THE
INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE
Introduction
“What has prevented me from joining some churches has been the requirement to declare that I believe the Bible to be “The Inspired Word of God.” No satisfactory definition of “inspired” has been given to me although I have always asked.” So wrote a contributor recently to a daily newspaper. ‘My View’ by Ian Oliver. – Press & Journal, Oct. 17th. 2001.
If one is required to make such a declaration then the question asked does require an answer. Whether or not the answer given is satisfactory to the questioner is another matter. However, those who require the declaration should, at least, state what they mean by ‘inspired’ and give a reason why they believe the Bible to be so.
The meaning of inspiration
By inspiration I understand Christians to mean that God has committed, in written form, free from error, that which he wishes to communicate to mankind including appropriate human history. The means was; that holy men were moved by the Spirit of God to speak his word and commit it to writing, 2 Pet. 1: 20 – 21,*1 and while their literary style is used the words are in actual fact those of the Holy Spirit. Questions relating to subsequent versions and translation are another matter.
Questions arising from the claim of
inspiration
The claim that God has committed to writing the information contained in sixty six books, written by many different writers over a period of some sixteen hundred years, will raise the question in the mind – has he and, if so, why? Is there a grand overall purpose into which these scriptures harmoniously fit, and is it necessary to believe all that is presented as historical fact in order to be a Christian?
Christianity requires that the
history of
Consider the latter part of the second question first. – Is it necessary to believe all that is presented as historical fact in order to be a Christian? In the First Epistle to The Corinthians Chapter 15 the Apostle Paul speaks about the first man Adam and the last Adam and contrasts the first man with the second man. The first man Adam was the head of the human race and likewise the second man as the last Adam, and as such will have no successor, heads up a race of mankind.
In our chapter we also see that scripture views all men as being either ‘in Adam’ or ‘in Christ.’ Being ‘in Adam,’ which is our lot by natural birth, all die. By the new birth (commonly referred to as being born again) and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the Christian is no longer ‘in Adam’ but ‘in Christ.’ This is his new standing and position before God; “If any one [be] in Christ, [there is] a new creation.” 2 Cor. 5: 17.
All this basic teaching of Christianity is based on Adam being a historical person, not a fiction or a mere metaphor to explain something that the readers could otherwise not understand. If he was not a historical person the teaching of Christianity collapses.
Paul also speaks of the God that commanded light to shine out of darkness shinning into men’s hearts, an allusion to divine creatorial power in the book of Genesis, see 2 Cor. 4: 6, clearly indicating his belief in the O.T. (Old Testament) scriptures.
Time and again Christ uses the expression, “It is written” with respect to the O.T. scriptures stamping his own authority on them. e.g. “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,” Mat. 4: 4, then to two despondent disciples after the crucifixion he said. “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to have entered into his glory? And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24: 25- 27.
The Apostle Peter refers to the O.T.
and to the New Testament writings as scripture
The Apostle
Peter refers to the prophetic word in this way, “For prophecy was not ever uttered by the will of man, but holy men of
God spake under the power of the Holy Ghost,” no doubt referring to the O.T.
scriptures. 2 Pet. 1: 21. With
respect to the N.T. (New Testament) writings from the hand of Paul he says
this, “As also in all his epistles,
speaking of them in these things; in which are some things hard to be
understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures,
to their own destruction.” 2 Pet. 3:
15 – 16.
The Apostles Paul and John both
claim divine revelation for what they wrote
The Gospel that Paul preached, he claims to have received by revelation of Jesus Christ, Gal. 1: 11 – 12, and this teaching is of course contained in his epistles.
Again Paul writing to Timothy says, “Every scripture [is] divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work.” 2 Tim 3: 16 -17. Here we see a most important purpose for the scriptures.
With respect to
the book of Revelation the Apostle John tells us that he was commanded by the
risen Jesus to write the things that he had seen, and the things that are, and
the things that are about to be after these. Rev. 1.
Christianity is therefore seen to stand on the veracity and importance of the O.T. and N.T. scriptures.
Has God given us his word and why?
Is there a grand overall purpose?
These things hang together in considering the claim that God has given us his inspired word – If he has then there must be a grand overall purpose? Scripture does tell us what this purpose is in the Epistle to The Ephesians Chapter 1, where we read that, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ --- [has] purposed in himself for [the] administration of the fullness of times; to head up all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth.”
