In the previous blog we discussed God’s revelation of himself to man which was the first step toward creating the Bible. Now let’s look at the second tool God used to create the Bible which is “inspiration”. This is where man takes the revelation of God and puts it down on paper in the manner God wants it written. How exactly does that happen? There are several theories how God accomplished this but the only scripturally correct theory is the plenary-verbal theory. That theory states God imparted his inspiration to the Bible writers so that every single word in the Bible is inspired by God and meant to be in the text as written.
Hebrews 1:1 – God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.
Matthew 5:18 – (Jesus speaking) – For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
1 Peter 1:25 – But the word of the Lord endures forever.
What we do know about the inspiration of God is the following:
1. All parts of the Bible are equally inspired but all parts of the Bible are not equally important. John 3:16 is more important than Judges 3:16.
2. Godly inspiration is only guaranteed in the original text and not later copies or translations. That’s why we need to make sure new Bible don’t change or leave out verses.
3. Inspiration does not allow for any false teaching but can record the lies of someone.
4. Inspiration does not permit any historical, scientific or prophetic errors. That’s why critics try so hard to disprove any single fact in the Bible. If they can prove one things is false in the Bible it gives credence to their claim that the Bible isn’t authored by God.
5. Inspiration doesn’t prohibit personal research. God welcomes anyone to examine the truth of his Word. In the Bible God say let us reason together. False religions don’t allow this because they know they’re fake and they don’t want their followers to find that out.
6. Inspiration does not deny the use of extra-biblical sources. God mentions several in the Bible.
7. Inspiration does not overwhelm the personality of the human writers of the Bible. God didn’t want robots writing his Word. The Holy Spirit guided the writers without being dictatorial.
8. Inspiration does not exclude the use of pictorial and symbolic language. I don’t know how any writer could produce the book of Revelation without the use of symbolic language. The trick is to know when it’s being used.
9. Inspiration does not mean uniformity in all details given in describing the same event. That’s why we have four gospels. Each writer gave his own impression of the life of Jesus which makes the story that much more compelling; that much more believable.
The plenary-verbal theory of inspiration assures us that God has included in the Bible all the necessary things he wanted us to know, and excluded everything else. Of all the tools God used in making our Bible, inspiration is the most important. You can have inspiration without revelation and illumination but not vice versa. God’s inspiration to man was completed with the writing of the book Revelation by the Apostle John around 95 AD. We know this by the statement made in Revelation 22:18-19. That means any cult that says Jesus showed up later somewhere else is telling a lie. That means Mormons, for one, have a fake religion and they’ll face the wrath of God on the last day.
Isaiah 1:18 – “Come now and let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Revelation 22:18-19 – For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.