I’M REWRITING THE BIBLE into my own words. It’s a Bible study project I’ve been working on. It’s not a formal Bible translation any more than the Message is. It’s a paraphrase into the kind of casual English I use when talking or writing.
I’m posting the work online as the Casual English Bible. At the moment, I’m working on maps for Galatians, a book I hope to post in the next week or so.
This is the best Bible study method I’ve come across so far because it forces me to make the Bible personal. I have to understand it well enough to put it into my own words. And when the writer doesn’t make sense—it happens—I have to fight toward the elusive goal of solving the mystery. I can’t usually do that. But there’s value in the quest.
So far, Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, Greece is one of my favorites from his work.
See what you think.
Dear Philippian believers,
“I’m not perfect yet. I haven’t reached that goal. But I’m running hard for the prize at the end of the race. One day I’ll make that prize my own because Jesus Christ made me his own.
Dear family, I know I haven’t made it my own yet. But I know this, too. Forgetting the past and leaving all the baggage behind me, leaning forward I reach out for what lies ahead.
I’m pushing on toward that goal—upward toward the prize for which God calls us, because of Jesus the Messiah.
Those of us who are spiritual grownups should agree with what I’ve said. If you think differently, God will clear it up for you.
Either way, let’s hang onto the spiritual progress we’ve made by living it.
Dear family, learn from what you’ve seen in me. Follow my example and the example of others like me.
I’ve told you many times about people who live in such a way that it’s clear they are enemies of the Messiah who died on the cross. Well I’m telling you again, this time with tears.
There’s no prize at the end of the road for them. There’s destruction. It’s because their gut is their god, and they brag about what should shame them. All they think about is the here and now, in this earthly life.
But we are citizens of heaven. Our Savior is there, the Lord Jesus Christ. We eagerly wait for him to come.
When Jesus comes, he will change our frail bodies into glorious bodies like his. He’ll do it with the same power that gives him authority over everyone and everything that has ever existed.”
Phillippians 3:12-21, Casual English Bible
Stephen, you have instilled human understanding into something that isn’t meant to be understood, but believed in. You speak of fighting towards the elusive goal of solving the mystery. Anyone born-again into the Holy Spirit after having died with Christ is taught by the Holy Spirit; each individual believer doesn’t have to be taught by another because in their faith they receive all Wisdom of the Kingdom of heaven. Between fellow believers, there can only be upbuilding in the truth. As Paul writes, Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. Struggling with the body of Sin, believers, despite union with God, will still succumb by temptation into spiritual blindness.
Therefore, there is no mystery. By living with and through Christ in faith by grace – a gift received only after having followed Christ and holding onto his teachings- does an individual lose their spiritual blindness. There is no more mystery. To whosoever knows Christ will know all reasons of the happenings of existence; for Christ explains everything. This is why I’m strongly against bible studies; it distracts from what the Gospels desires; that you take up its demands and follow them. The Gospels are a scandal to natural sinful man. Christ Himself is an offense and is meant to be so. Before my rebirth into Life by the Spirit, the Gospels were uncomfortable to read for it questioned all my earthly values and beliefs. What made me overcome the offence was my deep love for Christ and how He lived on earth. As a man, I loved Him, but I struggled to believe He was God also. The Christian paradox: The God-Man. But God reveals Himself to those who Love Him and His Will. As Christ says, Hold onto His teachings and the truth will set you free. There is no mystery to decipher afterwards.
Lovingly, I will say this. A Christian can never be award-winning. It’s frankly impossible unless the giver has completely misunderstood you. Not only that, but anything rewarded from the hands of man is worthless. If I had many awards and followers, I would be fearful that I’ve been deceived. Christ did not ask for professors; He asked for followers. Christ did not ask to be understood, but believed in. Only after believing in Him with all heart and mind does He reveal Himself.
Hello Richard,
I approved your comments for posting here, but I don’t approve of much of what you’ve said…especially opposing Bible study. That’s pretty far past “study to show thyself approved” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Granted, God reveals himself in many ways. Like you, I’m big on the value of the Spirit talking with us. But I’m big on the revelation in the Bible, too. It’s worth studying.
As for “a Christian can never be award-winning,” those of us in my field who have won awards because of the hard work we’ve put in for the sake of helping people better understand what we ask them to believe humbly present ourselves as evidence to the contrary, for the contrarians of Christianity.
In my field, awards are presented to encourage us because we work at jobs in which there is a lot of rejection by editors and constant, harsh, and unfair criticism by readers. It never stops. And for most of us, awards are few and far between.
Steve