"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost" (2 Corinthians 4:3 KJV).
Hid to the Lost
This is a sad observation. The gospel is hid. It is hid to the lost. It is hid to them because they have not heard it. But that is not the only problem.
Hid to People Today
Not only is the gospel hid, the whole Bible is hid.
Not only are these hid to the lost, they are also hid to Christians.
The problem hiding them is not just that they have not been heard. It is much bigger than that.
The word, gospel, is a hint to the problem. What is the gospel? Many church people think the gospel is the salvation message or the Bible. They are wrong.
Gospel is an old English word that meant good news. In the fourteenth century if someone had good news, he might say, "I have some gospel for you." We do not say that today, but back then they did.
The definition of the Greek word that gospel is a translation of (euaggelion) also backs this up. It literally means good (eu) announcement (aggelia).
Even though the word, gospel, is outdated today, most Bible versions and many pastors still use it. Even pastors who know that gospel means good news, still use gospel. Why? Because in their mind gospel is something other than good news. It is not.
People who use the word, gospel, and other outdated Bible words, hide the true meaning. The irony is that the word, gospel, actually hides the gospel.
A sad truth that Christians need to face is, if the message of the Bibles that use outdated words like gospel is hid, it is hid to those who were not born in the fourteenth century. Words like, gospel, grace, righteousness, faith, mercy, justify, and hundreds more, were regular, common words in the fourteenth century. That is when they were first penned into the Bible by John Wycliffe. Newer versions have kept the old words. When the KJV came along, it used the words that Wycliffe used. Bible versions today still use them.
But we do not live in the fourteenth century. We don't even understand how they talked. The English language has changed drastically since then. Some church people brag that they understand the fourteenth century English, but they don't.
Despite this, our Bibles still use their words.
God's Message Should be in Your Words
Why then do Bible versions and pastors use them? Do not these words hide the meaning of the Bible? Do they not make it harder for people to understand the Bible? Many Bible scholars spend much of their lives trying to understand them. Is the message of God supposed to be hard to figure out?
Moses said an interesting thing to the children of Israel in his last speech to them. After reciting the law and pronouncing blessings and cursings, he said "You see, these things that I command you today, they are not hidden from you, neither are they far away. They are not in heaven, that you must say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us and bring them to us that we may hear them and do them?' They are not on the other side of the ocean either, that you must say, 'Who will go across the ocean for us and bring them to us that we may hear them and do them?' But the message is very near to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it" (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).
Moses had spelled out the things that the children of Israel should do. He had made it very plain to them. He had set it right in front of them. He had spoken to them in their own words so that it was in their mouths and in their hearts. He did not use words that they did not know. He used their words.
This is how God works. When God speaks to people, He uses their words. They understand immediately. There is no confusion. There are no questions about what the words mean. When God spoke to Moses, he used words that Moses knew. He did not have to run to the Bible dictionary to find out what God really meant. God speaks to people in their own words.
The Bible is hid today to millions and millions of people. It is not God who hides it. Stubborn preachers who refuse to allow anyone to read a Bible different than theirs are the people who hide the Bible. Also Bible versions that keep the old outdated words hide the Bible. And Christians who do not get a Bible version without the outdated words or spend time figuring out what the Bible's words really mean hide the Bible.
How to Uncover the Bible
The first step back to an unhidden Bible is to realize the problem, the message of the Bible is hidden by outdated words.
The second step is to replace the outdated words with words we use today. It is not enough to come up with a good definition of the outdated word. A good definition is no substitute for using the right word. Replacing the outdated words with current words opens up a whole new world of instruction from God. The New Testament - Breakthrough Version and the New Testament - Breakthrough KJV (www.breakthroughversion.com) do not use outdated words. They replace over 400 outdated words with today's words.
The third step is to do them. As we quoted before, Moses said, "It is in your mouth and in your heart, that you may DO it."
Don't let the Bible be hid any longer.