The State of the Church of God

What is the state of the church in the World? Does it stand up for the truth?

Whatever the reason, the church today is not what it could be, and does not seem to be desiring to be all it could be. The answer lies in individuals who walk intimately with God and begin to identify those around them doing the same, and who begin to regularly meet in order to hear the Word, reprove, rebuke, and exhort each other.  Perhaps we need the leadership in the church to lead and to quit worrying about the political fallout. Perhaps we need to make the church about God again, and not about us.

The church, the real church, is the bride of Christ, not a brick and mortar structure. It is important to God. It should be important to us, so if it is not, we need to take time to figure out why, and to start to readjust our lives to reflect what is really important.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who God has raised from the dead is the chief cornerstone in the foundation of the Church of God, who has been set aside in place of another Gospel and used by our modern preachers in the church as a symbol to preach a social gospel instead of what God has sent them for.

Here is a message for those who God has called to preach His Word. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to feed the Church of God which He has purchased with his own blood.

Most church services have followed a set program during the services that doesn’t allow for the operation of spiritual gifts to be manifested. The bible tells us that the members of the body of Christ are given certain gifts to be in operation in the church. These gifts are not just given to the preacher, but are given to each member of the body as the Spirit moves from person to person.

These gifts which are divided among the members of the body are “the word of wisdom”, “the word of knowledge”, “faith”, “the gifts of healing”, “the working of miracles”, “the gift of prophecy”, etc. Do we see these in operation during our church services? The answer of course is no we don’t. Why not? Because they are not provided for in the program. God’s movement in the church should not be hindered by a set program, neither should just the preacher be the only one who participates in a worship service.

According to the bible, God has set certain offices in the church for the work of the ministry. There should be evangelists, pastors and teachers. These all have certain gifts that work together to bring us all into the unity of the faith. It should not be all about the pastor giving his weekly lecture and telling stories to attempt to make his point. Most of our pastors believe they should do all things. They believe they should preach the gospel, teach the meaning of scripture and evangelize. They think they have the gift of prophecy and of healing and of speaking in other tongues. This is not the way God has assembled his church. We are all members of the body and should exercise those gifts he has given us. But do we? Probably not, because we are afraid of failing because of a lack of faith which we all have to a certain degree.

In conclusion, we must guard against the slow encroachment of the world’s ways and our secular culture’s values into the church service. The overall state of the church in America is not good, not vibrant and healthy. But biblical action can turn this around! Be zealous for God’s word, for heaven-focused worship, for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pray for the sick, share testimonies, involve many of the saints in ministering their gifts, and gather regularly for prayer. And always expect the Lord by His Spirit to manifest Himself powerfully every time the saints gather in His name. You will not be disappointed!

 

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The Real Church of God

Are we really the Church of God that was built on the foundation laid by the prophets and apostles where the chief cornerstone of that foundation was Jesus Christ who purchased the New Testament Church with His own blood?

Pastors today face relentless pressure to do everything but preach the Word. They are encouraged to be storytellers, comedians, psychologists, or motivational speakers. They intentionally steer clear of topics that people find unpleasant. Many have given up biblical preaching in favor of shallow talks designed to make people feel good. Some have even replaced preaching with drama and other forms of staged entertainment. But the pastor whose passion is biblical has only one option: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2^nd Timothy 4:2)

When Paul wrote those words to Timothy, he added this prophetic warning: “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth” (vv. 3-4).

Absolutely nothing can take the place of pure bible preaching, taking in context all the verses of scripture on any given subject. There can be no private interpretation by any man. We must allow the scriptures to give us what God wants us to understand, scripture must be the only interpretation of scripture. This was God’s plan and must remain relevant to our spiritual understanding and growth.

What do you get out of the church services you attend? Do you receive real bible teaching? Does it benefit you in your spiritual growth? Or do you listen to a lecture from a preacher containing a little bit of bible and endless interpretations because of the preacher’s lack of real biblical knowledge because they were not prepared by and sent by God to preach?

