the infallibility of the bible and how to study it

8/13/2019 The Infallibility of the Bible and How to Study It

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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:

[email protected].

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