Complete textual-variant dossier
Adverse entailment established
Sections distinguish readings, edition history, evidence, theological consequences, and the Research Center's evaluation. CBGM is an analytical tool; editorial committees—not the software—make textual decisions.
1Passage and issue
Passage
Issue
The critical form omits Χριστοῦ after ‘Jesus.’ The purification of hearts by faith, the rejection of the legal yoke, and salvation by the Lord’s grace remain, but the received text states the full name and title.
Variant class
Omission / addition
2Textus Receptus
Greek reading
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved
Authorized Version
“And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” — Acts 15:9–11
Edition note
The Research Center uses the received Greek text underlying the Authorized Version as its baseline; edition-specific differences are recorded when the variation unit requires them.
Historical annotation witness
Erasmus’s Annotationes
Erasmus’s printed Greek text, his Latin annotation, and the Research Center’s evaluation are distinct evidence. Each edition remains separately identified because Erasmus revised the Annotationes across his five editions.
Not yet assessed. No inference about Erasmus’s silence has been made. A Latin annotation and translation will appear here only after an edition and exact locus have been verified.
The Erasmus annotation audit has not yet been completed for this locus. Do not infer from this status that Erasmus was silent.
Westminster and Dutch annotation witnesses
Westminster Annotations
Not yet assessed. No inference from silence is made.
Dutch Annotations
Not yet assessed. No inference from silence is made.
3NA28 baseline and critical-text rationale
NA28 baseline reading
through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved
Translation or explanation
through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved
Metzger’s report of the UBS committee
Metzger reports the UBS4 committee's treatment of 2 variation units within this record's range. The notes ground the relevant decisions in the weight and distribution of external attestation, a proposed mechanism of accidental omission, the comparative difficulty of the readings; the printed confidence rating represented here is {C}. This is a controlled synopsis rather than a quotation.
Locator: Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., notes on Acts 15:9, 15:10
ECM / CBGM evidence and editors
No passage-specific ECM/CBGM editorial explanation is attached to this record. Official method sources describe the CBGM as a set of coherence procedures, not a decision-maker: editors define variation units and local stemmata and evaluate pre-genealogical, genealogical, and stemmatic coherence together with transcriptional, intrinsic, and other philological evidence.
4UBS6 and intended NA29 revision
No UBS6 / intended NA29 main-text change is recorded for this passage in the controlled 169-change ledger.
No change row is attached to this passage.
UBS6 is published, and the German Bible Society identifies its Greek main text as identical to the intended NA29 main text. The complete NA29 volume and its apparatus remain forthcoming. Project-ledger rows retain their source and verification statements until they are checked against the published UBS6 text and, when available, the NA29 apparatus.
5Doctrinal and four-point analysis
Effect class
Exegetical or interpretive consequence
Exact proposition affected
The triune identity of the Father, the Son/Word, and the Holy Ghost.
Doctrinal analysis
Exegetical or interpretive consequence. The record does not establish that the variant by itself removes an entire Christian doctrine; explicit wording, exegesis, and cumulative testimony must be distinguished.
Controlled source-list matches
Doctrinal significance and Westminster use
This passage is listed in one or both controlling research files. Their claims are reported with exact source identity and confessional use; list membership does not by itself establish the original reading or the Research Center’s final entailment.
Westminster proof-text listActs 15:11
A List of Omissions and Changes Found in the Critical Text to Verses Used as Proof Texts in the Westminster Standards
Seth Stark — supplied source file pp. 62–63
Textual wording marked in the source
Received/NKJV side: Christ
Westminster doctrines and propositions supported
WCF 7.6 — Of God's Covenant with Man
Portion identified in the source as supported by this proof text:
- There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same, under various dispensations.
WCF 14.2 — Of Saving Faith
Portion identified in the source as supported by this proof text:
- But the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.
WCF 20.1 — Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience
Portion identified in the source as supported by this proof text:
- But, under the New Testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged, in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish Church was subjected;
WLC 72 — What is justifying faith?
Portion identified in the source as supported by this proof text:
- and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation.
Editorial qualification: This establishes a confessional proof-text and reception connection. It does not by itself establish the original reading, and its English-version comparison must be checked against the Greek variation unit.
Bahnsen four-point examination
Arbitrariness
At Acts 15:9–11, the critical choice avoids arbitrariness only to the extent that it states public manuscript, transcriptional, and intrinsic grounds. Passage: Acts 15:9–11 Received reading: through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved Principal competing reading: through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved Issue class: Textual Variant Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending. The critical form omits Χριστοῦ after ‘Jesus.’ The critical or alternative presentation reads “through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved.”
