How is the Bible Inspired?

How is the Bible Inspired?  2021 01 31

2 Timothy 3:14 – 17; 1 Chronicles 28:19

I am, among other things, a rather prolific writer.  I have been a writer almost since I began to learn to read.  Many things inspire me, leading me to write about them as the facts, my interests, and my imagination leads.

Most of what I write about today is non-fiction, but I have written a lot of fiction and poetry in the past.  My poetry, especially, was inspired by various events and experiences that moved me to write something down.

But what about the Bible?  We’re told the Bible was inspired.  What was it that inspired the writers of the Bible?  How was the Bible inspired?

 

2 Timothy 3:14 – 17; 1 Chronicles 28:19

 

We’re told that all scripture is inspired by God.  The question is, how is the Bible inspired?

We know God is the One who inspired the scriptures, but how were the writers inspired?

 

I Learn

  1. Paul exhorted Timothy (and us) to continue in the things which he had learned from reliable teachers whom he respected, and from the Holy Scriptures.
  1. This tells us we must learn, in order to live the way we should.
  2. Learning the Holy Scriptures makes us wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
  3. Ignoring Bible reading, in other words, can leave us ignorant and unwise, perhaps thinking all is well between us and God, when in fact, we are still lost. We must never neglect the reading of the Holy Scriptures.  We must not stop learning.

                  

II  Scripture

  1. The Scriptures Paul was speaking of here were the Old Testament scriptures.  We know that God does not change, so we can be confident that the New Testament, once it was written and collected, also became part of the Holy Scriptures.
  1. This is important to remember, because while most Christian teachers today teach that the New Testament is inspired Scripture, many teach that the Old Testament is merely Jewish history or something other than Holy Scriputres given by inspiration of God.
  1. Paul told Timothy and us that all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
  1. That means that all of the Old Testament scriptures and all of the New Testament scriptures were given by inspiration of God.

 

III  Inspiration

  1. A single Greek compound word is translated “given by inspiration of God” in our passage. That word is theópneustos.
    1. It is a combination of theós, “God” and pnéō, “breathe out.” The literal translation would then be “God-breathed,” which is what many modern translations used.
      1. According to Gleason Archer in A Survey of OT Introduction, “breathed out by God” would be a better rendering that simply “God-breathed.”
      2. The King James translation is most accurate in conveying the actual meaning in its rendering, “is given by inspiration of God.” This tells us that it is not simply breathed out somewhere, but that it is given to us in our minds.
    2. The word, inspired, is defined as “aroused, animated, or imbued with the spirit to do something, by or as if by supernatural or divine influence.”
      1. This is the reason it was used by the translators of the KJV to convey the true meaning of the passage, that all scripture is given directly by the Holy Spirit into the mind of the person being inspired.
      2. Just as we read in Genesis 2:7 that God breathed into the nostrils of the first man the “breath” or spirit of life, the inspiration of God in the writing of the Scriptures is spiritual and active; it not only gives something, but it causes something to happen.
        1. In Genesis 2:7, the Spirit entered the man, causing him to become a living soul.
        2. Here in today’s passage, the Spirit enters the mind of the writer and causes him to write down the exact message God wants recorded. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”  2 Peter 1:21

 

IV Without Error

  1. The accurate translation of the Bible is important. A single error can completely change the meaning of a passage.
    1. For example, the Anglican theologians Henry Alford and Charles Ellicott both translated this: “Every scripture given by inspiration of God is also profitable,” leaving open the idea that not all scripture is inspired by God, the exact opposite of what it means, and in direct contradiction to other passages!
    2. The only way for us to be certain that the Scriptures are the Word of God and without error is to recognize that they are directly inspired by God and that God has caused them to be recorded without error even by fallible men.
  2. Our verse in 1 Chronicles tells us that God completely controlled the recording of the Holy Scriptures. He said, “…the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me…”
    1. The context is God’s instructions to David for the building and furnishing of the temple in Jerusalem. God gave him precise instructions, from the dimensions, to the materials, to the method of building, to the furnishings and instruments of the temple, so that his son, Solomon, would have a blueprint to follow.
    2. This shows that God did not simply throw the writers of the Scriptures an idea for them to “run with,” but He worked “hands on,” ensuring that they wrote everything down without error.

 

V  Written Down, Not Understood

  1. There is yet another passage that shows us that God made certain that His word would be recorded without error.  The prophets recorded His word without even understanding what it meant.  There is no way for someone to write something down on his own without understanding what he is writing.  “Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” 1 Peter 1:10 – 12
  1. So we see that the very prophets of God who wrote the Old Testament did not know the meaning of their prophecies, which we now know and understand because the Messiah and the full meaning of grace was finally revealed to us when Jesus Christ the Son of God finally came in the flesh and sent the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning of these things.
  2. The prophets did not know the meaning of the prophecies they proclaimed, but they proclaimed them without error as God so moved them.
    1. The very prophecies that they spoke and wrote down were a marvel and a mystery to them, but they were the directly inspired word of God.

 

Conclusion

We can trust the Bible today, because of the fact that it is the directly inspired Word of God.  Those who claim that human error has made it impossible to know what God has really said do not understand nor recognize the power of God.  When they declare that men, though well-meaning, would have made lots of mistakes, they fail to understand that God made certain that His word was correctly recorded.  When they argue that man has a free will that God will not overrule, which means again that mistakes made by fallible man have to have crept into the record, they have missed all the scriptures that God has given us showing where He has overruled the free will of man.

Indeed, God forces no man, woman or child to believe His Word and put their faith in Jesus Christ, because the choice must be freely made.  But as David wrote, “…the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me…”  God ensured that His word was recorded for us with 100% accuracy.  By the same power, He has ensured that the Bibles we now have are the Word of God, perfectly and accurately preserved.  We can trust the Word of God because it has never been a work of man.  God has done it! Amen!!