The Inspiration of the Bible – 2 Timothy 3:16

2 Timothy 3:16-17:
In this classic text on the origin of Scripture, the apostle Paul writes: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Observe that the word “inspiration” means, as it is translated by the ESV, “breathed out by God.” It means to in spire or “breathe in” the message from God to man. Keep that definition in mind…

2 Peter 1:20-21:
In this second text, the apostle Peter writes, “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Observe here that men who spoke from God were “carried along” by the Holy Spirit. God is the ultimate cause and the Scriptures are the result, authoritative result.

INSPIRATION ILLUSTRATED IN THE OT:
Deuteronomy 18:18 – “I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” That is inspiration. And, observe, it is God’s words; not “God’s thoughts.”

Again, from the lips of King David: 2 Samuel 23:2 – “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.” God’s word was on David’s tongue. That means that the Hebrew words that are found in the writings of David are the words that God chose from the vocabulary of David to present the message God wanted presented.

This adds a little more clarity to the difference between Brand Name and Propecia?There is no biochemical difference between brand-name and generic Propecia. check this link viagra cialis online If raindogscine.com free viagra for women you are suffering with erectile dysfunction, it is recommended to seek the assistance of an occupational therapist for evaluation of your posture, lifestyle and work environment. It is the best possible option cialis sales uk to cure the depressive disorder in people. It is also characterized cialis online discount by situational or reactive depression. Sixty-four times the NT quotes the OT with the expression “it is written” (perfect tense).

INSPIRATION ILLUSTRATED IN THE NT:
In 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter places Paul’s writings into the same category of inspired writings as those of the Old Testament: “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

In 1 Corinthians 2:13, Paul writes that the Spirit guided him to write down the Spirit’s [God’s] thoughts in human language, specifically human words: “we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”

So, the words that Paul used were chosen from his vocabulary to present the message that God wanted presented. That means that if we want to know what Paul wrote, we’ve got to have a translation that accepts and follows this view of inspiration – word-translation or literal translation. That being true, we cannot make up definitions of biblical words! We’ve got to let the Bible define them and we’ve got to stick with that definition.

–Paul Holland

 

 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.