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Christian Biblical Church of God
Post Office Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442
(831)-637-1875
Fred R. Coulter, Minister
February 18, 2004
Dear Brethren,
When the printer Thomson-Shore finished the New Testament book, I had
thirty-six copies shipped to me via UPS next day air. We were excited to
receive them. On Sabbath January 31, I gave copies to the brethren in
Fairfield and Hollister. However, when my wife Dolores—who had studied
book repair during her training as a librarian— examined the books more
closely, she discovered that the binding on the books was faulty. There
were two stitches missing at the bottom of the books and the rest of the
stitches were too close to the edge of the fold in the gutter of the
sections. These faults made the binding very weak and subject to coming
apart in a short period of time. After discovering this, we called the
brethren who had received their books and found the same problem with
the binding.
On Monday February 3, I called our account representative, Angie Fugate,
at Thomson-Shore and explained the problem to her. As we were talking on
the phone, she got her copy of the book and found the same problems in
hers. She then showed the faulty binding to her boss. He immediately
ordered an inspection of all 4,500 books, which were scheduled to be
shipped the next day. Later, one of the vice-presidents called me and
asked if we would accept the books if they repaired them with glue. I
told him that was not acceptable because we did not contract with them
to produce repaired books. After inspecting the books, they found only
479 books that had good bindings. Then I received a call from Angie that
they would make good on our contract and would reprint over 4,000 books
at their expense. We had them ship the good books to our Canadian
office.
We regret that this has happened because we know that you were looking
forward to receiving your New Testament this month. However, it is best
that the problem was discovered now, rather than later. We can thank
Dolores for her eagle eye in catching this horrible flaw in the binding.
With this new printing, we can be sure that the people at Thomson-Shore
will be especially careful. Everyone involved, from the vice-president
on down will be paying special attention to every step of its
production. It will be checked and rechecked. From the tentative
schedule that Angie Fugate gave me, it now appears that we will be ready
to mail them to you beginning the second week in March.
All that said, aside from the binding problem, the book is beautiful,
the paper is excellent and the printing is outstanding. We know that
when you receive your copy, you will truly appreciate studying this New
Testament book for many years to come.
Overview of the New Testament Book:
Toward the end of February we will be sending you two tapes about the
New Testament book. In these tapes I cover the purpose of the
commentaries and why they are necessary. For some readers parts of the
commentaries will be a bit difficult to understand. However, if you read
them several times you will able to understand them. We need to realize
that is important for these commentaries be included in this book
because we must deal with all major the arguments that the New Testament
was not written down for decades or even hundreds of years after the
apostles had died. As you will learn, such a proposition is not true. In
Chapter One through Seven, I wrote commentaries explaining when and by
whom the New Testament was written and canonized. The Scriptures
themselves clearly reveal that the apostles wrote the books of the New
Testament and that Paul, Peter and John canonized it. In Chapter Eight I
conclude with "A Tribute to William Tyndale, 'the Father of All English
Bibles.' "
Gary Staszak wrote the Chapter Nine through Fifteen. His commentaries
are especially important because they deal with the history and
preservation of the Old and New Testaments. The chapters he wrote deal
with the major scholarly arguments about the accuracy of the Hebrew and
Greek texts. It is absolutely necessary to have these commentaries in
order to refute false theories and to show that the Word of God was
directly inspired by God the Father and Jesus Christ as the
"God-breathed" words of God. Notice what the apostle Paul wrote: "All
Scripture is God-breathed and is
profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness; so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped
for every good work" (II Tim 3:15-16).
As one of the last surviving eye-witnesses of the transfiguration of
Jesus Christ, Peter made it absolutely clear that what the apostles had
written was not based on the myths of men: "For we did not follow
cleverly concocted myths as our authority,
when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we were eyewitnesses of His magnificent glory; because He received
glory and honor from God the Father when the voice came to
Him from the Majestic Glory, This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am
well pleased.' And this is the voice from heaven that we heard
when we were with Him on the holy mountain. We also possess the
confirmed prophetic Word to which you do well to pay attention, as to a
light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the
morning star arises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no
prophecy of Scripture originated as anyone's own private
interpretation; because prophecy was not brought at any time by human
will, but the holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit"
(II Pet. 1:16-21).
Gary wrote very compelling commentaries on how God the Father and Jesus
Christ caused the New Testament to be copied and preserved down through
the centuries so that, today, we can have full faith and confidence in
the word of God. As Jesus said, "The words that I speak to you, they are
spirit and they are life" (John 6:63). And again He said, "The heaven
and the earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass away"
(Matt. 24:35).
Yet, today, too many scholars and, yes, even leading theologians believe
that the Bible is not the Word of God, but only a collection of myths
and accumulated folklore. They claim that since men created the Bible
that it cannot have a fixed final canon,. Therefore, men can change it
to meet the needs of each generation. That is the reason that some
modern translations are almost unrecognizable as the Word of God.
The apostle Peter wrote about such men who blaspheme and subvert the
Word of God. As it is today, they were discrediting the teachings of
Jesus Christ and the Gospel of the kingdom of God: "But there were also
false prophets among the people, as indeed there will be false teachers
among you,
who will stealthily introduce destructive
heresies, personally denying
the
Lord who bought them, and bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
And many people will follow as authoritative their destructive
ways; and because of them, the way of the truth will be
blasphemed.
