ANOTHER FANTASTIC TUESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY ~ Last Tuesday, December 2, 2018, at the home of Jun & Rachel Quintans. Our study was led by Associate Pastor John Nash Quintans taking us through a discussion of Psalm 119:89-96, "The Immutability Of The Law Of The Lord."
Right away we had a discussion centering around, "What does it mean that the Law of the Lord is immutable"?
What does the Bible tell us about God's Immutability?
We continued by discussing the faithfulness of God, that when we delight in the Word of God and stand on His Word - no tribulations will defeat us.
Then brother Tony Alagao raised the question of different Bible translations - and should a church teach from translations such as the NIV (New International Version), NLB (New Living Bible), NCV (New Century Version), etc.?
This brought a lively discussion. This was my input:
Which Bible Translation should I use? Our omniscient, omnipotent God was big enough to author His Bible, His full revelation to man, through 40 chosen men, living in different geographical locations, over a period of 1600 years.
The Bible has unity in its message of salvation and eternal life for all who will, by grace through faith, believe and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Since we know God did that - should we question His power to control the translations and distribution of His inspired Word over the millennia?
There are basically two method of Bible translation:
Formal Equivalence Bibles are "word-for-word" translations. The KJV (King James), NKJV (New King James), and NASB (New American Standard Bible) translations fall into this category.
Dynamic Equivalence Bibles are "thought-for-thought" translations. Examples are the NIV (New International Version) and NAB (New American Bible).
Paraphrase Bibles are NOT Bible translations - but are more akin to commentaries, personal and most often educated thoughts from one or more men on what the Bible is teaching. Most often good information, but still man's thoughts, not necessarily God's thoughts. Examples are The Living Bible, The Message, the Good News Bible, etc.
What is the difference between the the "word-for-word" translations and the "thought-for-thought" translations? The original Bible manuscripts, i.e., autographs, were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The original writers used the cultural writing and grammatical constructs of that day when they wrote the original manuscripts.
The translators for the KJV, NKJV, NASB, etc., chose to do a "word-for-word" translation using the same sentence and grammatical structure used by the original writers - even though it might be somewhat awkward when compared to our English today. Yet for an indepth study of God's Word I still find these translations most useful.
Bible translators for the NIV, NAB, etc., the "thought-for-thought" translations, chose to keep the message of the Word intact - but to relate it in more current sentence and grammatical structure to encourage easier reading of Scripture. In doing that they often took several verses written in the more awkward sentence/grammatical format of the early writers and combine them into one sentence or verse which flows more easily in our modern English.
So, the Dynamic Equivalence did not just replace the "thee" and "thou" wording - but also brought the sentence structure up to date. Did they lose any part of God's message of salvation for all believers in doing that? No, they just, at times, compressed the verses into more readable English sentence and grammatical structure for us today.
And that is why we often hear or read today, "The NIV is corrupt. You can see that they have deleted a lot of verses that are still in the KJV, NKJV, and NASB Bibles!"
No, they have not deleted verses, they have merely combined the complete message and thought of several verses into a more readable English sentence and grammatical structure for believers of today. But on the "con" side of these translations - it does make indepth Bible studies more difficult. That is why my go-to Bibles are most often the NKJV, NASB, and at times the KJV.
After that healthy discussion, we continued through Psalm 119:89-96, discussing the faithfulness of God to sustain us through trials, tribulations, and persecutions. That by keeping His Word, His commandments and laws, in our hearts - we will have the strength and perseverance to overcome.
And we concluded with verse 96, that although our worldly perfections have limits - His commandments, His Word, is limitless, knowing no boundaries.
Thank you Lord for this insightful Bible study from Pastors John Nash and Rudy of Resolved Bible Church of Norco, California - and for the Quintans family for making their home available for this wonderful fellowship.
Dory, Lana, and I worship at the International Bible Baptist Church of Riverside (IBBC-Riverside). If you do not currently have a church home, you can find solid Bible teaching at Resolved Bible Church of Norco and at International Bible Baptist Church of Riverside. We invite you to visit one of these churches and enjoy our Christian fellowship and worship.
You will find Dory, Lana, and me at IBBC-Riverside:
Right away we had a discussion centering around, "What does it mean that the Law of the Lord is immutable"?
What does the Bible tell us about God's Immutability?
Psalm 119:89, "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven."
Malachi 3:6, "For I am the LORD, I do not change; . . ."
James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
We continued by discussing the faithfulness of God, that when we delight in the Word of God and stand on His Word - no tribulations will defeat us.
Then brother Tony Alagao raised the question of different Bible translations - and should a church teach from translations such as the NIV (New International Version), NLB (New Living Bible), NCV (New Century Version), etc.?
This brought a lively discussion. This was my input:
Which Bible Translation should I use? Our omniscient, omnipotent God was big enough to author His Bible, His full revelation to man, through 40 chosen men, living in different geographical locations, over a period of 1600 years.
