(Audio/Video/Text)
Title: The Great Tangent (Part Three)
Intro:
Jr. High Teaching experiment: Tell everyone to grab a pen and paper, or to pay close attention. Say something absurd, make a little dance move, and then ask “what just happened?”
Read/Pray
V8: Why does Paul call himself “less than the least of the saints”?
(Take answers)
- Regret over his previous persecution of the Church?
- Counts himself as less than the other apostles because he was chosen last?
- He is NOT just being falsely humble.
Chuck Smith:
When I see the way some people strut as they preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, my conclusion is that they really haven’t had a personal confrontation with Him. If I have the attitude, “Lord, You are so lucky that You have me proclaiming Your truths. You don’t know how fortunate You are, God. I could have been famous and I could have been great. I gave up fame and fortune. I am worth a lot to You, Lord.” Those testimonies of what people have given up for Jesus Christ really don’t move me. What I could have been doesn’t really touch me.
Paul’s attitude toward himself, “Wow, God has given me this glorious ministry, the lessor than the least of all of the saints. The privilege given that I should be able to share the unsearchable riches of Christ, impart them unto the Gentiles.”
Paul felt that because of his previous persecution of the church, his endeavor to waste it, that anything that God did for him was through grace and he was really always, I think, sort of haunted by the fact that he was so blind at one time that he was trying to destroy the church. He makes mention of this, “for I wasted the church of God.” Here we see his attitude, he is “less than the least of all of the saints.”
(read v.9)
V9: Which is the “correct” translation?
(Pastor Ben goes down the rabbit hole so you don’t have to)
KJV, NKJV, MEV: “and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ”
Every other translation omits “through Jesus Christ” Why?
Before we go any further: Who Cares? What’s at stake here? Does this really matter?
If you are from a certain camp (Like KJVO only), a lot actually. The KJV only crowd believes this verse is one of several pieces of evidence that suggest that “modern” English translations are conspiring to minimize the idea that Jesus is the creator.
In reality, the KJVO only camp is missing something important here about original translations and is actually showing a particular weakness in their argument…let me explain…
Here is where Pastor Ben does all the research to present you with this concise conclusion.
CARM:
Because of the widely diverse and extremely ancient evidence that all unanimously agrees that Paul did not use the phrase “by Jesus Christ” in this verse and noticing that the longer reading does not appear until much later, scholars justifiably conclude that the shorter form is the original. This is why the majority of modern versions do not contain the phrase “by Jesus Christ.” They are simply following the evidence.
PB’s Lesson: When comparing original manuscripts, the shorter translation is always favored as the original.
This is one of the major arguments for Mark being the first gospel written, and the other gospels used Mark’s material and expanded on it. Both are absolutely true, but the evidence supports Mark’s writing as being first.
(Anyone know why?)
Is there any evidence that the more modern translations deny that Jesus is the creator?
NO.
“All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being,” (John 1:3, NASB)
“yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him,” (1 Corinthians 8:6, NASB).
“in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world,” (Hebrews 1:2, NASB).
PB’s Conclusion: Neither of these translations (NKJV or NASB) are “wrong.” They are just based on different manuscripts.
Conclusion on the Matter:
The older manuscripts are shorter and more to the point. (NASB: Word for Word)
The more recent manuscripts are more detailed. (NKJV: Thought for Thought)
For further study:
Visit the CARM (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry)