Jess Whitlock
Years ago a bulletin crossed my desk with a cartoon designed to teach a valuable lesson. It pictured a business meeting in some man-made church. The chairman is speaking to a group of men seated around a large table. The caption read, “So, it is determined that the will of God cannot be overturned without a two-thirds majority vote.” At the time, it was thought to be funny. However, how many thought that such thinking would ever invade the church for which Christ died? Christ died for His church which is the “one body” (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4; Matt. 16:18).
During that time we had a group of young people taking part in a Bible Bowl competition in the Oklahoma City area. One of the men brought to my attention that the coordinators had decided to change the basis for the questions from the King James Version to the New International Version (NIV). We wrote to inquire as to why such a change had been made. We were informed by letter that the change had been made to the NIV for the Bowl “because it was by landslide the choice of the sponsors” for the Bowl. I asked if the sponsors voted by “landslide” to bring in the Baptist Manual, the Methodist Discipline, or the writings of Premillennialism what would happen? They informed me that such could (would) never happen.
I then explained that the doctrines of total depravity, unconditional election, salvation by faith alone and the doctrine of once saved, always saved are all taught in the pages of the NIV. Not only that, but the NIV denies that Jesus Christ is God’s “only begotten Son” (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1st John 4:9). Don’t take my word for it, look up each passage in the NIV text and the Greek word monogenes is half translated.
Christ warned, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Every copy of the NIV that I’ve ever seen says somewhere on it, “Holy Bible.” But, does God’s inspired Bible teach that man can be saved by faith alone, that Christ is going to return to earth and set up a reign in literal Jerusalem, that we can use mechanical music in worship to God, that Christ is not deity, or that man comes into this world with a “sinful nature”? Yet, the NIV advocates these false doctrines plus 101 others.
Needless to say, our young people did not attend any more of those Bible Bowls. “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil…” (Exo. 23:2a).
