A common occurrence with those who are left frustrated with certain passages is to run to the Greek with hopes of making it easier to understand. There are vast problems with this approach. One is, which Greek? Not all Greek manuscripts even agree. So for those who think it is best to "greek it," I ask; which one?
When we place outside sources above God's perfectly preserved word to try and understand what He gave us in plain English, we open the door for problems.
Interestingly enough, the bible is the one of the few books that people buy OTHER books to try and understand.
The word "remission" for example. Some today would rather "greek it" instead of allowing King James English to define it for them. One Greek definition is "to release as from bondage or imprisonment." Not a bad definition, but is it complete?
Those wanting a more perfect understanding will allow God's word through the apostle Paul to help with the word "repent."
"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"
In Paul's singular use of the word "remission," he made sure we knew that it only speaks of "sins that are past" and not "all sins."
As with cancer that's in "remission," so it is with Israel's sins. Cancer in "remission" is a cancer that can return.
Watch the future tense language in the following concerning Israel:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
With this fuller understanding of the word "remission" we are now able to connect the dots between the prophet Jeremiah and the apostle Peter. In Acts 3:19 Peter said: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Compare Jeremiah's "shall be"..."After those days" with Peter's "may be"..."when the times of refreshing" - and voila - you have a match!
The reason Peter told his Jewish audience that their sins will not be "blotted out" until they are back in the presence of the Lord, is because their sins were only in "remission." Which explains why they must "endure unto the end" to be saved (Matthew 24:13.)
Contrariwise, notice what Paul says about us: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; ..." (Colossians 2:13-14)
Having "all trespasses;" forgiven already is quite different than waiting to have them "blotted out" when the Lord returns.
The bible is axiomatic and defines itself. Nothing wrong with utilizing outside sources, but they are to never supersede the authority of God's word.
Those who go to Acts 2:38 for their forgiveness are making a grave error by placing themselves under Israel's doctrinal program.
When TTR learned that the word "remission" referred to Israel's "sins that are past" - we didn't do so by relying on a fallible man-made dictionary or by "greeking it." We learned that by comparing scripture with scripture and agreeing with God.
Sins being put in "remission" was good news for those under "the gospel of the kingdom," but not for those of us who abide under this current grace administration.
What many miss is that those on the King James council were Greek scholars (and Hebrew, and Latin for that matter.) So our King James Bible has been "greeked" for us already. There is nothing more to be done other than to study it and believe it.
Why anyone would be so presumptuous to place themselves above 47 scholars and attempt to further what has already be done is beyond me. Those men didn't need our help then and their work doesn't need our help now. If you own a King James Bible you have God's perfectly preserved word in your possession.
With all those scholars and the wealth of scholarly tools they had at their disposal, it is not wise to attempt to Greek what has already been "greeked."
TTR will continue to encourage our listeners to keep studying God's word in English - Comparing scripture with scripture and "rightly dividing the word of truth."
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