Remember that the first preachers of the early church were the twelve apostles and what they preached was important for the church they were building to understand the full council of God . Let us just take a look at the early church and what they concentrated on teaching.

There was a doctrine that began on the very first day of the Church and it says in the Bible that the believers “continued steadfastly” in it (Acts 2:41). It never changed throughout the Acts of the Apostles. It did not change throughout the epistles. It’s a doctrine that was handed to the Apostles by Jesus Christ. It was confirmed by signs and wonders from God. And it did not change in the Word of God. The same doctrine that was preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost should still be preached by the Church, today. There is no reason why it should be any different. When you tell someone how to be saved, do you tell them what Peter would have told them? Do you preach what Paul preached? How about Philip the evangelist? Each of these men preached the same thing to those in need of salvation. Luke recorded it.

Here are some scriptures that emphasize how important the Apostles esteemed doctrine.


“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” (Paul in Romans 16:17)

“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that bids him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” (John the apostle in 2 John 9-10)

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Paul, Galatians 1:89)

We all need to be very careful what we teach others when it comes to salvation. There are many doctrines floating around out there. Some say you must be baptized, others say that you don’t. Some say you must speak in tongues, others say you don’t. Some say that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, you are saved. Are they all right? According to scripture, there’s just one faith: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6

So, if there’s only one faith, we need to find out what it is and adhere to it. Let’s look to the scriptures, in the Book of Acts, where the Apostles were actually preaching and saving souls and see what exactly they preached. It’s all written plainly in the New Testament Books and requires no interpretation of any man.

My prayer and suggestion for the Church if you are to be what God wants you to be, is to sit down and read the book of Acts. For that matter you should read and study the whole New Testament. See how the first Church operated according to the Word of God. Make notice of how differently the Church today operates in comparison. Then ask God with an open heart: “Father, are we where we’re supposed to be as a Church”?

We don’t have the power that the first Church had because we have traded in the spiritual for worldly riches. We don’t sacrifice as they did and face it, we play too many manmade church games and seek honor and recognition of others instead of God.

We sing the song, “Give me that old time religion”, but do we really want it? Are we ready to walk away from these imposters who claim they are called by God and these programmed churches and live the way the apostles and the first Christians did? Do we seek the truth of God’s Word as the Bible delivers it to us , or are we satisfied with what we are being fed from the mouths of false preachers and teachers?

We’re not living with the same convictions that the first Church had. The early Bride was adorned with treasures that moths and rust could not corrupt. She wore jewels that thieves couldn’t touch. Today’s bride wears stones that can be thrown down and buildings that can be broken into. She buys, sells, postures and performs according to the traditions of men and neglects the original acts of the apostles. The first Church operated at the Spirit’s beck and call. The twentieth century church is too concerned with schedules and programs to take time to listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches. Today’s Church is no longer recognizable as what began on the day of Pentecost.

Why has the Church become like this? Very simply, because we won’t accept what the Bible says about the Word that has been sent to us from those who walked with Jesus Christ, the Son of God and who spoke the Words of God that were instrumental in the building of the Church in the first place.

There is only one thing that can save us from being Judged for our failure to be what God wants us to be.

We must go back to the Bible, believe what it says and reject the false doctrine that false preachers and false teachers have used to make our Churches what they are today.

The Bible teaches us that there is only:

       One Lord: “Jesus Christ declared to be the Son of God”

       One Faith: “ The Apostles Doctrine”

       One Baptism: “Immersion In the Name of Jesus Christ”

       One God and Father of us all: “Jehovah is His Name”

This is the foundation the Church was built on, the Apostles Doctrine.

If any person attempts to build the Church upon a foundation other than this foundation, they shall suffer loss and be cast away.

