Last week we saw that God has revealed Himself to all people through His creation (“General Revelation”), as well as through the Old Testament patriarchs, kings, and prophets, culminating in the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ (“Special Revelation”). But we must keep in mind that virtually all we know about biblical history, as well as Jesus’ life, including His message, mission and ministry, is found in His Word, the Bible. But is the Bible reliable? Can it be trusted?
This leads us to our focus for today’s blog, “Inspiration.” Oh, we are not talking about someone feeling “inspired” to do some writing, whether poetry or prose, fiction or non-fiction, but about God guiding the writers of Scripture to write the truths that He wanted them to write so that they could be preserved for generations to come. Those truths include such things as historical events, words of wisdom, psalms, poetry, encounters, teachings, and prophecies, to name just a few. A key New Testament passage of Scripture affirming the “Inspiration of Scripture” is found in Paul’s letter to the young pastor, Timothy, in which he says,
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).
In other words, God oversaw the writing of Scripture to make sure that God’s truth was clearly and accurately revealed and put into writing so that we might be challenged to change, encouraged to persevere, and equipped to live a life of righteousness. Interestingly, earlier in Paul’s letter to Timothy, he referred to Scripture as “…the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).In other words, God’s truth is revealed in His words. Let’s take a closer look at those whom God chose to write His “word of truth.”
The men who wrote the Scriptures were chosen by God from different cultures, classes, ages, and professions. Among them were prophets, kings, government officials, ministers, shepherds, priests, fishermen, theologians, judges, and even a tax collector. They wrote in their own language and style, and God simply “guided” their thoughts, making sure that what they wrote was what He desired.
Furthermore, the Scriptures were written by over 40 different men over a 1500-year time period and yet there is not one contradiction in their writings. Yes, there are a few “challenges” of understanding and interpretation, but no contradictions. Jesus spoke on numerous occasions about the accuracy and authority of the Old Testament, and we can confidently apply this same accuracy and authority to the writings of the New Testament.
There are some theological concepts to which most evangelical Christians hold regarding the “inspiration” of Scripture. Evangelicals, in general, believe that God “inspired” or “breathed” into the writer the message that He wanted him to reveal without the author acting like a “transcriber.” He wrote in his own language and style, but God made sure that what he wrote was exactly what He intended to be put into writing. The concept of “Inspiration” affirms that Scripture is inspired by God in its entirety, regardless of the subject matter; that it extends to the language and the words the author used; that it is without error in the original manuscripts; and that it is a reliable standard for theological, practical, and moral truth.
But what about translations of the Bible? The Bible has been translated into hundreds of different languages and dialects. We must keep in mind that any translation is only as accurate as the documents from which the translation is based. Although we do not have the “original” documents, we have hundreds of ancient copies of them, as the copiers of the sacred text were meticulous in their commitment to render an “exact” copy of the original. And so, those original documents were written in either Hebrew (for the Old Testament) and primarily Greek (for the New Testament). And, keep in mind that the multitude of our English translations differ only as it relates to sentence structure and vocabulary. For example, one translator may take a sentence from the original document and write, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” and another translator may choose to write, “Today, in our neighborhood, is a gorgeous day.” There is no change in the meaning of the text, only sentence structure and vocabulary.
Many people argue about some of the details of how God inspired His Word, but rest assured, that what you hold in your hands, or read from your Bible app on your cell phone, is what God intended for us to have today. Knowing that we can trust it to reveal God’s truth, the real question is, “Are we reading it?” If not, then I encourage you to start. A daily devotional guide is a good place to begin.
And as you read, may God open your eyes to the truths that He has provided for you. But more on that next week. Meanwhile have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!
