What is the Word of God? The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. When the word scriptures is used here it is speaking of the writings of the Old and New Testaments. We would think of the individual books of the Bible. Of course, Old Testament is before Jesus entered the world, and the New Testament is after Jesus' birth.
Now to look at how these writings were given to us. We find in Scripture that these writings were given to us by divine inspiration. The word divine here means "proceeding from God", or "coming from God". It is inspiration that proceeds from God, but how does this inspiration come from God?
Sometimes it is easier to explain something if we first see what it is not. That is what we are going to do here. I think it will be quite helpful. So, we will first see what divine inspiration is not.
- Divine inspiration is not mechanical. When the writers of Scripture sat down to write they did not go blank and just begin writing without knowing what they were doing.
- Divine inspiration is not someone merely being inspired in the same way that a man is inspired to write a love song for his wife. Inspiration is much, much more than this.
- Divine inspiration does not mean that God wrote Scripture and it magically appeared from the sky. The Bible did not come to us completed dropping down from Heaven.
Inspiration is the special work of the Holy Spirit in which He superintended the human authors of Scripture in such a manner that employing their different perspectives, writing styles, personalities, and grammatical abilities ensured that what they wrote was what He wanted them to write.
So, what we are saying here is that the Holy Spirit so directed the writing of Scripture that every word in Scripture is what was supposed to be there, yet at the same time men wrote what they felt they wanted or needed to write. Men wrote for many different purposes, but all the while God was overseeing the entire writing of Scripture in such a way that the men wrote what God wanted to be written.
Some examples of this are that Paul wrote ever angrily to the Galatians because they had been adding to salvation by faith alone. Paul was very angry as he wrote this letter, but that which he wrote God intended for him to write. Paul also wrote to instruct Timothy in the the faith and what he needed to do as a pastor, but what he wrote was what God wanted him to write. Luke investigated the life of Jesus to give a report of it to a man named Theophilus, but what he wrote was also what God wanted him to write. Many of the books of the Bible are historical accounts of events that had occurred.
The thing that we must remember is that these books were written in the exact way God wanted them to be written. No matter what reason men wrote these books, God intended for these words to be written. God, so oversaw what was written that we can legitimately say that they are God's words, and that Scripture is God's Word to mankind.
We see this in Scripture very clearly as we read 2 Peter 1:21. Peter describes the giving of the truth as men "carried along by the Holy Spirit". The imagery used here is that of wind in sails of a sailboat. The Holy Spirit worked in much the same way that wind moves a sailboat. Men were writing Scripture, but the wind that was moving them to write what they needed to write was the Holy Spirit.
Paul also states in 1 Corinthians 2:13 that it was not human wisdom that he was teaching to people, but it was wisdom taught by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit so oversaw the work of Scripture being written that Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that Scripture is "breathed out by God". Men wrote the words of Scripture, but God so oversaw the work that it is the product of God.
The last thing we need to see now is that Scripture is the only guide of what we are to think, feel, and do that is completely and totally correct and true. That is why we said in the beginning that Scripture is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. Scripture is the only perfect standard of what we should think and feel, and the only perfect standard of how we should act. That is why Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that Scripture is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work".
We never find written in Scripture that we are to follow our hearts, follow our feelings, follow our gut, follow visions, follow dreams, or anything else but God's Word. It is God's Word that is given to us as the standard by which all of our thoughts, feelings, and actions is to be governed by. And the fact that Scripture is the very product of God gives it authority. When we read the words of Scripture we are reading what God has communicated to men. This is very important for us to remember. Nothing else that we read, see, or hear on this earth carries the authority of Scripture.
Does this mean we cannot be helped by reading books that help to teach Scripture? No, that is not what this means. Can we be helped by what people of the past have written? Of course, we can. But we must always remember that they are only helpful as long as they are faithful to the writings of Scripture. They can be wrong, but Scripture cannot. It is the only perfect standard by which all things are judged. It is God's Word that is perfect, but other things can be very helpful (Psalm 19:7-8).
What is the Word of God? The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
Are we reading, studying, and thinking on God's Word as we ought? Are we submitting our entire lives to the standards of God's truth revealed in His Word?
R. Dwain Minor
0 comments:
Post a Comment