1st John 4:9, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
I am going to harp, holler and preach against the
corrupt Alexandrian Bible revisions until the Lord takes me home to
glory! The following three modern revisions corrupt 1st John 4:9 by removing
the important word begotten. The King James Bible calls Jesus Christ the
“only begotten Son” of God, but the new versions diminish the Savior to
“only Son,” which is heresy! The word “begotten” links the man Christ
Jesus was God the Father, being His very biological offspring, making Him
God almighty Himself...
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) - 1st John 4:9, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”
EASY-TO-READ VERSION (ERV) - 1st John 4:9, “This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him.”
THE VOICE (VOICE) - 1st John 4:9, “Because of this, the love of God is a reality among us: God sent His only Son into the world so that we could find true life through Him.”
If you're not a theologian, you likely won't
see a problem with “only begotten Son” being reduced to “only Son.” We'll,
I'll show you why it is very important. Jesus is not just the Son of God, He
is ALMIGHTY GOD in the flesh!
Religious Teachers Errantly Believe Jesus is the Son of God, but Not God the Son
Here is a satanic website, at HopeOfTheBible.com, which literally teaches that Jesus is God's Son, but not God in the flesh. The heretical article is titled, “Jesus — Son of God, but not God the Son.” Although not specified here, the author has aligned his beliefs with the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW's) religious cult. A fan of the heretical website is author Kermit Zarley. Mr. Zarley claims that he once believed in the Trinity (aka, Trinitarian) as an Evangelical Christian for 22 years, but then studied the Bible and now denies the doctrine of the Trinity (i.e., Godhead). May I say, he was never saved to begin with. Kermit Zarley may have ascribed to the philosophies of Christianity for 22 years, but he was never born-again in a Biblical sense. Mr. Zarley has authored six books, including “The Restitution Of Jesus Christ,” a bold denial of the deity of Jesus Christ and the Godhead). Another of his heretical books is titled, “Errors Of The Trinity.”
Clearly, and I say this kindly, Mr. Zarley is not a born-again Christian. Jesus plainly stated in John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” In the trustworthy King James Bible, we find the pronoun “he” in italics, which means it was added by the translators for clarity, so literally Jesus said “if ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins.” This is the same “I AM” (God almighty) of Exodus 13:14 and John 8:52. Exodus 13:14, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
Whether Mr. Zarley realizes it or not, he has aligned his beliefs with the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW's) religious cult. The Bible tells us that Satan secretly sows tares among the wheat. Matthew 13:25, “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” Consider the subtilty of the following quotes from HopeOfTheBible.com, from an article titled, “What I Believe The Bible Teaches For Salvation”:
Now, this is an unsaved religious person, yet look how closely he aligns himself to the truth...
“I believe that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was conceived by God’s power, the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary; that He lived a sinless life in obedience to God, His Father, in every respect; that He died on the cross for my sins; that God raised Him from the dead; that He was glorified and made immortal and ascended to heaven to sit at God’s right hand until a future appointed time when He will return to earth.”
Again, see how accurate and truthful the following statement is. Satan always hides his lies in between truth, to confuse and deceive his victims. The part of the deception that is truthful can be defended with incontestable logic, so that it makes it very difficult to discern the lies that damn men's souls...
“I believe that I can do nothing to save myself, that God requires only my faith in Him; that God loves me and that the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and life means I can ask for, and receive forgiveness of my sins from God.”
The two preceding quotes are truthful, but now here's the lies that they hide and protect...
“I believe that to be part of these promises, I must understand God’s message of hope, repent of my former life of disobedience to God, ask for forgiveness of my sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”
SOURCE: http://www.hopeofthebible.com/bible-truth/
So we see that the preceding author who believes in Jesus' virgin birth, sinless life, death, burial and resurrection, and salvation by faith alone, also believes that water baptism and turning away from sins is required to be saved. THIS MAN IS NOT SAVED! Do you see that he is teaching “Lordship Salvation” (i.e., the false teaching that to be saved a person must surrender to Jesus as “Lord,” and therefore must forsake sinful behavior and follow Christ for the rest of their life). This is not the Gospel. Water baptism is a picture of one's salvation, that is, the Gospel. Getting baptized in water is only for believers AFTER they are saved. Water baptism is one's public profession of faith. Baptism is not required for salvation. No one in the Old Testament was ever water baptized for salvation. The thief on the cross didn't have time to get baptized with water. In the Epistle of 1st John, the apostle tells us how to KNOW that we are saved (1st John 5:13), yet he never mentions water baptism, not once. Clearly, water baptism is not essential to be saved. Please see, “THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.”
Furthermore, repentance concerning salvation never means turning away from “a former life of disobedience.” Here is another false statement from HopeOfTheBible.com, where the author plainly teaches that he thinks salvation is a future event that is “conditional” upon our earthly performance...
I believe that the Bible hope for eternal life is through the resurrection of the dead, and that Christ was the first example of this hope being fulfilled. I believe that eternal life is a future, conditional blessing, not a present possession, and when I am (by God’s grace) made immortal I shall also be incapable of sinning.
The preceding heretical doctrines sound very familiar with Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. Clearly, the author of the preceding quote is not a born-again believer, because he thinks being born-again is a future event, conditional upon the life that he lives here on earth. This is satanic works for salvation!!! This is not the Gospel. Man is totally incapable of meriting eternal life. The author of the preceding quote talks foolishness, speaking out of both sides of his mouth. In one breath he says that salvation is a gift by faith alone, but in the next breath he says that it is conditional upon the life he lives. It cannot be both (Romans 11:6). By the way, all Scripture references are ONLY to the reliable KING JAMES BIBLE.
Man's salvation is only conditioned upon his faith in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ! If you admit that you are a guilty sinner in God's sight, and you receive Christ's sacrifice upon the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He bodily resurrected from the dead three days later, you are saved immediately and permanently and can never lose it! The moment that you place your faith in Jesus Christ, you are born anew by the Holy Spirit of God, Who comes to indwell (live inside) you forever (1st Corinthians 3:16-17). To learn all about the awesome Holy Spirit, please read the great book by Dr. Jack Hyles, “MEET THE HOLY SPIRIT.”
Biblically, the truth is that we can be born-again right now, this instant, immediately, and KNOW beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are saved forever!!! This is because forgiveness of sins and eternal life is a free gift, that must simply be received. JESUS PAID IT ALL!!! Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved. The author of the preceding foolishness is trying to be saved, placing only partial faith in Christ, which is a false Gospel.
It should be very clear to you now why the word “begotten” is so important in the Holy Bible. As I have evidenced to you from two heretics, and over 400 supporting ministers of unrighteousness involved in Kermit Zarley's books, there are many unsaved religious people who attest that Jesus is the Son of God, but they boldly deny that He is God the Son! The word “begotten” makes Jesus God the Son, meaning that Jesus is the literal biological Son of Almighty God, which also makes Him God. John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” John 10:33, “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”
Thomas called Jesus, “My Lord and my God”! John 20:28, “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.” Jesus is both, the Son of God and God the Son! JESUS IS ALMIGHTY GOD!!! Any Bible revision that removes the word “begotten” from John 3:16 and/or 1st John 4:9 is going into my garbage pail! It's not enough to merely say that Jesus is God's “only Son,” because Jesus is the “ONLY BEGOTTEN SON” of God, making Him also God!
