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TO MAGNIFY HIS PERFECT WORD
Gia-Hien Nguyen
I thank and praise the Lord for His
grace and mercy upon me in guiding me to study His Word at the Far Eastern
Bible College, a sound and fundamental college in Singapore. I thank the
Lord for helping me complete my studies and then opening a way for me to
serve Him in Brisbane as a missionary preacher of True Life
Bible-Presbyterian Church.
Having received much encouragement
from God’s servants, it is a great privilege for me, an unworthy sinner
saved by God’s grace, to write this testimony to glorify my Lord and my
Saviour and to magnify His Perfect Word.
My dear brethren, although I do not
know your stand or view on the Bible in the sight of God, seeing that many
Christians nowadays are confused by the arguments and views of some
high-minded "scholars" on God’s Perfect Word, I pray that this testimony
will, by God’s grace, strengthen your faith in the Lord and His Perfect
Word, and bring you to full submission to the authority of the Lord as
well as to the authority of His Perfect Word.
The issue of the Perfect Bible, the
very Word of God, verbally-plenarily inspired (VPI), verbally-plenarily
preserved (VPP), inerrant, and infallible in the Hebrew and Greek texts
underlying the King James Bible, has become one of the major concerns of
true and serious Bible-believing Christians, especially in these last
days. It is not surprising because the Bible is not only the very
foundation of the Christian faith, beliefs, doctrines, practices,
spiritual life and warfare but also the target of Satan’s attack. A
serious Bible-believing Christian cannot ignore this issue or sit quietly
while his Lord’s Word is being questioned or attacked.
For the sake of God’s glory and His
Perfect Word, and constrained by Christ’s love, I am writing this
testimony with much prayer. We know that only God is true, the Lord Jesus
is the truth, and His Word is truth (John 14:6, 17:17; Rom 3:4). Human
beings with their sinful nature, not to mention the attack and deception
of Satan, are naturally rebellious against God and His Word, "because the
carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God" (Rom 8:7-8). Truly, it is through the Holy Spirit alone, the
Spirit of Truth who guides us into all truth (John 16:13). It is the
Spirit that bears witness with our spirit so that we as born-again
Christians (Rom 8:16) may know the truth and accept the truth with a
strong personal conviction. Such a conviction makes us to stand alone with
God and His Perfect Word rather than with the majority of so-called
"scholars" who reject the Perfect Word. It is very dangerous for a man who
thinks that he is following the truth when he is not really doing so.
Knowing that only the Spirit of Truth
can help you and that without His work of illumination, conviction and
witness, no arguments or even this testimony can persuade you, I pray that
you will, by God’s grace, be edified and strengthened in His Truth, even
by His Perfect Word, the Holy Scripture.
Trusting in the Lord and His Perfect
Word, we are to apply Biblical principles to what we do, say and write:
(1) Does it glorify God? (1 Cor 10:31); (2) Does it magnify God’s Perfect
Word? (Ps 138:2); (3) Is it God’s will? (1 John 2:17); (4) Is it done in
the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ? (Col 3:17); (5) Does it help contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints? (Jude 3); (6) Does
it edify believers? (1 Cor 10:23); and (7) Is it constrained by Christ’s
love? (1 Cor 16:14; 2 Cor 5:14).
Does it Glorify God?
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink,
or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31).
We give thanks and praise to our God
for it is by His grace alone that we have come to know, worship and serve
Him, the living and true God (Jer 10:10; 1 Thess 1:9), eternal (Ps 90:2;
Rev 4:8-10), omnipotent (Gen 17:1; Rev 19:6), omniscient (Ps 139:1-6; Rom
11:33-36), omnipresent (Ps 139:7; Acts 17:24-28), immutable (Ps 102:26-27;
Jas 1:17), Most High (Ps 83:18; Acts 7:48), sovereign (Dan 4:32-37; Matt
10:29-30), holy (Lev 19:2; Rev 4:8), loving, gracious and merciful (Exod
34:6-7; 1 Tim 1:2; 1 John 4:7-8), perfect (Deut 32:4; Ps 18:30, 19:7; Matt
5:48), and so forth. How do we have such glorious knowledge of God? It is
through the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit.
