How To Establish Religious Authority #20

A. There are some things in life that you don’t need to have a definite opinion and belief about. But your belief about the inspiration of the Bible is not one of them. Either you believe the Bible to be the product of verbal inspiration or you do not believe the Scriptures are verbally inspired. The Bible asserts its own inspiration. If you deny that, you create a chaotic religious mess that allows you to believe anything you want.. Some things are dichromatic – They are, or they are not.
1. In logic, there is a principle called the Law of the Excluded Middle. Simply stated, it is this: “A thing must either be, or not be.” Some things in life are just that simple. A line is either straight, or it is not.
There is no middle position that can honestly be held and that’s why it’s called the “Excluded
Middle.” When applied to the Bible you may say, “The Scriptures are either inspired of God, or they
are not inspired of God.” If the Bible is not inspired by God, then it is nothing more than the
dreamed up musings of man. If that is true, the Bible has no merit for those who seek a decided way
to find God, Know Him and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. If the Bible claims to be the Word of
God, and it is not, then it is a self proclaimed lie.
a. In 2 Tim. 3:16-17, The apostle Paul wrote: “Every scripture is inspired of God, and profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may
be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” That’s a Biblical statement. Therefore, the Bible asserts its own inspiration. Based on that we must come to answer the question: “To what extent is this book inspired?”
(A) Some denominational leaders say, “The Bible is inspired only in the sense that other great
literary writings are inspired.” That means the Bible is nothing more than the result of
man’s “natural genius and ability.” But, if that is true, it makes liars of the biblical writers
who claimed the Holy Spirit as the true source of the documents they wrote in the Bible.
And that denies the claim of David in 2 Sam. 23:2. David claimed inspiration and the
apostle Peter confirms that was the case, Acts 1:16, when Peter said, “...the Holy Spirit
spoke before by the mouth of David.” David claimed it, Peter confirmed it. If the words
of the Bible are not inspired of God, then the Bible contains no inspiration at all!
(1) What do we mean by the the phrase, “verbal inspiration” of the Holy Bible? It
means that the Bible was written by men, under the control and guidance of the Spirit of God and they wrote the exact message God wanted conveyed to Man. We
believe in Verbal, Plenary, Inspiration. That means the Holy Spirit guided those
writers even in the choice of words they used so they would speak and write exactly
the thoughts and ideas God wanted expressed.
(2) In 2 Tim. 3:16, the Original Language says, “pasa graphe theopheustos” ---- “all scripture is God-breathed.” What is God breathed? All Scripture. The term “scripture” (graphe) denotes that which is written. The thing written is the text of the Bible. That means the written words of the Bible are God breathed.

(B) Consider some examples: Over 3,800 times the Old Testament claims to be the Word of God. Ex. 17:14, “And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book...” David declared in 2 Sam. 23:2, “The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue” In Jer. 1:9, God instructed the prophet Jeremiah, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” Jesus certainly endorsed the concept of verbal inspiration. He affirmed that neither “one jot nor one tittle” would pass away from the law “until all things
be fulfilled,” Matt. 5:17-18. The jot was the smallest Hebrew letter, and the tittle was a tiny grammar mark on certain Hebrew letters. A.B. Bruce, the great historian said, “Jesus expresses here in the strongest manner His conviction that the whole Old Testament is a Divine revelation, and that therefore every minute precept has religious significance...”
(1) Jesus promised His apostles that the words of their gospel preaching and teaching would be given to them in a Divine manner. In Matt. 10:19, He told them: “When they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what you shall speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you shall speak.” Notice the parallel statement in Lk. 21:14-15, “...do not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or
contradict.” That’s talking about the words they were to speak as they carried the
“Great Commission” to all the world. That’s inspiration!
(2) The men who wrote this Book were quiet conscious of the fact that they were recording the words of God. Listen to Paul in 1 Cor. 11:23. “I received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you.” That’s inspiration! 1 Thess. 4:15, “This we say unto you by the word of the Lord.” That’s inspiration! 1 Thess. 2:13, “When you received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you that believe.” That’s inspiration! Acts 8:14, When Philip preached in Samaria, it says, “...those people to whom he spoke had heard “the word of God.” That’s inspiration!
b. In 1 Pet. 1:12. Peter refers to the writing of the Old Testament prophets and what they wrote about the New Testament Messianic Kingdom and says, “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.” That says, the New Testament apostles and prophets preached by the power and influence of the Holy Spirit who was sent on Pentecost in Acts 2.
(A) 2 Pet. 1:20?21, Peter restates this and says, “Above all, you must understand, that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The Scriptures are the verbally inspired Word of God. In both the Old and New Testaments, the Spirit of God rested on and in the prophets and apostles and spoke through them so that their words did not come from themselves, but from the mouth of God and the Holy Spirit as they spoke and wrote the New Testament. Let us honor the one and only true and living God, by believing and exalting, obeying and defending His living Word. Thereby acknowledging His Word as the only authoritative source of religious guidance.
(B) Acts 20:32

Spur - 06/29/03 am