The Doctrine of Scripture (Part 2)
Essential Doctrine: The Doctrine of Scripture • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Bible is of both Divine and Human authorship.
The Bible is of both Divine and Human authorship.
The Bible is a book written by numerous authors over a period of hundreds of years, and yet at the same time it is the Word of God. One of the things that we must understand is that the bible has “dual-sided” authorship. We need to think of the Bible in much of the same way that we think about Jesus. The Bible is 100% the word of God and is, at the same time, 100% written by man.
who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,
“ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
Jesus is the living Word of God-man, and the Bible is the written Word of God, the divine-human Scripture.
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
God spoke, by His Holy Spirit, through men who recorded HIS words. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit overrode human personality. You can see Paul’s personality, for example, all throughout his epistles. You can see Dr. Luke’s attention to detail, specifically in the miracles concerning physicality.
Again, though, what sets the Bible apart is the claim - of Scripture itself and its authors - that the Word of God is breathed out by God himself.
IF God is the primary author of Scripture, then we can conclude the following 4 truths:
The Scriptures are Inspired.
The Scriptures are Inspired.
Now, when we talk about the inspiration of Scripture, we have to be clear on some terminology and understanding:
First, “inspiration,” is derived from the Latin word, inspirare, which means “to breathe upon or into something.”
Theologically, “inspiration” is often used for the condition of being directly under divine influence and it is viewed as the equivalent of the Greek term theopneustia—“God” (theos) // “breathe” (pneuma).
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
The Scriptures are all expressive of the mind of God. The sacred Scriptures are the “God-breathed” revelation of God which result in their practical outworking in life.
In biblical terminology, inspiration is the process by which Spirit-moved writers recorded God-breathed writings. Hence, when inspiration is extended to the total process, it included both the writer and the writings.
The Biblical Process. The whole process of communication "from God to us" begins with the matter of divine revelation.
First, God spoke to the prophets. This was done "in many and various ways" (Heb. 1:1).
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
God sometimes spoke to the prophets by angels, as He did to Abraham in Genesis 18 and to Lot in Genesis 19.
God also spoke to the prophets in dreams (Dan. 7:1; cf. Num. 12:6).
Sometimes God used visions, as He did with Isaiah and Ezekiel (Isa. 1:1; Ezek. 1:1; 8:3; 11:24; 43:3; cf. Hos. 12:10).
On occasion God used miracles to speak to the prophets, for in-stance, Moses and the burning bush (Ex. 3:2); Gideon's enterprise (Judg. 6:37); and Jonah's experiences (Jonah 1:1; 4:6 ff.).
Even nature was used to speak to the psalmist (Ps. 19:1).
Sometimes God spoke in an audible voice (1 Sam. 3:4).
No doubt the most common method God used was the inner voice of the individual's conscience and communion with God. That is probably what is most often meant when the prophets write, "And the word of the Lord came unto me saying...."
The priests discovered the will of God by means of the Urim and Thummim (Ex. 28:30; Num. 27:21).
Even casting lots was designated as a means by which God indicated His will (Prov. 16:33).
Finally, some of the prophets received divine communication from the study of other prophetic writings (Dan. 9:1-2).
God not only spoke to the prophets in various ways, but He spoke in their words whether written or oral (Heb. 1:1). That is, the prophets' messages were God's message; their voices were God's voice. God was saying what they were saying; or, to put it more precisely, they were saying what God wanted said
a. This is verified in a general way by 2 Peter 1:21 and Hebrews 1:1, which indicate that the oral message of the prophets came from God; it was God's word given through the prophets' mouths. It is what David said in 2 Samuel 23:2: "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue." Jeremiah also cites God as saying, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth" (Jer. 1:9).
b. This is borne out in particular by the prophetic formulas, as each prophet introduced his oral message by statements such as "Thus says the LORD," "The word of the LOrD," "The LorD spoke" (see chaps. 4-6).
the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.
The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
**LOOK AT AMOS**
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
THEOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF INSPIRATION
Divine causality. The prime mover in inspiration is God: "No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:21). In other words, God moved, and the prophet mouthed the truths; God revealed, and man recorded His word The Bible is God's word in the sense that it originates with Him and is authorized by Him, even though it is articulated by men. God speaks in their written records.
Prophetic agency. The prophets played an important role in the overall process of inspiration; they were the means by which God spoke. The word of God was written by men of God. God used persons to convey His propositions.
God prepared the prophets by training, experience, gifts of grace, and, if need be, by direct revelation to utter His word. In inspiration, then, God is the primary cause, and the prophets are the secondary causes.
Therefore, this definition of inspiration is suggested:
Inspiration is that mysterious process by which the divine causality worked through the human prophets without destroying their individual personalities and styles to produce divinely authoritative and inerrant writings.
Inspiration is that mysterious process by which the divine causality worked through the human prophets without destroying their individual personalities and styles to produce divinely authoritative and inerrant writings.
Therefore…
The Scriptures are authoritative.
The Scriptures are authoritative.
Scriptural authority is the final product of God's causality and the prophetic agency. Hence, the Bible is a divinely authoritative book. God moved the prophets in such a way as to breathe out (literally, "spirate") their writings. In other words, God spoke to the prophets and is speaking in their writings. Although some might argue that the prophetic model of inspiration is inadequate, l0 thereby shifting the basis of the believer's authority from Scripture to some other locus, Carl F. H. Henry rightly observes that "the church is neither the locus of divine revelation, nor the source of divine inspiration, nor the seat of infallibility. Rather, the church has the task of transmitting, translating, and expounding the prophetic-apostolic Scriptures."!! The cause of inspiration is God, the means is the men of God, and the end result is the word of God in the language of men.
The Scriptures are Inerrant.
The Scriptures are Inerrant.
Why can we trust the Bible? Why can we believe that there is no error in Scripture/no falsehood?
The Bible clearly teaches that God cannot lie or speak falsely.
And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.
in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
So, therefore, all the words of Scripture can be believed to be without error.
God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
Forever, O Lord, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Now, I want to be clear - “The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact.”
The Scriptures are sufficient.
The Scriptures are sufficient.
“The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains all the words of God we need for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly.”
We don’t have to search for “more.” We don’t need a “new word” from God. The canon is closed. The scriptures are complete and sufficient.
and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Bible speaks to all areas of life. We can go to God’s word for anything we are facing.
Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
