Perhaps more than any other time in history, God’s Word is under attack. It is vilified, blasphemed, altered, embellished, tweaked, corrected, and “dumbed down” by those who obviously do not believe in the doctrine of preservation. Pastor Joe Shakour sheds light on this subject, giving us a great defense for the unchanging truths of Scripture. If you didn’t read yesterday’s devotional, go back and read it!
Now, let’s pick up where we left off yesterday.
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The New Testament: Received, Not Reconstructed
The same providence is seen in the New Testament. The early church didn’t invent the text; they received it. As E. F. Hills wrote in The King James Version Defended, “The Holy Spirit guided the early Christians to gather the individual New Testament books into one canon and to reject all non-canonical books. In the same manner, the Holy Spirit guided the early Christians to preserve the New Testament text by receiving the true readings and rejecting the false.”
Most of the existing manuscripts—over 99 percent—reflect a unified text known as the Textus Receptus (literally, the received text). Hills and other conservative scholars such as Zane C. Hodges and Arthur L. Farstad have written at length that God’s providence operated through the use of these texts by the believing church, not apart from it. The true text was recognized, copied, read, and preached in every generation—not hidden in obscurity.
By contrast, beginning in the nineteenth century, a new school of thought arose that sought to reconstruct the Bible’s text based on a few early but seldom-used manuscripts, particularly Vaticanus (B) and Sinaiticus (א). Scholars Brooke F. Westcott and Fenton J. A. Hort popularized the theory that these manuscripts preserved a purer text simply because they were older. Their approach, built on principles like “older is better” and “shorter is preferred,” became the foundation for many modern critical editions.
Yet it is unreasonable to believe that the true New Testament text was hidden in a few neglected documents while the entire church throughout history copied, memorized, and preached from a corrupted one. Believers through the centuries have recognized and transmitted the providentially received text that underlies the King James Version—a text confirmed not by novelty or theory but by God’s guiding hand through His people.
Preservation Means Life, Not Just History
All this evidence points to one truth: the Bible is not merely a historical artifact; it is alive (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus declared, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
Dean John William Burgon, in The Revision Revised, wrote, “If you and I believe that the original writings of the Scriptures were verbally inspired by God, then of necessity they must have been providentially preserved through the ages.”
The Bible repeatedly affirms this promise: “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” (Psalm 119:160). “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
Your Bible, Your Language
Because God preserved His words, faithful translations that accurately render them are truly the Word of God in that language. We can hold our King James Bible and say with confidence that it is the inspired and preserved Word of God for English-speaking people. Paul told Timothy that even the copies he read were “holy scriptures” (2 Timothy 3:15).
- B. Ouellette summarized it well in A More Sure Word: “The King James Version is the right Bible for English-speaking people because it is a literal translation of the correct and pure Greek and Hebrew manuscripts.”
English Bible translator William Tyndale understood the gravity of this work. Before his martyrdom he testified, “I never altered one syllable of God’s Word against my conscience, nor would I so alter it this day, if all that is in the earth might be given me.”
Why It Matters
Here’s what’s at stake: if God can create galaxies, part seas, and raise Christ from the dead, is it really difficult to believe He could preserve a book? Because God has preserved His Word, you can open your Bible and know that what you read is what God intended you to read.
Isaiah declared, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). Peter echoed that truth: “The word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:25).
Preservation is not just a doctrine to debate. It is the reason you can trust, obey, and proclaim God’s Word with confidence. As one writer said, If God inspired but did not preserve His Word, He wasted His breath. But God did not waste His Word; He kept it.
The God who spoke the first word is able to keep every last one. That is the miracle you hold in your hands.
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*https://ministry127.com/god-is-able-to-preserve-his-word
