Why We Use the King James Bible, Lesson 10: Answering Honest Questions

Welcome to Authorized Sword Ministries. This is Lesson 10 in our series, Why We Use the King James Bible. Today's lesson is called Answering Honest Questions.

We're so glad you're here.

If you have started using the King James Bible, or if you have begun to explain why we do, you have probably already heard some honest questions. They deserve honest answers, given with a meek spirit, not with a sharp edge.

Our Key Verse

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"
— 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)

Be ready. Give an answer. And do it "with meekness and fear." A warrior for the truth does not need to be harsh. We also remember Paul's charge:

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
— 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

"Isn't it too hard to read?"

This is the question we hear most. We understand it. The King James uses words we do not say every day, and the sentences are often longer than modern English. Lesson 5 was written for this very concern.

The short answer is, it is not nearly as hard as it looks once you learn a few keys. "Thee" and "thou" always mean one person. "Ye" and "you" always mean more than one. The "-eth" ending is just the old way of saying "-s." Words in italics were added to make sense in English, and the translators marked them so you could see their work. Some old words, like "conversation," "prevent," "suffer," and "let," need a simple definition, and Webster's 1828 dictionary is a good help.

The best way over the bump is to read it out loud, a chapter a day, starting in the Gospel of John. The ear learns faster than the eye at first. Many families, including children, have done this and found that the language opens up. We do not believe God preserved His Word only for scholars. He gave it for the people.

"Aren't all versions basically the same?"

They are not. They are often close in many places, and we can be thankful when a modern version still teaches that Jesus is God, that He died and rose again, and that salvation is by grace through faith. We said that in Lesson 1, and we still mean it.

But "basically the same" does not fit the evidence we have laid on the table. Whole verses are moved to footnotes or dropped from the main text. "God was manifest in the flesh" becomes "He appeared." "Joseph and his mother" becomes "his father." "Through his blood" disappears from Colossians 1:14. "On me" drops out of John 6:47. "But by every word of God" drops out of Luke 4:4. If all versions were basically the same, we would not need this series, and you would not keep finding the same kind of changes in the same kind of places.

The differences come, as Lessons 6 and 8 explained, from two different streams of manuscripts, not only from updated English.

"Are you saying people who read another Bible aren't saved?"

No. We are not saying that, and we do not believe that. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in a Bible edition.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
— Romans 10:9 (KJV)

Many dear believers have come to Christ reading another version, and God has used His Word in their lives. We rejoice in that. Our stand is not a test of fellowship in the sense that we deny they are brothers and sisters in Christ. Our stand is that the words matter, that God promised to preserve them, and that we want the most faithful English Bible in the pulpit, in the home, and in our own hands. We can hold that conviction firmly and still speak with meekness to a brother or sister who is not yet persuaded.

If anyone has used the King James Bible as a stick to beat other Christians, that is not the spirit of this ministry, and it is not the spirit of 1 Peter 3:15.

"If the King James is so clear, why do we need helps at all?"

Because even a clear Bible should be studied. The first readers of Paul had to compare Scripture with Scripture too. The Bereans "searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). Cross references, a simple dictionary, and a slow, praying heart are not a sign that the King James has failed. They are the tools of a workman who wants to be approved unto God.

A Simple Step for This Week

Write down the three questions you hear most, or the one that still bothers you. Beside each, write a meek, two- or three-sentence answer from this lesson. Practice saying it out loud, as if a friend had just asked you at the table.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father, sanctify our hearts, and make us ready to give an answer with meekness and fear. Keep us from pride, and keep us from being ashamed of the Book You have given us. Help us to be workmen that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, and kind to every person who asks. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Thank you for spending this time with us. This is Authorized Sword Ministries. God bless you.

Study Questions

1. What two things does 1 Peter 3:15 tell us to have when we give an answer?
2. How does Lesson 5 help with the question, "Isn't the King James too hard to read?"
3. What is a simple plan for getting used to the language?
4. Why is it not accurate to say that all versions are basically the same?
5. Where do many of the differences actually come from, according to Lessons 6 and 8?
6. Does this ministry teach that a person who reads another version cannot be saved? What verse shows where salvation is found?
7. How can a person hold a firm conviction about the King James Bible and still be meek?
8. Why is it still right to use study helps with a clear Bible?
9. What question do you personally find hardest to answer, and how would you answer it now?
10. Who is one person you can speak to this week with meekness about this subject?