Also, through insatiable greed they will with enticing messages exploit
you for gain; for whom the judgment of old is in full force, and
their destruction is ever watching" (II Pet. 2:1-3).
In this age, the servants of Satan the devil are busily doing the same
thing. We can hear and see this every day in the false Christianity of
this world. Just as the apostle Peter wrote, the Epistles of Paul are
twisted and distorted to preach a lawless grace that leads to
destruction: "And bear in mind that the long-suffering of our Lord is
salvation, exactly as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom
given to him, has also written to you; as he has
also in all his epistles, speaking in them concerning these
things; in which are some things that are difficult to
understand, which the ignorant and
unstable are twisting and distorting, as they also
twist
and distort the rest of the Scriptures, to their own
destruction.
Therefore, beloved, since you know this in advance, be on guard against
such practices, lest you be led astray with the error of the lawless
ones, and you fall from your own steadfastness; rather, be
growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and into the
day of eternity" (II Pet. 3:15-18).
Likewise, the apostle Paul also wrote extensively about false prophets
and teachers who would corrupt the Word of God: "For we are not like
the many, who for their own
profit are corrupting the Word of God; but we speak with
sincerity, as from God, and before God, and in Christ" (II
Cor. 2:15-17).
As it is today, they used the name of Jesus Christ to preach a false
gospel because they are seeking to please men rather than God. In his
epistle to the Galatians, Paul exposed and strongly rebuked those who
preached a different gospel that was leading brethren astray. Not only
were the brethren in Galatia allowing false apostles to teach them, they
were just sitting there and allowing themselves be led astray: "I am
astonished that you are so quickly being turned away from Him Who called
you into the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which
in reality is not another gospel, but there are some who are
troubling you and are desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ. But if
we, or even an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel to you that
is contrary to what we have preached, LET HIM BE ACCURSED! As we have
said before, I also now say again. If anyone is preaching a gospel
contrary to what you have received, LET HIM BE ACCURSED! Now then, am I
striving to please men, or God? Or am I motivated to please men? For if
I am yet pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Gal.
1:6-10).
Those who teach the Word of God are responsible to know the Scriptures,
as well as "rightly dividing the word of Truth" (II Tim. 2:15). They
must speak the words of God, because "the one whom God sends, speaks the
words of God" (John 3:34). When they preach themselves and seek to
please men rather than God, they are preaching a different Gospel,
although they use the Bible and the name of Jesus Christ. The apostle
Paul is an example of the true dedication needed to preach the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and not self: "Therefore, having this ministry, according
as we have received mercy, we are not fainthearted. For we have
personally renounced the hidden things of dishonest gain, not walking in
cunning
craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by
manifestation of the truth, we are commending ourselves to every man's
conscience before God.
But if our gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing; in
whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not
believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is
the image of God, should shine unto them. For we do not preach
our own selves, but Christ Jesus the
Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake
because it is God Who commanded
the
light to shine out of darkness, Who shined into our hearts the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ" (II Cor. 4:1-6).
Brethren, you will find that the translation, commentaries and
appendices in this book, The New Testament In Its Original Order—A
Faithful Version with Commentary,
have been written in the same attitude and spirit that guided the
apostles of Jesus Christ who wrote and canonized the New Testament. This
was not done for self. This was not done for personal aggrandizement. It
was done to proclaim the truth of the Word of God and the salvation of
Jesus Christ. It was done to uphold the true Word of God and the true
teachings of Jesus Christ. It was done to refute the gainsayers who hate
the Word of God and seek to subvert it with corrupt new translations and
false teachings.
Always remember, God had not called us to a religion but to a way of
life. He has called us to be His sons and daughters and to give us
eternal life. We have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ
and begotten by His Spirit so that we can live by every word of God.
Notice what Peter wrote: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the
elect strangers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and
Bithynia; who have
been chosen
according to the predetermined knowledge of God the
Father, by sanctification through the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be
multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, Who, according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us
again unto a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; unto an
inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven
for us, who are being safeguarded by the power of God
through faith, for salvation that is ready to be revealed in
the last time....Knowing that you were not redeemed by corruptible
things, by silver or gold, from your futile way of living, inherited
by tradition from your
forefathers; but by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot; Who truly was foreknown before the
foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last
times for your sakes; even for you who through Him do believe in
God, Who raised Him from
the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in
God. Having
purified your lives by obedience to the Truth unto unfeigned brotherly
love through the
Spirit, love one another fervently with a pure heart. For
you have been begotten again, not from corruptible seed, but from
incorruptible seed, by the living Word of God,
which
remains forever. For all flesh is
like grass, and all the glory of man is like the
flower of the field; the grass has withered, and its flower has
fallen away. But the Word of
the Lord remains forever;
and this is the message that was preached to you through the gospel" (I
Pet. 1:1-5, 18-25).
