic Church, the term “righteousness of God” was simply another word for law – for God’s demands upon man – demands which were really unattainable as Martin Luther or any other sincere person soon found out. Their “righteousness of God” was really the same thing as the pack of rules the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers and scribes put on the backs of the people which they, themselves were unwilling to take upon themselves. This hypocritical Pharisaic Spirit has been alive and well in all three of the Western monotheistic religions right up to our own times.

 

Luther in his writings told us that whenever he came across the term “righteousness of God” it “struck my conscience like lightning.” It was “like a thunderbolt in my heart.” His conscience continually told him he was an unrighteous sinner who fell short of what he thought God’s standard for righteousness was. His torment and anguish because of his inability to attain it caused Luther to come to the place of utterly hating this righteousness and the God who demanded. To Luther, God became a fiend who expected from fallen man what he was incapable of giving. It nearly drove Luther insane. (Some historians and theologians believe Luther did go insane, at least temporarily.)

 

After days of meditation in much darkness and great torment of soul, daylight broke through. Luther was given the revelation that true righteousness was actually imparted to us through the faith of Jesus Christ. Righteousness was an imputed gift; it was not something we had to attain through our self-efforts.

 

After the light broke through, when those very same words “the righteousness of God” were seen through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, Luther said that he “was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.” Luther had entered the “peace that passes understanding” which Jesus promised to give all those who received His faith. This “peace” is a supernatural peace nothing in this world can give. For this one verse, Martin Luther read past the letter and SAW the white, the light. The REVELATION of the truth came to him by the Holy Spirit.

Oh, I have learnt something more.  The white background in my Bible not only hides the missing links to the gospel but is in essence (as this Bloke does not believe in a literal Bible) that this white background is actually the Light from above, which we can look at, or into, and have a real revelation experience.  I must have missed something sooo eazzzy over the years!

 It greatly grieves me to know that there are millions of Christians who go to church every Sunday who have never EXPERIENCED the “peace that passes understanding,” the “unspeakable joy” which Jesus promised to bring, the forgiveness which the blood/life of Christ brings to the conscience, the unconditional love of God which brings security that nothing in this world can take away, etc. I’ve met so many Christians who have been taught that true faith is not a feeling; that one is just supposed to trust that if they believe that Jesus died for their sins that they will go to heaven and that that should be good enough for them. Poppycock! “Being in the Spirit,” “being led by the Spirit,” “being “filled with the Spirit,” etc floods one with the supernatural; it greatly effects our feelings, both physical and spiritual. The gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the works of the Holy Spirit should explode from our being and should manifest in great expressions of “feelings!” Revelation, when the light of God touches down on a portion of Scripture brings a delight that is often indescribable – a delight that literalists cannot enjoy.

Wow, the white blankness beyond the written words can actually give us a spiritual experience, and goes even further by giving us a supernatural and physical experience.  Just look at the white in the back ground while you read this (beyond the mere keyed in words), and don't you just feeeel something supernatural getting hold of you?  Don't you just get a real buzz as you look beyond the written words into this beyond space of blankness?

Literalism and Legalism is Joyless

 

On the day of Pentecost, when the tongues of fire fell upon the 120 disciples, they were DRIVEN into the streets of Jerusalem declaring “the wonderful works of God” in all the languages of the world. Let me tell you, these men and women were FEELING wonderful! When the Holy Spirit moves through a Christian they KNOW it. True faith is not blind. The faith of Christ in a believer brings them into a relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ that affects every part of the body including the emotions. Show me a Christian who says he trusts in the Lord but is not emotional the things of God and I’ll show you a dead Christian who has swallowed the “traditions of men” and not the Living Word of God! True faith will bring tears of great joy True faith will bring an exhilaration that makes what the world calls exciting look quite dull. A Spirit-filled Christian life should be exciting, adventurous, holy, full of compassion, full of joy, full of love and great peace. True, we should not “trust” in our feelings and feeling can be deceptive, but when the faith of Christ truly comes into our hearts, there will be many indescribable feelings that will come with the package. And if these things are not a part of one’s Christianity, they really should leave where they are going to church and seek Christ again in a fresh way.  