In the book of Genesis the first prophecy gives us an indication as to how he is going to bring this about; it will be by, the seed of the woman [Messiah] crushing the serpent’s [The devil’s] head. The intermediate scriptures, while dealing with the moral history of man and God’s dealings with him, speak of Christ and lead on to this grand conclusion fitting perfectly into one harmonious whole. Therefore it is God’s intention to head up the whole creation in a man and that man is Christ. The Book of Revelation Chapter 21 tells us that he will dwell with men and will be their God but only when all sin has been removed and the last enemy destroyed, which brings us to the question of - The moral history of man?
The moral history of man
The book of Genesis
opens with the first man at a distance from God and the cherubim [the executers
of God’s judgment] with flaming sword guarding the way to the tree of life.
Wisdom personified in the book of Proverbs
speaking of the time when God laid the foundations of the earth says, “I was with him --- I was daily his delight,
rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth and my delights were with the sons of men.”
Prov. 8: 30 - 31. What a chasm had
opened up between these thoughts of God in relation to men and what we find
here outside of
Man hid from God
in
The conclusion reached therefore, in the Epistle to The Romans, is that, “All have gone out of the way, they have together [Jew and Gentile] become unprofitable; there is not one that practices goodness, there is not as much as one.” Rom. 3: 12. Verse 19 continues, “That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world be under judgment to God.” The universal verdict on man therefore is - guilty.
Christianity contrasted with
religion
With man declared ‘guilty’ where do we go from here, is all hopelessly lost? In the face of inflexible righteousness can the glory of God be maintained and the blessing of man still be secured? Here, Christianity in contrast with religion [e.g. Judaism] is found to meet the need. Christianity is not to be confused with the religious sacerdotal systems that prevail generally in Christendom. The religious way is described by Paul as, “having [his] own righteousness, which is of the law.” Php. 3: 9. Christianity stands in contrast with this and to see the difference between these would remove the fog that surrounds many ecclesiastical minds in the present day, allowing scripture to be seen in its proper context and the divine design to be more appreciated. The words of the poet, which refer to the stars, have been applied to the scriptures in this way – “Ever singing as they shine the hand that made us is divine.” When it is all over with guilty man, his case already proved hopeless, and he has nothing to offer to satisfy God [which would be the religious way] then God brings in Christ, his work, resurrection and ascension. Faith in this is Christianity. Christ did a work, on the cross, which satisfies God in respect of our sins and because of it God is declared to be just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. Rom. 3: 26. When Jesus died he declared that the work to remove our sins was complete with the words “IT IS FINISHED” and he then dismissed his spirit. John 19: 30. Faith looks to Christ and appropriates his work. When he dismissed his spirit the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom, Mat. 27: 51, indicating the opening of the way into the presence of God and the setting aside of the current Jewish system of approach. “For there is a setting aside of the commandment going before for its weakness and unprofitableness, [for the law perfected nothing,] and the introduction of a better hope by which we draw nigh to God.” Heb.7: 18 – 19.The scripture continues, “He takes away the first that he may establish the second; by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering, and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But he having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down in perpetuity at the right hand of God, - - - For by one offering he has perfected in perpetuity the sanctified. Heb. 10: 9 – 14. Here, Christianity is contrasted with religion which, even when God given, is unable to perfect a man, “because the mind of the flesh - - - is not subject to the law of God; for neither indeed can it be,” Rom 8: 7, but, Christ when he had “made [by himself] the purification for sins, set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high.” Heb.1: 3 – 4. The sitting down stamps finality on his work because, “where there is remission of these [i.e. sins] there is no more offering for sins.” The earthly priest offering these regular sacrifices for sins is now redundant.
These scriptures
furnish us, do they not, with a greater insight into the reason why God has
given us his word? Is it not that man might be brought acceptably into his
presence without fear, and that he might not be left, groping in the dark, to
find his own way? Jesus said, “And ye
know the way.” John 14: 4 – 6.
Man, following his own thoughts may say, “If there is a God then there must be
many ways to him.” This is to deny that God is capable of revealing himself and
those who do so will sadly find, in the end, that “there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death.” Prov. 14: 12.
