A Disciple Of No Man
Hugo McCord
A far-away Christian brother listens and learns from everybody, but is determined to be a disciple only of Jesus, not of any one else. He is on solid ground. The oldest Greek text of Acts 9:25 now available is defective grammatically (having no direct object of labontes) and doctrinally (giving Paul some disciples).
Properly, Christians are disciples of Jesus (Acts 9:1), not of any fellow disciple. Though Christians imitate fellow disciples as far as they follow Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1), as such they are disciples of no one but Jesus. Paul resented some disciples saying, "I am of Paul" (1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:4).
My far-away brother says "our preacher" criticizes the NIV in Ephesians 1:13, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, ..." In this translation, says the brother’s preacher, "salvation comes at the point of hearing." I rejoice that the preacher is a careful student, and wants no part of anyone’s leaving the impression that "salvation comes at the point of hearing."
However, the preacher should also note that in the same verse of Scripture Paul has the Ephesians "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (which means they were saved, John 14:17; Acts 2:38-39), not after baptism, but after they had "believed." If one reads only Ephesians 1:13 he would conclude "salvation comes at the point of believing." A Baptist preacher, in a debate at Blue Ash, Ohio, exclaimed (about a similar verse), "Not a drop of water in it.
That preacher needed to learn that sometimes faith means more than simple believing (as it does in Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12; 18:8). Sometimes faith is a comprehensive word, a "four pack," (as in Acts 16:31; Romans 3:28; 5:1, etc.), embracing all that is required for salvation from sins (Acts 2:36-38; 3:19; 8:37; Romans 10:9-10).
As the one word "grace" in Ephesians 2:8 is a carrier containing all of the divine side of salvation (namely, love, mercy, kindness, the cross, the blood), so the word "faith" in Ephesians 2:8 comprehends all of the human side of salvation (namely, mental conviction, repentance, the confession, and baptism).
Furthermore, sometimes faith is even a "five pack" word (John 3:16, 36; Romans 1:17; 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 5:4), embracing (1) mental assent and (2) repentance and (3) confession and (4) baptism and (5) a faithful life until death (Revelation 2:10).
My far-away brother says that his preacher referred to the Greek word eis "as always looking forward." In this statement, he shows that he knows more about eis than some eminent Greek scholars. However, he errs in saying that the Freed-Hardeman Version gives eis a "present" meaning in Romans 10:10: "for with the heart one believes to become righteous, and with the mouth one confesses to be saved." The FHV is saying that one who "believes" looks forward "to become righteous," and one who "confesses" looks forward "to be saved." Righteousness and salvation come after believing and confessing.
My brother says that his preacher "likes the KJV and the ASV." In this he is to be commended, for those versions have saved thousands of people. I rejoice he is not one of those preachers today who have no use for the KJV and the ASV. But I trust he is not an extremist who cannot see any good in later versions and refuses to see the faults of the KJV and the ASV. The scholars who gave us the power and beauty of the KJV did not think that their version was above criticism. In the preface to their 1611 edition they wrote:
A variety of translation is profitable for finding out the sense of Scripture. ... The very meanest translation of the Bible in English ... containeth the word of God, nay, is the word of God.
Twelve errors in many popular versions are as follows:
1. Since Adam was "the first man," then God did not command him to "replenish the earth" (1 Corinthians 15:45; Genesis 1:28, KJV, ASV).
2. The statement "that God did tempt Abram" (Genesis 22:1, KJV) does not agree with the statement that God "tempteth" no "man" (James 1:13, KJV).
3. The statement that Jacob "bowed himself upon the bed’s head" (Genesis 47:31, KJV, ASV) does not agree with the statement he was "leaning upon the head of his staff" (Hebrews 11:21, KJV, ASV).
4. Since Moses wrote that "the golden censer" was placed "before" the veil, then it was not the inspired author of the book of Hebrews who wrote that it was placed "after" or "behind" the veil (Exodus 30:6; Hebrews 9:3-4, KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, NIV, NRSV).
5. Since "Ahimelech," while he was high priest, gave "hallowed" bread to David, then Jesus did not say that it was done "in the days of Abiathar the high priest" (1 Samuel 21:1-6; Mark 2:26, KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, NIV, NRSV).
6. Since "the son of Jehoiada" was "stoned," then Jesus did not say that the stoned man was "the son of Barachiah" (2 Chronicles 24:20-21; Matthew 23:35, KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, NIV, NRSV).
7. Since "Zechariah" wrote of "the thirty pieces of silver," then it was not the inspired Matthew who wrote that the words came from "Jeremiah" (Zechariah 1:1; 11:13; Matthew 27:9, KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, NIV, NRSV).
8. Since the quotation cited in Mark 1:2 is from Malachi, the ASV, the NASV, the NIV, and the NRSV err in saying it comes from Isaiah.
9. Since "the men who were traveling with" Saul "stood speechless because they heard the voice," then it is embarrassing to read that they "did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking" (Acts 9:7; 22:9, KJV, NKJV, ASV, NRSV).
10. Since the Greek text of Hebrews 6:6 cites actual apostasy, the KJV, the NKJV, and the NIV, by inserting an "if," make the apostasy only hypothetical.
11.Since Jesus was the "first-born among many brothers," then he was not "the only begotten of the Father" (Romans 8:29; John 1:14, KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV), or "the one and only Son (NIV), or "the only son" (NRSV).
12. Since Jesus went to "paradise" the day he died, then he did not go to "hell" (Luke 23:43; Acts 2:27, 31, KJV).
The above twelve discords are removed from the Freed-Hardeman Version. As originally written "the words of" the Lord were "pure, as silver melted in a furnace, refined seven times" (Psalm 12:6, FHV).