Introduction:

A.    Roy Deaver cites three truths a person must believe in before he can “get to know” the Bible.  These truths are: (1) God IS (2) The Bible IS God’s Word (3) God has given us the Bible to guide us in this life and to take us to Heaven when this life is over.

B.     Our study on getting to know the Bible better will focus on the last two truths mentioned above.

C.     Biblical inspiration means that the Holy Spirit of God superintended the human writers in the production of Scripture so that what they wrote was precisely what God wanted written.

D.    The word inspiration literally means "God-breathed" in the Greek. And because Scripture is breathed out by God, it is true and inerrant.

I.  God & the Inspiration of Scripture.

A.    The following syllogism will help us to understand the nature of God and the Inspiration of Scripture:

§        Major Premise—God is TRUE (Rom. 3:4)

§        Minor Premise—The Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

§        Therefore, the Scriptures are true (John 17:17).

B.     We read in Scripture that truth is an attribute of God (Jeremiah 10:10; John 1:14; 14:6; 17:3), and that God speaks truthfully - that is, He does not lie (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Titus 1:2; Romans 3:3-4).

C.     We also are told that Scripture is from God (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; 1 Pet. 4:11; 1 Cor. 14:37).

D.    The Word of God, then, is true (John 17:14,17; cf. Psalm 119:142; 151; 160; Revelation 21:5; 22:6).

II.  The Holy Spirit & the Inspiration of Scripture.

A.    Second Peter 1:21 tells us that “prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  The word moved in this verse literally means to be "borne along" or "carried along."

B.     Interestingly, the Greek word for "moved" in 2 Peter 1:21 is the same word found in Acts 27:15-17.  Notice how the ship was moved and what the role of the sailors was, and how this relates to the role of the Holy Spirit in Inspiration:

§        The experienced sailors could not navigate the ship because the wind was so strong.

§        The ship was being driven, directed, and carried about by the wind.

§        This is similar to the Spirit's driving, directing, and carrying the human authors of the Bible as He wished.

§        The word is a strong one, indicating the Spirit's complete superintendence of the human authors.

§        Yet, just as the sailors were active on the ship (though the wind, not the sailors, controlled the ship's movement), so the human authors were active in writing as the Spirit directed.  223-2266

§        The Holy Spirit’s role is clearly seen in Jesus promise to His disciples (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13).

III.  The Old Testament & the Inspiration of Scriptures.

A.    The Old Testament recognizes that it is the Holy Spirit who speaks through its writers (2 Samuel 23:2-3).

B.      Indeed, many Old Testament passages quoted in the New Testament are said to have the Holy Spirit as their author, even though a human prophet actually spoke the words in the Old Testament (see Mark 12:36; Acts 1:16; 28:25; Hebrews 3:7; 10:15-16).  Notice the following list of passages where an Old Testament writer wrote/said something and it is later attributed to God writing or saying something:

§        The psalmist said (Psalm 95:7)/The Holy Spirit said (Hebrews 3:7)

§        The psalmist said (Psalm 45:6)/God said (Hebrews 1:8)

§        The psalmist said (Psalm 102:25,27)/God said (Hebrews 1:10-12)

§        Isaiah said (Isaiah 7:14)/The Lord spoke by the prophet (Matthew 1:22-23)

§        Hosea said (Hosea 11:1)/The Lord spoke by the prophet (Matthew 2:1).

§        Eliphaz's words (Job 5:13)/God's Word (1 Corinthians 3:19)

§        David said (Psalm 41:9)/ Holy Spirit spoke by the mouth of David (Acts 1:16)

§        David said (Ps. 2:1-2) God, by the mouth of David, said (Acts 4:24-25)

§        Isaiah said (Isaiah 6:9-10) The Holy Spirit through Isaiah said to our fathers (Acts 28:25).

C.     During the Old Testament, God put His word in the prophet’s mouths.  Notice how these Scriptures illustrate this point:

ü      2 Sam. 23:2

ü      Isa. 59:21

ü      Jer. 1:9

ü      Zech. 7:12

IV.  The New Testament & the Inspiration of Scripture.

A.    Jesus promised His followers that it would be the work of the Holy Spirit to provide an accurate recounting of the events of His life (John 14:26).And because of this, you and I can trust the Bible as the Word of God.

B.     The Holy Spirit superintended the process from beginning to end. Let's look at more details of this doctrine in the New Testament.

C.     Second Timothy 3:16 tells us, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” When Paul said that "all Scripture" is inspired, did he have in mind just the Old Testament (which is a common New Testament usage of the word "Scripture"), or did he have a larger grouping in mind (a grouping that included some New Testament books)? This is a very important question. We think the later is the case for at least two important reasons.

ü      The apostle Paul had already described a specific New Testament book as "Scripture" in his first letter to Timothy (see 1 Timothy 5:18 where the Gospel of Luke is called Scripture). It therefore makes sense that when Paul used the term "Scripture" in his second letter to Timothy, he was thinking not just of Old Testament books but also of New Testament books that had been written up to that time.

ü      The apostle Peter uses the same Greek word for "Scripture" to describe the writings of the apostle Paul (2 Peter 3:16).

D.    Here is an important point: By the time 2 Timothy 3:16 was written, all of the New Testament books had already been written except for 2 Peter, Hebrews, Jude, and the apostle John's writings. In view of this, Paul was surely including these books in the phrase "all Scripture is inspired" in 2 Timothy 3:16. And since the remaining books were later acknowledged as belonging to the canon of Scripture, we may safely say that this verse says something about all 66 books of the Bible.

E.     In 1 Timothy 5:18, the apostle Paul joins an Old Testament reference and a New Testament reference and calls them both (collectively) Scripture (Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7).It is not unusual that - in the context of first-century Judaism - an Old Testament passage was called "Scripture" in the New Testament. But it is highly significant that a New Testament book was called "Scripture" so soon after it was written. We must emphasize that only three to six years had elapsed between the writing of the Gospel of Luke and the writing of 1 Timothy (Luke was written around A.D. 60; 1 Timothy was written around A.D. 63). Yet, despite this, Paul does not hesitate to place Luke on the same level as the Old Testament (the Book of Deuteronomy).

F.      There are several references to New Testament writers claiming Inspiration for their writings.  Notice the following Scriptures:

ü      1 Corinthians 2:13

ü      1 Corinthians 14:37

ü      1 Thessalonians 2:13

IV.  Jesus’ View of The Inspiration of Scripture.

A.    Jesus believed the Scriptures were of Divine Inspiration (Matthew 22:43).

B.     Jesus believed the Scriptures were full, complete and indestructible (Matthew 5:17-18).

C.     Jesus believed the Scriptures were infallible/without error (John 10:35).

D.    Jesus believed the Scriptures were the final authority from God (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10).

E.     Jesus believed the Scriptures were historically accurate (Matthew 12:42; 24:37).

F.      Jesus believed the Scriptures were scientifically accurate (Matthew 19:2-5).

G.    Jesus believed the Scriptures were factually inerrant (Jn. 17:17; Matthew 22:29).

H.    Jesus believed the Scriptures would provide spiritual clarity (Luke 24:45).

I.        Jesus believed the Scriptures were all sufficient for life and faith (Luke 16:31).