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Bible Discussion / I don't know what to do...

« on: November 15, 2023, 08:32:35 PM »

A situation which has been developing, is coming to a head. In short, I am having a crisis, and I don’t know what to do. I am praying earnestly for guidance. Additionally, I would gladly accept the help of fellow Christians to aid in properly dividing the Word. My problem is this: The female friend who I mentioned in my earlier testimony loves me, and I love her in return. If all goes according to my heart, then I will have her in marriage before the year is out. However, I don’t know if this is God’s will and I do not trust my heart. I am praying for guidance. Biblically, we are both of us are free to re-marry, as far as I understand it.
My dilemna comes from this: I have been influenced by the Christian Identity movement, through my other friend who helped re-introduce me to Christ. For my part, I want only to be associated with the Word of God, and not be involved with any particular sects. In case you aren’t familiar with it, C.I. espouses, among other things, that both the Old Testament and New Testament doctrine and ordinances are all still in-effect, minus the Levitical priestly duties. In my case, the point I am running up against is encapsulated in Ezra chapter 9. As it is the entire chapter, it is too long to just quote it all here. The gist of the chapter, however, is that the Israelites were taking wives of the daughters of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites, which was a transgression of the Law. Ezra, learning of this, confers with the Lord God. The result is in Chapter 10:

Ezra 10:2,3
2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. 3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

Ezra 10:10-12
10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. 11 Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. 12 Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.

My friend corroborates this with the doctrine of Matthew, which he takes to mean that all of the previous Law up until Christ is still in effect.

Matthew 5:17-19 17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

I am extremely conflicted. Any advice anyone may be able to give, I would greatly appreciate.
Thank you for your time.

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Bible Discussion / Thomas Nelson KJV- any problems?

« on: October 17, 2023, 07:20:49 PM »

Hello all. Would you please help me with the following issue? I was reading the article "Hell is Real and Many People Are Going There", and came across this passage:

"The reason new-age bible versions change these words [in scripture] is not only because they want to use fancier foreign terms so they can sound really smart, but mainly because they need to change a certain percentage of words in the Bible so they can claim a copyright on it. Without the copyright, they cannot make any money from it, and so these con artists (who pride themselves to be "scholars") are more interested in turning a profit than they are interested in teaching the truth, and they would rather people end up in hell, so long as they can get their filthy lucre (i.e. money)."

This rang a small bell in my head, and so I checked on the inside cover of my KJV, and sure enough, there is a copyright mark. It is written: KJV Economy Bible, Copyright 2016 by Thomas Nelson. So, I then got to looking a bit into Thomas Nelson publishing, and found that they publish all sorts of new-age bibles, which is worrisome. What I am specifically concerned about is this scripture quote which follows the above passage:

Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
-Titus 1:11

I researched for any changes that Thomas Nelson may have made to the Word, but I didn't turn up anything. I then re-read a section I had found suspicious at the back of the book titled "Getting to Know God". The following is from this section:

When you recognize your sinful condition and accept by faith Jesus' death as payment, you receive his life, which is eternal. Receiving this free gift of salvation is as simple as saying, "Jesus, I acknowledge my sin and your payment for it on the cross. I now ask you to forgive me and I willingly give my life to you." At that very moment, he will come into your innermost being throught the power of his Holy Spirit and start you on a wonderful journey toward intimacy and eternal life with God.

It then goes on to suggest a 'path of salvation' approach to a Godly life. Nowhere in this entire commentary is mentioned the need for repentance, contrition, or fear and love of God.

Has Thomas Nelson changed anything in the scriptures to warrant their copyright claim? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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Introduce Yourself / New member- greetings!

« on: October 06, 2023, 02:11:37 AM »

Hello all. My name is Travis. I am an American living in Japan since 2008. I came across Creation Liberty a few years ago by chance. I think it was through the Freemasonry arcticle. At the time I was experiencing a stressful work environment, marital problems, and an all-around materialistic worldview. I was definitely not a believing Christian at this time, and I can now attribute much of my condition to a lack of God in my life. Moreover, these spiritual and personal problems were exacerbated by political and social problems that were also occuring, many of which I was unable to resolve. Social tensions eventually eased, but not due to my efforts. My marriage ended, and I can now see that it was because neither I or my wife were in Christ.
I have emailed with Christopher a few times now and he has helped me out quite a bit. Also I have been reading articles on the website and reading this forum for some time. Sadly, I do not have a testimony of repentance and salvation to share with you all. The pride and hardness of my heart is still overpowering. The very thought of facing all my sins is terrifying, so this is top-priority for me, and I hope to be able to share my testimony with you sometime soon.
I have joined this forum hoping to come to a proper fear and love of God, repentance, an understanding of the Gospel, and of course for fellowship. There are likely things I`m believing that conflict with Scriptural truth, so I`m grateful for the chance to fellowship.

I don`t exactly know where to start. I can`t claim to be well-versed in Scripture, so I couldn`t think of an appropriate handle for a forum name to reflect my Biblical understanding. Instead I chose the name Woodpot, because it sort of describes where I am at this point, or at least, where I see myself as being. Since as early as I can remember I`ve enjoyed getting my hands dirty- in the sandbox, dirt piles, mud; later on in working with clay and wood, which is part of what led me to a life in Japan. I`ve always enjoyed the challenges of working with my hands- it`s nice working with simple materials. I`m a solitary type, and from a young age I`ve tried to maintain a distance between my personal beliefs and the beliefs that the world imposes on us, trying not to be corrupted. In that sense living in Japan has been good for me, as people tend not to be confrontational. On the other hand, the Japanese by and large are devoid of spiritual belief or conviction. As you all are no doubt aware, it`s almost impossible not to be influenced by the beliefs of those around you. This spiritual void surrounding me has taken it`s toll over the years, and I have recently come to realize that my current situation is rooted in a lack of a Scriptural foundation, and understanding of the Law.

So with that brief introduction, thank you. I hope we have much to share!