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<!doctype html
public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">The Inspiration of God's Word
2 Peter
1:12-21
Introduction
Last time we learned that God spoke. Scripture tells us this in many
places and the Belgic Confession affirms this. Last time we also learned
that part of what God said was put in the Bible; we learned that the Word
of God was inscripturated.
If
you remember, last week I asked a question about this inscripturation of
God's Word. I asked, "If the Bible is not the same as the original
special revelation of God, is it still the Word of God?" The answer,
I said, is "yes."
How
can I and the church say that? The reason, dear people, is that the Bible
is inspired. Yes, it was written by men. But, as the Belgic Confession of
Faith puts it,
...
holy men of God spoke,
being moved by the Holy Spirit
Or,
as Peter puts it,
(2
Peter 1:21) For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men
spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
This
means that the Bible is God's Word, not man's word. This means that it is
God speaking to us in the Bible, not man speaking. This means that we
ought to hear the voice of God in the Bible, not the voice of man. Today,
let's take a closer look at inspiration.
I The Bible is Inspired
Yet Written by Men
A What does Peter mean when he says men spoke from God "as they were
carried along by the Holy Spirit"? What does it mean to be
"moved by the Holy Spirit"? First of all, let's say what it
does not mean.
A
mother was sitting next to her first grade daughter during morning
worship service one Sunday. She noticed her daughter look down at the
open Bible. In a low whisper, the girl asked, "Did God really write
that?"
"Yes," the mother quietly whispered back.
Looking down at the Bible again, she said in amazement, "Wow! He
really has neat handwriting!"
Inspiration
does not mean that God took pen and paper and wrote down the words of the
Bible.
"Inspiration"
also does not mean dictation. There have been some who picture the human
authors of Scripture as secretaries who take down word-for-word what God
dictates to them. Under this mechanical view, Biblical authors such as
Paul, Moses, Peter, and Matthew, are but mere scribes who transcribe what
God says. Under this view, the mental and spiritual capabilities of the
human authors lay dormant so that they did not contribute in any way or
form to their writings.
On
the other extreme is what is known as the dynamic theory of inspiration.
This view says that such writings as the letters of Paul, the 5 books of
Moses, the epistles of Peter, and the Gospel of Matthew are inspired in
the same way as are the works of William Shakespeare, the books of
Charles Dickens, the suspenseful films of Alfred Hitchcock, the poetry of
Edgar Allan Poe, and the paintings of Vincent van Gogh. Under this view,
there is no direct operation of the Holy Spirit in the production of the
books of the Bible. This view reduces "inspiration" to the
artistic level and inspiration becomes no more than "an urge to
write." Under this view Scripture can be and is filled with errors
and mistakes.
B
How does the Belgic Confession view inspiration? The Confession's view is
simply known as "organic" inspiration. Organic inspiration says
the human authors of Scripture were completely controlled and guided by
the Holy Spirit. Yet, God used them
as
they were, with their character and temperament, their gifts and talents,
their education and culture, their vocabulary, diction and style.
Organic inspiration means that the Scriptures are God's Word. Yet, they
are written in human language, by as well as for men. The Scriptures have
no heavenly style or vocabulary. The human authors of Scripture speak in
the vocabulary and thought patterns of their time.
A
close examination of the books of Scripture shows the unmistakable stamp
of their human authors. A methodical and observant doctor like Luke states
at the outset that he did his own research before he wrote the Gospel
that bears his name (Luke 1:1-4). And, his two books are full of
observations that only a scientist-type would notice. The psalmists
repeatedly make mention of their personal experiences. Anyone who reads
God's Word with the least bit of literary discrimination, immediately
recognizes that the writing style of John is very different from that of
James; and the writing style of Paul is quite different from that of
Peter.
"Organic"
inspiration means that the Bible was not handed down from heaven, neatly
printed and bound, ready-made for our reading and instruction. This is
what the Moslems and Mormons claim for their holy writings. Our
Scriptures have come to us by the voice and hand of men and it took
hundreds of years before the process was completed.
C
Organic inspiration is taught very clearly in our Scripture passage for
this morning. Listen to what the apostle says:
(2
Peter 1:20-21) Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of
Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. (21) For
prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God
as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Peter clearly indicates that the Scriptures come from God. He tells us
that "no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own
interpretation." A little earlier he can say, "We did not
follow cleverly invented stories ..." (vs 16). The Bible is fully
divine. It has its origin in God.