 

The Pharisaic Spirit which is produced through legalism, whether in Jews, Christians or Arabs will produce two conditions in a person; it will produce a blinding pride from self-righteousness – and at the same time it will produce a self-loathing because the conscience will convict the soul that it has fallen short of the standard the person has set up. “The law (legalism) works wrath.” (Rom. 4:15) “As you sow, so shall you reap.” (Gal. 6:7) “In the same measure you give out, that same measure will be given back.”(Luke 6:38) If we use the law to condemn others (as a self-righteous legalist always does), condemnation will come back to that person but through a different form or person. Self-righteous people exalt themselves, glorify themselves, by putting other people down. That’s one of the short-comings of the Law. The glory of the Mosaic Law is condemnation. Paul even called the Ten Commandments, the “ministry of death” and the “ministry of condemnation.” We temporarily feel good about ourselves when we can put other people beneath us through judgmentalism. One may rise to great heights in religion, business and politics by stepping on other people, but there is a spiritual cost. Greedy and judgmental people do not enjoy the love of God, the peace that passes all understanding and the unspeakable joy the Holy Spirit brings to a humble soul. Yes, they may attain high positions -- they may abuse their power and destroy many people’s lives – they may have many houses, much money and power and fame – but their inner being is a living Hell which spills over into many other people’s lives. They may become presidents, prime ministers, and officials in high places in government, business, and institutions of all kind including educational and religious ones – they may become dictators who almost rule the world, but inside they are full of self-loathing even though on the outside they put on the display of absolute confidence. Romans 1:19 through chapter two describes this process

Yes, there is much that's drab in knowing just the written word as boring, lisp, lifeless, dry and empty.  Whereas, if we left the dead written letter and find Christ in a new and exciting way, we find joy unspeakable!!!  And ohhh that feeeling again Brother!!  That supernatural lift!!!  Jesus is found outside the words of the Bible, beyond what is WRITTEN to what is NOT written ...  the great white vast blank background.  That great light we are to behold!

Darkness in “Traditional” Christianity

 

Having been in hundreds of churches in dozens of different denominations, I am convinced that millions of Christians today are in exactly the same condition Luther was in hundreds of years ago before he got his revelation. Through Sunday School and Bible study material written at denominational headquarters, through training church leaders at seminaries, Bible colleges and text books, every denominational headquarters injects “traditions of men” and “doctrines of demons,” and definitions, creeds, articles of faith, catechisms, etc. which render the word of God of no effect. I have had many scales placed over my eyes through various Christian institutions – but far less than the average Christian who was raised in church because I was an atheist for much of my life.

 

The very best Bible translation, which may be a perfect transference of the original languages to our own language, is still an instrument of death unless the Holy Spirit opens its truth through the Spirit of Truth which Jesus promised to send to his disciples. Dear friend, please spend some considerable time in prayer and contemplation over what I am stating. It is possible to have an accurate translation of the original and still have a false understanding of the text. Not only is it possible, I submit that this is the norm of the typical Christian in a typical mainline church. The state of Martin Luther’s mind prior to his seeing the light is the state of the average Christian in this part of the twenty-first century. The light through which the average Christian reads their Bible is the light of men in darkness or semi-darkness – it is not the light of the Holy Spirit. I am not being over-confident. I am speaking the truth.

 

I have spent a great deal of time in prayer and study learning about the “traditions of men” which have been injected into the minds of the modern Christian which render the “word of God of no effect.” There are countless thousands of them. (The books “Pagan Christianity” by Frank Viola and “The Way Church Ought To Be” by Robert A. Lund are excellent sources for information about how far the church has strayed from the teachings of Christ and His apostles.) I only gave one example in Martin Luther’s life to illustrate the power “traditions of men” have over our minds and hearts. Let us see the power that can be released when we are freed from this kind of darkness. A single person being freed from religious darkness can literally revolutionize the world. It is quite amazing to me how the light God gave Martin Luther on four words had such a profound effect on the world.

Now, it is hard for me to actually know what the writer is getting at now, cause at first me thought he was introducing another side of God, the white blank background beyond the written words, as revealing the deeper and more meaningful things of God.  Now it looks like he is saying the Bible is okay, it is just the way that we interpret that's wrong.  Roundabout what I thought anyway!  I'm now confused!  Please throw some light on this?  Oh, thatz right!  The light is beyond the written dark words, and something we can look into for more light.  Cause it's either light or wrong!

