King James Bible Articles

BIBLE DOCTRINES AFFECTED BY MODERN VERSIONS By Paul L. Freeman

[The following material is published by Way of Life Literature. All rights
are reserved. This material cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites
without prior permission. The following is available in booklet format from
Way of Life Literature, Bible Baptist Church, 1219 N. Harns Road, Oak
Harbor, Washington 98277.]


Part 2
ACTS

Title "of the Holy Apostles" is deleted. To leave us with "ACTS" means
nothing. That the Apostles were sanctified (holy) by the Lord Jesus
and sent forth as his sent ones is evident from John 17:17- 19. The
title in the MAJORITY Text is doctrinally correct.

2:30 "according to the flesh he would raise up Christ" is omitted.  It
was not just that one of David's descendants would sit upon the
throne, but that his greater Son would be raised from the dead in a
body of flesh.

2:31 "his soul" is omitted. The body of Christ was in the tomb but his
soul went down into Hades (Hell), the place of departed spirits. The
teaching of the Bible is that our Lord had a body, soul and spirit.

2:47 "to the church" is left out. Believers are added to the Church
which is Christ's body. The Church is an organism, and when
persecutors touched the Church they touched Christ (see 9:5).

3:21 "all" is dropped in front of "his holy prophets." God has spoken
of the Kingdom age by the mouth of ALL his prophets since the world
began. In harmony with this Jesus spoke to the two on the road to
Emmaus about himself from "all the prophets" (see Luke 24:27). There
are others in the world who claim to be prophets but they do not speak
of Jesus and his kingdom, therefore they are not of God.

3:26 "Jesus" is dropped. The specific name leaves no doubt as to whom
God raised up from the dead to offer again the kingdom to Israel.

4:24 "thou art God" is changed to "thou art he who." There is no
reason to accept MINORITY manuscripts when they want to change "God"
to "he who" (see 1 Tim. 3:16).

6:3 The word "Holy" is dropped. When God led the Church to choose
deacons he made it clear that they should be controlled by the Holy
Spirit.  Many churches since have appointed men who had a lot of
spirit and were full of enthusiasm, but that is not the same as being
full of the "Holy Ghost." Godly living is required of deacons and it
is contrary to sound doctrine to leave out "Holy." The Greek word for
spirit can refer to man's spirit or God's spirit and lest we should
err here God inserted the word "Holy" before spirit.

6:8 "faith" is changed to "grace." The Bible does not teach that
Christians are full of grace but rather that they receive grace. The
only one who was "full of grace" was our Lord Jesus Christ (see John
1:14). The measure of faith is given to every believer to profit
thereby.

7:30 "of the Lord" is omitted. It was not just an angel that appeared
to Moses at the burning bush, it was an angel of Jehovah (the Lord).
This was an Old Testament appearance of the eternal Son of God in
angelic form. In plain words it was the Lord who appeared to Moses
(see Exodus 3:1-5).

7:37 "The Lord your" and "him shall ye hear" are omitted.  This is
contrary to the original quotation as found in Deut. 18:15. In
Stephen's sermon the "him shall ye hear" is most important since those
who refuse Christ's words will be judged by God.

8:18 "Holy" is dropped. Four times here in four verses the Holy Ghost
is mentioned. To drop the word Holy in one out of the four times is to
create confusion and doubt concerning the Word of God.

8:37 The whole verse is omitted. This leaves the question of the
Ethiopian eunuch unanswered. Philip's answer is correct in that belief
must be from the heart prior to baptism. The eunuch's confession of
faith is in exact agreement with what is required for salvation as
given in John 20:31. Souls have been led to Christ with this verse of
Scripture and it is doctrinally unsound to remove it.

9:5,6 "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he
trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And
the Lord said unto him" is all omitted. This passage gives us a
picture of Saul resisting the Spirit of God as he was under
conviction. Saul's response is to submit to the Lord's direction,
having been humbled before the Lord.  Without Saul's "what wilt thou
have me to do?" there could be no "arise and go."