It
is obvious that there is also human activity, human involvement, in the
matter of God's revelation to man. Peter says, "men spoke."
There are two Greek words that Peter could have used. One of the words
(lego) puts the emphasis on the words that are said. The other word (laleo)
emphasizes audible, articulate speech. Peter uses the second word,
thereby emphasizing the human activity. Also, in the Greek, the word
"men" occupies a position of emphasis at the very end of the
sentence. Peter purposely underscores the human activity involved in
God's revelation to man.
Men
spoke, but what they spoke is "from God." How is this possible?
How come it is God's Word and not man's word that is said and written
down? Peter gives us the answer when he tells us the human authors of
Scripture "were carried along by the Holy Spirit." We come
across this word in Acts 27. Paul and his companions were sailing for Rome. They hit a storm on the
sea. The storm was so fierce that the crew lost all control and let the
boat be carried along by the wind. The human authors of Scripture were
carried along by the Holy Spirit in the same way that Paul's boat was
carried along by the wind. The Spirit was in control so that what was
said and written down was "from God" and not from man.
II All of the Bible is
Inspired
A The Scriptures are inspired. They are from God and not from man. To
what extent is the Bible inspired? Is there any part of the Bible which
is of man and not from God? Listen to what the Apostle Paul says:
2
Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness ...
The
clear teaching of Paul is that all of Scripture is inspired, all
Scripture is of God and not of man. We cannot go along with any view
which extends inspiration just to certain parts or elements of Scripture.
We
have learned certain catch-phrases that people use to deny the full
inspiration of Scripture. Some try to distinguish between doctrinal and
non-doctrinal parts of Scripture; some try to distinguish between what
they call primeval and actual history; some distinguish between the words
of Christ and what is said elsewhere; some distinguish between the
historical Jesus and the Jesus of the Gospels. All of these are but
attempts to deny the inspiration of all of Scripture.
B
There is a view of inspiration which says that only the thoughts or
concepts of Scripture are inspired. Under this view, inspiration does not
extend to the very words used by the human authors. Yet, inspiration must
be extended to cover the very words of Scripture. In the New Testament we
see more than one argument which rests upon a single word from an Old
Testament passage (John 10:35; Matt 22:43-45; Gal 3:16). Jesus talks about the
importance of single letters (Mt 5:18). He tells us that
"Scripture cannot be broken" (Jn 10:35). To Jeremiah, God said,
"I have put my words in your mouth" (Jer 1:9; cf Deut 18:18). And, Paul can say,
(1
Corinthians 2:13) This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human
wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit ...
C To what extent, then, is Scripture inspired? We believe in a full or
complete inspiration; in other words, all of Scripture is inspired. And,
we believe that each and every word is inspired.
Do
you realize what that means? It means that Scripture is infallible. To
say Scripture is infallible is to say 3 things:
1. Scripture does not deceive; it does not tell us one thing and
mean another; it does not stretch the truth, twist the truth, or falsify
the truth.
2. Scripture is inerrant; it does not contain mistakes and errors;
it is not wrong on any fact or figure.
3. Scripture is non-failing; we can rely on it; we can trust it;
we can stake our lives upon it.
III Inspiration Properly
Defined
A Scripture in all its parts and in its every word is the inspired Word
of God. However, we do have to qualify this. The Holy Spirit inspired the
writing of the original manuscripts. The Holy Spirit's inspiration does
not extend to the translation of the originals because, to put it
simply, there is no perfect translation. Therefore the church has the
continuous task of trying to reproduce the original text as closely as
possible in the language of the day.
We
have to take exception to the position of the Roman Catholic Church
which, at one time, declared that the Latin Vulgate is the authentic
translation of the Bible. We also have to take exception to the position
of those who maintain that the King James Version or the NIV is the only
authentic translation of the Bible.
B Another
qualification: the original manuscripts — what we know as the autographa
(a Greek word meaning "the writings themselves") — are
inspired, but hand-written copies of them are not. For what happens when
things are copied by hand? Mistakes are made: word order is changed,
words are misspelt, words or even sentences are left out or repeated,
extra words are added. Did you know, we do not possess any of the
original writings as they came from the authors' hands? And, a comparison
of the copies that we do have reveal numerous variant or alternate
readings. However, many of the variant readings are of an insignificant
nature; the vast majority concern differences in spelling only. And, not
a single point of doctrine is at stake or in doubt.