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Unknown Facts About The Bible

Many theologians make reference to the Bible as God’s Word and for the most part I will agree. But due to the process of translating the original scriptures of Hebrew and Greek into English, the translators found it necessary to add some English words to the text in order to improve the readability of it, and in doing this, opened the door for possible misinterpretations of the subject matter. For this reason, I find it to be a more accurate statement to say that the Bible contains the Word of God, but is not in its entirety, the actual Word of God.

Additional caution should be exercised because of the choice of the English words the translators selected for the Hebrew and Greek words in the original text. In some cases, the most accurate English word was not chosen. This becomes evident when one portion of subject matter does not read as though it is completely consistent with the entire book of scriptures.

There was a time when I was convinced that a believer had no need for someone to teach them from the scriptures. I believed that the Bible was written in terms that every person could understand the intent and meaning of the scriptures on their own. But I realized later, because of the errors I found in the translation process, that God knew what He was doing when He set teachers in the church (1 Cor 12:28).

Prior to the King James Bible becoming available, there were a number of other translations made over a period of several hundred years. The first Bible, which was the Vulgate, was hand written in Latin by Jerome, an early Christian, in the year 404. The first printed Bible was the Gutenberg Bible, printed in 1456, and was also a Latin edition made from the Vulgate.

Miles Coverdale printed the first English Bible in Europe in 1535. This Bible was hardly a success since Miles knew very little Greek or Hebrew and mostly used other translations that created a Bible full of errors.

No English Bible was authorized for use in the church until 1539 when Thomas Cromwell published the Great Bible.

English subjects who were exiled from England to Geneva Switzerland published a later translation called the Geneva Bible in 1560. The Pilgrims on the Mayflower took a copy of this Bible to America.

The English speaking people during the sixteenth century wanted a new translation because they felt those existing ones that were being used, contained too many deviations from the original scriptures and contained too many reflections by certain church leaders trying to prove their own interpretations. Due to this, the people persuaded King James, who had just ascended to the throne of England, to order a new translation of the Bible to be written.

Fortunately for us today, a plot to kill the king before he gave that order was put down. King James I of England was very opposed to the Pope’s philosophy and would not adopt their religion. Some of the Pope’s supporters placed a large amount of gunpowder in the building where the king and the parliament met, with the intent of blowing them up, but this plot was uncovered and those people were put to death. If they had succeeded, the King James Version of the Bible would not have been written and truth seeking Christians would have suffered a great loss.

The King appointed almost fifty of the most renowned scholars available during that day to perform the task of making a new translation. Very specific instructions were given to them to insure that the final result would be as complete and accurate as humanly possible. Every available Bible, scrolls and writings were made available to them to insure they had everything they needed. These men were divided up into different groups and worked in different parts of the world. Instructions were given to them, for each group, to proof-read each other’s work to insure the accuracy of the work.

The job of these men was not to reinterpret the meaning of the scriptures, but to insure the final translation from Hebrew and Greek to English was as accurate as possible. Some of these men were proficient in up to fifteen different languages, scholars in their own right from all disciplines.

The task assigned to these men, was to insure the end result was a word for word translation. This means that whatever the Greek or Hebrew word was, they were to use the English word that had the same meaning. The problem they encountered was that a word for word translation made very difficult reading in English.

To insure that a smooth reading of the translation was achieved they added words they thought were appropriate in the sentences. For the most part this was a very good idea and it did make the translation a lot easier to read. But, as always, when man tries to improve on God’s work, some of the meaning gets changed. In 99% of the cases where these words were added, there was no problem, but in some cases the words they added changed the meaning of the passage.

Unfortunately, there is no way for the average reader of the Bible to know which words the translators added. Only by doing a word for word study, comparing the original text with the English text, can these words be identified. This is why God put teachers in the church.

After the translation into English was complete, the editors also saw a need to add some words to clarify the meaning and better relate the original language into English. Fortunately for the reader, these added words were italicized; in other words the letters are slanted and are easy to recognize. An example of where a word was added inappropriately is as follows in Luke 17:34 where it says, “There shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.” The word “men” was added. No doubt the homosexuals use this as proof of God’s approval of them, showing that He will take a homosexual in the rapture. This word could have been left out and the meaning of the statement would not have been changed. It would have read: “There shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.” In this case, the translators went farther than was necessary and changed the meaning of the statement, or left it open to an incorrect interpretation.