The “Dark Light” of Legalism and Traditions of Men

 

Societies weighed down by legalism usually end up causing great turmoil and wars. The United States, for example, has far more lawyers than any country in the world. (Lawyers per 100,000 population: USA-281, Britain-94, France-33, Japan-7) The United States also has far more people in prisons than most Western countries. The USA also has more military bases around the world than any other country. Furthermore, there is scarcely a year in the twentieth century in which it was not entangled in some military conflict around the world “defending” its interests. “Law works wrath!” (Rom. 4:15)

 

By the way, when I speak of “legalism,” I mean any human tradition, law, ordinances, ritual, moral codes, etc. created by human institutions which are joined to the “righteousness of God” found in the Bible that destroy the true meaning “God’s righteousness” as expressed and revealed through Jesus Christ, the Living Word. Even as the understanding of the Scholastics hindered Luther’s ability to see what was plainly written, even so, many borrowed laws and traditions from societies which Christianity conquered have been brought into the church. Mosaic Law, English Common Law, Teutonic customs, Greco-Roman laws and culture – these and many more have combined with the “righteousness of God” to create a Western Christian moral code much of which has nothing to do with God’s righteousness. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” “God helps those who help themselves.” “Women should not be ministers” “Children should be seen and not heard.” In Germany the slogan “Arbeit machts frei” (work makes free) was a slogan often used in Church thus connecting it to God’s demands upon His people. The “Protestant work ethic” has more to do with Northern European tradition than with Scripture even though the Bible does emphasize honest work. Church buildings should have steeples. On and on it goes – thousands upon thousands of traditions and laws which “make the word of God of no effect.”

 

It is not doctrine that saves, or enlightens or empowers -- it is the very Spirit of God Who seeks to move through us and teach us all the mysteries contained in Jesus Christ, the TRUE WORD OF GOD.

Oh, I see!  It's not biblical doctrine that saves, it is the hidden obscured word of God!  And I thought the King Jammie was supposed to be obscured and archaic?  Oh well!?  Okay, we are back onto that again.  The mystical, not literal, background white light, beyond the mere written words,illuminating us with secret hidden truth s!?

It is the doctrines and traditions of fallen men, especially religious fallen men -- that sends us into outer darkness – into ignorance. In addition to the teachings of men, our own prejudices, racism, bigotry, biases, resentments, anger, jealousies, etc. can have a profound effect on what we think we see in the Bible.

So it is the doctrines and traditions of fallen men, especially religious men, that have deceived us, not a message from an unrepentant, devil influenced, drunken simple minded sage, instructing the believers to look past the literal words of scripture to the white blankness beyond for true revelation?  Mmmmm, I see!!  Cause I can see de light!  How delight full!

 “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.  See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.  Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” (Luke 11:34-36)

Projectionism

After over two decades as a Christian, I have found that a person can and will find whatever they want to in the Bible to justify themselves or condemn or judge others. If a person is a racist, he/she can find a verse or two to justify their racism. If a person is a sexist, he can find scores of verses to support his bias. If greedy people want to justify selling or buying slaves, they can find support in the Bible. Jews and Christians and Christian nations have throughout the last 2,000 years used the Bible to support countless abominations they have done in the name of the Lord. But those verses were read with “dark light,” not with the light of the Holy Spirit. An evil person will project their own evil upon those they hate. They will also project their hate onto the pages of the Bible. Some Jews in former times and even in modern times believe the Bible teaches that they are the only true representatives of God, that the rest of mankind are not true Adamites, they are not true human beings. I have also come across Christians who believe that white Christians are the only true representatives of God, that darker skinned human beings are “beasts of the field,” not really human beings. And they use certain verses and certain interpretations of those verses to prove to themselves they are correct.  

 

The Bible, regardless of the translation (or even in its original languages) is NOT the true “word of God.” The true Word of God is a Person. His Name is Jesus the Messiah of the whole world.

So what we need to do is ignore the scriptures, is that right?  They are unreliable!  We need to get to know what God has written in the background, in the blank white space beyond!  We need to ignore the dark words of Jesus found in the scriptures.  His record or written word is apparently all messed up and can't be trusted anyway.  We need the Holy Ghost independent of scripture to point us to the real Jesus, who is the mystical, beyond the book, great white space beyond.  The light Who can turn us on!