9:29 "Jesus" is left out. The reason the Jews went about to slay Saul
was not because he spake boldly in the name of the Lord, but because
he spoke of the Lord Jesus. As we well know in this day of Modernism
there is a great difference.

10:6 "he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do" is left out. The
would- be correctors of the MAJORITY Text would have us believe that
Cornelius was already saved and that it would be good for him to have
fellowship with Peter. The truth is that Cornelius was not saved (see
11:14) and that there was something which he had to do. He must
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or he would be lost and go to Hell.

10:30 "fasting" is left out. Fasting, to find the will of God, is a
Biblical doctrine. Though it is little used today, especially since we
have the completed Word of God, it was evident in the New Testament
apostolic times.

10:32 "who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee" is omitted. See
above comments under 10:6.

15:24 "Ye must be circumcised and keep the law" is left out. This is
exactly the reason why the Jerusalem council was called or convened.
There is no doubt that the reply to the Gentile converts made mention
of the all important question.

16:31 "Christ" is omitted. The word speaks of the Deity of Christ.  It
pointed the Philippian jailer to the God he must believe in for
salvation.

18:5 "was pressed in the Spirit" is changed to "was engrossed with the
word." When Paul was teaching he was always engrossed with the Word.
In Corinth Paul had been laying the groundwork at the synagogue
concerning what the Scriptures had to say about their Messiah
(Christ).  When Silas and Timothy came, Paul was under compulsion to
show that Jesus was the Christ.

19:10 "Jesus" is left out. For the heathen to hear about the Lord is
not enough. They must hear that Jesus is that Lord.

20:28 "of God" is changed to "of the Lord." The word lord is sometimes
used of men and sometimes of God. Therefore, the change does not
affirm the Deity of Christ. Our Authorized King James Version shows
that God purchased the church with his own blood. This establishes the
Deity of Christ irrefutably.

21:25 "they observe no such thing, save only that" is omitted. The
Gentiles had been told that they did not have to observe the law of
Moses nor circumcise their children (see Acts 15:23-29). James was in
error when he sought to keep the Jews obedient to the Law after he had
written to the Gentiles that they were not under it. The omission here
leaves one with the impression that the Law was optional for the
Gentiles and possibly preferable. Tampering with God's Word always
leaves the door open for doctrinal error.

26:28 "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" is changed to "do
you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a
Christian?" King Agrippa was "almost persuaded" and he was in
possession of the truth concerning salvation. The change would have us
believe that he needed more information and perhaps Paul was too quick
to expect a decision.

ROMANS

1:16 "of Christ" is omitted. The gospel message is of Christ and
centers around his Person and Work. This is an inexcusable attempt to
leave Christ out of the good news of salvation.

3:22 "and upon all" is dropped. The doctrine of imputed righteousness
is most blessed to the believer. We are clothed in his righteousness
and God sees us in Him, therefore it is "upon us."

8:1 "Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" is dropped.
To the truth that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ,
the Word adds the truth that they are characterized by a walk in the
Spirit. It is a Bible doctrine that those who are saved are
characterized by a changed life.

11:6 "But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work
is no more work" is dropped. The first part of the verse shows that
grace rules out works. The second part of the verse shows that works
rules out grace. It is intended for those who want to intrude works
into the established state of grace for good measure (or safekeeping
in salvation).  This is a very important doctrinal passage in its'
entirety.

13:9 "thou shalt not bear false witness" is dropped. Those who wrote
the corrupt manuscripts had no trouble with the other commandments
shown here. It is obvious that a smiting conscience would not permit
them to include this commandment since it directly involved what they
were engaged in, bearing false witness about God's Word.

14:9 "and rose" is left out. Many heretics are willing to say that he
died and that he lives again, but that he rose (bodily out from among
the dead) they reject outright. The bodily resurrection of Christ is a
cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith.

1 CORINTHIANS

2:4 "man's wisdom" is changed to "wisdom." Paul did not reject wisdom
in his teaching, he rejected MAN'S wisdom.