However, by the views of those who
deny the verbal and plenary preservation (VPP) of the Scriptures, our God
is not glorified at all! It seems that our God is not living, loving,
perfect, all-powerful, or all-knowing because if He is living, loving,
perfect, all-powerful and all-knowing, He must have surely preserved His
every perfect Word for His dear children who have been purchased by His
only begotten Son’s blood. Praise the Lord! Our Risen Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ is living now and forever. He pleads for us and we are sure
that His words will never pass away!
My dear brethren, if you were an
emperor or a king and you had asked your servants to write your decree to
be sent to every part of your empire or kingdom in the days when the
printing machine was not yet invented, your decree would have been copied
and copied very carefully and accordingly for sending. If you knew that
some copies had mistakes, would you ignore them? If you were still living
and powerful, I am sure you would not. How about our living and true God,
perfect, almighty and all-knowing? Surely He did preserve His every
perfect word as He promised (Ps 12:6-7; Matt 5:18), and by His
sovereignty, providence and timing, through His faithful, godly, and
highly qualified servants, His inspired and preserved words in Hebrew,
Aramaic, and Greek were confirmed in the Traditional Hebrew Text of the
Old Testament and in the Traditional Greek Text of the New Testament
underlying the KJV, just on time to be printed and used by His people
during the great Protestant Reformation. This is the logic of common faith
of the Church for nearly four centuries!
Sadly, many so-called Christians
nowadays just follow the arguments and views of high-minded "scholars,"
claiming that God’s Perfect Word is somewhere in the over 5,000
manuscripts, or just in the Byzantine text-type as a whole (an intangible
text) rather than the Textus Receptus (a tangible text) alone.
Is God the author of confusion?
Actually, you and I have never seen any of the 5,000 Greek manuscripts,
and even if we have, how can we determine which word is God’s Word? What
are the presuppositions, criteria, and qualifications for such a holy
work? Can we trust in non-Bible-believing and non-God-fearing textual
critical scholars who deny the VPP of Scripture to give us God’s Word? For
me, I will never trust them no matter who they are and what they may
claim. How can we believe, preach and teach God’s Word with full authority
and conviction if God’s perfect words are not in our hands? How can we
speak "as the oracles of God" (1 Pet 4:11) if we do not know which word is
God’s Word? "God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a
liar" (Rom 3:4). "For God is not the author of confusion, but
of peace, as in all churches of the saints" (1 Cor 14:33).
Dear brethren, I do not think you dare
come to the Lord and sincerely and repeatedly confess in your prayer, "O
my living and true God, almighty and all-knowing, I don’t believe that I
have all Thy Perfect Words in my hand today because Thou hast not
preserved every word of Thy Holy Scriptures." For me, I dare not pray such
a prayer! Thus, those who deny the VPP of Scriptures are not glorifying
God and pleasing Him at all!
Does it Magnify God’s Perfect Word?
David sings to the Lord, "I will
worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness
and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name"
(Ps 138:2). It is God who has magnified His Word above all His Name. What
about our attitude toward His Word? Surely we know that it is a serious
sin to criticise or cast doubt on God’s Holy Name, but many "scholars"
nowadays handle God’s Word, the Scripture, without any holy reverence or
humble submission! All our beliefs, doctrines, worship, preaching,
teaching, and practices must be based on God’s Word, the Holy Scripture,
but that is not enough, ours must be to magnify God’s Word, and glorify
His Name, for "holy and reverend is His Name" (Ps 111:9).
God has inspired His Word, all of
Scripture (2 Tim 3:16), and has preserved His Word, all the Scripture (Ps
12:6-7; Matt 5:18, 24:35; John 10:35; et al). No one is to add any words
to or subtract any words from God’s perfect and complete Scripture (Prov
30:5-6; Rev 22:18-19). Many Christians may confess that God’s Word is
perfect, but what they mean is not truly what they say. They think that
God’s Word is perfect in doctrines but they are not humble enough to
believe God’s Word is perfect in its very words without any mistake, not
only in doctrines but also in science, history and geography. You can see
that many so-called scholars and critics do not use the term "inerrant"
which means "not erring," or "making no mistakes," when they speak of the
Holy Scriptures we have in our hands.
My dear brethren, you must agree with
me that a chain is not stronger than its link (ring). If a link is not
perfect, how can the chain be perfect? If every word is not perfect, how
can the whole Scripture be perfect? If every word is not holy, how can the
whole Scripture be holy, and called "Holy Scripture" (2 Tim 3:15)?
Holiness cannot be mixed with sin or error. How can a holy God allow
mistakes or errors in His holy Word? May it never be! "Who shall not fear
thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for Thou only art holy" (Rev 15:4).
