The Paraphrase Believer

The Paraphrase Believer

The Beginning of Deception

Jack Morgan was a modern Christian man, proud of his devotion to what he called "accessible faith." His Bible of choice was The Message, a paraphrase version that he found easy to understand, its conversational tone a welcome alternative to the "complicated" and "archaic" language of the King James Version (KJV). Jack often dismissed the KJV as outdated and overly rigid.

"God knows my heart," he would tell himself whenever he felt a pang of doubt about the depth of his understanding. "Faith is about relationship, not rules."

Jack wasn’t a bad man—far from it. He attended church regularly, donated to charitable causes, and loved his family deeply. But his theology, built on the foundations of his paraphrase Bible, lacked the sturdiness of the ancient texts. His faith was molded by convenience, comfort, and the belief that compromise could bring peace.

The Tribulation Begins

When the Great Tribulation began, Jack, like many others, was overwhelmed. Governments collapsed, natural disasters struck without mercy, and chaos swept across the globe. Amid this turmoil arose a figure of immense charisma and authority, the Beast. The world marveled at his wisdom and power, declaring him the savior of humanity. Statues of his image were erected in cities worldwide, and his number—666—became a mark of allegiance.

Jack, armed with his paraphrase Bible, sought solace in its simplified words. But as the Beast's demands grew, Jack was faced with a terrifying dilemma. The government mandated that all must receive the mark of the Beast to buy or sell. Refusal meant starvation, isolation, and, ultimately, death.

One night, as Jack sat in his dimly lit home, clutching his Message Bible, he reasoned with himself. "Surely, God wouldn’t want me to die like this," he thought. "I can bow to the image of the Beast and show loyalty outwardly, but not take the mark. That way, I can stay alive and take care of my family. God knows my heart."

The Middle Path

Jack’s reasoning felt like a revelation. He had always believed in the Middle Path—a way to navigate life without extremes. It was, to him, the Christian equivalent of the Buddhist Middle Way, a compromise between loyalty to God and survival in the face of the Beast’s tyranny.

So Jack went to the public square where the statue of the Beast loomed. As the crowds bowed, he hesitated. The words from his paraphrase Bible comforted him, assuring him that God’s grace would understand his decision. "God is love," he whispered to himself as he fell to his knees before the image of the Beast.

Jack did not take the mark. That, he told himself, was his boundary. He could bow and even pledge loyalty to the Beast’s name, but the mark was too far. In his heart, he believed he had found a clever loophole—a lukewarm solution that would satisfy all sides.

The Judgment

But Jack had not considered the true weight of the Scriptures, particularly the warning of Revelation 19:20:

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." (KJV)

What Jack failed to understand was that worshiping the image of the Beast, even without taking the mark, was an act of allegiance. His bow was a declaration of loyalty, and his whispered words of comfort were a denial of the truth.

As time passed, Jack's spiritual blindness deepened. He had convinced himself he was safe, that God understood his compromise. But when the final judgment came, Jack stood among the multitudes gathered before the throne of God. The Lamb, Jesus Christ, appeared in power, His name "The Word of God" written on His thigh.

Jack's heart sank as the truth pierced him. He had trusted in his paraphrase Bible and his own reasoning, rather than the unyielding Word of God. The words of Jesus echoed in his mind:

"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:25, KJV)

Jack had loved his life more than his faith, and now it was too late. The angels cast him, along with the Beast, the False Prophet, and all who worshiped the image, into the lake of fire.

A Warning for All

Jack's story is a somber reminder of the dangers of compromise and the importance of standing firm in faith, even unto death. The Word of God is not to be watered down or paraphrased for convenience. It is truth, unchanging and eternal.

As Revelation 14:12 (KJV) declares:

"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

In the end, there is no Middle Path. Faith demands total allegiance, even when it costs everything.