BD #4 - Bible Inspiration | 2 Peter 1:20-21

Introduction:  Last we began our look at the first Distinctive in our series on Baptist Distinctives.

As a reminder, we’ll be walking through these Distinctives.

(Show BD List)

Tonight is a continuation of our look last week at the first Distinctive - Biblical Authority.

Someone once wrote, “You become a Christian by believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You become a Baptist by believing the rest of Bible.”[1]

If the name “Baptist” means anything, it refers to a group of people who are unquestionably committed to the authority of the Bible.

Since the Bible is the source of sound doctrine, last week we looked at what it says about itself in terms of being our sole authority. We began with the presupposition that “God Is And He Is Not Silent” (Francis Schaeffer). He’s a communicating God, and the Old and NT’s are how He communicates with us. This is the written revelation of a communicating God to mankind. There are two types of revelation: General Revelation and Special Revelation:

General Revelation is information about God revealed to all of creation (sky, ocean, plant and animal kingdom, our bodies, etc).

Special Revelation is detailed information that God has revealed about Himself through definite words. Special revelation occurred when God would speak audibly or through the lips of a human prophet. But the special revelation that is most important for us to study is in written form. And we believe that is what we find in the pages of Holy Scripture.

If this is from God, it has His authority. And there’s plenty of evidence from Scripture that says God’s Word has authority. From Deut. 5 saying God wrote the law Himself, to Jesus Christ referencing the OT law as Scripture to other passages pointing to both the OT and the NT passages as Scripture, the Bible declares its own authority. But what else does it say about itself? That’s the idea of tonight’s message. We are going to begin looking at the Attributes Of God’s Word.

Attributes of Scripture

There are certain attributes or characteristics of God’s Word that we should hold to. As we get through these, I’ll try to give you some thoughts about why it matters.

I.  The Bible Is Inspired

We believe the Old and New Testament Scriptures are the inspired Word of God.  

A.  2 Peter 1:20-21 says “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” This means that even though men were used to write down God’s Word, they didn’t make it up for themselves. They didn’t interpret it how they wanted to, and we shouldn’t either. The men that wrote Scripture wrote what God told them to. Basically, God’s Word originated with God, not men.”

B. It’s pretty simple: Scripture says what God says.

1.    This doesn’t mean that God bypassed the personality or will of the writer, and it also doesn’t mean that we take a ‘dictation’ view of the Bible where men were just robots, or marionette puppets with no thought of their own.

2.    You see the personalities of King David in the OT and the apostle Paul in the NT come through in their writings.

3. Paul even had a trademark greeting and he referenced it in 2 Thess. 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

3.    We believe God through His providence and supernatural ability can easily make it possible for a writer to communicate God’s Words, but do it with glimpses of the writer’s personality and writing style.

4. He’s God. If He can inspire human writers to pen His words in the first place, He can do it with a balance between His words and their personalities.

5. The personality coming through doesn’t mean God’s Word originated with men.

C.   2 Tim 3:16 says “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

1.    Inspiration is a breathing term. It literally means that the Words of Scripture were given by the breathing out of God. The Words of Scripture came directly from God and were put down on the page.

2.    While Peter emphasizes that the Scriptures originated with God, Paul’s emphasis is that what originated with God became the written Word of God.

D.  Jesus Christ Himself defined Scripture as “Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” in Matthew 4:4.

1.    When Scripture speaks, God speaks. Here are a couple of more examples of that which connect the OT and NT.

2.    Genesis 12:1-3 says, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram… I will make of thee a great nation…in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

3.    But here’s what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:8 when he quotes this passage: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”

The Lord speaks in Genesis, but Paul states “Scripture says.” When God speaks, Scripture speaks.

4.    Another example is found in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

5.    But notice what Jesus says in Matthew 19:4-5 “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?”

6.    Scripture is recorded in Genesis, but Jesus states “God says.” Again, when Scripture speaks, God speaks.

7.    Scripture was God’s inspired Word. We believe we have the breathed out words of God Himself.

8. Now, one distinction we make is we believe that God inspired His Word at the beginning, not that it’s re-inspired when it’s translated into a new language. That speaks to the doctrine of preservation, which we also believe. The act of Inspiration took place once when God first gave His Word to human authors.

E.   We also believe in Verbal, Plenary inspiration.

1.    The Scriptures were given by verbal inspiration.

a.    The word “Scripture” literally means writing or something written. So when we say that the Bible is from the mouth of God, we are making a claim that applies to every single word that was written by the biblical authors.

b.    The Bible does not speak about inspired ideas or concepts. God is a specific communicator who uses specific words.

