So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, Romans 10:17.
I have been seeing various inquiries about the King James Bible issue that once they are boiled down to a common denominator, basically say this; why or how did you come to put your faith in the King James Bible? I have to go back over forty years to remember, but there was a time when I put my faith in the new versions of the bible. In particular, I read the New American Standard Version for my daily reading and study. Prior to that, I read through the Good News For Modern Man completely four times.
Did those new versions help me? Without any doubt they helped me. I first familiarized myself with the basics of bible stories, and it was while I read those versions that I came to desire a Christian life and began attending Bible studies and worship services. In those days I read commentaries and actually began teaching in the bible studies. I began to memorize Greek passages in the bible with the hope of gaining a deeper insight.
My first exposure to the King James Bible issue was contentious. A man began to attend our bible studies and criticize us for using the other versions. We had a troubled young man who would often come to our studies and the new contentious man converted him to the King James Only position. I was indignant. Being the typical mamsy pamsy Evangelical, I sought to find a peaceful solution. I wanted all of us in one bible study.
We were all military living overseas and I hated the thought of dividing up our little group. The only way I knew to handle that was to swallow my pride and beginning using a King James Bible. My thought process was that I would only do this until I had the the intellectual ammunition to shut down this new interloper and to deliver this vulnerable young man from the throes of this new and contentious man.
A strange thing happened. Instead of me putting my faith in the bible that I was using, the bible I was using began to put faith in me. As I learned new things out of the bible, I found them to be far more life altering. I had always learned new things when I read the other versions, but now the new things that I learned seemed to grip me instead of me gripping them.
Over forty years later, I am still using the King James Bible. As I sought intellectual ammunition to overthrow this strange new belief that the King James Bible was perfect, I found that it really was perfect. My answer to those who question why I put my faith in one book is that that one book puts faith in me. The greatest single proof that the King James Bible is the word of God is that it can do anything and everything that the word of God says that it can do.
The faith it imparts to me is miraculous. It searches my inward parts. It renews my mind. I have been glad and thankful for the many intellectual and historical truths that I have since learned, but I never want to confuse those with the overwhelming proof that the King James Bible has been in its own right. Over forty years ago, that book gripped my life. It transformed me. Eventually it brought me to a church whereby I was brought to biblical repentance. It is the word of God.