Day 5

For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (KJV)
John 1:17
Theological Propaganda
But - You won't find the Greek word for this translation in Today's Word index
because there is no Greek word in the original text. The translation adds the word
"but" to the sentence. That little addition changes everything. It's not a slip. It's
deliberate. And it's deliberate propaganda!
About a month ago I got a letter from Boaz Michael. He mentioned this verse in his
letter, pointing out that the addition of "but" created a terrible tragedy for believers.
It is the tragedy of thinking that law and grace are opposed to each other; that
Moses and Jesus don't say the same thing. When the translators added "but" to the
sentence, they implied that Christians and Jews have different gospels. They
separated believers into two camps; those who lived under the Mosaic code and
those who lived under the free grace of the Gospels. What a disaster for all of us!
It's hard to imagine that men took such steps to break the Word of God in two, but
they did. They wanted an unbridgeable gap between the Older Testament and the
Newer Testament, and for hundreds of years they have succeeded, convincing
millions of God-fearing, humble followers that Jesus did not teach what Moses was
given. All those followers struggled to find a clear path of obedience. Some
succeeded. Many did not. God always uses what we are able to give, but we
certainly made it much harder by believing what the "professionals" told us rather
than looking for ourselves. They got away with theological murder - and we let
them.
The first principle of biblical interpretation is this: God does not contradict Himself.
If He tells Moses that there are certain steps to be taken in obedience to Him that
will insure our greatest usefulness in His purposes, you can be assured that Jesus
did not say something different. This is even more the case when we realize and
profess that Jesus is God. When it comes to salvation, God has not changed His
mind. Salvation is by grace and grace alone. That was true for Moses and it's true
for us. That is exactly what Jesus taught. But usefulness comes through obedience
and obedience is determined by a code of conduct revealed to Moses and endorsed
by Jesus. That has also always been the case. Don't let any translator slip that one
past you. You do not serve twogods. You serve only One God and He is the same
yesterday, today and tomorrow.
I know that many of us struggle with this truth. We have been hearing the gospel of
grace and the evils of the Law so long that we are convinced that Jesus was a radical
revisionary. Please look again. You have nothing to lose by asking yourself exactly
what Jesus taught about the Mosaic code of conduct, but you have a great deal to
lose if you just go on thinking that none of the "Law" applies to you. Don't become a

"yes-man" just because your favorite translation adds a word here or there. Insist
on truth. Demand that those who know tell you what words are really in the text
and what words aren't. Pray that God will lead to you someone who will help you
know what He said. God listens to those kinds of prayers. I know because I was
blind myself before He heard my cry. This is a journey and we are traveling
together. Just hold on to the one who is a step in front of you and ask a lot of
questions.