The Bible, The Word of God
All who wish to gain a greater understanding of Jesus must read and study the word of God: the Bible.
If you are not Familiar with the Bible then take a Bible tutorial.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16 therefore and dispute or doctrine should first, be prayerfully studied in the Bible to find if it is of God or if it is of man, before it is accepted as truth.
Also Romans 15:4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
The things that were written aforetime were written for our learning. Therefore the Old Testament is just as applicable to our learning of the scriptures as the New Testament.
To gain the mind of Christ and to learn the way of salvation, a daily study of the scriptures is essential.
The bible should never be opened without Prayer to God asking for the “Spirit of truth” to guide us into all truth that we may “rightly divide the word of truth”. If we don't pray and ask these things then it gives Satan the opportunity to come into our minds and sow seeds of error so what we interpret the Bible to say will not be the correct interpretation.
(John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…”, and 2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”)
Which Version?
There are many Bible versions to choose from but by far the best version is the Original King James Version or the KJV . Most Christian book shops should have a copy of the KJV. Today there are many corrupt versions of the Bible.
As an example take a Bible verse from the very popular New International Version or NIV. Lets look at the Bible verse Revelation 22:14 here is the KJV version: Rev 22:14 “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”
And here is the same bible verse in the NIV bible:
Rev 22:14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”
Honestly read these two versions and you will come up with a totally different meaning. We need to keep God’s Commandments if we want to have right to the tree of life, not just wash our robes or cleanse ourselves on the outside only.
To translate the KJV bible, 46 scholars divided into three groups. These were divided again. They were given overlapping assignments so that each verse was reviewed at least 14 times. If there were any special difficulty, learned men could be called in for counsel. The work was open and reports were given regularly to the churches and people. If ever there was done a work most carefully, it was the KJV. Though there are some mistakes in their work, these defects do not affect doctrine. The new translations affect doctrine significantly.
The Old Testament was translated from original Hebrew documents and the New testament was translated from original Greek documents. Sometimes it can be useful to go back to a Greek or Hebrew dictionary and find the full meaning of a certain word. Sometimes there may be more than one meaning for a Greek/Hebrew word.
But one thing to keep in mind that even though Bible dictionaries, Bible concordances, and Bible commentaries can be very useful, we should not always depend upon these things. The Bible and the Bible only should be our strength.
You can download a free copy of e-sword which is an electronic version of the KJV Bible, Strong's concordance and a Greek/Hebrew dictionary. Click here to go to the e-sword website:
www.e-sword.com
1. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”
2. The Old Testament is just as applicable for our learning as the New Testament.
3. The King James Version of the Bible (or KJV) is the best most accurate English version available today.
4. Concordances, Greek and Hebrew Dictionaries can come in handy for in-depth study of the Bible. Although we should not always depend upon these things.