If God has magnified His Word above
all His name, you and I are to bow down and humbly submit ourselves to His
Word and to use the best terms, the most honourable terms, and the most
reverent terms like "perfect," "infallible," "inerrant," " holy," "VPI," "VPP,"
and many more to magnify His Word. Truly, God expects us to tremble at His
Word (Isa 66:2).
Why do many people, including
religious leaders and scholars, nowadays not honour or magnify God’s Word?
This is not strange since the Bible tells us that "many corrupt the
word of God" (2 Cor 2:17). Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and scribes,
"Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the
tradition of men, … Making the word of God of none effect through your
tradition which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye"
(Mark 7:7-8, 13). Nevertheless, Paul is determined not to handle the Word
of God deceitfully (2 Cor 4:2). Our conduct must be good and blameless so
that the Word of God might not be blasphemed (Tit 2:5). Thus, by a denial
of the VPP of Scripture, many Christians fail to magnify God’s Word.
Is it God’s Will?
It is important for us to "understand
what the will of the Lord is" (Eph 5:17), and to do the will of God (1
John 2:17) because only he who does the will of the Father in heaven will
enter into heaven (Matt 7:21) and is Jesus’ brother (Matt 12:50). Our Lord
Jesus taught us to pray to our Father, "Thy will be done in earth, as it
is in heaven" (Matt 6:10). He set a good example for us to follow when He
sought not to do his own will but the will of His Father (John 5:30,
6:38). And when He prayed to His Father in Gethsemane, He did so with full
submission in uttering, "Thy will be done" (Matt 26:42).
Dear brethren, do you think that those
who deny VPP are seeking and doing God’s will when they do not glorify God
or magnify His Word or edify the saints through their non-VPP stand?
Surely they do not!
Is it Done in the Name of the Lord
Jesus Christ?
The Bible teaches us, "And whatsoever
ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God and the Father by him" (Col 3:17). Doing all in the Name of the
Lord Jesus means doing even as He did (1 John 2:6), doing as His
ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20) would do, doing as for His Name’s sake (3 John
7), and doing in the merits and authority of His Name (Matt 28:19; John
14:13-14).
It should be noticed that in Jesus’
days on earth, there were no original scripts of the Old Testament
(autographs) except copies (apographa), but Jesus, the all-knowing and
perfect God, did not see any "discrepancies" in the Old Testament
concerning the dates, the numbers, the names and so forth, nor did He
question or criticise or cast doubt on the Scripture like many modern
"scholars" now do. On the contrary, our Lord Jesus was assured of the
verbal and plenary preservation of His verbally and plenarily inspired
Word. He confirmed that "the scripture cannot be broken" (John
10:35), and that "till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matt
5:17-18), and that "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words
shall not pass away" (Matt 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33).
Furthermore, our Lord Jesus took the preserved Word of God seriously by
living, quoting, teaching and expounding it (Matt 4:4, 7, 10; 19:4-8;
21:42; Mark 2:25-26; 7:10; Luke 4:17-21; 11:29-32, 49-51; 24:44; John
3:14; 10:34-35).
John the Baptist testified that Jesus
is the Son of God who speaks the words of God (John 1:34; 3:34). Jesus
also declared that He is the Son of God and His words are spirit and life,
and they are His Father’s words (John 6:63; 10:36; 11:4; 12:49-50; 17:8).
Truly, Jesus is the living Word of God speaking to man. His Name is called
The Word of God (John 1:1; Heb 1:2; Rev 19:13), but many have rejected Him
and His words! It is not surprising when Jesus said to the Jews, "For had
ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if
ye believe not his writings (only copies), how shall ye believe my words"
(John 5:46-47).
The Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who were taught, guided and reminded of whatever Jesus said to them by the
Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 16:13), also preached and wrote the very word of
God under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess 2:13; 2 Pet
3:15-16). They also had no doubt when they quoted the Old Testament and
regarded it as the very Word of God with full authority although there
were no extant autographs in their days (Acts 2:16-21; 15:15-17; Rom 1:17;
11:2-4, 26-29; 1 Cor 2:9; 3:20; 2 Cor 6:16-18; 9:9; Gal 3:8, 11; 4:22, 29,
30; Eph 4:8; 5:31; Phil 2:7; 3:2; Col 2:15; 1 Thess 5:8; 2 Thess 2:3, 5;
3:3; 1 Tim 2:8, 13; 5:18; 2 Tim 3:8-9; Tit 1:2; 2:14; Heb 1:8-13; 8:10-12;
Jas 2:21, 22, 25; 5:11, 17; 1 Pet 2:6-8; 3:10-12; 2 Pet 2:5, 6, 22; 3:8; 1
John 1:9; 3:12; 3 John 11; Jude 9, 11, 14, 15; Rev 1:7; 2:14, 20).
