Body: | The Bible:
God's inspired message to man!
The Bible is the world's all-time best selling book. About 2.5 billion
copies have been printed which are available in over 700 languages.
Although the Bible has enjoyed such vast distribution and attention, it is
read relatively little. Perhaps part of the reason the Bible is so
neglected is the many doubts people have about this unique book. If the
Bible came from the mouth of God, then the scriptures are believable when
they speak of Jesus Christ and accurate when they touch the realm of
science.
All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God
may be adequate, equipped for every good work . (2 Timothy 3:16,17)
The word "inspired" (theopneustos) in the original Greek language literally
means "God-breathed". When the Bible claims to be inspired, we understand
therefore, that it came from the mouth of God. It is God-breathed,
inspired.
But a skeptic will say, "Everyone knows the Bible was written by men! The
book of 1 Corinthians, for example, was written by a man named Paul. After
all, the very first verse bears his name as the author." In reply to this
we answer: "Yes, 1 Corinthians was written by Paul. Notice however, what
Paul said in chapter 14, verse 37: "the things I write to you are the
Lord's commandment." Paul knew the source of his writings and understood
that he was like a pen in the hand of Almighty God. We must not view the
Bible as the word of Paul, Peter, or Jeremiah, but rather, as the message
God revealed through these men just as it is written in Jeremiah 1:9,
Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord
said to me, "behold, I have put my words in your mouth".
The Bible writers were not like news reporters giving their personal
interpretation of events they eye-witnessed, but were divinely guided as 2
Peter 1:20-21 says,
"Above all, you must understand that no prophesy of scripture came about by
the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the
will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy
Spirit."
God and man worked together in writing the scriptures. However, in this
work, God is the author who dictated the message, and man is the writing
instrument. Men were guided or inspired to write the exact message God
wanted recorded in the Bible. Now that we have a fundamental understanding
of inspiration and the origin of the Bible, let us look at some evidence of
inspiration.
"We constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's
message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is,
the word of God" (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
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