If it had not have been for the addition of this word to the scriptures, I probably would never have questioned the accuracy of the King James translation. Even though this was not the only word that was added, it was the most profound and stood out like a sore thumb. There is no doubt in my mind that God influenced the adding of this word to the scriptures so as to call attention to the other errors of translation that were introduced by the translators. God knew that someone would come along and question the validity of what this verse said and because of it, begin a study of the meaning of the original scriptures, just as they were given to the Lord’s Apostles.

Another example of where a word was added and changed the meaning of the statement is in Matthew 24:24: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” The statement reads as though it is not possible to deceive the elect with the addition of “it were.”

But when you remove the words that were added, “it were”, the meaning appears to change, as though it is possible to deceive the elect. If the scripture was taught that it is not possible for the elect to be deceived, it would give those believers a sense of false security. I say this because it is not consistent with the rest of the Bible to say that those elect persons cannot possibly be deceived.

Now I know very well what it says in the Book of Revelations about adding or taking any words away from the scriptures, but I say to you that these words were added by the translators and what I am doing by removing these words is restoring the original meaning of the text.

I am only taking those words away that some man inadvertently added in the past and in adding these words they perpetrated some incorrect teaching and understanding of the scriptures. Even though with these inconsistencies, the King James Version is the closest thing to the true and complete Word of God that we have. It is very important for the future that we not allow anyone to do away with this version of our Bible.

The King James Version was completed in 1611, but was not published in America until 1792. Since the publication of the King James Version, there have been thousands of revisions attempted, but none of these revisions were ever able to take its place. All of the other revisions are just that, revisions and not new translations. Words are changed, meanings are changed and a lot of paraphrasing is done where the person doing the revision puts his own interpretation and meaning in the work.

For the past 200 years, we in America, have had available to us the most accurate translation of the original scriptures in existence. A copy of the King James Bible has probably been in every household and personal copies of it have been studied and taught from for many years.

But, even in this day there are moves on to discontinue the use of this version and publish a version that would be known as a common Bible to be used in all churches. I have read where some have said to the younger generation that the King James Version is “hopelessly out of date” for this day and time. Also some are saying, “There is grave danger that the continued use of this version may give modern man the impression that this Bible belongs to another age, and doesn’t apply to the 20th century.”

If they succeed in eliminating the King James Version and go to a common Bible, it will no doubt, be one of the modern versions containing so many misleading paraphrases that the true Word of God, as was translated from the original scriptures, will be lost. Now what will this mean to us? Let’s look at the true value of this Bible, the King James Version, containing the true Word of God.

In the beginning of the world, when God created it, and man was put on it, God walked with man and talked to him face to face. Man learned the ways of God from a daily interaction with Him. The book of Genesis tells us that God walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day and communed with Adam. And not only did God speak to Adam, but later He spoke with many of the early men such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Moses. But, as the ways of man became so far removed from the ways of God, He discontinued speaking to man face to face and began speaking to man through prophets, whom He chose.

It was during the time when Moses was leading the people through the wilderness that God spoke to the Israelites from the Mount Sinai. This terrified the people so much that they told Moses that they didn’t want to hear God’s voice, but instead they wanted God to speak with him and then he could tell them God’s words. So began the period of time that God communed with his people through a long line of prophets. The people learned some lessons the hard way though. Under this system, the people had to consult with a prophet concerning God’s will. They were faced with disaster when they failed to do so.

After the time of the prophets, God sent His Son to the earth to teach the people how to live their lives and prepare them for eternal life. So during this time, God spoke to the people through His Son, Jesus Christ. The words of God that were spoken by Jesus were recorded by His disciples on scrolls during the first century A.D. and these scrolls were copied and used for study of the scriptures until Jerome put them together in a book form in 404 AD.