Christianity is distinct from
Judaism
The Lord having
been rejected by Israel spoke these words about Jerusalem and its future – “Behold your
house is left unto you; and I say
unto you, that ye shall not see me until
it come that ye say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” Luke 13: 35. This indicates a period of
time when
If we refer to Psalm 110 we read these words, “Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put thine enemies [as] footstool of thy feet,” anticipating the day, when in accordance with Psalm 2, Messiah asks for the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. You ask me - When did he sit at his right hand? The first three verses of the Epistle to Hebrews give the answer. It was when he had made purification for sins; in other words he is sitting there now. It will end when Messiah takes his kingdom and reigns. Psalm 24, also anticipates the great day with the words, “Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in.” This time it will not be on a donkey, the foal of an ass, but as the king of glory and his enemies will be put under his feet. It will then be a question of, “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered.” Psalm 68.
It is then
pertinent to ask - What, if anything, fills the present interim period on the
earth? It is the Christian era that fills this period. Christianity is not an extension of Judaism
but is something absolutely new and distinct. It began with Christ going up on
high and it will end when he returns in the manner that we read about in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians Chapter
4.
In the future
day Israel and the nations will have there place; In Christianity these
national distinctions disappear and God has brought believers together in one
body on the earth; namely the έκκλησία
[assembly or church] of God as indicated in the following scripture, Christ “might reconcile both [Jew and Gentile] in one body to God by the cross.” Eph.
2: 16. This was never the subject of O.T. prophecy; but something entirely
new; It had, as the apostle states, been a mystery previously hidden but now
revealed. He expresses it in these words, “ If
indeed ye have heard of the administration of the grace of God that has been
given to me towards you, that by revelation
the mystery has been made known to me, - - - which in other generations has not been made known to the sons of men,
as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in [the power
of the] Spirit, that [they who are
of] the nations should be joint heirs,
and a joint body, and joint partakers of [his] promise in Christ Jesus by the glad tidings.” Eph. 3.
The Christian’s
hope is a heavenly one. Presently his life is hidden and certainly not understood
by the world. “If therefore you have been
raised with the Christ, seek the things [which are] above, where the Christ
is sitting at [the] right hand of
God: have your mind on the things [that are] above, not on the things [that
are] on the earth; for ye have died, and
your life is hid with the Christ in God. When the Christ is manifested who [is]
our life, then shall ye also be
manifested with him in glory.” Col.
3: 1- 4. The Christian’s business is therefore not with the things on
earth, its religion, politics, business, pleasures etc. in which people
indulge, generally without a thought of Christ or God. This is what scripture
calls ‘the world’; that is man’s vast world system built up away from God;
something that appears more unstable every day. e.g. The twin towers in
The hope of the Christian and
subsequent events on earth.
Scripture then
proceeds to show the privileges of the Christian believer and the
responsibilities connected with the profession of Christianity. It also reveals
the bright prospect of the return of the Lord Jesus for his own, firstly in the
resurrection of them that sleep in Jesus, and secondly in the transformation of
both them and the living to be with him. 1Thes.
4.
The book of Revelation
brings before us, in considerable detail, God’s subsequent dealings with Israel
and the nations of the earth, the setting up of the world kingdom of Christ, Rev. 11, 12 etc. and the final judgment
at the close. Rev. 20. In chapter
21, God dwells with men; all mention of
The testimony of the O.T. scriptures
to Christ
The O.T. is full of references to the coming Messiah, so I will only refer to a few.
The attempt to thwart the Genesis
prophecy
o It should surprise no one that Satan, hearing the prophecy that the seed of the woman would crush his head sets out to attack; “Give me a man!” is his cry, whether it be Job, or in Goliath’s case David, or ultimately, he who is God, yet deigned to become man. The enmity is seen in the dragon waiting for the birth of the man child in Rev. 12, but the child is caught up to God and his throne, and Israel delivered of the man child, becomes Satan’s target.
o Herod’s effort to destroy the young child Jesus is only one of many attempts by Satan to thwart the promise in Genesis. When Naomi, in the Book of Ruth, her husband and two sons dead, and with all hope, naturally speaking, of inheritance in Israel gone returns to Bethlehem with her daughter in law Ruth the Moabitess, [A picture of the future returning remnant of Israel now lost among the nations] finds favour with Boaz, [A picture of Christ] and is able in association with him, to take up the inheritance. Boaz begets Obed of Ruth; Obed, Jesse; and Jesse, David and so the Royal line to Christ is preserved.
o
Take the case of Ahaz the king
of
o In the days of the ‘Jewish Captivity,’ in the time of the Persian rule, God, working behind the scenes, uses Esther for the preservation of the Jews.
o Satan tries to take the Lord off the path of dependence on God during the temptation in the wilderness.
o
But one effort comes from the
Lord’s inner circle of followers. When Jesus indicated that he must go to the
cross; Peter says, “Be it far from thee
Lord; this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee
behind me Satan; thou art an offence
unto me; for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men.” Mat. 16: 22 – 23. The cross was an absolute moral necessity.