2.    For instance, Jeremiah 26:2, “Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:”

3.    We’ve already seen Jesus’ testimony regarding the inspiration of the very words of Scripture in Matt. 4:4, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

4.    So we believe in verbal inspiration. Every word matters. God didn’t reveal Himself through intangible concepts. He revealed Himself through specific words.

5.    Words Matter to God. And they should matter to us.

Our culture is downplaying the importance of individual words. If you don’t agree, read the average text. Grammar is out the window, punctuation is nowhere to be found, and half the words are abbreviated or thrown into a three letter acrostic that stands for an entire phrase. (SMH)

F.   Plenary Inspiration

1.    Plenary means complete in every respect. Absolute.

2.    That statement declares that the inspiration of the Bible is plenary, which means that there is no Text or Scripture more or less inspired than any other Text of Scripture.

3.    Once again, think about what 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

4.    It’s not partially inspired. It’s equally inspired.

5.    This whole concept contributes to the foundation of our understanding of the Bible. When Scripture speaks, God speaks. And not just part of Scripture, all of Scripture.

6.    So whatever the Bible affirms (or implies) to be true, God Himself affirms (or implies) it to be true.

7.    Illustration: Politicians making policies but not following them themselves. That removes their credibility and causes their  their word have no authority.

G.  So why does this doctrine matter?

1.    Why should we care if the Bible is Inspired orGod-breathed?

2.    Why should it matter if Scripture says what God Says and God speaks where Scripture speaks?

3.    Why should it make any difference that the Bible is verbally inspired (word by word) or carries plenary inspiration (it’s all equally inspired)?

4.    Well, if the Bible is of human origin, it could either be improved upon or rejected.

If it came from men, we could question its accuracy, its validity and its authority. We could choose to ignore it because it can’t be trusted. If it’s of human origin, then it could change with the times. It could evolve, because men change.

5.    Illustration: For instance, we view the dictionary as being unchangeable and authoritative, but during Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court Confirmation hearing she used the term “sexual preference.” Apparently, that’s not an acceptable term and her opposition slammed her for using it. As soon as that became public, Merriam Webster’s website changed the definition of “Sexual preference” to include the term “Offensive.”  

6.    That shows you how trustworthy something that originated from men is. You’d think a Dictionary is the final word and unchangeable, but if it’s that easy to change, I’m glad that we don’t believe we have a man-originate Bible. It would be completely untrustworthy. It could be changed whenever someone feels like changing.

7.    But if it's of divine origin, Inspired, the Bible is timeless. Meaning no matter how differently things look from one generation to the next, God’s Word is permanently relevant in every stage. Instead of mankind standing over God’s Word and judging it, if it’s timeless it stands over us as our judge. It is a danger for us to tend to obey and apply Scripture only when it’s reasonable or culturally acceptable. If it’s from God it doesn’t change. It’s timeless.

H.  So for Application, let me ask this question:

If you had a priceless possession that once belonged to someone famous, how would you treat it?

For example: Let’s say you buy an ancient sword from a flea market in Israel and find out later through testing and research that it’s the sword David used to chop off Goliath’s head with.

How would you treat that sword?

Would you protect it?

Would you insure it?

Would you use it to chop down a tree in your back yard?

Would you use it to trim the hedges?

I wouldn’t. I would do everything in my power to protect it as a priceless artifact. Because it belonged to King David.

So it’s value is decided based on who it came from.

So how is the Bible any different?

These words came not from men but from God.

These are God’s words.

Knowing that, how do we treat the Bible?

Do we read it?

Do we learn it?

Do we study it?

Do we memorize and meditate on it?

Why would we? Because these words literally came from God. They started in Him and He breathed them out so we could know Him.

Nothing matters in our lives more than this book.

If Scripture speaks when God speaks, don’t ignore the parts you don’t prefer and embrace the parts you like. It all matters. Every word matters.

Your life will be impacted by your commitment to learn and obey God’s words.

Three ways to prove you appreciate that this is God’s inspired Word preserved for us:

Read it more often

Memorize a verse a week

Study a book or passage that you want to know more about

If this came from God, then we should treat it like it’s an unbelievably special possession.

Conclusion:

If this book is inspired, it should be our first stop each morning.

If this book is inspired, it should be our go to when a trial comes.

If this book is inspired, it should be your first place to go when you need wisdom for a decision.

If this book is inspired, your parenting can be helped by going to it for training and raising children.

If this book is inspired, it has the answers to help you overcome your sin habit.

If this book is inspired, we should want others to hear it too by spreading its message.

If God’s Word is inspired, why aren’t we more inspired to make it part of our daily lives?

[1] https://paulechapman.com/2017/11/10/the-baptist-distinctives/