This began a new way for God to communicate with his people; by way of the written word, in book form and continues to be the Word of God to His people today. God gave us His written word in the form of the Bible and imparted unto us also of His Spirit to help us understand the meaning of those words.

For He said through His prophet Joel: “in the last days, He would pour out his Spirit on all flesh.” (Joel 2:28) Peter also testified to this outpouring of the Spirit beginning to occur on the day of Pentecost. The Lord said that His Spirit would guide us into all truth and teach us all things because He would dwell with us and be in us. Without the Bible, we would not have God’s words and without the Holy Spirit living in us, we could not understand the truth of his Word. So today we need to depend on the most accurate copy of God’s Word that we have, which is the King James Version of the Bible and we must rely on his Spirit to help us to rightfully divide and understand the meaning of the scriptures.

Until this day, God has spoken to his people first in person, face to face, then through His prophets. After that He spoke through His Son and now through the written word. We must depend on the written Word of God and His Spirit to guide us into the truth of his Word for this day. Paul said in Ephesians 4:11 to 13 that God sets pastors and teachers in the church to lead all into the unity of the faith. The only way we can be sure these men are doing what God wants, is to compare their teaching with the written word God has given us. There will be some that say a person cannot understand the Word of God without the Word being revealed to them, without a revelation from God. And that is true, but the revelation is provided by His Spirit that dwells in us and not by the interpretation of some man.

The problem that we have today is the same problem that has existed since Adam and Eve; we continue to have a choice and instead of staying with God’s Word, we adopt man-made doctrines. But this choice is only a problem if we choose to believe the teaching of man without comparing that teaching with God’s Word.

We must not ignore what the written Word of God says as revealed by the Spirit he has given us. We might say, “How can we be sure that we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us and revealing this truth to us?” If we follow the formula that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, God is duty-bound to give us of that Spirit because God cannot tell a lie.

Peter said in Acts 2:38; “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Then Paul went on to say in Ephesians 1:13; that after you believe, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. If our pastors and teachers do not lead us into unity of the faith, as is stated in Ephesians 4:13, then the result will be, as it says in the 14th verse, we will be “tossed about by different doctrines.” Isn’t that a perfect picture of the church world today?

If we were in the unity of the faith, we wouldn’t have a Methodist church, or a Baptist church, or a Pentecostal church, etc. We would have one large church, all teaching the same thing and just meeting in different buildings. It is an abomination when a certain preacher can’t go to another church and preach, without having to be careful about teaching something that is not according to that church’s doctrine.

God will speak to us one more time, just like He did in the beginning, face to face, but it will be from the White Throne and it will be Judgment Day. If we do not listen to the truth of His Word today, as written in the Bible, we won’t like what He has to say from His Throne on the last day. It is not complex my friends; it is very simple. Believe what the Bible says. It alone contains the Word of God for today. And what does it say? “Have faith in God.” “God’s Word is true and every man is a liar.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” “Repent of your sin and be baptized in His name and you will receive eternal life.” That life is the Spirit of God in you

A person can be converted without having read the Bible, but it is not possible to completely learn the full truth of God’s Word without Bible study being a part of our daily life. Depending only on going to church and listening to the pastor’s sermons is not enough. Jesus said in the 8th chapter of John; “If you continue in my Word, you shall know the truth,” and again He told His followers to, “Search the scriptures to learn of him.”

Back in the early days, people had to depend on the teaching of the prophets to learn the truth of God’s will, but today we have His Word written out for everyone to read and learn.

He provided us with the written Word because He knew that in these last days there would be false prophets “teaching for doctrines; the commandments of men.” (Matt 15:9). With so many different Bible teachers, teaching in the pulpits and on television, the only way we have to rightfully divide the truth is to compare what they are teaching with the written Word of God. We must keep in mind that we can always depend on God’s Word being the truth, but we should not have the faith that man’s word will always agree with God’s Word.