Furthermore, even a word in singular or plural is carefully discerned and
expounded. For example, Paul emphasised the fact that Christ alone
fulfilled the Old Testament promise of a Seed by arguing that the
word "seed" was written and stands written in the singular and not plural,
and this refers to none else but Christ (Gal 3:16).
Sadly, many modern believers and
scholars think God’s Word is only perfect in the original autographs! They
are not humble enough to acknowledge that the holy, true, almighty and
perfect God has been able to preserve His perfect Word intact down through
the ages for His people. Then, if you and I (our old self, our
arrogant and corrupt nature) have been crucified with Christ and Christ is
living in us (Gal 2:20), how can we remain in opposition to our Lord on
the issue of the VPP of Scripture? Our Lord Jesus Christ found no fault
with the Perfect Word of His Father, the Holy Scripture, and if we have
the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16), our belief and stand cannot be
different from our Lord’s. Those who oppose the VPP of Scripture cannot
claim to be doing so in His Name!
Does it Defend the Historic Christian
Faith?
"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to
write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write
unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).
Satan has deceived human beings by
attacking and casting doubt on God’s Word since the days of Adam and Eve
(Gen 3:1, 4-5) because he knows that "faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God" (Rom 10:17) and that the foundation of the
Christian faith is God’s Perfect Word (Eph 2:20). If we have no perfect
Word of God today, then how can we earnestly contend for the faith against
Satan and his followers such as the false prophets, false Christs (Matt
24:24), false teachers (2 Pet 2:1), false apostles (2 Cor 11:13), false
brethren (2 Cor 11:26; Gal 2:4), false witnesses (Matt 26:60; Acts 6:13),
and false accusers (2 Tim 3:3)? Most of the spiritual weapons in the
armour of God are for defence, and the weapons of offence are the sword of
the Holy Spirit, which is the word of God, and prayer (Eph 6:17-18; 1 John
2:14; Ps 56:9; Matt 26:41). How can we fight a good fight and gain victory
if we are not sure that we have a perfect sword in our hand? And how can
we pray for God’s help if we have doubts about His sovereign power to
preserve His every perfect word and promise?
True Bible-believing Christians have
faced heresies since the first century (1 Cor 11:19; Gal 5:20; Tit 3:10; 2
Pet 2:1; et al) and down through Church history, there have been a lot of
heresies, unbiblical "isms" and movements such as Ebionism, Gnosticism,
Montanism, Manichaeism, Monarchianism, Sabellianism (Modalism), Arianism,
Semi-arianism, Macedonianism (Pneumatomachism), Apollinarianism,
Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism, Pelagianism,
Catholicism, Ecumenism, Liberalism, Modernism, Neo-Evangelicalism,
Charismatism, Open Theism, Neo-Fundamentalism, and so forth, not to
mention the many cults and occult practices.
How can the Church earnestly contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints? We should give
thanks to the Lord our God for having preserved His Perfect Word. By God’s
sovereignty and providence, at the Council of Carthage in AD 397, 27 books
were accepted by the churches to form the New Testament of canonical
Scripture (the Old Testament had been accepted by our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Apostles and believers as mentioned above). The good work of the
Protestant Reformation of the 16 th
century, which led to the translation of the KJV from the traditional
Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus in the 17th
century, is continued in the 20th
century Reformation movement of Dr Carl McIntire, who founded the
International Council of Christian Churches, and the Bible Presbyterian
movement. If the sons of the Reformation today do not have God’s Perfect
Word in their hands, minds and hearts, can they continue to contend for
God’s truth and the faith?
