Author Archives: Royce
The Bible, Which Version is Best?
Recently I have read some posts on friends blogs asking questions like “What is your favorite Bible and why”, What version do you preach and teach from and which do you use fore personal study and devotions? I answered New King James Version to both questions. A few years ago I switched from the trusted KJV to the NKJV because the archaic words frequent in the KJV are changed to contemporary language.
Most of my friends at church I believe use the NIV. I do have a copy but have never really liked it very much. It is very readible but in my view strays too far from the original documents and even omits some phrases or verses. And now I have made what for me is a new discovery, the English Standard Version.
I was reading a sermon on-line and saw references to “ESV” and became curious. I Googled “ESV” and after some research ordered an English Standard Version from Amazon. (On another blog a brother was chastised because he bought from Amazon rather than from a “Christian” bookstore….Oh boy!)
I encourage my friends and even those who are unfriendly to consider buying an ESV Bible. It was translated with great fidelity to the original manuscripsts with a “word for word” theory of translation. I recommend you read for yourself about this Bible. Also you can compare it to the version you are using now here. I believe the comparisons are thoughtful and fair. I was especially impressed with an article entitled “Translation Philosophy“.
I am interested in what you think of the ESV?
His Peace,
Royce Ogle
It is finished. Really it is!
From the gospel of John we learn that from the cross, just before Jesus would finally die, He said “It is finished”. What was finished? The righteous demands of a Holy God had been fully met and the wrath of a Holy God against sin had been exhausted. The sin problem common to every human was eternally solved. “It is finished.”
“When He (Jesus) had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..” (Hebrews 1:3) Having referenced several versions of the Bible, each of them agree on what this awesome verse says. First Jesus “purged” our sins. Some versions use the word “cleansed”, some ‘purified”, but each offers the same meaning. HE fixed our sin problem. And each of the versions I referred to correctly translated the tense of the verb to be the “past tense”. There is no process involved, it is a finished work. “Purged”, “cleansed”, or “purified” all happened in the past and are done.
The writer to the Hebrews again and again affirms this glorious truth.
- “Once for all when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:26,27)
- “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12)
- “Once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26)
- “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28 )
- ” We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10)
- “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12)
And if that were not enough to convince anyone who reads the text, the final, convincing truth is found in Hebrews 10:14. ” For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Jesus Himself by living a perfect life and presenting a perfect sacrifice to God on behalf of estranged sinners has “once for all” fixed the sin problem for everyone who puts their trust in Him. There is no righteous act, no penance, no sacrifice, no reform, no personal proof, no suffering, that can add to what Jesus has already accomplished on your behalf.
When God looks at one of those dear ones, who are together the bride of Christ, He sees that one perfect. Perfect until you mess up? No way! In simple terms your perfection is “eternal”. Thus Paul could say with confidence in Ephesians 1:4 “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
Take a deep breath and relax child of God, you have a lot of living to do! What you don’t have to sweat is your sins. They are gone! It is finished! Yes, of course we still sin, but our sins are not counted against us any longer. (Romans 4:7,8 ) It is because of this grace knowledge, this abundance of mercy, that we learn to say no to sin. We are no longer slaves to sin, we have been set free.
The penalty of sin is death. Jesus died in your place. God is satisfied.
The power of sin is the law. It was nailed to the cross.
The presence of sin will one day be only history not to be remembered again when Jesus comes for us.
This is the good news about Jesus. “It is finished!” Amen, and amen.
His peace,
Royce Ogle
Acts 2:38, a second look
I just read a post at http://keithbrenton.blogspot.com/ that prompted this post. You should visit Keith’s blog and read some of his stuff, especially the latest post. He poses the question “Is an imperative always a command?” He then takes a look at Acts 2:38. His take is interesting to say the least. All of his posts are excellent reading.
Acts 2:38. Is there any church of Christ/Christian church member who has not heard scores of sermons on this foundational verse? Perhaps you can answer some questions.
- In the verse there are two imperatives “repent” and “be baptised”. Since “repent”, “repentance”, etc. are mentioned far, far more than baptism, why is the emphasis of perhaps 99% of all lessons on this verse focused on baptism rather than “repent”?
- In my view, an improper empasis on baptism can result in a person trusting an event rather than a person, the Lord Jesus. Isn’t baptism meaningless unless one has truely “changed his or her mind” (repented) about the course of their life?
- Is it possible that we might have misunderstood the meaning of Acts 2:38? The gift of the Holy Spirit is a promised result of obeying these two imperatives, or commands. In Peter’s own words later, he connected the gift of the Holy Spirit, not to baptism but to “belief”, which is the flip side of repentance. ““Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:47) In the next chapter Peter defends his action of baptizing Gentiles. His clear answer was “Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” (Acts 11:15,17)
Is it possible that many of us have put the gospel cart before the horse?
His peace,
Royce Ogle
Grace Digest 