Is Your Favorite Bible a Translation, Version or a Paraphrase & What is the Difference?

According to the “Guinness Book of World Records”, the Bible is still the best-selling book of all times. And it has been translated in more languages and dialects than any book ever written. “Wikipedia” records that “The full Bible has been translated into 670 languages, the New Testament has been translated into 1,521 languages and Bible portions or stories into 1,121 other languages. Thus at least some part of the Bible has been translated into 3,312 languages.”

And have you noticed the great number of translations of the Bible in  modern English on the market today? Since 1900, there have been over 200 + New Translations of the full Bible or  only of the New or Old Testament. The most common and most popular include . . . Continue reading “Is Your Favorite Bible a Translation, Version or a Paraphrase & What is the Difference?”

Does God “Lead” us Into Temptation?

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them a model prayer. We often refer to it as the “Lord’s Prayer.” Matthew and Luke both record it: Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4. And both record Jesus as teaching them to pray, “And lead us not into temptation.”

Through the years lots of folks, including some in the Roman catholic Church have had a problem with this phrase, “lead us not into temptation.” God wouldn’t lead us into temptation, would He? Pope Francis I went on record to say that the phrase, “lead us not into temptation” is not a good translation. “The one who leads us into temptation,” he says, “is Satan.” So he suggests that it should rather be rendered, “abandon us not when in temptation”.

Continue reading “Does God “Lead” us Into Temptation?”

How Do I know if I Am Saved?

Billy Graham said he believed one of the oldest tricks of the devil is to make Christians doubt their salvation. “When we doubt our salvation,” he writes, “We doubt God’s Word, and when we doubt God’s Word, we are powerless and ineffective tools for Christ?”

So, is it possible to truly and absolutely know that we have been born again, even if the devil tries to make us doubt our salvation? Yes! The Bible gives us many assurances; ways we may know for sure. Here are four . . .

Four Ways I May Know that I am Saved

1. First Assurance – The Absolute Trustworthiness of Scripture

God in His Word promises us that He will save “all” who believe upon His Son. The Bible says, “Whoever will call on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13.  Have you called upon Jesus to save you? If you have, you can have the absolute assurance that you are saved. This is God’s genuine promise! All who have given their lives to Jesus and believed upon Him may have the firm confidence of salvation based upon the infallibility of God’s Word. Continue reading “How Do I know if I Am Saved?”

What is the Fullness of Time?

In Galatians 4:4, the Apostle Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son” . . . When God’s time table struck the appointed hour, God sent His Son into the world. Paul called that appointed hour the “fullness of time.” What did Paul mean by that? “The Fullness of Time”?

Well, there were a number of things happening in the then known world at that particular time upon which “The Fullness of Time” hinged. Let’s examine some of them . . .

I. According to the Historical Order, it was the Fullness of Time:

  1. History records this was a time of ‘Great Expectancy’. One evidence is that of the Wise Men:At this very time in history they were studying the stars, looking for a sign. And God gave them one— Matthew 2:1b-2 “Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’”
  2. Roman Peace: Throughout the then known world there was a sense of unity to the various lands. Because of that the empire was relatively peaceful, travel was possible, allowing the early Christians to spread the gospel. Such freedom to travel would have been impossible in other eras.
  3.  A common language: koine’ Greek was the dominant language spoken throughout the empire, making it possible to communicate the gospel to many different people groups through one common language.
  4. Roman roads: Cobblestone roads had been built throughout the Roman Empire on which the Roman armies were transported. Such roads made it possible to carry the gospel; the same roads Paul used to carry and spread the Gospel and plant churches in the Mediterranean and Asian World.

Continue reading “What is the Fullness of Time?”

What do you Think of When you Hear the Word Church?

                                                                                Jack Terry, Artist

What do you think of when you hear the word, ‘Church’? I grew up thinking of the church as a building. Maybe that’s true for you too; you think of a place, a building, a structure of some kind. In today’s culture some may picture a storefront, a tent, or even someone’s home.

But the Biblical understanding of a ‘church’ is more than just that of a building or a place of worship. It is the “Body of Christ”— “And He (Christ) gave some as apostles and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and Continue reading “What do you Think of When you Hear the Word Church?”