An Accurate Knowledge Of The Truth

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the [accurate] knowledge of the truth. – I Timothy 2: 4

The key word here is ‘accurate’. It is in my heart to do a different type of teaching to help you gain an accurate knowledge of God’s Word in a variety of Scriptures that you may have been misunderstanding for many years. Why don’t we simply get started and you will be able to understand the structure and purpose of the teaching after the first example? This teaching will follow the same format throughout.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. -- II Timothy 1: 7

More literal translation: For God hath not given us a cowardly spirit; but God hath given to us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. – II Timothy 1: 7

The word ‘fear’ here is actually referring to moral cowardice. Many people will not take a stand on God’s Word because they are cowards. It takes integrity and perseverance to stand on God’s principles in this present evil world. But fear is fear and the verse is trying to tell you that its source is not of the true God. There is only one other source and that is the god of this world. The Word of God living in your renewed mind will eventually drive all fear away and you will be able to experience spiritual power, the love of God which never fails, and a sound mind – one that is filled with whole thoughts and not half thoughts. The word ‘power’ is the Greek word ‘dunamis’ and it means inherent power. When we act on and apply God’s Word, the inherent power becomes exercised power (exousia). Also, the phrase ‘sound mind’ is most interesting because this type of mind allows you to control all inordinate desires by self-constraint.

Another interesting use of this verse is to help counter negative thinking. I’ve done this often throughout my life and it should really bless you and help you a great deal. Take note of the structure of the verse. There is the word ‘fear’ and then there are three words or terms following which are ‘power, love, and of a sound mind’. There is one negative concept and three positive concepts. Is there something to be learned here?

There is a fantastic principle here that will help you to overcome negative thinking and it works! It’s simple. If ever you are hit with a negative thought, immediately think three (3) positive thoughts. Negative thinking is believing in reverse and brings negative results. Countering a negative thought with three positive thoughts negates the effect of the negative thought. Let me give you an example.

Your day is going along quite well, but all of a sudden, you start to worry about something. You start to feel badly and maybe a little fearful. The thought is either coming from your old man or from the enemy – your personal adversary. If you think three positive thoughts, this negative thought will just seem to disappear. It could be any type of positive thought.

Let’s say it is a beautiful sunshiny day outside. You can turn your mind to that thought. Let’s say you and your spouse or family are planning to have a delicious meal for dinner that night and you think on that thought. Maybe you have been having some type of physical problem lately that seems to have recently cleared up quite quickly and you think about that. THAT’S THREE POSITIVE THOUGHTS which counters or negates any negative effects of the one negative thought you initially had. This is truly an amazing principle and you will be amazed and thankful when you apply it. We learned a lot from just one Scripture.

Be careful [anxious or distracted] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication [be specific] with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. – Philippians 4: 6

If you look in a Lexicon, you cannot find the word ‘careful’ in reference to verse 6 of Chapter 4. This is a very poor translation that confuses many believers and should have been translated ‘anxious’ or distracted. Both work hand in hand. The word ‘careful’ has a totally different meaning in present-day English. The first part of the verse is in reference to anxiety. Anxiety is not of the true God. It causes a variety of health problems and should be avoided. God is telling us never to be anxious, but instead to pray and be thankful by letting your specific requests be made known unto Him. One of the greatest tricks of the adversary today is to make people anxious. Everything seems to move very quickly and it should be pointed out that even pictures on a television screen move so fast that the brain cannot think that quickly. Television can definitely cause anxiety by taxing your brain to think at a speed that it was not designed to do. An anxious mind is also a distracted mind. And that is a mind that cannot focus or concentrate on anything and cannot relax. Be aware of this device designed by Satan. It is impossible to think on two things at the exact same time. Your mind can only think on one thing at a time. If the enemy can make you anxious, you will never experience the more than abundant life that God intends for you to have. Remember, your key to power is the renewed mind.

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. -- Romans 1: 26, 27

Make no mistake. God speaks clearly about homosexuality and lesbianism AND THAT IS WHAT THIS VERSE IS ADDRESSING. God refers to their affections as vile; He says that what they do contradicts nature; He says what they do is unseemly; and He also says that they will get what they have coming them. Ok? For those of you who might still be wondering what God’s stand is on this issue. It could not be any clearer. This is the strongest devil spirit in Satan’s arsenal. So many homosexuals and lesbians are so bold and arrogant because they cannot escape the clutches of Satan. It is most difficult, to say the least, to be set free from this type of possession and control. That’s why many of them simply give up. They became in their miserable condition as a result of their OWN FREE WILL. Neither God nor the devil put a gun to their head. This behavior is referred to as without natural affection and you cannot stoop any lower. It is not the bottom of the barrel – it is underneath the barrel. There are many other references to ‘without natural affection’ in the Bible. I wanted you to know one that is in the Church Epistles. The Church Epistles are written directly to the Church of the Body of Christ of which born-again believers belong. I myself have had difficult experiences with homosexuals and lesbians. I would suggest that you do everything within reason to avoid them. Remember, they comprise Satan’s Five-Star Generals and he is on a frenzied recruiting campaign. It is out of the love of God that I have for you born-again Christians that I WARN YOU.

