The Inspiration of the Bible
Introduction
We believe the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, to be the verbally inspired, inerrant, infallible, eternal Word of the Living God.
It does not contain the Word of God, but rather it is the very Word of God.
We believe it to be the sole and final authority for all faith and practice of a Christian, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.
II Timothy 3:16 — “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
II Peter 1:21 — “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.”
Psalm 12:6–7 — “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”
I Thessalonians 2:13 — “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
Isaiah 8:19–20 — “…Should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
The Authenticity of the Scriptures
The Content of the Scriptures
We believe the Authorized King James Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, to be the Word of the Eternal, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent Creator God.
The Old Testament Is Inspired Scripture
We believe the Old Testament to be inspired scripture, as affirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles.
II Peter 1:21 — “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.”
The New Testament Is Inspired Scripture
We believe the New Testament to be inspired scripture as attested to by the Holy Spirit through the writings of the Apostles.
I Thessalonians 2:13 — “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
II Timothy 3:16 — “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
The Character of the Scriptures
Inspired
Defining Inspiration
The word “inspiration” is translated from the Greek “Theopneustos” (θεόπνευστος) which literally means, “God-breathed.”
Inspire, as opposed to expire, means to breathe in.
God breathed His Word into existence and, as in a similar way God breathed life into Adam, God breathed life into His Holy Word.
The Holy Spirit is often depicted in Scripture as the Wind of God (John 3:8; Acts 3:1–2; Genesis 1:2), and Scripture tells us that it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that gives power to the Word of God as it is preached (Acts 1:8), and it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that makes the Word of God come alive in our hearts producing life and godliness (John 14:26; John 16:13).
Confluent Inspiration
“By this we mean that the holy scriptures are a product of two agents – human and divine.”¹ God used human authors to produce the work that He desired.
II Peter 1:21 — “…holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The way in which God used man to pen Holy Scripture is something that we cannot fully understand, but here is our attempt to summarize it.
God the Holy Spirit, in His sovereignty, was able to take men and, without violating their freewill, move them to write the things which He desired to be written.
Each individual had different life experiences, different educational backgrounds, and diversity in their knowledge of God and man.
All these differences would normally produce great diversity in content from one author to another.
However, the Holy Spirit being the true author of Scripture was able, in His sovereignty, to allow such diversities to come through the writings without any divergence from the absolute truth which He, the Holy Spirit, was conveying through the human author to mankind.
Verbal Inspiration
Verbal inspiration refers to the doctrine that the very words of Scripture are God’s words, given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 24:35 — “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
Matthew 5:18 — “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
The verbal inspiration of God extends even to the smallest punctuation mark.
Plenary Inspiration
Plenary inspiration refers to the doctrine that the inspiration of the Scriptures extends to every part of the Bible and that every part is equally inspired.
The Psalms are just as inspired as the books of the Pentateuch or the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The Bible does not contain the Word of God, but rather it IS the very Word of God.
Inerrant
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrine that the scriptures were recorded without error.
“The word “inerrant” means “not liable to prove false or mistaken,” and the inerrant inspiration means the Bible was written down correct in every detail.”²
Inerrant inspiration means that the message recorded was exact and truthful in every aspect.
This means that the details of conversation are given truthfully even when the one quoted is lying.
For example:
Genesis 3:4–5 — “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
Infallible
“Infallibility means that the Bible is without error in its TEACHING, that it is incapable of teaching deception.”³
While inerrancy speaks of the accuracy and truthfulness in the recording of scripture, infallibility speaks to the truthfulness and perfection of the doctrinal, theological, and philosophical teachings of the scriptures.
“Infallibility is obviously restricted to the intended assertations of scripture understood in an ordinary grammatical exegesis of the text.”⁴
Not all of inspired scripture has the authoritative approval of God, but the holistic, understood in light of the context of the whole, nature of scripture leads us to discern the authoritative from the inerrant.
This may seem difficult to understand at first glance, but put simply, all scripture is inspired by God, but where scripture records false statements made by men, these passages are not to be taken as authoritative on any matter, especially matters of doctrinal and theological importance.
Eternal
The eternality of the Scriptures is based on the nature of God and is explained in the doctrine of preservation.
Psalm 119:89 — “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
Psalm 12:6–7 — “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”
The eternality of Scripture is a well-established fact in the Scriptures themselves and is predicated on the eternality and faithfulness of God, who authored the Scriptures.
Lamentations 3:22–23 — “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
God so carefully guards and preserves His Word that anyone who tampers with it in any way will incur the judgment of God upon him.
Revelation 22:18–19 — “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
The Authority of the Scriptures
The Holy Standard for All Christian Living
The Christian Is Perfected Through Obedience to the Word of God
II Timothy 3:16–17 — “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
The Word of God, when applied to the heart of the believer, in conjunction with the working of the Holy Spirit is able to bring the Christian to maturity in Christ.
Not to sinless perfection, but to righteous living.
Whenever man’s opinions and philosophies come into conflict with holy Scripture, man’s opinions must conform to the Scriptures, and not vice versa.
The Christian Is Blessed Through Obedience to the Word of God
The Word of God is the perfect standard by which to measure and judge all Christian conduct, and the benefit of living by this standard is two-fold.
Our Lives Will Be Pleasing to God
Romans 12:1 — “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Our Lives Will Be Blessed by God
Deuteronomy 28:1 — “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:”
The Word of God Has a Purifying Effect on Our Lives
Psalm 119:9–11 — “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
John 17:17 — “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
The Supreme Standard for All Matters of Faith
The Standard for Testing Doctrine
Acts 17:10–11 — “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
The Bible is, and always should be, the final authority for all matters of faith and practice.
The Bible is our strongest defence against false doctrine.
Jude 1:3 — “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
The flow-on effect from rejecting the authority of Scripture is that we have no foundation on which to base our other doctrinal beliefs.
Psalm 11:3 — “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
The Standard for Testing False Teachers
1 John 4:6 — “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”
In most modern churches, the Word of God is rarely, if ever, read.
That is because error cannot survive in a church where the Word of God is faithfully preached and expounded.
These false teachers in the mega-churches of today would never draw big crowds and make the big bucks if they actually taught the Word of God faithfully.
They are false teachers, charlatans, and money lovers.
Sources
¹ Robert J. Sargent, English Bible Manuscript Evidence, p. 27.
² Robert J. Sargent, English Bible Manuscript Evidence, p. 28.
³ Robert J. Sargent, English Bible Manuscript Evidence, p. 28.
⁴ Robert J. Sargent, English Bible Manuscript Evidence, p. 28.