The Word of God

God Breathed

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Talk about the different manuscripts:

Textus Receptus

The Alexandrian

Let’s look at the primary differences.

Read Matthew 17:21 or Mark 9:29

Mark 9:29 ESV

29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Read 1 John 5:7

1 John 5:7 ESV

7 For there are three that testify:

1 John 5:7 (KJV)

* Now Read Acts 8:37

Acts 8:37 ESV

Revelation 22:19 (ESV)

19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Compared to:

Revelation 22:19 (KJV)

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book

This is one of the primary reasons why the KJV is not the most accurate translation.

Lastly, Let’s look at the Deuteronomy 32 Worldview:

Now what translations do I recommend?

Top 10 Translations:

1. ESV

2. KJV

3. LSB

5. NET

5. MEV

6. CSB

7. NASB 2020

8. NKJV

9. NLT

10. TPT

Top 5 Modern English Translations:

1. ESV

2. NET

3. LSB

4. MEV

5. CSB

Top 5 Study Bibles:

1. KJV - Apostolic Study Bible (Thomas Nelson Premier Study Bible)

2. ESV Study Bible

3. ESV - MacArthur Study Bible

4. ESV (Or MEV) - Fire Bible CJB - Complete Jewish Study Bible

5. CJB - Complete Jewish Study Bible

Honorary Mentions:

CSB - Spurgeon Study Bible

NET - Translators Notes

Key Word Study Bible

MEV - Spiritual Warfare

Commentaries:

1. ESV

2. John MacArthur

3. Jewish New Testament

4. Spurgeon New Testament

5. Tony Evans

Theology Books:

1. Apostolic Theology

2. Reformation Theology

3. Biblical Doctrine

4. The Inerrant Word

5. Spiritual Warfare in the Storyline of Scripture

Why I Use the ESV.

It’s the most accurate as well as the most readable.

It’s literary accuracy.

The Deuteronomy 32 worldview.

The materials.

It’s Unbiased. (20 denominations, 95 Bible Scholars.)

The Bible Spectrum:

Formal Equivalent (Word for Word)

Functional Equivalence (Thought for Thought)

Paraphrase

Why Our Church Switched to the ESV (ESV or NIV for URC?)

ESV Preface:

The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each biblical writer. As such, its emphasis is on “word-for-word” correspondence, at the same time taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original (emphasis added).

NIV Preface:

The first concern of the translators has been the accuracy of the translation and its fidelity to the thought of the biblical writers. They have weighed the significance of the lexical and grammatical details of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts. At the same time, they have striven for more than a word-for-word translation. Because thought patterns and syntax differ from language to language, faithful communication of the meaning of the writers of the Bible demands frequent modifications in sentence structure and constant regard for the contextual meaning of words (emphasis added).

-The ESV is a more transparent translation:

Why Our Church Switched to the ESV (ESV or NIV for URC?)

Hebrews 6:1 [ESV] “. . . not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works [nekron ergon] . . . ”

[NIV] “. . . not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death . . . ”

The NIV has removed the ambiguity that exists in the Greek and is made transparent in the ESV.

Are dead works those works that lead to death, or those that are done in the absence of life, or both? The NIV decides the matter for us.

The ESV engages in less over-translation:

Translation is not always based on one-to-one correspondence. You cannot take a single word in one language and always use a single word in another language to translate it. Sometimes a word needs to be translated with two or three words. At other times two or three words in the original language require only one word for accurate translation. That’s how translation works. But the NIV often adds words unnecessarily, not in order to better translate a Greek or Hebrew word but in order to clarify what the translators think the passage means. The result is that the NIV sometimes over-translates:

Ephesians 6:3 [ESV] “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

[NIV] “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

The word translated in the ESV “live” is from the Greek word eimi meaning “to be” or “to live.” It never means “to enjoy.”

The NIV has over-translated the text and changed its meaning from living a long life to enjoying one.

1 Corinthians 4:9 [ESV] “For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.

[NIV] “For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.”

The ESV engages in less under-translation:

In order to make the thought (not the words) of the biblical writers clearer, the NIV at times avoids theological words and important concepts found in the original languages. One of the clearest examples is how the NIV translates YHWH tsavaoth. The ESV uses “Lord of hosts” to translate this common phrase, while the NIV uses “the Lord Almighty” and “God Almighty” because, according to the NIV Preface, “for most readers today the phrases ‘the Lord of hosts’ and ‘God of hosts’ have little meaning.” It may be the case that “Lord of hosts” is not in many people’s vocabularies, but shouldn’t it be—at least for Christians? We lose something in translation when we no longer read “Lord of hosts.” Yes, “Lord of hosts” implies that the Lord is Almighty, but YHWH tsavaoth also implies that our God is the Lord of heavenly hosts and military armies. The imagery of YHWH leading his people in battle or summoning legions of angels to deliver his people is lost when tsavaoth is not translated as “hosts” or “armies” (which is what the word means) but rather is translated as “Almighty” (which is not what the word denotes).

Why Our Church Switched to the ESV ESV or NIV for URC?

Acts 19:11

[ESV] “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands [tōn cheirōn] of Paul . . . ”

[NIV] “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul . . . ”

What is the Word?

John 1:1–3 (ESV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The Word - the plan, statement, formulation, thought, concept, expression of God.

Jesus Christ is the word of God.

“The exact image of his person.”

Person - essence or substance.

The word is God expressing himself finitely in the existing world.

Jesus Christ is the invisible God expressed, disclosed in knowable form.

Colossians 1:15–16 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

The phrase “radiance of the glory of God” can be expressed as the shining forth as the self of God, and the divine emanation. Which is the word made flesh, Jesus Christ.

Faith’s origin is in the word.

The Apostle Peter said “The world was framed by Christ.”

God created the world by his spoken word,

God said and it was...

Romans 10:17 (ESV)

17) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

I like what how the NET translated it.

Romans 10:17 (NET)

17) Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ.

- Hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Savior.

At the day of pentecost the word was presented.

Acts 2:41 (ESV)

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Conclusion:

We are saved by the word!

Acts 4:4 (ESV)

But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

You gotta hear it!!!

You need to respond!