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? – Matthew 27: 46

How in the world can this verse make any sense? It doesn’t. It is one of the poorest translations found anywhere in the Bible. It happens to concern a very important time and subject. Did you know that this translation is only found in the Western part of the world? In the East, Bibles translate this verse totally different.

First of all, why did the translators leave in the foreign words - which is an obvious deviation from the usual? We can understand most of this verse except for the foreign words. But the verse contradicts other verses in the Word of God. God would not forsake Jesus Christ because Christ became sin and God could not stand sin. Jesus Christ always did the Father’s Will and he was doing so at the time. So why would God forsake Christ at this time of need? We need to go to God’s Word to begin clearing this up.

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered [Jesus is talking to his apostles], every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. – John 16: 32

Jesus Christ was talking about the time of his crucifixion and of his death. He said that the Father was with him. But yet in Matthew 27: 46, it says that God forsook Jesus Christ. How can this be possible?

I and my Father are one [unity of purpose]. – John 10: 30

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, . . . . . – II Corinthians 5: 19a

How can we separate the fullness of the Godhead which dwelt in Christ’s presence on earth?

For in him [in Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily [the head, God]. – Colossians 2: 9

So how could Jesus Christ have said: “My God my God, why has thou forsaken me?” He didn’t as we are about to see. The Word of God cannot contradict itself and this verse in Matthew chapter 27 contradicts many other examples in God’s Word. Here is just one example. Christ said the following when he was taken captive.

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently [immediately] give me more than twelve legions of angels? – Matthew 26: 53

That’s more than 72,000 angels! And God is going to forsake him on the cross??! Something is obviously wrong and it has to do with man’s interpretation of God’s perfect Word.

So where is the problem? In the first place, the foreign words left in the verse are Aramaic - Jesus Christ spoke Aramaic. (Aramaic is call Hebrew in the King James Version.) These Aramaic words were left in this particular Scripture because the translators simply did not know what to do with them. They let the verse set and added the English translation. Now to reach the proper translation.

The word eli means “my God”, but in Aramaic, there is no such word as the word lama. There is an Aramaic word lmna. Lmna is always a cry of victory or a declaration stating “for this purpose”, or “for this reason”. Now we are beginning to make progress and should be able to see where the verse is headed. Understanding the next word in the verse is also extremely important.

The root of the Aramaic word sabachthani is shbk. Shbk means “to reserve”, “to leave”, “to spare”, or “to keep”.

Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross at the crucial hour of 3 o’clock and this utterance came from the depth of his soul. HERE IS THE PROPER TRANSLATION OF MATTHEW 27: 46.

My God, my God, for this purpose was I reserved, for this purpose was I spared. – Matthew 27: 46

It was a cry of triumph reflecting your redemption and mine. Jesus’ last words after this are recorded in the gospel of John.

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost [his breath life]. – John 19: 30

Jesus Christ could have walked off that cross. He gave up his life by his free will to fulfill God’s perfect plan. Let’s see what the God of this world had to say after that.

The mystery is that after Jesus Christ died for our sins, we are now able to be born again of God’s Spirit and have the same Spirit Jesus Christ had upon him WITHIN us. This is a nightmare for Satan.

Which none of the princes [devil spirits; Satan] of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. – I Corinthians 2: 8

Can you imagine that? Now, all born again Christians have the same power and even greater than Jesus Christ himself. They have the ability to lead people to the new birth. The enemy made a major mistake. The purpose of this web site is to make you realize what you have in Christ Jesus. Most people do not know the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory. So many are spiritually weak and the god of this world wants you to stay that way. You have free will to believe the Word of God or reject it. One is the way of life and the other is the way of death.

If we did not clear up this Scripture in Matthew, the whole Bible falls to pieces. Before we move on, let me give you Lamsa’s translation from The Aramaic Of The Peshitta. And remember, all Eastern translations give the correct translation.