Inconsistency
The criteria used at Acts 15:9–11 must be applied to comparable readings as well. A principle such as age, difficulty, brevity, or coherence cannot be decisive here and quietly reversed elsewhere merely to escape a historical, grammatical, or theological difficulty.
Consequences
Exegetical or interpretive consequence: The triune identity of the Father, the Son/Word, and the Holy Ghost.
Preconditions of intelligibility
The argument presupposes stable authorship, meaningful language, objective logical norms, transmissible evidence, and a coherent account of how Scripture can be received and identified by the church. The analysis tests whether the method can make those conditions intelligible without reducing the text to an indefinitely revisable editorial construct.
This framework examines an argument and its conditions; it does not claim to read an editor's private motives.
6Argument for the received reading
External and historical evidence
Read in place, Acts 15:9–11 stands beside stable narrative statements: Acts 15:8 says, “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us.” Sources and further reading The Holy Bible, Authorized Version, Acts 15:9–11. Scrivener, The New Testament in the Original Greek according to the Text Followed in the Authorised Version (1894), Acts 15:9–11.
Internal and transcriptional evidence
A source-level internal and transcriptional synopsis remains open; consult the full essay.
Reception and ecclesiastical use
The purification of hearts by faith, the rejection of the legal yoke, and salvation by the Lord’s grace remain, but the received text states the full name and title.
Providential-preservation analysis
Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Acts 15:9–11. It supplies the confessional context in which manuscript transmission, broad reception, and the church's actual possession of Scripture are evaluated together.
Canonical coherence with the rest of Scripture
Canonical coherence remains an explicit test: a proposed reading must make grammatical and theological sense within the immediate context and the rest of Scripture. No conflict is asserted merely because two editions differ; the claimed incoherence must be demonstrated at this passage.
Canonical-coherence verdict
The Authorized Version is retained where its representation of the TR forms a coherent reading within the immediate context and the rest of Scripture. Any competing form must demonstrate an equal or better canonical fit rather than merely invoke an edition or method label.
Response to the principal critical argument
Passage: Acts 15:9–11 Received reading: through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved Principal competing reading: through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved Issue class: Textual Variant Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending. The critical form omits Χριστοῦ after ‘Jesus.’ The critical or alternative presentation reads “through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved.”
Passage-specific evidence from consulted works
Core 0.6.3 supplied-source audit complete: 1 passage-specific note attached. Incidental citations and global-method sources are retained in the audit report rather than presented as local textual evidence.
A List of Omissions and Changes Found in the Critical Text to Verses Used as Proof Texts in the Westminster StandardsWestminster proof-text and translation comparison
Seth Stark — supplied PDF pp. 62–63
At Acts 15:11, it compares the NKJV/TR-oriented wording “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”” with the ESV/critical-text wording “But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”” and associates the passage with WCF 7.6, WLC 72.
Editorial use: This establishes a confessional proof-text and reception connection. It does not by itself establish the original reading, and its English-version comparison must be checked against the Greek variation unit.
Conclusion
Read in place, Acts 15:9–11 stands beside stable narrative statements: Acts 15:8 says, “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us.” Acts 15:12 says, “Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.”
Keep ‘Jesus Christ’ as the received identification of the Lord whose grace saves.
Logical entailment
The Authorized Version serves as the faithful English representation. The preservation claim applies immediately to the authentic Hebrew and Greek texts—not to an English translation as though it were the inspired source.
Canonical-status rule: Physical printing is not canonical inclusion. If an edition prints a passage in double brackets while judging it secondary or non-original, it disagrees with the received text concerning the identity and extent of inspired Scripture.
Status: Established
Immediate textual or doctrinal consequence
At Acts 15:9–11, the received text reads “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved” and its Authorized Version representation reads “And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” — Acts 15:9–11”. The assessed critical reading is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved”. The immediate consequence is that the critical text no longer states the received wording at this locus. The immediate local effect is exegetical or interpretive; this argument does not claim that a distinct Christian doctrine disappears from the verse.
Necessary reasoning chain
- At Acts 15:9–11, the received Hebrew/Greek form is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved”; the Authorized Version represents it as “And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?…”. The assessed critical form is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved”.
- The received and critical forms are not the same at this locus. Therefore, if the competing critical form is original, the received form is secondary rather than the authentic wording at this place. The immediate consequence is: At Acts 15:9–11, the received text reads “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved” and its Authorized Version representation reads “And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” — Acts 15:9–11”. The assessed critical reading is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved”. The immediate consequence is that the critical text no longer states the received wording at this locus. The immediate local effect is exegetical or interpretive; this argument does not claim that a distinct Christian doctrine disappears from the verse.
