Last night I was studying for an article that I'll be doing later on, when I thought of this verse that would fit in perfectly, but I couldn't remember where it was, or what it said exactly. So after about 30 minutes of trying to find it, I decided to just look it up on my laptop. I searched some of the key words, and a verse popped up. I didn't see what the verse was, I just saw, "VERSE" and clicked on it, because I was a bit desperate to find this one verse. The verse I had clicked on was Romans 2:12. I didn't know what translation I had clicked on (I usually forget to check that until after I read) but anyway, I read, "Some people do not know God's law when they sin. They will not be judged by the law when they die. Others do know God's law when they sin. They will be judged by the law." HOLD UP! Wait a second! That can't be right. So I pull out my ESV (which I really like because it's one of the most accurate translations) and I read it from there. It said, "For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law."
The first one that I read was from the NIRV (New International Readers Version). I wanted to make sure that I wasn't making any false judgement on either translations, so I decided to read it all in contexts (that's the only way you can understand the Bible. Contexts is everything.) In verse 11 it says, "God shows no partiality." (I'm reading from the ESV now). So, verse 11 says that God shows no partiality, or favoritism if you prefer, then why are some judged by the law, and some not? Then you continue reading, and you get to verse 13 which says, "For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but doers of the law who will be justified." Verse 12 isn't talking about how if you don't know that you're sinning and you sin, then you won't be judged. It's saying something completely different. It's saying that if you live a lawless life, then you will die being a lawless person. You won't be righteous, and then verse 13 talks about how just because you hear the word but don't practice it, then you won't be saved, meaning that if you live in lawlessness but have heard the Word, you will still die being a lawless person. Contexts is EVERYTHING. So when you're reading, or choosing a new Bible, make sure and choose a good translation. Here is a translation comparison chart. When choosing your Bible, make sure that you can understand it (I know that sometimes the KJV can be a bit difficult to understand even if it is very accurate) but that is also accurate. Now, if your Bible isn't exactly word-for-word, then that doesn't mean that it's necessarily inaccurate, but that it's just phrased differently. But you really want to stay as close to the word-for-word as you can. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 says, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righousness. Their end will correspond their deeds." There are false teachers, and false translations out there in the world, and we need to be very careful to avoid those. A false translation is pretty much exactly what Paul is talking about, "Disguising themselves as apostles of Christ." So please, be careful next time you choose your Bible. Make sure that it's very accurate. It's not just something to pick at random, it's definitely important to pick a good one. Also, it is very important to study your Bible as often as you can, so when you come across something like this, you can know that it's false teaching and not become confused.