If you truly have Him and give His Holy Spirit pre-eminence in your life,

Yes, remember scripture is unreliable.  It has been poisoned by mans wisdom and doctrine.  While the Holy Ghost can be trusted, without the Book.  So we must ignore the book and not give Jesus the pre-eminence as scripture says, but the Spirit pre-eminence as this writer says.  Isn't he a nice man?  He has replaced the scriptures by his own opinion which is 100% reliable because he has studied much, spent much time in contemplation and prayer, been professionally trained and gone to Bible college etc.  We must trust his opinion that the Holy Ghost is our final authority and not the Bible after all, because he is reliable whereas scripture is not!  How wonderful and kind of him for pointing this out.  We need more teachers like this, who can point us to the big blank white space beyond, where the deep and hidden things of God may be found, past the dark words on the pages to the light in the background.

then you have life indeed. But if the traditions of men and the doctrines of demons cloud our conscience or we live in the flesh and allow our base appetites to have their way, then we will reap from our lives and our Bible reading corruption and death. Remember, “the letter kills, it is the Spirit that gives life.” Keep in mind, even the Ten Commandments regardless of how well they are translated are a “ministry of condemnation,” a “ministry of death.” (2 Cor. 3: 7-18)

The Holy Spirit: A Doctrine or Life

 

Speaking of the Holy Spirit, may I say at this time that even the best doctrine or teaching or creed about the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, are as dead as fallen trees. The Holy Spirit is alive. He is not a concept – He is not a doctrine or a statement of belief even if the statement is perfectly phrased. The word must be quickened, made alive by the Living Presence of the Living Word of the Creator. Inspiration, revelation, impartation, quickening, prophesying, manifesting, etc.—these are the substance of the Spirit of Truth. It is a great travesty that these very things are often utterly rejected by much of the church world and we wonder why the church is in such darkness.

There we go saints ...  we don't need sound doctrine or the Bible for that matter.  We have been taught wrong over the years, simply because we have believed and been taught from the dark words instead of looking to the reliable light in the background.  If you have the Holy Ghost independent of the Godhead and the word, you have life, truth, revelation, and everything.  What more do we need?  What we now need to do is change the written word and now write ...  "if you continue in the Holy Spirit you will know the truth and the Holy Spirit will set you free!"  Oh, there is so much more that needs rectifying and changed around and omitted in scripture, to eventually be in harmony with the white light behind the written words.

 “For the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy.” (Rev. 19:10) “Do not despise prophesying.” (1 Thess. 5:20) “Oh foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you…This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:1-3)

 

In short, Paul was saying that any attempt to try to relate to God via our own efforts, our thinking, our concepts, etc. is utterly foolish, useless and actually contrary to God’s way. God’s way is by HIS Spirit. The power, the word, the truth, the gifts, the fruit of a life of righteousness all come via His Spirit – they do not come from our intellect, our efforts, our theology, etc. It seems natural for man to fall back into the old way even when one has received the Holy Spirit. It is not only possible, but quite probable for a Christian to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit and to miss or bury the things He gives us. To grieve or quench the Holy Spirit is as natural as succumbing to the power of gravity. The very forces of this world are arrayed against the power of the Holy Spirit within a person. Satan does not go after Christians who talk a good talk but are useless in the kingdom of God. Those individuals are already under his power. He goes after those who are still full of the power of the Holy Spirit. Satan is not upset there are Christians in the world. Names mean nothing to him. It is the power of the Holy Spirit residing in a Christian who has learned how to maintain a living vibrant relationship with God through Him that is a danger to Satan’s kingdom.

 

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Eph. 4:30) “Quench not the Spirit.” (1 Thess. 5:19)

 

Paul, nearing the end of his course must have been deeply grieved as he watched much of his work return to darkness:

 

“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.  That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.” (2 Tim. 1:13-15)

 

The “Great Falling Away” Occurred Long Ago

 

If much of the church was falling away from what Paul termed “my gospel” during his own lifetime, imagine how far the modern church may be from Paul’s teachings which he honestly believed was the only true gospel to be preached. Paul told Timothy to “hold fast the form of sound words” heard from him from which many were turning away. The church plunged into the Dark Ages because it turned from Paul’s gospel. Being led by the Holy Spirit was replaced with thousands of traditions of men and doctrines of demons.

