I use the New King James Version often for this online ministry because it is more “readable” and at times it is more “accurate.” I will explain why I think that but before I do, I want to say that I have always loved the King James Version. I was saved reading that translation and I still use that translation in my daily studies and when I give public lectures or gospel addresses. I have memorized many passages of Scripture from the KJV so when I am speaking (publicly to an audience or privately to one person) I quote verses from the KJV. So, what I am about to say should not be looked upon as a slight on the KJV.

It is vital to know that NO TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE IS PERFECT. If we were able to find and read the “original manuscripts” of the Bible (which were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), we would have God’s Word exactly as He inspired men to write it. In time, men copied those inspired writings into various manuscripts. Sadly, they sometimes made “copyist errors.” The translators of the KJV used the manuscript called the “Textus Receptus” to translate the Bible into English. There were some copyist errors in their translation, and they sometimes added words to supposedly make the meaning clearer. They also used words that are OUTDATED; that is, the meaning of the English words back in the 1600s no longer have the same meaning today. Besides a change in the meaning of words, some of the language is ARCHAIC (old-fashioned) and very confusing to modern English readers. Because of these issues, the New King James Version (which is also based on the Textus Receptus) came into existence. This translation was meant to 1) clear up any copyist errors, 2) remove words that were added and put in italics, and 3) use English words that are used today.

I would like to give you two examples to show that the New Kings James Version is more “readable” and “accurate.” In 1st Thessalonians 4:15 we read: “For this we say on to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means PREVENT them which are asleep” (KJV). The NKJV says, ““For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means PRECEDE those who are asleep” (NKJV). I capitalized the necessary word that needed to be changed, for back in the 1600s the word PREVENT meant the same as our word PRECEDE, which means to “go before.” Today the word “prevent” means “to keep something from happening.” As we read on in verses 16-17, we see that believers who have died will “rise FIRST” and then living believers will “be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” So, the truth being revealed is that living believers will NOT “go before (precede)” believers who had died when the Lord comes.

The next example speaks of “accuracy.”  In Romans 8:1 we read, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT” (KJV). The KJV translators added the words I have capitalized. Most KJV Bibles today no longer have those words in ITALICS (which is very misleading) to show that they have been added by the translators. I believe this verse speaks of the believer’s POSITION IN CHRIST which is NOT based on a believer’s “walk” (practical life). There is no condemnation for the believer in Christ because “Christ’s work at the cross resulted in our sins being judged” which means we will never be condemned. Those words are properly found at the end of verse 4 which reads, “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT.” That verse does describe the “walk of the believer” and how the believer can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, live a life that is in keeping with God’s holiness as found in the Ten Commandments. In other words, we can “live a righteous life” that is pleasing to God. But if we do fail at times to live in the power of the Spirit, there is still NO CONDEMNATION for that is based on “Christ’s WORK FOR US on the cross” and not on our “walking after the Spirit.”

The New King James Version adds a note regarding the latter half of the verse. It says, “Text omits the rest of this verse.” Other translations (NASB, DARBY, ASV, NIV, and RSV) omit those words altogether. These “modern translations” are more scripturally accurate in this case, and we can praise God for them. I do, at times, refer to some of these translations when they are more clear and accurate than the KJV.  (DO)  (594.1)