For me, I thank the Lord for His
sovereignty and providence in leading me to the Rev Dr Timothy Tow and the
Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), after I had left Trinity Theological
College (Singapore) because of its unsound doctrines and compromise. For
four years in the FEBC, I treasured each day studying God’s Word with good
training and sound doctrines, including the doctrines of Biblical
separation and of the VPI and VPP of Scripture. By God’s grace, I realise
that God has raised up the Rev Dr Timothy Tow and the FEBC to contend for
His truth and for the faith of His saints in these last days of apostasy
and compromise. I also thank God for the strong stand on God’s Perfect
Word taken by Rev Dr Timothy Tow, Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo, Rev Dr Quek Suan
Yew, and Rev Dr Prabhudas Koshy. It is disheartening to know that instead
of supporting the FEBC, many are fighting against God’s work in and
through the FEBC.
Does it Edify Believers?
"All things are lawful for me, but all
things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things
edify not" (1 Cor 10:23).
Several years after being born again
by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, the Holy Scripture, I read a book on
textual criticism, stating that the New Testament was compiled from about
5,000 Greek manuscripts, among which no two manuscripts are exactly the
same, and all these extant manuscripts are only copies. This book shook my
faith in God’s Perfect Word. When I read the Scripture, I no longer had as
strong a conviction as I had before. Then in my heart, I desired that one
day I might study Greek, and God would help me discover more Greek
manuscripts to make the Bible more complete. What a dangerous and wrong
concept! Anyway, I did not share this with other brethren, but kept this
to myself as this might shake their faith too. I thank God very much that
through the sound teachings at the FEBC, my faith in God’s Perfect Word
has been restored and now I am so angry with those so-called "scholars"
and books that confuse believers, cast doubt on God’s Perfect Word, and
overthrow the faith of some (2 Tim 2:13).
My dear brethren, men, by their sinful
and corrupt nature, naturally doubt God. It is very difficult to share
with them God’s salvation if they say that the Bible is written by
fallible men and is not God’s pure Word. That is what I have experienced
since I came to Australia. It is already enough for Satan to attack God’s
Perfect Word and cast it down, but we have also those who call themselves
Christians attacking God’s Word by denying that they have God’s Perfect
Word today. Those who cast doubt on God’s Word help Satan, even though
they think of themselves as "scholarly" believers. I would prefer them to
keep quiet and learn to fear the Lord and honour His Perfect Word. They do
not edify their loved ones and other brethren by sharing views which do
not magnify God’s Perfect Word nor glorify Him.
Is it Constrained by Christ’s Love?
"For the love of Christ constraineth
us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead"
(2 Cor 5:14). "Let all your things be done with charity" (1 Cor 16:14).
Christ showed His love towards sinners
like us. He came into the world, taught His Father’s Word, died for us,
rose again to plead for us, and will come again soon for our full
redemption. Jesus says, "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father
which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I
should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting:
whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak"
(John 12:49-50), and "thy word is truth" (John 17:17), and "Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John
15:13). If we are constrained by Christ’s love for us, we will share God’s
Perfect Word with others and be willing to die for them for the sake of
God’s Word. This is divine love, holy love, and not human love. God’s holy
love requires His children to separate themselves from sins, unbelievers
and unbiblical teachings and beliefs (2 Cor 6:14-7:1). Love that rejoices
in the truth (1 Cor 13:6) will rejoice in God’s Perfect Word which is
truth (John 17:17), and in the Lord Jesus who is the truth, and in the
Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of truth (John 14:6, 17).
Out of love, our Father in heaven
chastises His children so that they might be partakers of His holiness
(Heb 12:6, 10). The Bible says, "Open rebuke is better than secret love" (Prov
27:5). Our Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the scribes and the Pharisees
severely (Matt 23) because they were religious leaders who went against
Him and God’s Truth and led the common people astray from God’s Word. On
the other hand, the Lord was very kind with sinners and people who were
teachable and repentant. Did our Lord love all types of people? Surely He
did, but due to His holy love, some needed to be rebuked while others
needed to be encouraged and comforted. But today many Christians
compromise the Christian Faith and God’s Perfect Word in the name of love
and unity!
The Apostle Paul regards his epistle
as God’s Word with full authority: "And if any man obey not our word by
this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be
ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" (2
Thess 3:14-15). Why did Paul have such a stern attitude towards that
brother? Did Paul not love him? Surely he did, as he said Christ’s love
constrained him. Paul applied the principle of separation with the hope of
bringing that brother back to the truth when he repents. If a brother is
doing something wrong against the Lord and His Word publicly and if you
and I welcome him and shake hands with him, then he may think that he is
right or alright and will continue in his erroneous views and ways. If we
allow him to continue in his sin and error, can we say we love him with
divine love? Nowadays, for the sake of love (not divine love or holy love)
and unity (not biblical but ecumenical unity), or for the sake of being
accepted, recognised, accredited, or popular, many Christians are
compromising their pure faith in the Lord and His Perfect Word!