The Bible has unity in its message of salvation and eternal life for all who will, by grace through faith, believe and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Since we know God did that - should we question His power to control the translations and distribution of His inspired Word over the millennia?
There are basically two method of Bible translation:
Formal Equivalence Bibles are "word-for-word" translations. The KJV (King James), NKJV (New King James), and NASB (New American Standard Bible) translations fall into this category.
Dynamic Equivalence Bibles are "thought-for-thought" translations. Examples are the NIV (New International Version) and NAB (New American Bible).
Paraphrase Bibles are NOT Bible translations - but are more akin to commentaries, personal and most often educated thoughts from one or more men on what the Bible is teaching. Most often good information, but still man's thoughts, not necessarily God's thoughts. Examples are The Living Bible, The Message, the Good News Bible, etc.
What is the difference between the the "word-for-word" translations and the "thought-for-thought" translations? The original Bible manuscripts, i.e., autographs, were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The original writers used the cultural writing and grammatical constructs of that day when they wrote the original manuscripts.
The translators for the KJV, NKJV, NASB, etc., chose to do a "word-for-word" translation using the same sentence and grammatical structure used by the original writers - even though it might be somewhat awkward when compared to our English today. Yet for an indepth study of God's Word I still find these translations most useful.
Bible translators for the NIV, NAB, etc., the "thought-for-thought" translations, chose to keep the message of the Word intact - but to relate it in more current sentence and grammatical structure to encourage easier reading of Scripture. In doing that they often took several verses written in the more awkward sentence/grammatical format of the early writers and combine them into one sentence or verse which flows more easily in our modern English.
So, the Dynamic Equivalence did not just replace the "thee" and "thou" wording - but also brought the sentence structure up to date. Did they lose any part of God's message of salvation for all believers in doing that? No, they just, at times, compressed the verses into more readable English sentence and grammatical structure for us today.
And that is why we often hear or read today, "The NIV is corrupt. You can see that they have deleted a lot of verses that are still in the KJV, NKJV, and NASB Bibles!"
No, they have not deleted verses, they have merely combined the complete message and thought of several verses into a more readable English sentence and grammatical structure for believers of today. But on the "con" side of these translations - it does make indepth Bible studies more difficult. That is why my go-to Bibles are most often the NKJV, NASB, and at times the KJV.
After that healthy discussion, we continued through Psalm 119:89-96, discussing the faithfulness of God to sustain us through trials, tribulations, and persecutions. That by keeping His Word, His commandments and laws, in our hearts - we will have the strength and perseverance to overcome.
And we concluded with verse 96, that although our worldly perfections have limits - His commandments, His Word, is limitless, knowing no boundaries.
Thank you Lord for this insightful Bible study from Pastors John Nash and Rudy of Resolved Bible Church of Norco, California - and for the Quintans family for making their home available for this wonderful fellowship.
Dory, Lana, and I worship at the International Bible Baptist Church of Riverside (IBBC-Riverside). If you do not currently have a church home, you can find solid Bible teaching at Resolved Bible Church of Norco and at International Bible Baptist Church of Riverside. We invite you to visit one of these churches and enjoy our Christian fellowship and worship.
You will find Dory, Lana, and me at IBBC-Riverside:
International Bible Baptist Church
5932 Challen Avenue, Riverside, California 92503.
(Off Cypress Avenue between Tyler and Van Buren Avenues)
We would love to have you, your family, and your friends join us for Christian fellowship and worship.
Our Morning Service is at 10:30 AM
And our Main Worship Service is:
* Sunday School - 1:30 PM ~ Join us in the sanctuary, for I know you will enjoy our study of God's Word.
* Worship Service - 2:30 PM ~ Come worship the Lord with us.
If you are in the area on any Sunday, come join us for fellowship and worship. The invitation is open and perpetually standing.
Let me close by suggesting: Don't just go to church on Sundays. God's fellowship is open 24/7/365 and since we are His ambassadors on earth (2 Corinthians 5:20) we also want to be in Bible Study, Sunday School, and Prayer Meetings with you. We are here to study and share His Word with you and to pray with you.
Like the Quintans family, I was also saved in a Bible study and can assure you, that is where the rubber meets the road - when we sit together, open our Bibles, and discuss God's Word. I pray that you are now, or soon will be, involved in a local Bible study.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
Let me close by suggesting: Don't just go to church on Sundays. God's fellowship is open 24/7/365 and since we are His ambassadors on earth (2 Corinthians 5:20) we also want to be in Bible Study, Sunday School, and Prayer Meetings with you. We are here to study and share His Word with you and to pray with you.
Like the Quintans family, I was also saved in a Bible study and can assure you, that is where the rubber meets the road - when we sit together, open our Bibles, and discuss God's Word. I pray that you are now, or soon will be, involved in a local Bible study.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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