Faulting The NIV

“8 And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. 9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.” Acts 21:8,9, KJV

I haven’t researched this thoroughly but I think the New International Version (NIV) is the most widely read Bible among believers. But in verse 9 of the above portion of scripture, whereas the King James version says “virgins”, the NIV says “unmarried”. In other words, the NIV refuses to ACCEPT the possibility of all these four girls, who were sisters, being virgins, and instead chooses to label them as unmarried.

Such a possibility (virginity) is unthinkable, even UNACCEPTABLE, in the world. And sadly this worldly viewpoint is being forced into the church. But to think that the Bible could be used…

But there is no doubt about it here: the NIV has been used. Through a subtle shift in wordage, the NIV effectively sets out to ERASE the possibility of these girls being virgins. Sadly, the NIV essentially denies the power of God.

This is the problem that the true gospel of Jesus Christ has had to contend with in every generation; and it is no less so in ours also. In our age, actually, the gear mode is in overdrive. There is just too much human wisdom being injected into the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But human wisdom is a resource of the devil. It is one of his biggest tools/weapons against the gospel.

And the devil is no fool. He knows the vital points of the gospel as well as of the Bible. And it is these that he goes after.

This scripture (Acts 21:9) is certainly one of the most powerful verses in the Bible for in it we see the power that was there in the Early Church through the holy lives that its people lived. It shows the central role that the Holy Spirit played in the lives of believers. Imagine four sisters, and all virgins. Moreover, they all prophesied. That is simply incredible. It is too difficult to conceive of in our modern era. No wonder the crafters of the NIV thought some modification of this very difficult scripture was in order. The enemy used these noble souls to hit a death blow to one of the most powerful scriptures. No one reading the NIV translation can truly understand the power that was in the Early Church through the spirit of holiness.

“Unmarried” is certainly not “virgins”.

But that is not all concerning the Early Church. One other factor was that the Early Church went through much suffering and persecution. Just here, in Philip’s house, a prophet by the name of Agabus would come by and foretell in the Spirit about Paul’s persecutions by the Jews in Jerusalem.

So what is the connection?

It is that the Spirit of Christ is the spirit of suffering. This was the spirit that the Early Church carried and lived, and it was through this very suffering and persecution that the church was able to live a holy and powerfully superior life in the Spirit.

It is in the crucible of suffering that true holiness is formed. Not anywhere else.

This was the fact that the engineers of the NIV never saw. And through being devoid of the revelation of the spirit of suffering that is in the gospel, they used their intelligence and totally robbed the Word of God of its power.

In the final analysis, of course, it is the enemy at work here. I have always wondered why the church would need all the versions of the Bible that are on the market today. But now it’s clear: the enemy is using these ‘Bibles’ to strip scripture of its power. That is the simplest explanation; but it is also the truth.

It is spiritually dangerous to go the way of the many, or to seek out the easy road. Many Christians probably believe that the NIV is an easy read. And that is where the danger lies.

[Through this one singular scripture (Acts 21:9) – and probably in others also – the NIV translation denies the power of God]

God’s Purpose for Our Lives – And How to Achieve It!

45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” 49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. (John 11:45-52).

The Bible states clearly that Caiaphas spoke under the direction of God. Therefore, the words that he spoke were not his, but God’s. The man that Caiaphas spoke about was Jesus, and Jesus underwent all what Caiaphas had prophesied. He died and was crucified on the Cross for the sins of the entire world.

It is interesting to note that the days that Jesus and the Apostles lived in are identical to our own in many ways. In Jesus’ days God’s people boasted in outward appearances. They boasted in their education, their mode of dress, their flawless knowledge of the Law. They even prayed publicly at the crossroads! We could say they gloried in the flesh.

And yet, at the time of Jesus’ birth the nation of Israel was in a time of deep spiritual darkness. They “sat in darkness … in the region and shadow of death” (Mat. 4:16). It was a period of deep spiritual darkness in Israel, which meant that sin was rife.

In our own generation, the Church has grown exceedingly rich in many areas: financial and material prosperity, education, magnificent buildings, growing TV coverage. Today we even have Christian multi-millionaire pastors. In the spirit realm, miracles occur, and healings take place.

Yet alas! Despite all these outward ‘riches’ the Church is in a deep mess. Sin is commonplace. ‘Prosperous’ Christians and pastors are sinning. Depression and defeat pervades the Church.

Miracles will not bring victory in the Church. Indeed, miracles are not meant for the Church, so we cannot boast in them. Remember, the Corinthian church “came short in no spiritual gift” – yet it was a shamefully carnal Church! All our knowledge and materialism cannot fulfill God’s purpose in the Church and on the earth.

But the Cross will fulfill that purpose!. Caiaphas prophesied that someone had to die in order for something important to happen in the spirit. To fulfill that prophesy Jesus died on the Cross.

Jesus had a difficult time getting a place to be born in in Bethlehem. Today, He is having a difficult time indeed getting born in men’s hearts. Am I saying people are not getting saved? Certainly not! But I am talking about that extra all-important step, taking up our Cross and following Jesus.

In Jesus’ day, God fulfilled His purpose through Jesus’ obedience. Today, He wants to fulfill it through our obedience.

Many Christians know the Bible, but if they do not crucify the flesh, this knowledge will not profit them.

If every Christian would partake of the death of the Cross by denying self and losing our lives for the sake of Christ, then the life of Christ will be found in the Church, and we won’t need to make so much noise nor will we need to explain ourselves to people because the grace of God and the anointing on our lives will attract men and women to us.

When we die to self, God Himself will bring in His people, who are scattered all over the world, into our churches. They will come into our churches and they will know they have arrived home. In our CTMI congregations we have witnessed this happening many times. Someone comes into church, and the minute they experience the life inside and hear the sound teaching, they announce: “This is what I have been searching for all my life!”

Neither good, Biblical explanations, nor a Bible college education will build the Church of Christ. Jesus said He Himself would build His Church (Mat. 16:18). It is time we allowed Christ to build His Church by allowing the work of the Cross in our lives.

Why was Paul so effective in building the Church? The answer lies in Galatians 1:16 Paul says the minute he believed in Christ, he did not “confer with flesh and blood”. In other words, he carried the Cross from day one, and he never put it down. He did not ever use his education again. In fact he threw it away, like dung. This is so humbling! Today’s Church needs to throw away so much stuff. There are too many things we are boasting in, but which are not profitable in the least to our spiritual growth.

The day men and women of God begin boasting with Paul in ONE thing only: “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14), then we shall witness the purpose of God -to gather His people together in unity of spirit – accomplished in our generation.