- If the received form at this place is secondary rather than original, then the authentic Hebrew/Greek text was not kept pure at this place in the received textual tradition; therefore the unqualified confessional preservation claim must be denied or redefined.
Ultimate preservation consequence
If the competing reading is original and the received reading is secondary, then God did not preserve and keep pure the authentic text at this place in the received textual tradition. The unqualified confessional claim that Scripture was kept pure in all ages must therefore be denied or redefined.
Sources
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1647)Chapter 1, section 8 — Governing confessional preservation claim
- F. H. A. Scrivener, The New Testament in the Original Greek according to the Text followed in the Authorized VersionReceived Greek reading
- Digital ECM — Acts 15:9–11Current critical-edition, ECM, or editorial documentation
- A List of Omissions and Changes Found in the Critical Text to Verses Used as Proof Texts in the Westminster Standardssupplied PDF pp. 62–63 — Westminster proof-text and translation comparison
- German Bible Society — UBS6 publications and relation to NA29Current critical-edition, ECM, or editorial documentation
Read the full research essay and its sources
Passage: Acts 15:9–11
Received reading: through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved
Principal competing reading: through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we are saved
Issue class: Textual Variant
Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending.
“And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by
faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But
we believe that through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be
saved, even as they.” — Acts 15:9–11
Acts 15:9–11 is best examined by separating the shared narrative from
the focal reading.
The critical form omits Χριστοῦ after ‘Jesus.’ The purification of
hearts by faith, the rejection of the legal yoke, and salvation by the
Lord’s grace remain, but the received text states the full name and
title.
In received form, Luke’s words are represented by “through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved.” The critical or alternative
presentation reads “through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe we
are saved.”
The variation at Acts 15:9–11 changes emphasis or explicitness within
an otherwise recognizable account; shared words should be acknowledged
before the distinct reading is defended, and the difference should not
be enlarged beyond the clause that carries it.
Read in place, Acts 15:9–11 stands beside stable narrative
statements: Acts 15:8 says, “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare
them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us.” Acts
15:12 says, “Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to
Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought
among the Gentiles by them.”
Keep ‘Jesus Christ’ as the received identification of the Lord whose
grace saves.
Sources and further reading
- The Holy Bible, Authorized Version, Acts 15:9–11.
- F. H. A. Scrivener, The New Testament in the Original Greek
according to the Text Followed in the Authorised Version (1894),
Acts 15:9–11. - Michael W. Holmes, ed., The Greek New Testament: SBL
Edition, Acts 15:9–11 and apparatus.
7Related materials
Open a group to follow connected articles, books, biographies, media, research notes, variants, or downloads. Research Center relationships use permanent record IDs; external items retain their actual link.
- Record
- VAR-2259
- Status
- Preliminary
- Version
- 1.1-dossier
- Review
- Level B — Editorial synthesis
- Editor
- Chris Thomas
- Reviewer
- Independent reviewer pending assignment
- First date
- 1st century · Date Range
- Last revised
- 2026-07-22
Evidence and editorial controls
- Verification
- Passage, received reading, principal SBLGNT reading, and reported NA28 alignment checked against Scrivener’s received Greek text and the official SBLGNT text and comparison apparatus; exhaustive manuscript collation remains open. Metzger commentary entries were matched by exact passage where present; ECM/CBGM rationale is passage-specific only when an official editorial explanation is cited. Ledger rows are identified as UBS6 / intended NA29 data but retain their row-level verification caveats pending direct collation. Supplied-source audit completed in Core 0.6.3. Accepted local notes were matched by canonical passage and manually bounded; source claims remain attributed where current apparatus verification is pending.
- Rights and access
- Original editorial synthesis. Authorized Version Scripture is public domain in the United States; cited editions and digital witnesses retain their stated rights and access conditions.
- Known limitations
- This staging record summarizes the defined variation unit and representative edition evidence. It is not a fresh collation of every extant manuscript, version, lectionary, patristic citation, or ECM coherence relation.
Links from this record
No public outgoing links are recorded.
Records that cite or connect here
No public backlinks are recorded.
Corrections and evidence submissions
No correction submission is presently attached to this record. Submit evidence or read the correction policy.
Chris Thomas, “Acts 15:9–11 — Hearts Purified by Faith and Salvation through the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,” VAR-2259, Confessional Bibliology Research Center, version 1.0-staging, last revised 2026-07-22.
Revision history
- — Chris Thomas