The NKJV Is NOT the KJB
The story of how the NKJV makes salvation a difficult process.
Introduction
I feel led to write this article because too many times I've convinced people to stop reading the NIV, NASB, or whatever corrupt modern bible they have only to have them pick up the New King James version thinking it's the King James Bible. This article focuses only on the NKJV corruption, but rest assured all modern bibles are corrupt.
The New King James Version is NOT the King James Bible. It is a corruption of the King James Bible, which is God's holy word. It subtly changes very important doctrine all over the place.
Further, the NKJV is based on the same exact manuscripts that all the other bibles, besides the KJV, are based upon. One of the manuscripts is heavily Catholic based, which will make sense when I show you the differences between the KJB and the NKJV.
In the next few paragraphs I'll show you a few of the corruptions of the New King James Bible version.
Salvation Is NOT A Process
Any Christian that has read and believes God's word knows that salvation is not a process, but rather happens in an instant. This is what the Bible says about how to get saved.
(Romans 10:13) "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
(Romans 10:9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Of course there are also examples in the Bible of people getting saved like the thief on the cross which demonstrate salvation is instantaneous. I encourage you to read the King James Bible to read all about it. Don't just take my word for it. Take God's word for it.
Now onto the first corruption of the NKJV bible. We will examine 1 Corinthians 1:18. First here is the verse in God's word the King James Bible:
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (KJB)
This verse is pretty straight forward. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to the lost, but those of us who are SAVED it is the power of God. Now check out how the NKJV words this to change the entire meaning.
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (NKJV)
Notice in the NKJV it uses the words "being saved." This would mean that salvation is a process, which is untrue. You are either saved or you are not saved. There is no process to salvation. Just go back to what the Bible says about salvation. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It does NOT say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and do these 7 steps and then you will be saved."
Salvation is NOT Difficult
The second major doctrinal corruption of the New King James version is that it's difficult to be saved. Again, lets see what the Bible says about how you get saved and you can judge if it's difficult or not.
(Acts 16:30-31) "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? {31} And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
Does that sound hard to you? Does that sound like you have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get saved? The Bible even says it's simple!
(2 Corinthians 11:3) "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
Now lets look at Matthew 7:14:
(Matthew 7:14) "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
This verse spoken by Jesus is saying that there is only ONE way to heaven and that's through him. He is the narrow way. Now lets look at how the NKJV has that verse.
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Notice how it says that the way to heaven is difficult? These two verses mean two totally different things. In context of the salvation verses earlier in this article which do you think is correct?
Conclusion
I could go on with more verses in the NKJV that change major doctrine ever so subtly, but for brevity of this article, I won't. You can research this field more, if you want. There is no shortage of materials by others like me.
As you can see the NKJV is heavily influenced by Catholicism because that religion, like Islam, teaches that you have to do works in order to be saved and that it's a process.
Conversely, Christians believe that Jesus died for all of our sins, and that he did ALL the work. We believe we are saved ONLY by God's grace by faith in Jesus Christ and not works. Not coincidentally, that's what the Bible says too.
(Ephesians 2:8-9) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: {9} Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Again, I would strongly encourage you to read the King James Bible for yourself to see what God has to say. Don't take my word or anyone else's word for it. Not even a priest, pope, pastor, deacon, internet sensation, etc. If you have any honest questions for me, feel free to DM me on X @TheLastDon222
How To Get Saved
If you are not saved yet by Jesus Christ for all of eternity, God wants you to know that you can be. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. God loves us so much he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross even though we don't even deserve it. He was then buried for 3 days, and then gloriously resurrected 3 days later.
This is what the Bible says about how you can be saved:
(Acts 16:30-31) "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? {31} And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
If you want to know more about salvation and how to live a victorious Christian life after you get saved, I have a salvation guide on profile or here:
What about the ESV?
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