(From the book, Enemies of Soulwinning)
by Dr. Jack Hyles
In order to live as a child of God, I must have a perfect Bible. Matthew
4:4, "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Notice
the words, "every word."
If I have my prayers answered, I must have a perfect Bible. John 15:7,
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you." That means that somewhere in the world,
there has to be a perfect Bible.
God has told us that His words are pure. Psalm 12:6, "The words of the
LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven
times."
God has told us that these pure words would be preserved forever. Psalm
12:7, "Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them for this
generation forever." Since today is a part of forever, somewhere in the
world there must be pure words of God. Hence, it does not satisfy me for
someone to say that only in the original do we have the pure words of God.
Since there are no original manuscripts today, or for that matter, there
are no manuscripts even near the original manuscripts as far as time is
concerned, then what these people are saying is that we do not have anywhere
today any book that contains the pure words of God. yet, I am commanded
to preach the Word. II Timothy 4:2, "Preach the word; be instant in season,
out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
Now since the words of God are pure, and since all of the so-called
Bibles do not have the same words, only one can be the real Bible that
contains the very words of God, the pure words of God, and the preserved
words of God. The purpose of this chapter is not to enter into a discussion
about the Textus-Receptus or Wescott-Hort; it is simply to say that if
God commanded me to preach His Word, He would have to give me His Word
to preach, and certainly His Word is pure, because the words of God are
pure according to the aforementioned Scriptures and will be preserved forever.
This preacher believes that those preserved words are in the Bible that
I hold in my right hand at this very moment-the King James Bible!
I have more respect for the person who says that one of the false Bibles
contains the very words of God than for the person who says only the original
contains the very words of God. At least he believes, though wrongly, that
we still have the words of God which are pure. For many, many reasons I
believe that the King James Bible has been preserved in the English language
word-for-word. I have to believe that. I must have the words of God, if
I live, if I preach, and if I get my prayers answered.
1. There are some things that are incorruptible. The word "incorruptible"
means "perfect," "cannot change," "cannot be improved." If you change something,
it must go to perfection or from perfection, so if something can be changed,
it must have been imperfect and been made perfect, or it must have been
perfect and made imperfect. Let us notice some things that are incorruptible.
(1) God. Romans 1:23, "And changed the glory of the
incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, an to birds,
and to fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." This means that God is
perfect. He cannot be improved; He cannot change. He cannot be taken from
imperfection to perfection or from perfection to imperfection.
(2) Our future crown. I Corinthians 9:25, "And every man that
striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to
obtain corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." Once the crown is received,
it cannot be improved; it cannot change. It will be perfect.
(3) Our glorified bodies. I Corinthians 15:52, "In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." I
John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like
him; for we shall see him as he is." Notice that our glorified body will
be like His, and it will be incorruptible. His glorified body is incorruptible.
You cannot improve it; you cannot change it. Then, my glorified body will
be incorruptible. It cannot be improved; it cannot be changed.
(4) Our inheritance. I Peter 1:4, "To an inheritance incorruptible,
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." Our
inheritance will be perfect. It cannot be improved; it cannot be changed.
(5) The Word of God. I Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth for ever." Psalm 126:6, "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing
precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his
sheaves with him." Luke 8:11, "Now the parable is this: The seed is the
word of God." You will notice the seed from which we are born again is
incorruptible. It is the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
Consequently, you cannot improve it; you cannot change it. If you do, you
must go from imperfection or to imperfection. Notice in I Peter 1:23 it
is called "incorruptible." Just as God is incorruptible, just as our crown
is incorruptible, just as our glorified body will be incorruptible, just
as Jesus' body is incorruptible, just as our inheritance is incorruptible;
likewise, the Word of God is incorruptible.
Notice in Psalm 126:6, it is "Precious seed." This implies that there
is some seed which is not precious. Luke 8:11 teaches that this seed is
the Word of God. It is perfect; it cannot be changed; it cannot be improved.
2. The words of God are the genes of regeneration. Titus 3:5, "Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."
Actually the word "regeneration" means "to be re-gened." Just as the genes
of my parents brought my old nature into existence, even so the genes of
God brought my new nature into existence. Your old nature is sinful because
there was sin in the genes, but the genes of the Word of God are incorruptible,
meaning that which is born of God; that is, the new nature, cannot sin.
Now if the very words of God must be pure, and if in fact the King James
Bible contains the preserved words of God, then any other words are not
the words of God. This means that the Revised Version is not precious seed
because it is not incorruptible. This means that the Good News for Modern
Man is not precious seed, because it is not incorruptible. This means that
the Living Bible is not precious seed because it is not incorruptible.