 

The natural course of human kind seems to gravitate towards religion instead of an intimate relationship with God. It seems the greatest “effort” or “work” on our part once we have received the “faith of Christ” in our bodies is to keep the Spirit of God within us stirred and active. Paul uses the analogy of fire to describe how we can become spiritually ineffective: “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” (2 Tim. 1:6, NIV)

 

Friends, regardless of how studious and faithful we think we have been, we have all drunk from the fount of religion, a fount of deadly poison. And this poison has polluted our minds. Martin Luther is no exception to the Christian life. The traditions he swallowed prevented him from seeing what was plainly there all along. We all have our filters, our religion baggage, our “traditions of men which make the word of God of no effect” that hinder us from receiving a true word of life from our Scripture reading. ALL of us, including you and me

 

Translating the Scriptures

 

This is not to say there is no need for newer and better translations of the Bible, there certainly is.
 

Oh no ...  he has gone and done it again!  The writer has done another U-Turn by endorsing the need for the Bible again.  This is getting giddy must I say and spinning a bit outta control!  However, he does say bibles (in the plural sense) ...  better bibles, not just Bible.  Of course, this makes sense.  If the Bibles we have now are inaccurate and unreliable then why not write one which gives the Holy Spirit the full supremeness and pre-eminence in all things, instead of Jesus.  And have Jesus' role reversed, where He now points us to Holy Spirit by changing how Jesus said the Holy Spirit would point to Him and reveal Him, and glorify Him.  We now need to re-write a Bible that gives the Holy Spirit the complete and full glory, where Jesus as the subservient one, can now glorify the Holy Spirit and point everyone to the Spirit.  May the true light be us!!

Most of the leading selling English Bible translations are still riddled today with Dark and Middle Age theology which entered into the Reformation Bibles.

May be if we made the black words a little smaller and the white blank space in the background larger and prominent, then may be the light will stand out more?  In fact, we could almost make the words so much smaller that we could hardly see them whereas the white back ground would have almost total dominance.  Granting of course, the Spirit (the great white space) the pre-eminence it deserves!

These early English translations still have a negative hold on modern day translators who are still translating according to the “tradition of the elders” instead of being inspired by the Holy Spirit and using sound translation techniques. There are key Dark Age doctrines which have crept into the pages of our modern Bibles through translators whose minds are still bound by false teachings about God and His plan of salvation of mankind. This article cannot go into them. Suffice it to say, while we’ve come a long way from the time the church did not allow lay people to read the Bible – a time in which the only official Bible was the corrupt Latin Vulgate which Jerome translated in the fourth century AD -- we still have a long way to go regarding purer translations of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Scriptures into current languages. (The reader is encouraged to subscribe to our “Tentmaker Bible Matters Email List” for helps with Bible translations. Past articles appear at http://www.tentmaker.org/Biblematters/bible-index.htm) Even the leading selling English Bible translations such as the following ones have serious errors in them which greatly misrepresent the God of the Bible and His plan of redemption of mankind: King James Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Version, New English Translation, Complete Jewish Bible, International Standard Version, New Century Version, Good News to Modern Man, Amplified Bible, Living Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Third Millenium Bible, New King James Bible, Modern King James Bible, Twenty-first Century King James, The Message, and many more.

 

I just want to lightly touch upon an important subject regarding Bible translations. There are several different methods for translating the Hebrew and Greek into common modern languages. Various scholars use different terms to describe these methods. I’ll use John A. Kohler III’s terminology:

 

1. Concordant method - This is the woodenly literal, word-for-word method. It is based upon the idea that each Hebrew or Greek word should be translated into an equivalent English word. It also attempts to follow the grammatical structure of the original language texts. Examples of translations produced by this method are Young’s Literal Version and Rotherham’s Emphasized New Testament.

 

2. Mildly Concordant Method - This is the literal, word-for-word method. It is not as extreme as the Concordant Method, but it tends toward a choppy style of translation that does not flow smoothly in the English. Also, it translates Hebrew and Greek idioms very accurately, but they do not always make good sense in English. Furthermore, it makes excessive use of conjunctions at the beginning of sentences, which makes for very poor English. Besides these weaknesses, most translations of this kind are based upon inferior Hebrew and Greek texts. Examples of translations produced by this method are the American Standard Version and the New American Standard Version.

