{"id":5705,"date":"2018-01-08T13:18:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5705"},"modified":"2018-01-08T13:18:20","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:18:20","slug":"the-nature-of-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/08\/the-nature-of-inspiration\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nature of Inspiration"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bart Warren<\/strong>
\nThe Bible is inspired. When we make such a claim,\u201d what do we mean?\u00a0Few statements are more powerful or more pertinent. Few statements have been more overlooked and obscured.\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhat Inspiration\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Is\u00a0<\/i><\/b>N<\/i><\/b>ot<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nThose who do not believe in God can often admit that the Bible stands out as an important piece of literature.\u00a0It can be acknowledged that the prose is beautiful and that the message is motivating.\u00a0However, the Bible is not\u00a0merely an inspirational book.\u00a0Bookstores have entire sections labeled \u201cinspirational\u201d\u2013\u2013the Bible should not be found in these\u00a0sections.\u00a0While it is true that when the message of God is understood one will be spurred on to greater spiritual heights, such does not\u00a0begin to approach the nature of inspiration.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThere may be some that hold to the notion that the 40+ men that wrote down the words of Scripture were \u201cinspired\u201d in a fashion\u00a0similar\u00a0to Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Milton, or some other writer.\u00a0To say that the men who wrote the Bible were talented\u00a0misses the point.\u00a0To say that these individuals\u00a0had their creative energies stirred to the point that they wrote something that made a lasting impression on the world is to misunderstand the nature of inspiration.\u00a0<\/span>
\nEven among those who profess a belief in God and devotion to Jesus Christ there are diverging views.\u00a0Some would say that the Bible is\u00a0a collaboration\u00a0between God and man.\u00a0They would contend that\u00a0certain parts are inspired\u00a0by\u00a0God\u00a0while other parts are simply the work of fallible human beings.\u00a0Thus, in this view, the Bible\u00a0contains<\/b>\u00a0the Word of God as well as many errors.\u00a0Men are left to fend for themselves using their reasoning skills (and it is sometimes said the aid of the Holy Spirit) to determine which parts of Scripture are true and which are false.\u00a0This view does not fit the\u00a0Biblical idea of inspiration.\u00a0<\/span>
\nAn extreme position among those that claim to follow Christ\u00a0is that the Bible\u00a0becomes\u00a0<\/b>the Word of God.\u00a0This means that in their view, the Bible is a fallible human book that is used by God to reveal the person of Jesus Christ.\u00a0Rather than\u00a0being\u00a0a divine standard that must be known and heeded, this makes the Bible our conversation partner.\u00a0The Bible only\u00a0becomes<\/b>\u00a0the Word of\u00a0God to the person when they encounter\u00a0Jesus the\u00a0Christ through it.\u00a0Certainly this is a far cry from the nature of inspiration\u00a0as we understand it\u00a0(and as the Bible itself describes).\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhat Inspiration I<\/i><\/b>s<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe Bible is clear and unmistakable in claiming to be the very words of God from start to finish.\u00a0The\u00a0writers themselves pointed the attention of the reader to God rather than to their own knowledge or abilities.\u00a0From the Old Testament consider\u00a0these examples:\u00a0God said to Moses in\u00a0Exodus\u00a04:12, \u201cNow therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.\u201d At the end of King David\u2019s life, he had this to say in\u00a02 Samuel\u00a023:2, \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.\u201d In Jeremiah 1:9, God said to the prophet, \u201cBehold, I have put\u00a0My\u00a0words in your mouth.\u201d It has been found that the prophets alone\u00a0used expressions such as, \u201cThus says the Lord\u201d more than 1,300 times.\u00a0In the Old Testament as a whole, there are more than 2,500 phrases attributing authorship to God.i<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nFrom the New Testament consider\u00a0these\u00a0examples:\u00a0\u201cAll 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\u201d (2 Timothy\u00a03:16-17).\u00a0\u201cKnowing this first, that 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\u201d (2 Peter 1:20-21).\u00a0\u201cFor this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe\u201d (1 Thessalonians\u00a02:13).\u00a0This is a sufficient sample to demonstrate the bold claim of the New Testament that the Bible is a divine product.\u00a0<\/span>
