The Mutual Foundation of the
Grace Unity Conference

 

One of the many challenges and obstacles we have to overcome to work towards unity is that there are many different bibles out on the market today and it seems like they are increasing more and more as time marches on.

The problem with this is that most of these bibles do not match one another and say many different things in many different places. This causes confusion and division among believers. And they all ask themselves, “Which bible should I use?”

Many years ago, the choice was much easier because there were just a few out on the market, but today there are dozens, which makes it much tougher for the average believer.

Most new believers just go with what they are told to use by their older brethren or they will use whatever the preacher uses.

And of course, each publisher says theirs is the best. No one is going to say that theirs is second best or third best and they push and market their bibles to make sales, whether it is the best or not and some even claim a copyright on the word of God and will not allow you to use a certain number of their bible verses in a publication without their written permission.

Imagine that, having a copyright on the word of God.

All of this causes mass confusion for the average believer and leads to disunity among believers.
Because many of these bibles say many different things in many different places it would not be feasible to allow different bibles to be used to work towards unity.

For example:

Preacher “A” uses the New International Version. He believes this bible means exactly what it says with all his heart. He believes it is the true word of God in the English language without error. He puts his faith and trust in the word of God through the NIV.

Preacher “B” uses the King James Bible. He believes this bible means exactly what it says with all his heart. He believes it is the true word of God in the English language without error. He puts his faith and trust in the word of God through the King James.

Both of these preachers are hard working dedicated men in the ministry, they both love the Lord and they both love the word of God and they are both soul winners and dedicated teachers of the word of God.

They come together to meet at a Unity Conference to fellowship and work out division problems. If the Unity Conference were to allow any bible to be used, here could be one scenario:

Galatians 2:16 is brought up. In the NIV it says,

“16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith “IN” Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith “IN” Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

In the King James it says,

“16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith “OF” Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith “OF” Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Preacher “A” teaches that you are justified by faith “IN” Jesus Christ. It is the believer’s faith that justifies him.

Preacher “B” teaches that you are justified by the faith “OF” Jesus Christ. It is Christ’s faith that justifies him.

Both of these teachers are teaching exactly what each of their bibles say. The preachers are doing nothing wrong but they are each quoting scripture from each of their bibles but they are teaching two completely different things.

The preachers are not at fault here, but rather the bibles that they are using say two completely different things thus the preachers are teaching two completely different things.

Preacher “A” backs his teaching up with scripture. Preacher “B” backs his teaching up with scripture. They are both using Galatians 2:16 but their bibles do not match, therefore the teachings do not match, therefore the teachers do not match, therefore there is division between the teachers.

Both of these teachers want to believe their bibles mean exactly what they say, they both want to teach the truth, but they will NEVER be able to come to unity on this matter because their bibles say two completely different things.

This is just one scripture in two different bibles. Just imagine having a dozen different bibles and hundreds of scriptures that did not match. Mass confusion!

For more detailed information on this subject of the Faith OF Christ please check out this link:

The Faith OF Christ

It would be impossible to have unity in this manner.

To allow different bibles to be used at the Unity Conference here is what we would have to do:

1. We would have to go through all these bibles and pick out all the verses that did not match and make a big list and tell the preachers that they cannot use or go to these verses such as Galatians 2:16. They would only be allowed to use verses that match in every bible.

2. We would not be allowed to address certain topics such as the faith OF Christ, the Trinity (the Godhead) and such because of these different bibles saying different things. We would have to limit ourselves to certain topics.

Another example:

We could not discuss the topic of the Trinity because some bibles leave it out. In the scriptures it mentions many times about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But there is only one place in the bible that it mentions that these three are one. It is in 1st John 5:7. Let’s read out of a King James starting in verse 6 which says,

“6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”

Please notice in verse 7 that it says, “…and these three are one.”

But in a New American Standard it says something quite different, Starting in verse 6 it says,

“6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

7 For there are three that testify:

8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

In the New American Standard they took verse 8 and broke it down into two parts part “A” and part “B”.

They left verse 7 completely out, which states:

“7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

…and in it’s place they put part “A” of verse 8 and left part ”B” to complete verse 8.