3:4 "are ye not carnal?" is changed to "are ye not men?" It should be
obvious that they were men, but the Bible truth to be taught was that
in their divisions they were being controlled by fleshly (carnal)
desires and not spiritual desires.

5:7 "for us" is omitted. This affects the vital doctrine of the
substitutionary atonement of Christ. If Christ did not die for our
sins then we are still under the wrath of God and without hope.

5:12 The little word "also" is dropped. That word indicated that Paul
did judge those who were within the church. Those who were outside the
church were for God to judge. The responsibility for believers to
carry out discipline within the church is a Bible doctrine.

6:4 "set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church" is
changed to "do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the
church?" The Word of God teaches that it is better to suffer wrong
than to go to court against another Christian before a lost world. It
is better to leave the judgment of the matter to the least Christian
than to the greatest worldly judge. The change here completely turns
around the way of God and seems to rebuke the church for leaving the
matter in the hands of the least Christians.

6:20 "and in your spirit which are God's" is omitted. The body gives
us world consciousness and the spirit gives us God consciousness. We
are to glorify God in our body by holy living and in our spirit by
walking in fellowship with God. Verses 16 and 17 talk about both.

10:9 "Christ" is changed to "Lord." In the Old Testament they tempted
Christ and that rock that followed them was Christ (see verse 4). The
word Lord can be used of the Father and the Son. Changing to that word
here eliminates the pre-existence of Christ.

11:24 "take eat" is omitted along with "is broken." The symbolic bread
was broken and given to the disciples with instruction to eat it. It
typified his flesh which "is being broken for you" (literal Greek).
Though not a bone of him was broken it is true that his flesh was
broken in many places before he died on our behalf.

11:29 "unworthily" is dropped. The word gives the picture of a
believer treating the Lord's Supper as a common meal, not reverencing
the symbolic meaning and spiritual impact it is intended to make upon
his soul and spirit. To remove this word is a very great doctrinal
error. When you consider that sickness and death was the result of
such unworthy participation, it is no light matter.

11:29 "not discerning the Lord's body" is changed to "if he does not
judge the body rightly" (NASV). When we partake of the Lord's Supper
we are to see through the elements to the Lord's body. As you think of
the cost of your redemption there ought to be more holy living. The
change brings absolute confusion concerning what body is meant, the
Lord's or the believers. It is hallowed ground and the corrupters of
God's Word have dared to tread upon it.

15:47 "the Lord" is left out. God is contrasting Adam and Christ.  To
say that the second man is from heaven is not enough. There have been
men from heaven who were angels. Here the man from heaven is the Lord.
This is an attempt to do away with the Deity of Christ.

15:49 "we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" is changed to "we
should bear the image of the heavenly." The first is a fact based upon
the certainty of our eternal salvation in Christ. The second is an
exhortation based upon the uncertainty of a salvation by works. The
first is sound doctrine, the second is unsound doctrine.

16:22 "Jesus Christ" is omitted. In a phrase with such import as to be
accursed it is unthinkable that the test should center around the
general term "Lord." The curse of God is upon those who do not love
the Lord Jesus Christ. When his person and work is refused there is
nothing to look for but wrath.

2 CORINTHIANS

4:4 "unto them" is omitted. The devil does not have power to keep the
light of the gospel of Christ from shining, but he does have power to
blind men lest it shine "unto them."

5:17 "all things" is left out. The believer is brought into vital
union with Christ so that it is declared that he is in Christ. In the
sight of God "old things" of the sinful nature are passed away. It
only remains for those old things to be unwound, like Lazarus'
graveclothes, in his daily life. In the sight of God "all things" are
become new though they make their appearance in the life of the
believer as he grows in grace and knowledge. To deny that "all things"
are become new is to deny the finished work of Christ whereby we are
made accepted in the beloved.

12:11 "in glorying" is dropped. The Corinthians had compelled Paul to
talk about his experiences with the Lord. He did not want to brag
about his spirituality. He felt that he had become foolish in boasting

or glorying. The change would have Paul saying, "I have made a fool of
myself." That is not what we are to understand.