Thank God that I was born into a
Christian family in Vietnam. My grandparents and parents are Christians. I
went to church regularly and was baptised when I was 14. Then in 1975 when
the North defeated the South, I had to study Darwin’s theory of evolution,
Leninism, Marxism and communism at high school. Although I did not believe
those human philosophies and theories, I was influenced by them and began
to question if God did exist, where He was and so forth. One day, I had a
terrible headache and was tired from such doubts and questions. I knelt
down and prayed, "O God, may Thou manifest Thyself to me so that I may
believe in Thee and follow Thee because I know Thee in person, not because
of my parents, not because of the church, not because of other Christians
nor anyone else." I even challenged myself, "If all Christians do not
follow Jesus Christ any more, and if nobody in this world believes in Him,
would I still believe and follow Him by myself?"
Thank God so much that He was merciful
unto me and moved me to pray and to read the Holy Bible (Vietnamese Bible
and English KJV) fervently and earnestly. My spiritual eyes were opened to
see wonderful things in God’s Word. My life was changed and I realised
that I was born again by the Holy Spirit and by God’s Word (John 3:5; Tit
3:5; Jas 1:18; 1 Pet 1:23). I committed my life to the Lord and only
wanted to live for Him. Then God guided me to be trained at the FEBC and
to serve Him as I do today.
My dear brethren, men and their views
will pass away, and even you and I will pass away some day. Only God’s
Perfect Word, the Holy Bible will not pass away and can help men know
about God and about themselves, and about God’s salvation for them. Only
the Bible is able to change their lives through the work of the Holy
Spirit. Only the Bible is the foundation of their faith and salvation. If
we do not believe in the Perfect Bible, the Word of God, we do harm to
ourselves! How then can we lay a firm foundation for our loved ones,
especially for our younger generation, our children? By denying the
present perfection of the Scriptures, we are destroying the very
foundation of our faith by our very own unbelief and arrogance! It is
disturbing that many Christians cannot foresee the dangerous consequences
of such a denial! Is there still hope for the Church when many Bible
colleges and seminaries today are falling away from God’s Perfect Word?
My dear brethren, we need to adopt the
proper attitude of the Bereans who "received the word with all readiness
of mind, and search the scriptures daily, whether those things were so"
(Acts 17:11). Sadly, many Christians nowadays blindly believe and follow
the unbiblical arguments or views of Bible-denying scholars and ungodly
leaders! It is vital that we search God’s Perfect Word, the Holy
Scripture, and be very careful and discerning to check whether the
preachers whom we hear and the books that we read glorify God, magnify His
Perfect Word, increase our faith in and our love for the Lord and for His
Perfect Word, encourage us to do God’s will, and help us contend for God’s
truth and the faith. Like Peter, we put our trust in our Lord and in His
Perfect Word and say to Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the
words of eternal life" (John 6:68).
My dear brethren, I pray that you will
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and follow Him because you know Him
and His Perfect Word and disregard the so-called "scholars" who cast doubt
on God’s Word with their worldly wisdom and ungodly arguments and
criticisms. Only the Lord Jesus truly loves you and me, died for you and
me, and is able to save you and me; no one else can, no, not one. Do you
agree with me? Surely you do! The Lord Jesus says, "He that rejecteth
me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I
have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48)
and "If a man love me, he will keep my words" (John 14:23). Then
you and I better wholeheartedly and sincerely receive the Lord Jesus
Christ and His Perfect words so that when He comes we will not be judged.
I will be very happy and will praise the Lord when you can say to me like
the Samaritans, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we
have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the
Saviour of the world" (John 4:42) and like the psalmist saying to the
Lord, "Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy
words" (Ps 119:57), and "Thy word is very pure: therefore thy
servant loveth it" (Ps 119:140).
May God strengthen you and bless you
through His Perfect Word.
Gia-Hien Nguyen is a ThM (summa cum laude) graduate of
Far Eastern Bible College. His ThM thesis entitled, "The Vietnamese New
Testament Examined under the Textus Receptus and the King James Bible,"
was highly commended by Huu-Tri Pham—a John Sung convert who served in the
Bible Society of Vietnam.
- Published in
The Burning Bush, Volume 12 Number
2 (July 2006)
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