There has been theological speculation for centuries whether our text Bible passage is referring to a missing Epistle written by the apostle Paul to the church at Laodicea. May I say, only those writings which God decided to include in the canon of Scripture are considered inspired by God. When a man writes or speaks, those words are inspired by MAN, not God. That is why I make such a big fuss today over the inspiration of the King James Bible, Unfortunately, over 95% of religious leaders today do NOT believe that the KJB is verbally inspired by God. They believe that only the original autographs were inspired. That is a big problem, because the originals no longer exist. So if it is true that only the original autographs were inspired by GOD, then we do not have God's Words today.
Sadly, most Bible colleges (including Bob Jones University) teach that the King James Bible is not perfect, that it has errors and mistakes in it. I've heard umpteen preachers say these horrible things, including Dr. Hank Lindstrom and Dr. John R. Rice. They take it upon themselves to correct the Bible. I don't agree with those men when they correct the Bible. The Bible needs to correct us!
Job said that he wished his words could be forever recorded in a book. Job 19:23, “Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!” That is very interesting. Job was merely speaking as a man, wishing out loud that his words (crying out from a suffering and broken heart to God) could be forever printed in a book for everyone to read. God did exactly that, and we today have the precious book of Job in the Old Testament. Likewise, when the apostle Paul spoke, sometimes he said that God didn't tell him to say what he was writing (1st Corinthians 7:6); but rather, Paul said he was giving his own advice. Yet God decided to include those mortal words in the canon of Scripture as inspired by God. Not everything in the Bible is true! That's right. We read in Genesis where the serpent told Eve if she and Adam ate the forbidden fruit, they would become "as gods." That is a lie! Yet, that statement by the serpent is inspired by God, because it has been included in the Scriptures.
So if Paul did write a letter to the Laodicean church (and he obviously did from reading Colossians 4:16), it would not be considered inspired, otherwise God would have included it in the Holy Bible. We know Job and Paul were mere mortal men. We know that those men spoke millions of words in their lifetime. The average person speaks 30,000 words each day. So what decided which of the millions of words spoken by those men were inspired BY GOD, and not merely inspired by the men themselves? That is something that only God knows.
Modern pseudo-scholars claim that since the various men who wrote the Bible wrote using their own styles and personalities, this proves God only inspired THE THOUGHTS and not the literal WORDS of the Bible. Biblica (the translators of the New International Version) say these horrible things on their website, which you can read if you'd like. They only believe in THOUGHT INSPIRATION, not VERBAL INSPIRATION. They use this faulty reasoning to justify publishing hundreds of English Bibles, since God only gave His THOUGHTS to men, and then men try to do their best to convey those THOUGHTS into various English Bible revisions. What quackery! In sharp contrast, I believe that the King James Bible is VERBALLY (word for word) inspired by God, and that every single word matters! Jesus exclaimed in Matthew 4:4 (a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3) that man shall live by 'EVERY WORD' that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Tragically, the Easy-To-Read Version (ERV) removed the phrase “EVERY WORD.” By the way, this is one of the garbage Bible revisions that Harvest Baptist Church on Guam shamefully uses:
King James Bible - Matthew 4:4, "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Easy-To-Read Version (ERV) - Matthew 4:4, 'Jesus answered him, “The Scriptures say, ‘It is not just bread that keeps people alive. Their lives depend on what God says.’”'“What God says” is very different from “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The Devil has deceived so many arrogant pastors today, using 501c3 state licensing and the love of money to cripple them spiritually. When you warn those pastors, they couldn't care less. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 23:9, “Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.” The pastors of the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam are fools. I say that kindly, but on the authority of the Holy Scriptures. When I warned them in 2014 (as a friend does) about the Devil's corrupt Bible revisions, which they are using and selling, they turned a deaf ear to me. I was labeled as a troubled-maker and counted their enemy, just like the apostle Paul (Galatians 4:16). They've made a martyr out of me, by their own foolishness and sinful pride. I have repeatedly warned HBC since 2014, and still today in 2020, but they are arrogant against the truth.
America's pulpits are weak today! That is because the new Bible revisions are weak! No man who walks with God and truly loves the Lord Jesus Christ, could tolerate the modern Bible which assault His deity and remove the Godhead. The new Bibles have Satan's fingerprints all over them; and sadly the fingerprints of the modern spiritually dead preachers that plague our world today! I heard a tremendous sermon the other day by Brother Lester Roloff (1914-1982) called: “The Book That Makes The Difference.”
So even if Paul did write umpteen other letters to the churches, they were only inspired by Paul. If there is a letter to the church at Laodicea, it was just a letter inspired by the man Paul, just as all my website articles are inspired by me, a mere man. I speak with the influence of the Holy Spirit in me as a child of God, but my words aren't always perfect or trustworthy, because I am still a sinner. I have bad days like everyone else, and sometimes my personal bias may cause me to write with anger or prejudice. I try not to do those things, very much so, but as a sinner in the flesh, my words are merely that of a redeemed sinner.
One of the common problems I run into with web visitors who have questions, is that they heard some preacher (a mere man) say something untrue. I always tell them the same thing—that ONLY the Holy Bible is inspired by God. That is why we are told in Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” If I ever say or teach anything that disagrees with the inspired Holy Bible, I am wrong! That is why I dare not correct the Bible, I let it correct me! Many people trust preachers, which gets them into trouble, even leading them into Hell. I only trust the preacher who always preaches the Bible, and I go double-check everything he says with the inspired Word of God (1st John 4:1).
I have also heard about the “Book of Enoch” missing from the Bible. You can read it online. In the book of Enoch it mentions 450 foot giants walking the earth! Oh boy! If there were some books missing from the Bible today, then God would be a liar, because He promised to preserve His 'PURE WORDS' unto every generation (Psalms 12:6-7). Not surprisingly, every modern Bible revision CORRUPTS Psalm 12:7 to say that God protects the saints instead of preserves His pure words. Why would they change that verse? Obviously so they can publish hundreds of English Bible revisions to make money.
