2 PETER 1:12–21
For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit
(2 Peter 1:21).
The origin of Scripture is God Himself, but the instruments were human authors inspired by the Holy Spirit. The writers of the Bible were not simply men of insight and intellect, they were the chosen instruments of God to proclaim His truth. In writing the various books that now comprise the canon of Scripture, they were not advancing their own agendas but the truth of God.
The Bible described the inspiration of Scripture as being “God-breathed.” This does not mean human authors were mere machines; their pens were not seized by the Holy Spirit who bypassed their human thought processes making the authors mechanical, mindless tools in the hand of God. Each book bears the author’s own style, personality, and purpose. The amazing thing about Scripture is that its divine authority was maintained while God worked through the experiences and personalities of each of the authors.
Another theory the church has traditionally rejected is the dictation theory. This says that God verbally dictated to the authors as one dictates a letter to a secretary. This is not what inspiration means. Contrary to this view, inspiration is the working of the Holy Spirit through the thought processes of the authors in their particular situations to convey God’s truth. This does not mean, however, that they did not receive direct revelation at times as Paul did.
Because the Scriptures are inspired by God, they are infallible and inerrant. There has been much controversy over the use of these terms to describe the Scriptures. While many maintain that the Scriptures are infallible, they reject the concept of inerrancy. Infallibility means that something is incapable of making a mistake. Inerrancy simply means a mistake has not been made. Humans can do an inerrant task, but they are never infallible. The Bible is both infallible and inerrant because God inspired it.
Inerrancy does not mean there are no grammatical inconsistencies or literary devices such as hyperbole in the text. Some passages use round numbers rather than specifics. This does not detract from the truth. Inerrancy means the Scriptures communicate real, truthful states of affairs without any deceit or fraud. This makes the Bible altogether true and trustworthy.
CORAM DEO
Ecclesiastes 10–12
2 Corinthians 11:16–33
Why is it important to defend the inerrancy of Scripture? What is at stake? How did the prophets of the Old Testament convey the authority of their words (read Jer. 2:1)? What did this mean for the people? What does “Thus says the Lord” mean to you? Thank God today that He has preserved His Word.
For further study: Isa. 1:2, 10, 18–20 • Ezek. 2:1–2; 3:16–17
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