Some thoughts on the Bible

The Bible is the most important book in history.  Each day, we should live our lives based on the standards set within it.  It is the one book that we should immerse ourselves in on a daily basis.  In order to truly live by the Bible, we must acknowledge the following steps in understanding it.

The origin of the Bible is God. The Bible starts with God and ends with God. God chose to give us the Bible and His words so that we might have a relationship with Him. The Bible is an original creation from God with His own words, feelings, desires, and will, but with the help of men like Moses, Isaiah, Ezra, Luke, and Paul. It was written down in human ways so that God’s creation could read understandably about their creator. Jeremiah 1:11 says, “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying...”. This is just one example of the times that God sent his word directly to human authors. Other times the Holy Spirit guided the authors, like Paul and Peter, to write down God’s word. 1 Corinthians 14:37 states, “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord”. How does God use the human authors so that the Bible is still 100% God’s words?

Inspiration is how God used humans to write his words. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is breathed-out by God…” God breathed His words through the human authors through inspiration of the Spirit. The Bible was written over fifteen hundred years by many different writers with many different styles. They were shepherds, kings, doctors, and teachers, and they wrote in prisons, deserts, fields, and courtyards. Yet the entire book is a unified in proclaiming and revealing God to the readers. David was not aware of Paul when he was writing the Psalms yet they both work in a unified sense to bring God’s message and promises to the readers. 2 Peter 1:21 states this very clearly, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit inspired and guided the thoughts and minds of the writers so that God’s message was proclaimed, but at the same time the Holy Spirit used the life and style of each individual to bring about the message. David wrote poems, while Moses wrote law yet both are 100% from God because the Holy Spirit guided and inspired the writer yet both are also 100% man; each is in a different style because they are from different writers who had different personalities.

Inerrancy says that because God is perfect and without fault, His word is also perfect and without fault. The truth is trustworthy. This means the Bible is correct and never wrong whether in theological ideas, historical facts, geography, or even description of events. Caution must follow inerrancy though because it does not mean every detail and fact must be in the story or description. God only brings in His word the facts and aspects that are important for us to know. God does not give us every historical detail because the Bible is not a historical record; it is a theological book that includes history in the telling. Inerrancy says that the original writing and manuscript is without error. It does not apply to the copy after copy after copy of the manuscript down through the years. Inerrancy can and will only apply itself to the original writing by the original inspired authors. Inerrancy also does not say that the Bible is easy to understand and that if we are confused it is an error. The Bible is still the word of God and he can choose to reveal certain things and keep other things hidden from us. The revelation process of God is what causes the confusion, not the fact that the Bible might be wrong or have an error. The Bible is perfect and without error.