God is the Creator of all things. God is in control of all things. God has a plan for mankind that will not be altered by Him. We have the option (agency) to choose God’s Way or our own. In the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, everything was in a state of perfection…until Eve followed the gospel of Satan, taking it as her gospel; and after passing it on to Adam, they were cast out. They were spiritually dead. God had told them they would die if they ate the forbidden fruit. Many people claim that since they did not fall over dead, physically, that God lied to them. We know that God does not lie, nor does He tempt us. In James 1:12-16, we have this instruction,

“Blessed is the man that resisteth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man; But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.”

God desires that we choose Him as our Father, which is to obey the great commandment. This is His Gospel! Lust can be anything that draws us away from God and into thinking that our “own gospel” is better than His. Lust can be anything that so entices us to the point of becoming obsessed, and maybe possessed, by it that we lose sight of God’s plan for us.

A number of years ago, I was asked to teach a Bible class at a nearby nursing home facility. The first day of class, I had my Three in One and was asked, “Why is your Bible so much thicker than ours?” All they had for a text was the New Testament of the New King James Bible. I explained to them what our scriptures were and how and why they came into being. I told them that they could go to any Christian bookstore and find over 40 versions or translations of the Bible and that anyone who so desired could come up with their own “gospel according to them.” So, why wouldn’t a translation of the Bible that the translator said was from God be better than one that some person just decided they wanted to “rewrite.” I used our scriptures freely in the class, always telling them where I was reading from. In 15 years, I never had anyone object to my using the Inspired Version, the Book of Mormon, or Doctrine and Covenants. At one time, there were four former ministers of various churches in the class, and no one ever objected to my using the scriptures that best present the “Gospel according to God.”

The Inspired Version is truly a treasure to us and the world. Joseph Smith, Jr., could never have translated the King James into the Inspired Version on his own, nor could any other person. Let me give you one “small” yet so significant change that was made, as inspired by God. In most, if not all other translations of the Bible, particularly with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they will say either “The Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John,” or they will just say the name of the book. In the Inspired Version, it says, “The Testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.” That is because it was not their gospel! It was, is, and always will be the “Gospel According to Jesus Christ!”

If we only proclaim or follow our own gospel, we will be cast out of God’s presence. The Inspired Version has so many truths that were put there by God but were taken out by the adversary and his helpers. Just a few: Compare the IV with others regarding the creation itself, how the earth was populated in the beginning, the Beatitudes, and what Jesus really meant to do rather than actually cutting off your hand or plucking out your eye. I will conclude this article with a statement from Arthur Oakman regarding the Inspired Version of the Bible:

“Let me put something in here about the Inspired Version.There are all kinds of versions of the Scriptures; and I suppose—although I have not read all of them I have read many of them—that they contain some insights, but they are of dubious and questionable character.

So far as I am concerned, the Inspired Version is the one which has been given to us in these latter days. Joseph was told, “The Scriptures shall begiven even as they are in mine own bosom,” and,“Hold thy peace concerning them,.until thou hast received them in full.For they shall be taught unto all nations”(Doctrine and Covenants 34:5b and 42:15a-b).

If we neglect the Inspired Version of the Scriptures, our ministry suffers. I commend it to you, not as the only valid version, but the most valuable version of the Scriptures that we have. We ought to treasure that book, for it is to the Reorganization what the Book of Mormon is to the Restoration Movement in its inception. It is the one valid existential existence that proves that there ever was a Restoration Movement.