Join Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr in a thought-provoking episode that dissects the various translations of the Bible and their impact on the theological debate between lordship salvation and the free grace perspective. Through detailed exploration of specific verses, they illuminate the nuances that can lead readers to different interpretations. With a focus on popular translations such as ESV and NASB, they provide a guide on how to navigate these texts with an understanding of their implications on your faith journey.
The following is a listener-supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society. Are some translations of the Bible more or less friendly to lordship salvation, and maybe some more favorable to the free grace view of salvation? We will have a look at several passages in several translations today, so thank you for joining us. This is Grace in Focus. We are a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We’re located in North Texas, and we have a website, faithalone.org. We also have an annual national conference that you are invited to. It happens May 19th through 22nd this year, and it’s time to get registered if you haven’t already. For first-timers, we waive the registration fee, and you can find out more about this event at faithalone.org. Now with today’s question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, Bob, we have another question. This one’s from John. This question is about translations. The ESV translation seems very lordship to me. How would you rate it? And which translation is the most free grace?
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, good question. I think the ESV stands for the English Standard Version, I think. And I have written a couple of articles, if you go to faithalone.org, on evaluating different Bible translations. I think I examined seven of them. There’s a part one and a part two. I’m going to look at a few of the passages that I use in those articles to evaluate John’s first question about is the ESV promoting lordship salvation? And secondly, what’s the best one as far as a grace perspective? So let me mention a couple of different verses. If you would, Sam, turn to 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 11. This is always a verse I go to if I want to evaluate a translation. Okay. And what translation are you looking at there?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, I had the ESV. Do you want it?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. No, ESV is fine. What does the ESV say on 1 Corinthians 5.11?
SPEAKER 04 :
It says, but now I’m writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler, not even to eat with such a one.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay. Now, the reason this becomes an issue in various translations, as you know, Sam, there are many different people within Christianity that would say that a drunkard either has proved he’s not born again or he’s lost his salvation. So they would say there’s no such thing as a drunkard who’s born again or a sexually immoral person who is born again. or an idolater who is born again. So they look at these things and they say, he must not be talking about a true brother. And so some of the translations, instead of translating the Greek, they attempt to interpret it for the reader. But the ESV isn’t one of them. What’s the ESV translate? Anyone bearing the name brother?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, the name of brother.
SPEAKER 02 :
Bearing the name of brother. That’s a good translation. Let’s see, who else? The New King James, if I remember right, I think says anyone bearing the name brother. Isn’t that what it has? Do you have that there, Sam?
SPEAKER 04 :
It says, do not keep company with anyone named a brother.
SPEAKER 02 :
Named a brother. And there are several like that that are helpful. But, for example, the New American Standard Bible talks about any so-called brother. I believe that’s right. You can look it up, Sam, and see if the NASB says any so-called brother. And there are other ones. The NIV says claims to be a brother. Yeah, NASB is so-called. So-called, which so-called means something which isn’t true. Right. And anyone who claims to be a brother is the NIV, so it’s not. But the Greek actually says anyone who is named brother or bears the name brother. It’s not he’s claiming to be a brother. It’s not he’s a so-called brother. The Holman Christian Standard Bible says anyone who claims to be a believer.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hmm.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, the word isn’t believer. The word is brother. So these are translations which promote a mild form of lordship salvation or even a strong form of lordship. But the ESV is okay on that one. So let’s look at another passage. Turn with me, please, to 2 Timothy 2 and verse 12. If you’re driving, don’t turn with us. Just go in your head. You can remember 2 Timothy 2.12. And the first part says, if we endure, we shall also reign with him. But what does the ESV say on the second half of that verse?
SPEAKER 04 :
If we deny him, he will also deny us.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, now that’s a perfectly good translation. If we deny him, he will also deny us. And by the way, this is based, this is Paul’s interpretation of Matthew 10, 32 and 33, where Jesus says, “…he who confesses me before men, him will I confess before my Father who is in heaven. He who denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father who is in heaven.” So you would think 100% of the translations would translate the second half of verse 12 is, if we deny him, he also will deny us, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, no. Now, the ESV gets this one right, but some of the others don’t get it right. For example, the NIV, how does it translate it?