 

3. Static Equivalence Method - This is the word-for-word, idea-for-idea method. It attempts to follow the original Hebrew and Greek text word-for-word as long as this results in good idiomatic English that accurately conveys the intention of the Biblical writer. It does not always attempt to follow the grammatical structure of the original language texts and is concerned about the readability of the English text. Examples of translations produced by this method are the King James Version and, to a lesser degree, the New King James Version and the Revised Standard Version.

 

4. Dynamic Equivalence Method - This is the idea-for-idea method. It is not concerned with literal, word-for-word translation in most cases and often paraphrases God’s Word. It does not seek to translate the actual words of Scripture as much as it attempts to employ idiomatic equivalence. Examples of translations produced by this method are the New International Version, New English Bible, and Today’s English Version.

 

5. Free Paraphrase Method - This is the extreme idea-for-idea method. It simply attempts to restate the “gist” of the Biblical text in the translator’s own words. It is not at all concerned about word-for-word translation of the Biblical text, but seeks to express Biblical content in popular, readable, contemporary language. The leading example of a translation produced by this method, though there are many others, is Kenneth Taylor’s The Living Bible. (Peterson’s The Message is another example.) Endquote.

 

Personally, I do not believe any of these five methods will produce the best Bible translations. But that subject is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say, there are a variety of ways to translate the Bible, each with its own problems and short-comings. Some methods, however, are clearly more likely to reproduce the meaning the original writers had in mind when they wrote.

 

The early Reformators had very few resources with which to determine the true meaning of the texts before them. The Hebrew and Greek scholarship at that time was greatly lacking in the Church due to the fact that Latin had become the sacred language of the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, there were many words, phrases, concepts, persons, places and things in the original languages with which translators were unfamiliar. However, even Jewish Biblical Hebrew scholars in modern times have difficulty determining the actual meaning of many parts of the Old Testament. The modern Jewish Publication Society’s “Tanakh” (a recent translation of the Old Testament) notes hundreds of words and phrases that Jewish Hebrew scholars even today do not really know the meaning of. Unfortunately, most English Bible translations do not reveal to us how much of the original Hebrew and Greek Christian Bible translators do not understand.

 

The “Inerrant Bible” is a myth that still covers the Christian Bible translating community and prevents them from being as honest as they should be with those purchasing their translations. The original 1611 King James Bible contained many marginal readings which revealed their lack of understanding of certain words. These marginal readings have since been removed from modern printings of the KJV to bolster belief in the Biblical Inerrancy Doctrine. The “Translators to the Reader” preface found in the original KJV has also been removed. Why? Because their statements clearly contradicted the idea that their translation was original and without error. (See “The English Bible From KJV to NIV” by Jack Lewis, Baker Publications)  

 

Are Bible translations needful and important? Absolutely!

Well, shouldn't the writer be saying that when the scholarly experts produce the future perfect Bible, that will give the Great Spirit the prominence and pre-eminence it should rightly have!  It does not make sense to make any importance of present tainted bibles that corrupt people with sound doctrine and point folk to the Lord Jesus Christ and take them away from placing the most importance on the Spirit.  Does it?  After all, how can a drunken sage be mistaken when it comes to teaching Bible believers that they are wrong and need to look past the dark words to the bright light beyond?

I believe Christian Bibles are the most important literature in the world. But NO translation is “The “Word of God,” especially the “Inerrant Word of God”

I'm confused!  The writer has really let me down here.  It appears we now have “The “Word of God" as well as the “Inerrant Word of God”.  So we have two types of Word's of God?  A sort of heavenly Duo?  A bit like two schools I thought, I thought!  Do you have a preference?  Which one would be the most accurate and reliable to trust?  I guess as long as both types of 'words of God' are not tangible and literal, as something we can hold in our hands and quote from, teach from, preach from, live from, get guidance from, get revelation from, encourage and exhort from, correct and admonish from, and say with authority, "It is WRITTEN!!"  "Thus saith the LORD!!"  As long as we only trust in the figurative, allusive, and mystical, high in the sky, feasting on heavenly pie, getting by, giving it a try, ignoring the written as a lie, flying sky high, sort of thing, aye aye!?  Or may be this delightful heavenly Duo working together cements the meanings we are looking for!