And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! My God, my God, for this I was spared! [This was my destiny.] – Matthew 27: 46 (George M. Lamsa’s Translation From The Aramaic Of The Peshitta)

The following verse is one you will hear in many funerals and they make it sound so touching when it is outright blasphemy. I thought this verse deserves it’s place here and I hope it makes you realize that the true God who is all light and in Him is no darkness at all, cannot and does not kill people. No longer will the enemy be able to lie to you regarding the following verse and its accurate translation.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. – Psalm 116: 15

The ministers or so-called reverends always like to use this verse in funerals and burials. They make it sound like the person was so precious to God, that He took them. This is not what this verse is saying at all. By misunderstanding the true meaning of one of the words in this verse, a great misunderstanding occurs. That is the word ‘precious’. The accurate meaning of this word is COSTLY. It hurts God to lose one of His people. When a man of God is no longer alive, it is costly to God since He no longer has that believer alive and representing Him. It hurts everyone to lose a loved one. This situation is not precious to God – it is hurtful, to use the figure of speech, condescensio. [This is when we give human characteristics to God who is Spirit.] The overall point is it IS NOT profitable to God when His son or daughter falls asleep. The next time you hear this verse being pulled out of context, you will know the truth. You should take that person aside and expound unto him or her the Word of God more perfectly.

We are now going to cover two (2) verses in the Church Epistle of Galatians chapter six that has caused no end of confusion to those who do not understand the Greek language. We are going to study what appears to be a contradiction, but is not. You, as a believer and student of God’s Word, must understand that, in Greek, two similar words can have completely different meanings and the following is a good example.

First, let’s get an idea of the context of the first five verses.

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. – Galatians 6: 1

God is telling us that if a brother or sister is having difficulties in a certain area, in this particular case, we should help that person. But God is saying to be spiritually sharp and make sure you do not also fall into the trap that the troubled believer has fallen into. I always remembered this illustration and you will too. If you are helping someone out of a hole that they fell into, MAKE SURE that they don’t pull you in with them. Now the next verse will tell us why we are able to help in this situation.

Bear ye one another’s burdens [baros], and so fulfil the law of Christ. – Galatians 6: 2

The key word to understanding this verse is the word ‘BURDENS’ which is baros in Greek. This word here denotes the pressure of a weight which may be relieved or transferred. Hence, someone may be allowed to help you to bear this type of burden.

For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. – Galatians 6: 3, 4

In verse 1 and 2, we were talking about helping someone who was overtaken in a fault. But now, especially in verse 4, the context seems to have changed to where a man should be able to prove his own work – he should be able to handle his own burdens. Now we come to verse 5 which seems to contradict verse 1 regarding this subject of ‘burdens’. Let’s study the verse and easily clear up any misunderstandings.

For every man shall bear his own burden [phortion]. – Galatians 6: 5

In verse 1 and 2, we said that that we should help one another bear each others burdens, BUT in this verse 5, the word for ‘burdens’ is a completely different Greek word with a completely different meaning. The word is phortion and it means a specific load that has to be borne. In this particular case, this type of burden is one that you must bear on your own. No one can help you with it.

And there you have it. What appears to be a blatant contradiction is only a result of us not rightly dividing God’s Word. We need to understand that the Greek language has different meanings for what is translated as the same word in the Bible.

I hope this type of teaching has helped you gain a more accurate knowledge of God’s Word, at least in the examples we have covered. I realized, as I began, that this type of teaching can go on forever, so I tried to choose examples that may bless you the most, glory to God. To close out this teaching I would like to cover a verse that is often pulled out of context and misinterpreted mainly due to the way it is written. It reinforces the point that if you don’t rightly divide the Word of God, you can make it say whatever you want. Here is a perfect example of that which is referred to as ‘private interpretation’. But first, examine this verse regarding ‘guesswork’.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. – II Peter 1: 20

The word ‘private’ in the Greek is the word idios which means ‘ones own’. We get our English word ‘idiot’ from this word. Now here is the verse we are going to study.

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. – Jude 1: 20

Believe it or not, people actually say that they prayed so hard, they actually PRAYED THE HOLY GHOST INTO THE MEETING! Lord, God, help us – that is NOT what the verse says. Many congregations misinterpret this verse in this manner. If anyone knows anything about the Holy Spirit field and the benefits of praying in the Spirit which is SPEAKING IN TONGUES, they know that one of those benefits is to ‘build up’ the person spiritually. It strengthens the Spirit, the inner man, while studying God’s Word strengthens the mind.

He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. -- I Corinthians 14: 4

The word ‘edify’ means to build up. That’s what Jude 1: 20 is saying when rightly divided. They were building up themselves by speaking in tongues. That simple. Just a quick lesson/reminder here. Do some of you remember how I taught you that words in italics were added by the translators? In I Corinthians 14: 4 the word unknown should be deleted. Why? Because if speaking in tongues is a language either of angels or of men [see I Corinthians 13: 1], then the language spoken in tongues is possibly known. Sometimes words in italics are accurate – sometimes they are not and result in private interpretation that can cause serious problems.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [emphasis added] -- II Timothy 2: 15

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