This is not only done in the New American Standard, but also in many bibles. Sometimes they split up verse 8 sometimes they split up verse 6, but they leave verse 7 completely out.

So teaching on this subject, “These three are one”, cannot be accomplished with any bible. So if we were to allow different bibles to be used at Unity Conferences, the teaching of the Trinity is just one of the subjects we could not discuss because the bibles do not match.

We would have to go through all of these bibles and decide what topics could be taught and what topics could not be taught, what verses we could use and what verses that would not be allowed to use.

Now you can see what mass confusion using different bibles would be. After we finished our list of what scriptures could be used and what scriptures could not be used the preachers would have to memorize them before they went and preached or bring the list to the pulpit with them and go through the list as they were preaching.

Allowing a preacher to use a scripture out of one bible and another preacher to use the same passage out of another bible and it says something different is not going to work. All it will do is add to the confusion and division that we already have.

Therefore the decision has been made to have a mutual foundation for all Unity Conferences and only one bible will be used and it will be the King James Bible.

The King James Bible was chosen because it is by far the most popular bible among people that rightly divide the word of truth and that get into the deep things of God.

Just about any preacher can use any bible to lead someone to Christ, but when it comes to the deep things of God, you have to have a King James Bible.

For instance the two examples we gave about the faith OF Christ and the Trinity.

You CAN teach the faith OF Christ out of these bibles:

King James
Young’s Literal Translation
The 21st Century King James Bible
Darby’s Translation
Webster’s Bible

But you CANNOT teach the faith OF Christ out of these bibles:

New King James Bible
New Living Translation
New International Version
English Standard Version
New American Standard
Revised Standard Version
American Standard Version

You CAN teach the Trinity out of these bibles:

King James
New King James
21st Century King James Bible
Young’s Literal Translation
Webster’s Bible

But you CANNOT teach the Trinity out of these bibles:

New Living Translation
New International Version
English Standard Version
New American Standard
Revised Standard Version
American Standard Version
Darby’s Translation

And these are just some of the bibles, there are more.

Some bibles limit you to what you can teach such as stated above. Just about all bibles can be used to lead someone to Christ and teach them basics.

When it comes time to get into the deeper things of God, most of these bibles start to cave in but the King James remains rock solid. Those teachers that get into the deeper things of God understand the power behind the King James Bible. It has a power like no other, and once you have tasted this power, the desire to go back to something less powerful goes by the wayside.

If the Grace Unity Conferences just consisted of just teaching on salvation and basic stuff then there might be a possibility of using different bibles. But there is not really any division among grace believers about the basic stuff.

We all believe that Christ died for sins, was buried and rose again. We all teach that we are saved by grace through faith not of works during this dispensation of grace. We all believe that we are eternally secure in Christ Jesus.

It is when we start to get into the deeper things of God is where the division starts to come in, and as you can clearly see, using different bibles doesn’t help one bit.

There are many preachers that use several bibles including the King James, so using just the King James for a weekend at a bible conference is not going to bother them one bit.

But then there are preachers that despise the King James and do not want to have nothing to do with it. We cannot help these brethren.

We MUST have a mutual foundation for the Unity Conferences for the above stated reasons. The King James is by far the most popular bible of those that get into the deep things of God, and for that reason it is the choice for the Unity Conferences.

But if there are enough preachers that are interested, we can have a Unity Conference with a theme of discussing the differences between bibles. I do not see us accomplishing much out of this type of conference, but it might help those brethren that think all bibles are the same.

Our deepest apologies to those that refuse to use the King James Bible for a weekend. Our options in this matter have been weighed and compared and it is far more beneficial to have a mutual foundation for the Grace Unity Conferences than to allow mass confusion of different bibles that say different things.

Of course, you could always put on your own Unity Conference and allow different bibles to be used, but you also will come across the same problems that we have foreseen that they will cause. Or you could put on your own conference and allow just one bible to be used that is not the King James, but you would still be limiting the subjects that could be taught.

Please understand our decision in this matter. Our goal is to work towards unity and it would be impossible to do so with many different bibles that say many different things in many different places.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.