Volume 18, Issue 49 (December 4, 2016)
A Book That Came from God
How the Bible Came to Us (1)
By Kyle Pope
When I was a little boy I remember hearing people talk about the collection as “giving back to God.” To my little mind I tried to understand how this might work. I remember asking my mother, “Do they put the money on the roof so God can get it?” When we speak of the Bible as coming from God it may be that both young and old minds alike have a hard time really understanding what that means. Over the next year I have been asked to devote some time to examine exactly how the Bible came to us. We will address this important subject as if we were explaining it to teenagers or young adults. These young souls, perhaps more than any others, must clearly establish these truths within their own minds in order to combat the assaults they will face from a world seeking to discredit the Bible and its divine origins.
Why Do We Say the Bible is From God?
The simple answer is that it claims to be. This is seen in books of prophecy such as Hosea, Joel, and Micah that each begin—“The word of the Lord that came to...” followed by the prophet’s name (Hos. 1:1; Joel 1:1; Mic. 1:1). These men are claiming that God spoke to them and the book that follows is a record of what He said. Some texts preserve God’s command to write down His words. Jeremiah was commanded, “Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you” (Jer. 30:2). Habakkuk was given a vision and God commanded him, “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets” (Hab. 2:2). Near the end of the wondrous revelation the apostle John saw on the island of Patmos God commanded him, “Write, for these words are true and faithful” (Rev. 21:5).
To claim something does not prove that it is true, but we must recognize that those who wrote these things were claiming to have heard the voice of God and to have written it down. That means these writers are not claiming to write by their own creativity or imagination. They giving testimony that God gave them a message to write. We can either accept that or reject it but whatever we say about the Bible we must accept what it claims about itself. It claims to be from God!
The Inspiration of the Holy Spirit
Not all books that are a part of the Bible came from God in the form of direct dictation of His words, but all were written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, NKJV). It is not uncommon to hear people today speak of inspiration when they talk about what motivated them to some action. The athlete might say he or she was inspired to win by the words of a dying grandparent. An artist or writer might be inspired to create by seeing a beautiful mountain, breathtaking seashore, or vast canyon. Is that what Paul is talking about? No. The phrase “inspiration of God” is translated from one word in the original language—the Greek word theopneustos (θεόπνευστος) which literally means “God-breathed.” Peter explained, “...no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). Peter knew well what it meant to be “moved by the Holy Spirit.” Jesus had promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come upon them. This happened on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came on the Twelve and they were given the ability to speak in languages they had not studied in order to teach people about Jesus (see Acts 2). Jesus promised the apostles several things the coming of the Holy Spirit would do for them:
1. “He will teach you all things” (John 14:26a). Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach the apostles things they did not yet know.
2. He would “bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26b). The apostles’ didn’t have to rely on their memory. The Holy Spirit helped them remember.
3. “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). There were things Jesus had not yet taught while on earth, but He promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would reveal “all truth” to them after His return to heaven (John 16:12).
The Bible describes those “moved by the Holy Spirit” as being led by God to teach and to write. Jesus described David’s words in the Psalms as writing “In the Spirit” (Matt. 22:43). David himself claimed, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2). In referring to the Law of Moses Solomon said of God, “You spoke by Your servant Moses” (1 Kings 8:53). The same would be said of Isaiah (Isa. 20:2) and Jeremiah (Jer. 37:2). Zacharias summarized this in declaring, “He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began” (Luke 1:70). So writings produced by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit come from God just as those that record God’s words dictated to the author.
We must, however, understand a few points about this. First, this doesn’t mean that everyone who serves God is inspired by God. Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of the apostles was directly to them. They could lay hands on people and give the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 8:14-19), but there is no indication it could go further. In fact the Bible promises a time when such prophecy would end (Zech 13:1-3; 1 Cor. 13:8-10). Second, inspiration was not just a strong feeling. God spoke to those inspired by Him with words (see 1 Cor. 2:13). Those today who claim “the Spirit is leading them” because they feel strongly about something are not following the biblical pattern of inspiration. Finally, inspiration did not prevent individual forms of expression. As we read the Bible it is clear that different writers express things in different ways. John doesn’t write the same way that Paul does. Does that mean that these works are not from God? No. The Bible tells us, “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” (1 Cor. 14:32). When writers were inspired to write it was not as if the Holy Spirit took possession of their minds and they lost control. While God held power over the ultimate outcome He allowed the individual prophet to express what God revealed to him. This is why we can say that although different books of the Bible have different authors they all have come from God.
In our next study we consider some promises God has made about the preservation of His word and what that means to our understanding of the nature and reliability of the Bible.