\nTherefore the following definitions and explanations seem to be more in line with the\u00a0Biblical data.\u00a0\u201cInspiration is a supernatural influence upon divinely chosen prophets and apostles whereby the Spirit of God assures the truth and trustworthiness of their oral and written\u00a0proclamation.\u201dii<\/span>\u00a0 Thus to say that the Bible is inspired is to say that it is the very utterance of God.\u00a0It is as much the\u00a0Word of God as if He Himself were to speak to us in an audible voice.\u00a0This leaves us with no middle ground.\u00a0If the writing is inspired, then it is the divine\u00a0Word of God.\u00a0If the writing is not inspired, then it is not of God and is of human origin.iii<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe nature of inspiration as we understand it is both plenary and verbal.\u00a0The term\u00a0plenary<\/i>\u00a0signifies that inspiration extends to the whole\u2013\u2013not just portions, not just certain people, not merely to ideas, but to all of Scripture.\u00a0The term\u00a0verbal<\/i>\u00a0signifies that inspiration extends to the very words of the Bible and that it is given to us in propositional form.\u00a0What makes this all the more fascinating\u00a0(and even complex)\u00a0is the fact that the Holy Spirit did not eliminate the personalities of the writers.\u00a0Peter writes with his own style, Paul with his, John with his, and so on.\u00a0Thus the inspired words of God come forth in the style and vocabulary of the writer.\u00a0It is also the case that these inspired writers did not become infallible\u00a0themselves.\u00a0They did not become omniscient.\u00a0They did not become immune to bodily affliction.\u00a0They did not become incapable of sinning.\u00a0Rather, these men were only infallible as teachers and writers when acting as the spokesmen of God.\u00a0Their inspiration was limited to the immediate purpose for which it was given.iv<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nAdditionally, the nature of inspiration as we understand it means that the Bible is both infallible and inerrant.\u00a0The Bible contains no mistakes or errors.\u00a0Such is exactly what one would expect with a book that has come from God.\u00a0While not a textbook for\u00a0science,\u00a0history, etc., the Bible contains no data that is factually incorrect.\u00a0Even though the information recorded by these men was far beyond anything they could have known or even guessed, it was nevertheless recorded without false information or even contradictions.\u00a0Such is powerful evidence that the Bible is a divine product.\u00a0\u201cThe doctrine of inerrancy rests upon confidence in the divine origin of Scripture.\u00a0If the Bible is the\u00a0Word of God, it is free from error.\u00a0God does not lie, nor does He make mistakes.\u00a0It is just that simple.\u201dv<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe Implication of Inspiration<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nGod has revealed Himself to us via His creation (Romans\u00a01:20).\u00a0God\u00a0has\u00a0revealed Himself via prophets and even His Son, Jesus (Hebrews\u00a01:1-2; John 14:9; et. al.).\u00a0Finally,\u00a0He has\u00a0revealed Himself via\u00a0an objective and permanent method of communication: the written word.\u00a0\u201cBelief in the divine origin of the Bible leads one to accept the Bible as both utterly true and totally authoritative.\u00a0If God has spoken, it makes all the difference in the world.\u201dvi<\/span>\u00a0 If the Bible is from God,\u00a0we cannot continue to ignore it.\u00a0If the Bible is from God,\u00a0we must lovingly embrace it and enthusiastically follow it.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe Bible is inspired!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bart Warren The Bible is inspired. When we make such a claim,\u201d what do we mean?\u00a0Few statements are more powerful or more pertinent. Few statements have been more overlooked and obscured.\u00a0 What Inspiration\u00a0Is\u00a0Not\u00a0 Those who do not believe in God can often admit that the Bible stands out as an important piece of literature.\u00a0It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,59,66],"tags":[1311,118,1051,1312,1307],"class_list":["post-5705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-christian-living","category-think-excerpts","tag-bart-warren","tag-bible","tag-feature","tag-inspiration","tag-march-2013","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Nature of Inspiration - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/08\/the-nature-of-inspiration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Nature of Inspiration - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bart Warren The Bible is inspired. When we make such a claim,\u201d what do we mean?\u00a0Few statements are more powerful or more pertinent. 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