SPEAKER 04 :
If we disown him, he will disown us. Say what? Disown.
SPEAKER 02 :
How do you get that from deny? This is the same word used when Peter denied Christ three times. He didn’t disown Jesus. He denied him three times.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 02 :
When Jesus said, he who denies me before man, he wasn’t talking about disowning. He was talking about denying. The NIV translation here is very poor. If it says deny me, then leave it up to the reader. But when you put disown… It seems to me, I wonder what they say with Peter. Did Peter disown Jesus three times? I wonder if the NIV reads that way there. Probably not. Probably not. Well, also in Matthew 10, 33, I wonder what the NIV has there, because if they’re going to translate it disown here, why wouldn’t it be disown when Peter says, “…he who disowns me before men, him will I disown before my Father.” So in any regard, the ESV is fine on 2 Timothy 2.12. Let’s also look at Galatians 1, 8 and 9. See what the ESV says there. This is a famous passage. The key phrase is, let him be accursed, but various translations look at it differently. What does the ESV say?
SPEAKER 04 :
ESV says, let him be accursed.
SPEAKER 02 :
In both places, in 8 and 9? Yep. Okay. Why don’t you look, for example, at the Net Bible? If I remember right, I think the Net Bible says, let him be condemned to hell, which is kind of comical because there’s nothing about hell in this passage. Let him be condemned to hell. Yeah. And then there are several that say, let him be eternally condemned. And the Phillips, I believe, says, may he be damned. So you’ve got some translations that are not good. But what does the ESV say on, you said already, let him be accursed. So again, that translation is fine. I don’t think the ESV is particularly lordship salvation. Now, one final passage we could look at is Romans 8 and verse 1. Maybe you could read the ESV, Sam, for us for Romans 8, 1.
SPEAKER 04 :
There’s therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, now, if you were to look at other translations that follow what’s called the critical text, I would call it the so-called critical text, because it’s not really the critical text. But if you were to look at those versions, that’s the way they’re going to translate it. So like the Net Bible, the New American Standard, the NIV, the Holman Christian Standard— They’re all going to end the verse there. But if you look at the King James, the New King James, and I think it’s the modern English version, it goes on to say, “…who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” The reason why the last half of the verse is left off in all the critical text versions is a few early manuscripts left these verses off. And so those translations don’t put it in. But the King James and the New King James follow the majority of manuscripts, and so they include it. Well, this is related to a free grace issue because— Really, the point here in this verse is there’s no slavery to sin. The word doesn’t mean condemnation. Now, actually, the verse, a lot of people love this verse. There’s no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. That’s a great sentiment. And it’s true. Unfortunately, that’s not what Romans 8, 1 is saying, because it shouldn’t be translated condemnation. It should be saying there’s no slavery to sin to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. In other words, in our experience… We’re only free from sin’s bondage if we’re walking in the Spirit. If we’re walking in the flesh, then we are experiencing sin’s bondage. Now, this same expression at the end of verse 1 is also found in verse 4. That’s why some of the critical text versions say, a scribe who was copying this just looked down at verse 4 and decided to copy that and move it up into verse 1. No, that would involve a gross misappropriation of what the scribe was to do. The scribe was simply to copy the manuscript he was looking at. He was not to create new doctrine and new practices. What probably happened, either somebody was doing verse 1 and their eye skipped over the end of it and they went to verse 2, or they saw this was also in verse 4 and they decided to leave it out because they decided somebody else had put that in maybe. We don’t know exactly why, but I do know this, that the scribes in North Africa, like in Alexandria, they were much less careful than the scribes in the Byzantine region where the majority text was. But in any case, I think the ESV is fine on our sample passages we looked at with the lone example that’s not of Romans 8.1. And that’s not because of their translation. That’s just because of the underlying text they’re looking at. And I might point out that even though I’m a majority text person, You don’t need the majority text to come up with the free gift of everlasting life. And in fact, textual criticism doesn’t change any major doctrine. Certainly, it doesn’t change justification by faith alone. The problem with some Bible translations is that they start interpreting the Bible rather than simply translating it, like in the examples we looked at. Well, thanks so much, John. Outstanding question. And let’s all keep grace in focus. Amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
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