GALATIANS

3:1 "that ye should not obey the truth" is omitted. The Galatians had
been bewitched by the Jewish legalizers who had put them under the Law
to keep saved. Paul tells them that in so doing they were not obeying
the truth. The truth was that they were saved by grace and that all
spiritual blessings were theirs in Christ. To turn from that is to be
in error.

3:17 "in Christ" is dropped. Paul is talking about the covenant with
Abraham through his seed which was Christ. The law was added later and
did not affect the covenant of promise to those who would be saved by
believing as Abraham did. God promised Abraham that through his seed
(singular) all the families of the earth would be blessed. That was a
covenant confirmed before of God "in Christ."

4:7 "an heir of God through Christ" is changed to "an heir through
God." The inheritance is to the children of God through the
mediatorship of Christ. We are not heirs of God through God, but
through Christ. The change here is intended to destroy the reliance
upon the Lord Jesus Christ who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

EPHESIANS

1:1 "at Ephesus" is left out. It is hard to conceive that the Spirit
of God addressed an epistle and then lost the address.

3:9 "by Jesus Christ" is removed. It is a Bible doctrine that all
things were created by Jesus Christ and without him was not anything
made that was made. This change detracts from the Deity of Christ
which is made evident by the fact that ALL THINGS were created by Him.

5:30 "of his flesh, and of his bones" is left out. The Bible teaching
is that the believer is vitally conjoined to Christ for a new life and
walk in the Spirit. We are "quickened together with Christ," "raised
up together," and "seated together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus." God likens this to the marriage relationship where two people
become one flesh.

6:10 "my brethren" is dropped. These words make it very clear that
Paul's instructions concerning Christian living are for Christians who
by the new birth have become Paul's "brethren." There is a great
danger that unsaved people might get the impression that by imitating
the things that Christians do they can become Christians.

PHILIPPIANS

4:13 "Christ" is changed to "him." It is precious to the believer to
know that Christ will give him strength for spiritual living.  Christ
himself said, "without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).  The word
"him" is quite indefinite and can be misconstrued by Modernists to
include the "him" of any religious group believing in a Supreme Being.

COLOSSIANS

1:2 "and the Lord Jesus Christ" is omitted. Along with the Father he
is the source of grace and peace.

1:14 "through his blood" is left out. Redemption and forgiveness of
sins is through the direct agency of his shed blood. Many Modernists
today can work around the words "redemption" and "forgiveness of
sins," but they cannot work around the shed blood. Therefore they must
deny it and be in direct opposition to it.

2:11 "of the sins" is removed. What is left to work with brings the
NIV to translate "In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off
of your sinful nature." It is an established Bible doctrine that by
the circumcision of our heart which the Lord made, we are able to
overcome the sins of our flesh. But the putting off of our sinful
nature will not take place until we are changed in the Rapture. Errors
like this can only occur as the group of translators persist in
following the MINORITY Text.

2:18 "those things which he has not seen" is made to read "those
things which he has seen." Men were vainly attempting to worship
angels as emanations from God in a step-ladder effort to reach God.
Paul exhorted them to hold fast to the Head (our God-man Christ Jesus)
who proceeded forth and came from God (himself being of the Trinity)
that he might bring us to God. Paul says they DID NOT see them,
heretics say THEY HAVE.

1 THESSALONIANS

1:1 "from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" is dropped. Are we

1:23 "for ever" is dropped and thereby the preservation of the Word of
God is called into question. The agency here of the new birth is the
Word of God, which is eternal. Our new birth therefore is as eternal
as the Word which originated it.

1 TIMOTHY

3:3 "not greedy of filthy lucre" is omitted. The phrase has to do with
obtaining earthly gain through disgraceful means. This happens
everyday within professing Christendom. It is inspired of God and
belongs in the text.

3:16 "God was manifest" is changed to "He was manifest." The reference
is to Christ manifest in the flesh, etc. The MAJORITY Text tells us
that this Christ was God. There are 252 copies of Paul's Epistles
which have "God" and only 2 copies which have "he." The MINORITY Text
leaves us in doubt as to who "he" is. The doctrine of the Deity of
Christ is greatly harmed here by the corrupt text.