In all these attempts we can trace the thread of continuity through
the scriptures until Messiah is introduced and cut off in accordance with the
prophecy of Daniel. Dan. 9: 26.
His ‘cutting off’ and present session at the right hand of God is anticipated in Psalm110 where, “Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put thine enemies [as] footstool of thy feet.” His present session, in heaven, is paralleled by the Christian era on earth when the church is being called out from the nations. i.e. A company composed of all believers on earth during the Christian era and styled the body of Christ which is linked by the Spirit to its living head in heaven.
Indicators
pointing to the inspiration of the scriptures
1) It should be noted that the Bible immediately introduces us to God without providing us with an argument for his existence; a passing reference in the Epistle to Romans shows that man should have recognized his eternal power and divinity from creation.
2) The Bible is concise, it does not waste words, great historical events often being given only one or two verses e.g. “That night was Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans slain and Darius the Mede received the kingdom. Dan. 5: 30 – 31.
3) The Gospels present the Lord Jesus in four different aspects and are all required to give us a true representation of the person of Christ. To attempt to blend them into one complete narrative would be to negate the design of the inspiring Spirit of God.
· Mathew presents him as the Son of Abraham the Son of David. i.e as the king and the genealogy is the official line showing his title to the throne of David.
· Mark shows him in the character of a servant. Whoever would think of giving the genealogy of a servant? Of Christ we read that, “He made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant - - - and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Php.2: 7 – 8.
· Luke shows him as the Son of Man and gives his genealogy as, ‘the seed of the woman’ the son of Mary,’ which gives his actual line as the Son of David so, that actually and legally his right to the throne of David is established.
· John presents him as the divine Son of God, which is what he was from eternity, and hence there is no genealogy.
The
coincidence of the prophetic word with the known facts of history
While I believe that the best testimony to the truth of the scriptures lies within scripture itself it may be that some would raise the question of how they compare with known history.
In the O.T. prophecy of Daniel
the example of the progression of the four great empires namely, the
Babylonian, the Medo/ Persian, the Grecian and the Roman with well known
history will provide substantial external evidence of the truth of scripture.
Particular attention is drawn to the Greek empire and Alexander The Great’s
exploits and the subsequent division of the empire to his four generals,
In the N.T. others have drawn attention to the census instigated by
the decree of Caesar Augustus spoken about in Luke’s Gospel Chapter 2.
The N.T.
use of the prophetic word and the introduction of grace
The way in which the N.T. uses and applies the O.T. scriptures simply breathes inspiration. Consider the following;
·
In Luke 4: 19 - 21, we find the Lord in the synagogue at
·
Paul’s limited use of Isaiah 52 in Romans 10: 15, again demonstrates a similar situation where the
omission of the reference to both, “the
mountains” and the statement that, “That
saith unto
Conclusion
I think that sufficient has been said to show what I mean by the expression, ‘Inspiration’ and to give some idea why I believe that the Bible is ‘The Inspired Word of God.’ If I speak from my own experience, then surely it was the opening verses of John’s Gospel pressed home, I believe, by the Spirit of God, which has left an indelible impression on me, including the words, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us - - - full of grace and truth.” John 1: 14.
It is important when handling the word of God to (as the scripture itself says) rightly divide the word of truth. Where this is done and the scriptures are seen in context the truth of their inspiration stands out showing them to comprise one harmonious whole.
In past times the scripture tells us that God spoke to the fathers
(i.e. the fathers of
Blind unbelief is sure to
err,
And scan his word in vain,
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
W.Cowper
G.W.D. JAN. 2002 REVISED DEC. 2004
*1 Scripture quotations are generally from a translation by J.N.Darby
#2 Isaiah’s son’s names,
Shear-jashub and Maher-Shalal-hash-baz
mean respectively, ‘a remnant shall return’ and ‘swift for spoil, hasty
for prey,’ Isaiah 7: 3, 8: 1. The
application is that this association of a remnant of
#3 Today as ‘the saved’ the
remnant forms an integral part of the church; then it will no longer be in
process of being added together, in the church, as seen in Acts 2. See also Rom. 11: 5,
25 - 26. Those who, in that day, compose it will return to the children of
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