Most of our ministers today are good, honest, sincere, God-fearing men who are earnestly trying to teach God’s Word to their people for the saving of their souls. However, in some cases, they themselves have been blinded by a veil of ecclesiastical, traditional teaching.

If any man truly believes that God has called him to preach, it behooves that man to be certain that what he is preaching is God’s Word, and not some false doctrine he learned in the past. Paul the Apostle told Timothy: “Study to show yourself approved unto God.” (2 Tim 2:15) I believe that to be good advice for everyone who is responsible for the souls of other men.

The Lord said in Matthew 20:16 that “many would be called, but few would be chosen.” Why is this? Because He knew that only a few would find the way to that “strait gate and narrow way.” This business of salvation and eternal life is very serious my friends. We should not be willing to believe everything we hear, but we should test what we hear with His Word. We only have one chance in this life on earth to be assured of eternity with Him. Are you willing to take a chance of losing it? If not, then hold fast to His Word, which is in the King James Version of the Bible. Seek the guidance of His Spirit that is in you and He will teach you all things. And do not forget, He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever


The following is an example of the translators having not used the most appropriate English word in a translation and causing false teaching to be adopted about being qualified to partake in communion in church services.

In the eleventh chapter of I Corinthians, Paul explains to the people of Corinth that they are in error about the way they observe the Lord’s Supper. Paul says that he heard when they come together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper they all act like gluttons; eating and drinking as much as they can without regard for the needs of their brethren.

Paul tells them that they should eat their regular meals at home and show more respect for the church and then he explains what the coming together for the Lord’s Supper means. Paul quoted what the Lord said on the last night, when He sat down with His disciples for the last Passover meal.

Paul said: “And when he had given thanks, he broke (it), and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also (he took) the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do, as often as you drink (it), in remembrance of me,” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25.)

Paul said that the Lord told them to celebrate the occasion of this event “in remembrance of Him”. This is the reason to celebrate the Lord’s Supper; not to fill their bellies with food and drink. This was to be a solemn occasion to proclaim or declare the Lord’s death until He returns. He goes on to tell them if they take part in this event unworthily it is wrong and they will suffer for it. But just what does Paul mean by unworthily? It sounds as if you are not worthy to do it, then you shouldn’t. But this is not what Paul was saying. Let’s look at the 29th verse and see what it says.

I Cor 11:24 29 “For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”

Paul is actually saying that if a person eats the bread and drinks of the cup for any other reason except to discern the Lord’s body, or to have some other motive except to do it in remembrance of Him, then it is wrong.

Many times believers are led to believe that they should not celebrate the Lord’s Supper if they have done something, or are engaged in something the church does not approve of. They are made to believe that because of their actions, they are not worthy to take part in the Communion. This is just not true and it’s wrong to lead people to believe that.

Part of this misunderstanding is due to the translators of the Bible not using the best word in their translation. Here is another case where they let their own understanding and doctrinal practices influence their decision. The Greek word “anaxios” can be translated into the English words “unworthily” or “irreverently”. And in this text it should have been translated into, “irreverently.”

Paul says that a believer should take part in the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him and to show respect for the Lord’s body being broken for us. To take part for any other reason is showing irreverence or disrespect for the Lord. Being unworthy has nothing to do with it. If we are believers, having repented for our sin and have been baptized in His name, then we are worthy to take part in the Lord’s Supper, for He has made us worthy.

Do not let someone rob you of the joy of your salvation by causing you to believe that you are unworthy to take part in any form of worship, just because of his or her misunderstanding of the scriptures.

This is just one example of what is wrong with using so many of the different versions of the Bible. Man too easily accepts, for the gospel, what another man says or writes, instead of being sure that what he is receiving is the unadulterated Word of God. We can only be sure we are receiving the true Word of God if we accept only what the original writers of the scriptures put down. Once man puts his hand to translating and/or interpreting the scriptures, he gives satan an opportunity to cause something to be changed or misrepresented.

 

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