4:12 "in spirit" is left out. To be an example of the believer it is
necessary to have a spiritual man guided by the indwelling Holy
Spirit.

5:16 "if any man" is omitted. It is unthinkable that the head of the
house should be removed here from the responsibility to provide for
widows.

6:5 "from such withdraw thyself" is dropped. The Bible doctrine of
separation is affected by this corruption. We are to withdraw from
teachers who are destitute of the truth.

6:19 "eternal life" is changed to "that which is truly life." The
first talks about the length of life, the second talks about the
quality of life. You cannot have the first without being saved. You
can have the second but still be lost, depending on what you think is
"truly life."

2 TIMOTHY

1:11 "of the Gentiles" is omitted. That Paul was appointed to teach
the gospel to the Gentiles is indisputable (see Gal. 2:7-9).

HEBREWS

1:3 "When he had by himself purged our sins" is changed to "when he
had made purification of sins." The omission of the word "our" leaves
us to wonder whose sins were purged, his own or others. It is not
plain and therefore the substitutionary atonement of Christ is
affected by the change. With the words "by himself" the Holy Spirit
wanted us to see that the atonement for our sins was accomplished by
Christ alone. The damage to this verse is awesome in its'
consequences.

3:1 "Christ" is omitted. Our High Priest must be anointed of God to
that office and the word Christ means the Messiah or Anointed one of
God.

10:34 "in heaven" is left out. Those who had lost all their earthly
goods certainly had no enduring substance here, but in heaven was
their treasure and reward.

JAMES

2:20 "faith without works is dead" has been changed to "faith without
works is useless." There is a great difference between dead faith and
useless (or idle) faith. The first indicates that no faith exists and
the person is lost. The second implies that faith exists but it is not
being used. Again we see humanism and the false idea of a little
divinity in each one which only needs to be fanned into a flame. The
change promotes false doctrine.

4:4 "ye adulterers" is dropped from the text. No reason to excuse the
men from the scathing denunciation of God's Word.

4:14 "It is even a vapour" is changed to "Ye are just a vapour." In
describing the length of our life, God tells us it will pass quickly
like a vapour. The change would have US OURSELVES to exist as a little
steam. There is a leaning here toward annihilationism.

5:16 "Confess your faults" becomes "confess your sins." In a context
where God talks about sin in relationship to sickness, he moves on to
talk about faults (a side-slip or deviation). The change "faults" to
"sins" leads to the priesthood and the confession box which is
contrary to all of Scripture.

1 PETER

1:22 "through the Spirit" is removed. The Bible teaches that it is
through the agency of the Holy Spirit that men are brought to believe
in Christ. In John 16:8,9 he convicts the world (all men) and draws
them to faith in Christ.

2:2 The phrase "unto salvation" is added by Westcott and Hort to "that
ye may grow thereby." This puts a question mark over the certainty of
our present salvation. It makes salvation a process rather than an
accomplished fact. The doctrine of eternal security is denied by the
new exhortation to grow UNTO SALVATION.

3:18 "suffered for sins" is changed to "died for sins." The context
has Christians suffering for well doing and they are exhorted to keep
on because Christ also has suffered for us. It is a Bible teaching
that Christ not only died for our sins, but that he suffered for our
sins (see Isaiah 53:5-7).

3:18 "quickened by the Spirit" is changed to "quickened in the
spirit." The correct rendering attributes the resurrection of Christ
to the Holy Spirit. This completes the truth that all three persons of
the Trinity were involved in the resurrection of Christ (see John
2:19; Rom. 8:11).

4:1 "for us" is left out. Christ suffered for us, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God.

5:2 "taking the oversight thereof" is omitted. To watch over the flock
of God with authority is a clear teaching of the Word.

5:12 "wherein ye stand" is changed to "wherein stand." By the removal
of the word "ye" there is a change from our standing in grace to an
exhortation to stay there standing. The blessing of a perfected
standing in grace is thereby removed.