C
Can we say that our English translation of the Bible is inspired? After
all, our Bibles are translations of Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. And,
those Greek and Hebrew manuscripts are hand-written copies of the
original manuscripts. So, is our English Bible inspired?
We
say that the perfections of Scripture apply in the first instance to the
autographs, to the original manuscripts. Next, we say that the
perfections of Scripture also apply to hand-written copies of the
originals in so far as they faithfully reproduce the original. Finally,
we say that the perfections of Scripture further apply to our English
Bibles in so far as they accurately and fully translate the original.
IV Pay Attention to God's
Inspired Word
A Scripture is God's inspired Word. Within its pages God speaks to us.
Peter knows this, so he says,
(2
Peter 1:19) you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light
shining in a dark place ...
Scripture
is like a light. The Psalmist says that:
(Psalm
119:105) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Think
of a winding path in the darkness of night; you cannot walk down it
without a light. Think of a dirt-filled room without windows; you cannot
clean the dirt away without a light to see by. Think of a closet filled
with clothes; you cannot properly dress yourself until you can see the
clothes you hope to wear.
Peter
says to us, "Pay attention to Scripture, as to a light shining in a
dark place."
B
We are to pay attention to Scripture. This means we are to obey
Scripture, we are to listen to Scripture, we are to apply ourselves to
Scripture. In what way, in what areas, are we to pay attention to
Scripture? Let me mention some of them:
1. We have to pay attention to Scripture in matters of doctrine.
What we believe and why has to be solidly rooted in Scripture. Our belief
in the Creation, Fall, and Redemption, for instance, has to stem from the
Bible and not from science or myth.
2. We are to pay attention to Scripture in matters of practice.
How we live out and practice our faith as a church has to be solidly
rooted in Scripture.
3. We are to pay attention to Scripture in matters of morality.
How we live our lives and what we do and not do ought to be solidly based
upon Scripture.
4. We are to pay attention to Scripture in matters of promise.
What does God promise His children? Christ did not promise beds of ease
or a life of luxury. His promise is to never leave or forsake His own.
His promise is a new and better life in a new and better body on a new
and better earth. His promise is to hear our prayers, not to answer them
in accordance with our wishes. We are to rest on the promises God has
made in Scripture and not on promises as we would wish them to be.
5. We are to pay attention to Scripture in matters of prediction.
Scripture tells us about the last days, about wars and rumors of war,
about scoffers, about a Final Judgment and the salvation of the
righteous.
C
Scripture is God's inspired Word. "You do well to pay attention to
it, as to a light shining in a dark place." We do well to pay
attention, because on this earth and in this life it is the only light we
are given. This reminds me of an advertisement that I saw once:
I
would like a job as tutor, teacher and advisor to your family. I will
never take a vacation.
I don't drink or smoke. I won't borrow your clothes or raid your
refrigerator.
I will be up in the morning as early as anyone in the household and will
stay up as late as anyone wishes.
I will help solve any problems your children might have. I will give you
the satisfaction of knowing that no question your children ask will go
unanswered. For that matter, I will answer any of your own questions on
subjects that range from "How we got here?" to "Where are
we headed?"
I will settle differences of opinion. I will give you information that
will help you with your job, your family and all of your other interests.
In short, I will give you the knowledge that will insure the continued
success of your family.
I am your Bible.
Do I get the job?
That
is why "You do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in
a dark place."
Conclusion
The Bible is referred to in many different ways. We speak of it as God's
Word, the Good Book, the Holy Scriptures, and the Sword of the Spirit. It
is also known as the Book of books and the Living Word. Some call it
simply THE Book, for nothing else seems necessary. It stands alone,
towering above all other writings.
Of
the many titles given to the Bible, however, the one that is the most
appropriate is God's Miracle Book. This is true for a number of reasons:
1. It is miraculous in its origin — coming to us by divine
inspiration.
2. It is miraculous in its durability — outlasting the opposition
of its critics and surviving the attempts of its enemies to exterminate
it.
3. It is miraculous in its results — transforming the lives of
those who read and believe it.
4. It is miraculous in its harmony — agreeing in all its parts,
even though written over a period of 1600 years by about 40 different
authors.
5. It is miraculous in its message — telling of many occasions when
God supernaturally intervened in the affairs of men to accomplish his
redemptive purposes.
6. It is miraculous in its preservation — maintaining its accuracy
and reliability down through the centuries.
Yes, the Bible is God's Miracle Book!
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Baptist Sermon page.
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