despite thousands of preachers holding up their favorite translation and saying, “Let’s look into the word of God and see what God’s Word says about this.” The True Word of God is a Living Word anointed by the Holy Spirit. It is a word from THE WORD, the Son of God and the Son of Man and Anointed with the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Oh, so we can look into the word of God from the Great Word of God (the Son) but as long as we see it as a phantom non tangible, in the sky type of thing, which we can't physically get a hold of, and know ALL the words written by inspiration, are not really written by inspiration as the word inspiration is only a figurative manner of speech, and not something to be taken literally!  How clever and how smart of God to come up with something so brilliant!  Wonder why we haven't been taught this before?

Hearing Your Heavenly Father

 

Let me give you another example of how the Anointed Living Word works. Richard Wurmbrandt was an atheist Jew who was converted to Christ through the love of a German carpenter in Romania. (Yes, there are many atheists who nevertheless call themselves Jews.) He became a Lutheran pastor.

 

During the Russian invasion of Romania, Wurmbrandt and his church handed out many Bibles to the Russian soldiers. The demand was so great they ran out of Bibles. So they started tearing apart the Bibles and gave each soldier only one page.

 

One day Richard considered whether handing out a single page of the Bible in Russian would have any effect on anyone. So he asked a Russian named Ivan whether he gained anything in the reading of his Bible page. Ivan related to Richard that the page he received had the name Jeremiah in the title. He had never heard of a Jeremiah before. So he concluded this man must not have been a very important individual in world history. Ivan continued to relate to Richard that most of what was on that page was all foreign to his understanding. It spoke of names and places with which he was unfamiliar. But five words on that page leaped out at Ivan: “And God spoke to Jeremiah.” Ivan thought this to himself as he pondered those words:

 

“This Jeremiah must not have been a very important man. I’ve never heard of such a man. Stalin, Lenin, these are important men. I’ve heard of them Now if God would speak to such an unimportant man like Jeremiah, perhaps he might speak to me.”

 

And from that moment on, he related to Richard Wurmbrandt, he has heard the still small voice of God in his heart which has brought him joy unspeakable! This voice within began to teach him the ways of God. When tempted to steal, he would ask the Word within whether it was ok or not and he would hear clearly that it was not ok. He didn’t need to read “Thou shalt not steal” in Exodus. Why? Because the Word of God, the Living Word, was washing his conscience clean. He was being washed by Living Waters, not dead letters on a page made of a dead tree. He was eating from the Tree of Life, Jesus, the Living Word from the Father of all Creation.

That's it!!  We can throw our Bibles away!!  The word on paper is dead!  It can't minister anything!  We need to talk to the Word inside us!  This Word inside us is sufficient to guide us and cleanse us.  The Bible has now been superseded by the inner Word hidden inside.  I see, correct me if I have misread you, we look to the great white expanse and hear from the inner Word, and somehow with them operating both together as a heavenly Duo, we find the hidden meanings to life?

Mount of Transfiguration

 

In the seventeenth chapter of Matthew, we find what Jesus calls “a vision” which He told John, James and John to tell no one until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. In this vision, Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah. Then a cloud enveloped them all and “suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying ‘This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. HEAR HIM!’” The disciples fell on their faces in fright. Jesus touched them and told them not to be afraid. There is much to say about this particular passage of Scripture, but I will have to pass over most of it because it would require a book.

Of course it would require a book.  Certainly not the Holy Book.  It is not reliable enough.  Another book (even someone writing a perfect bible in the future) would precede the old 'out of date' archaic, figurative, inaccurate Holy Bible, which has not stood the test of time but failed miserably.  It would require a book eh!  I'm looking forward to find out what this elusive new book will do for my faith!  And what it will be called!

Suffice it to say, at the age of thirty in the Mosaic tradition, the son who would take over his father’s business would be taken by the father to the gate of the city where the elders met and say to the elders, “This is my son, today I have adopted him.” This was a Hebrew expression meaning the father has made the son a full-partner in his business. The Son’s word in business was as good as the father’s – they were one.