This means that the Reader's Digest Bible is not precious seed, because
it is not incorruptible. This means that the New King James Bible is not
precious seed because it is not incorruptible. This means that the New
Scofield Bible is not precious seed, because it is not incorruptible. This
means that the New international version (NIV) is not precious seed, and
it is not incorruptible. This means that the American Standard Version
is not precious seed because it is not incorruptible. If the versions do
not agree, then all of them cannot be the very words of God that have been
preserved for us.
3. The genes of the new birth must be incorruptible. I Peter
1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." These words were
penned in the first century, but it says that the incorruptible seed "liveth
and abideth for ever." Since today is a part of "for ever," we must have
the incorruptible seed in order to be re-gened, or regenerated, or born
again.
4. Suppose corruptible seed is used. Can a person then be born
again from it? You answer that question. According to I Peter 1:23 we read,
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed..." Then, if corruptible seed
is used, one cannot be born again. I have a conviction as deep as my soul
that every English-speaking person who has ever been born again was born
of incorruptible seed; that is, the King James Bible. Does that mean that
if someone goes soul winning and takes a false Bible that the person who
receives Christ is not saved? I believe with all of my soul that the incorruptible
seed must have been used somewhere in that person's life. If all a person
has ever read is the Revised Standard Version, he cannot be born again,
because corruptible seed is used, and I Peter 1:23 is very plain to tell
us that a person cannot be born again of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible
seed, and it explains that that incorruptible seed is the Word of God,
and it explains that it liveth and abideth forever.
This is also borne out in Psalm 19:7, "The law of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple." Notice the words, "the law of the LORD is perfect,
converting the soul." It is the law of the Lord that converts. It is the
Word of God that regenerates. The Word is the seed, and the seed must be
incorruptible.
5. The perfect Word of God must be used if a person grows in grace. I Peter 2:2, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that
ye may grow thereby." Notice that it is the "sincere" Word of God by which
we grow in grace. So, to grow in grace, we must have the sincere (pure)
Word of God.
This same thing is taught in Deuteronomy 4:10, 36, "Specially the day
that the stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said
unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words,
that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the
earth, and that they may teach their children. Out of heaven he made thee
to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed
thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the
fire."
Notice the words of God are what teach us, and from the words of God
we are to be instructed. If they are in fact words of God, they must be
pure, because a pure God could not give impure words, and an incorruptible
God could not give corruptible words.
6. These words of God are perfect. There are several things in
the Bible that are called perfect.
(1) His work is perfect. Deuteronomy 32:4, "He is the
Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth
and without iniquity, just and right is he."
(2) His way is perfect. Psalm 18:30, "As for God, his way is
perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that
trust in him."
(3) The Heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
(4) The glorified body will be perfect. I Corinthians 13:10,
"but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall
be done away."
(5) The law of the Lord is perfect. Psalm 19:7, "The law of the
Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple."
So we must have an incorruptible, perfect Word of God. To say that this
could be found only in the original manuscripts is to say we have no words
of God today that are perfect, which means we have no perfect Book to preach,
we have no perfect Book to read, we have no perfect Book by which to grow,
and we have no perfect Seed by which we can be born again or re-gened or
regenerated.
7. There are several ways that the words of God are made into impure
words by translators and theologians (self-styled).
(1) They add to the Word of God. "Proverbs 30:5, 6,
"Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust
in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be
found a liar." Notice several things in these verses. First, every word
of God is pure. Psalm 119:140, "Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant
loveth it." Psalm 12:6, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver
tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." Psalm 19:8, "The statutes
of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD
is pure, enlightening the eyes." Second, in Proverbs 30:6, we are told
not to add to these words. Third, in verse 6 the Bible says that He reproves
those who do add to His words.
Then in verse 6 also, the Bible says that those who do add to His words
are liars.
Now notice Deuteronomy 4:2a, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I
command you...." We are commanded not to add to His Word.
(2) They take away from the words of God. Deuteronomy 4:2, "Ye
shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish
ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which
I command you." God plainly commands that we not diminish His Word.
Now notice Revelation 22:19, "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 the book." A stern rebuke and warning is given to anyone who
takes away from the words of God. This means that God's judgment will rest
upon those who try to give us a condensed Bible.
(3) They will try to change the Word of God. Jeremiah 26:2, "Thus
saith the Lord; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto
all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all
the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word."
Here we have a command not to diminish one word. it is not talking here
necessarily about taking words away but changing a word or diminishing
a word. Let the translators of the many versions take heed and take warning.
In conclusion, one may ask, "What does this have to do with soul winning?"
Beloved, it has everything to do with soul winning. If the words of God
are the incorruptible seed, and if seed must be incorruptible, if someone
is born again, then the soul winner must have a perfect Bible. Thank God,
we do!