2 PETER

2:17 The words "for ever" are dropped. Peter, in the word concerning
false teachers, states that their darkness is to last forever.  The
change leaves us with no definite word as to their end.

2:18 "those that were clean escaped" is changed to "those that are
scarcely escaping." The change from past tense to present tense moves
us from a completed salvation to a hope-so salvation. Those who are
saved are in possession of eternal life (see John 5:24).

2:20 "the Lord and Saviour" becomes "our Lord and Saviour." The false
teachers had escaped some of the world's worst sins by following the
teachings of "the Lord" but they had never come to know him as "our
Lord" is known to real Christians. They were not saved and then lost,
but never saved at all.

3:2 "us the apostles" is changed to "your apostles." The Church is
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph.  2:20)
and there are no apostles and prophets today nor is there any such
thing as an apostolic succession. The phrase "your apostles" indicates
that the people he was writing to had special apostles designated for
them and lends support to the continuance of a so-called "Apostolic
Succession."

1 JOHN

1:7 "Christ" is dropped. This word brings the cleansing blood into
relationship with our great anointed High Priest who ever liveth to
make intercession for us. Many cults believe that Jesus (as man) died
for the original sin of Adam and that Christ (as a spirit) rose
without the body.  John would have us know that the one who died and
the one who arose are the same.

3:5 "our" is removed from before "sins." Once again the question of
whose sins were taken away is raised. There have been sins committed
by angels and men. The "our sins" refers the atonement to those of
men. (see my comments under Hebrews 1;3).

3:14 "his brother" is removed. The teaching of the Word is that a true
Christian will love his brother in Christ. If a man does not love a
true Christian, then it is evident that he is still lost and abides in
death. The test of spiritual life is not that we love, but that we
love the brethren (see John 13:34,35).

4:19 "We love him" is changed to "We love." The object of God's love
is us, and the object of our love is him. Christians are not just
people who love, but people who love God because of his grace. The
very next verse deals with the professor who says he loves God but is
a liar. Lost people may love, but saved people love God.

5:7 The whole verse bearing testimony to the Triune God is discarded.
There are at least 20 Greek manuscripts which have this verse in. It
is also seen in the writings of the church fathers and lectionaries.
It directly affects the Bible doctrine of the Trinity.

REVELATION

5:10 "kings and priests" is changed to "a kingdom of priests." The 24
elders are representative of all the redeemed who in Christ are
constituted kings and priests. A kingdom of priests smells of
Nicolaitanism (the rule of the clergy over the laity) and the
priesthood for a select few as in the Roman Catholic Church. (The same
change is seen in 1:6)
8:13 "an angel" is changed to "an eagle." This is most amusing and
shows how captive the Revisers are to their corrupt text. In a setting
replete with angels we are told about a talking eagle who pronounces
three more "Woes" to the inhabiters of the earth.

14:5 "before the throne of God" is dropped. This phrase speaks of the
perfect standing that the saved have in Christ. They are without fault
before God because they are, like the church, "accepted in the
beloved" (Eph. 1:6).

20:9 "from God" is dropped. At the end of the Kingdom Age the enemies
of God are destroyed by fire "from God out of heaven." God is the one
who will destroy all enemies and create a new heaven and a new earth.

20:12 "before God" is changed to "before the throne." The dead will be
raised, not to stand before an impersonal throne, but to stand before
"the God" [literal]. Many would like to change the personal God into
some kind of Divine Mind or Supreme Being.

CONCLUSION

All that has gone before makes it very clear that Christian Doctrine
is greatly affected by the changes. The MINORITY Text is the source of
these changes and the New Modern Versions usually follow that Text. It
is unthinkable that men of God would continue to advocate the use of
these versions when they are in complete possession of all the facts.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into "all truth." May
he be allowed to have his way in our hearts. If you have read this
book and are of the same persuasion as the author, I would exhort you
to give copies to your Christian friends. It is very important that
they understand the issue confronting the Church today. As great
numbers of Christian people let their voices be heard for the
retention of God's Word, as given to us in the Traditional Text, there
will be a restoration of the same in the pulpits and in the Christian
schools of our land.