 

Under the Old Covenant, the voice the children of Israel were to hear was the Law of Moses and the prophetic utterances of the prophets. Elijah, on the mount of transfiguration represented the Prophets and Moses represented the Law. God the Father overshadowed them all, Moses and Elijah disappeared – they faded away. “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. Hear Him! The letter of the Law was replaced with the Living Word of the Son of God who is ever at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes were as light. This is one of many types and shadows and scriptural proof that the Mosaic Law was done away. Yet many denominations of Christianity resurrect parts of it thinking it would be beneficial when in fact it only produces death. This scene occurred on Mount Hermon, the snow-covered Mountain north of Israel which represents God the Father. All the waters that give life to Israel whether in the form of dew at night or the Jordan River come from Mount Hermon. It’s strategic placement, it being snow-covered year around, it being the highest mountain in the region, etc., all speak volumes.
 

All speak volumes?  As long as it is not recorded as literal, ink written volumes, because then we would only have a dead and dry book, with too many inaccuracies to take seriously.  I'm sure when the verse in the Old and in the New said that He (Jesus) comes in the volume of the Book, the scriptures were only referring to a figurative book and not one we could ever hold in our hands and say "this is the word of God"!

This vision speaks of the fulfillment of the type of the “Feast of Tabernacles” found in the Mosaic Law. That is why Peter wanted to build three tabernacles, one for each of the glorious beings on the mountain. In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant, representing God’s presence in the midst of His people, was contained in tents or tabernacles. In the New Covenant, it is we, God’s people who become “tabernacles” for the Lord. God lives inside of us, moving dwelling places for God’s Holy Spirit. Just like God’s glory traveled with the tabernacles of Moses and David, a Christian’s body filled with God’s Holy Spirit is the reality of that Old Covenant type.

 

The Father said, “HEAR HIM!” “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17) This is how faith comes – NOT by reading the KJV, or NIV or any other translation. It must be a Living Word. We are NOT saved by our faith in Jesus Christ – we are saved by Jesus’ faith placed in us. It is the “faith OF Jesus Christ that saves, not our faith. If we receive the faith OF Jesus Christ through hearing His voice, then process we find in Ephesians 2:8-10 has room in our lives:

 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

 

Dead Works Versus God’s Works Prepared For Us.

 

“For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,  how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:13-14, NASB)

 

“Cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Here is the great battleground of Christians. It is not going back to the sins of the flesh – it is being trapped into a life of producing dead religious works that have an appearance of producing life, yet they are dead. Slavery in Egypt represents in the Bible a slavery to the flesh. But slavery in Babylon represents slavery to religion – doing things that appear to be holy but they produce no life. Preston Eby, in the 52^nd part of his series “From the Candlestick to the Throne,” writes:

 

“’And by the angel of the church in Sardis write…I know thy works, that thou has a name that thou livest, and art dead’ (Rev 3:1). The Holy Spirit says to the church in Sardis, ‘You have a name 00 a reputation and recognition by the people – that you are alive. This name that they have relates to their works. They have a name that they live because they are filled with all kinds of activity, but the sentence of the great Judge of all is, ‘Thou art dead!’ Instead of operating in the power of the Holy Spirit who is the life of the body of Christ, like computerized robots they go from the form of flesh-generated programmed activity that appears to the undiscerning eye to be evidence of life. But their works do not originate out of life, but stem rather from a realm of death – the death of the carnal mind and human zeal.

 

What prevents a typical Christian from entering into this same kind of relationship? The church, EVERY denomination, injects into its members “traditions of men which make the word of God of no effect.” (Matt. 15:6-9) The condition of the modern church is in the same condition Judaism was in when the Living Word walked the earth in the flesh 2,000 years ago. Christian leaders and laity are in a condition of unbelief yet don’t know it.

 

The Pharisees mockingly asked Jesus, “Are we blind too?” Jesus replied to them, “Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9:41, NIV) What is Jesus saying? Were they blind? Spiritually, of course they were. But would they acknowledge their sin, their shortcoming? The true meaning of sin is “to miss the mark.” But the Pharisees refused to acknowledge they fell short of God’s standards and therefore they put themselves in a position of not being able to avail themselves of the healing Jesus could have given them. He could have opened their spiritual eyes, but they didn’t think they had a need. Such is the state of church leadership today. And therefore the blind lead the blind into the pit. The modern Church is every bit as blind today as the religious Jews were in Jesus’ day.