We have been called from a life of sin and disobedience to be converted
and to receive eternal life at the resurrection. That is the hope that
is set before us: "For we also were once foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving all kinds of lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
hateful and hating one another. But when the graciousness and the
love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we practiced, but according to His mercy He saved
us, through the
washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Spirit, which He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our
Savior; so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become
heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:3-7).
We also have our part to do in the process of spiritual growth and
development of godly character and love. Think of it! We have been
called to receive the divine nature of God. But God expects our love,
full cooperation, obedience and diligence in the fantastic work that He
is doing in us! Peter was inspired to write out a step-by-step way to
build spiritual character and the love of God that will never fail:
"According as His divine power has given to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory
and virtue; through which He has given to us the greatest and most
precious promises, that through these you may
become partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through lust. And for this very reason also,
having applied all diligence besides, add to your faith, virtue; and to
virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control,
endurance; and to endurance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly
love; and to brotherly love, the love of God.
For if these things exist and abound in you, they will
cause you to be neither lacking effort nor lacking fruit in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the one in whom these things are
not present is spiritually
blind—so shortsighted that he has forgotten that he was purified
from his old sins. For this reason,
brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure;
because if you are doing these things, you will never fall at any
time" (II Pet. 2:3-10).
When we fall short, Jesus Christ, as our High Priest, is there at the
right hand of God to intercede for us, to forgive us and to strengthen
us so that we will overcome and attain eternal life: "Having therefore a
great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son
of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith.
For we do not have a high priest who cannot empathize with our
weaknesses, but one Who
was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own
temptations', yet He was
without sin.
Therefore, we should come with boldness to the throne of grace, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need"
(Heb. 4:14-16).
With the help and intervention of God the Father and Jesus Christ, there
is no problem that is too great. There is no temptation that is too
strong. There is no weakness that cannot be overcome. Remember, when all
else fails, God the Father loves us. Jesus Christ loves us—He gave his
life for us—so that we may overcome and attain eternal life and glory.
This is why we must go to God the Father in prayer and repentance asking
Jesus to stir us up through the power of the Holy Spirit as Paul wrote
to Timothy: "I admonish you to stir up the gift of God that is in you
by the laying on of my hands.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love,
and of sound-mindedness"
(II Tim. 1:3-7).
This is the kind of attitude and zeal that we need to strive for. Never
forget, Jesus Christ has promised, what He has started He will finish:
"Being confident of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in
you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"
(Phil. 1:6). And again, uFor He has said, 'In no way will I
ever leave you; no—I will never forsake you in any way.' So then, let us
boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not be
afraid. What can man do to me?' " (Heb. 13:5-6).
Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread:
In approximately six weeks it will be time to observe the
Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. As we know, the Passover is the
annual renewal of the New Covenant that was sealed with the shed blood
and broken body of Jesus Christ. The night of Jesus' last Passover,
before His arrest, trials and subsequent crucifixion, He instituted the
New Covenant Christian Passover, as recorded in the Gospels: "And as
they were eating, Jesus took the bread and blessed it; then He
broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take,
eat; this is My body.' And He took the cup; and after
giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'All of you drink of
it; for this is My blood, the blood of the New
Covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of
sins" (Matt. 26:26-28).
Jesus Christ is the bread of life, as He explained: " '...the bread of
God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' Jesus
said to them, 'I am the
bread of life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and
the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time' " (John 6:33,
35).
Many of Jesus' disciples did not understand what He meant when He told
them they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood to receive eternal
life. They thought that He was talking about literally eating His flesh
and drinking His blood. They said that what He had told them was "a hard
saying." They were not able to understand and turned from following
Jesus.
However, as we have seen, when Jesus instituted the New Covenant
Passover ceremony, He made it clear to the apostles that the bread and
wine symbolized His flesh and blood. Jesus also taught that if you do
not eat His flesh, through eating the unleavened bread, and do not drink
His blood, through drinking of the wine, you do not have eternal life in
you: "Therefore, Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not
have life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood
has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day; for My flesh
is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. The one who eats My flesh
and drinks My blood is dwelling in Me, and I in him. As the
living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who
eats Me shall live by Me"
(John 6:53-57).
The apostle Paul commanded, "Preach the Word! Be urgent in season and
out of season; convict, rebuke, encourage, with all patience and
doctrine" (I Tim. 4:2). Now the spring feasts of Passover and Unleavened
Bread are coming, we will do exactly as Jesus has commanded.
Passover Materials:
We have five Passover preparation tapes that we did last year. These
were meant to be used as preparation for any Passover, as we thoroughly
study the "Words of the New Covenant" in John 14-17. If you do not have
these tapes, please write for them and we will send them to you
immediately, along with the study paper.
The Christian Passover book:
If you do not have The Christian Passover book, please
write for it. It is an in-depth, 512 page book explaining every aspect
of the Passover—Old and New Testaments, as well as its beginning with
Abraham.
Brethren, thank you for your patience in waiting for the New Testament
book. It will be worth the wait. We hope that it will inspire you to
stand for the truth, to love and serve God the Father and Jesus Christ
with even greater determination and zeal. Thank you for your faithful
tithes and offerings which made this project possible. May God continue
to bless you with His love, grace and mercy in all things.
With Love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
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