LESSON 3 • Scripture as Inspired

If you saw a rock hitting a can and you could not see where the rock was coming from, and then, another and another rock hit the can, before long you would conclude that someone was throwing at the can. This is Richard Whately’s way of illustrating the force of circumstantial evidence. This is the type of evidence that we have regarding the inspiration of the Bible. There are many threads of evidence, each one pointing to the same conclusion: the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Notice some of these arguments, all of these rocks that hit the can. 

The Bible Claims To Be Inspired

The Bible claims inspiration for itself. Of course, uninspired books could make the same claim. That fact alone does not make it inspired. But if a book were inspired, would it not make that claim? It would be strange if an inspired book never made any reference to its inspiration. 

“For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet. 1:21). These are the words of Peter regarding the Old Testament prophets. The word “moved” has the idea of being carried or borne along. Holy men of old were carried along by the Holy Spirit. When they spoke, they were aware that their message was not their own, but God’s. 

“All scripture is inspired by God and 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 Tim. 3:16, 17). Paul is here referring to the Old Testament scriptures; notice his reference to the fact that Timothy had known the Scriptures from a babe (v. 15). His Jewish mother had taught the Scriptures to him. But Paul is including more than just the Scriptures that Timothy had known from a babe. “All Scripture is inspired . . .” Any writing that deserves the designation of Scripture is inspired. The word for “inspired” in 2 Timothy 3:16 means “God-breathed.” The holy men who wrote the Scriptures had these words breathed into them by God. 

When Jesus was talking to the apostles before sending them out on the limited commission, he warned them of the hardships that they would face. They would be arrested and would appear before governors and kings. But they were not to worry about how or what they would speak, “for it shall be given you in that hour what you are to speak. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Mt. 10:19, 20). 

Jesus gave the apostles a similar promise of the Holy Spirit in his farewell discourse in John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” The word translated “helper” is literally “paraclete.” It means a friend who is called to the side of one in need.

When the apostles spoke by the Holy Spirit, their message was inspired. Would it not follow that when they wrote, the message was likewise inspired? 

1 Corinthians 2:11-13 is one of the better scriptures on the claim of the Bible to be inspired.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 

The writers of the Bible maintained their distinctive personalities, and through their own personal styles of writing taught the eternal message, yet they were guarded from error. The combination of the human and divine is similar to the incarnation. Jesus of Nazareth was totally human, yet He was perfectly divine. The infallible message of God has been communicated through fallible men, in the language of man, in the distinctive styles of men, yet the book is more than the work of a man. 

The books of the Bible were written for certain needs of the moment. It is doubtful that the Lord told Paul that the Christians needed another book to go into their Bible, so he was to write 2 Corinthians. Paul wrote this letter, and all of his letters, to deal with a specific need in the church at that time. Probably at the time of the writing, Paul did not even realize that he was contributing another book to a collection later known as the New Testament. 

The History of the Bible

The second rock that hits the can is the remarkable history of the Bible. There is no other book that more people have tried to destroy than this one. And at the same time, there is today no more popular book than the Bible. Anything that can endure and outlive all the attacks upon it such as the Bible has experienced must be more than the work of a man. 

“For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding Word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23). The Word of God is the seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11). As long as the seed of the kingdom remains, the kingdom will remain. 

The Uniqueness of the Bible

The third rock that hits the can is the uniqueness of the Bible. The Bible is in a class by itself. It there is a book that is divine, the Bible must be it. That which is second best is so inferior to it that it does not even compare. 

Before one turns his back on the Bible, he had better ask where he is going to look. He should not give up something unless he has something better to turn to. When many of the Jews turned their backs on Jesus to walk no more with Him, Jesus turned to the 12 and asked them, “Will you also go away?” Perhaps Peter thought of leaving for the moment; then he considered where he might turn back to. There was no other place to turn. Peter replied, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68).

The unity of the Bible is amazing. The Bible was written over a period of about 1,400 years by more than 40 authors; the names of some are not known. And yet, it is really not 66 books, but one book. It is THE BOOK, the Bible. The golden thread of redemption runs from Genesis to Revelation. It has to be the work of one mind – the mind of God. 

The Bible Works In Our Lives

The Bible is true because it works. This is the pragmatic argument: what works is true. Apply principles of the Bible and see if they do not make better husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, neighbors, employers, and employees. See if these principles will not bring a happier life. 

Who knows what is best for men? The one who made him! God has not put man on earth and left him without any direction. He has sent the instruction manual to go with him. He has shown him how to live. He has shown him what life is all about. He has shown him how to relate to other people. He has shown him what to think of himself. He has instructed him on how to spend his time and energy and has told him what goals in life are really worth striving for and which are not. Apply these principles and see if they do not work. 


The Evidence of Prophecy

In Romans 4:17 Paul said that God “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (KJV). Predictions and prophecies in the Bible that were made many years before their fulfillment must be evidence of the hand of God. Fulfillment of prophecy is strong evidence for the inspiration of the Bible. 

Many examples of fulfilled prophecies could be furnished, but by far the most impressive is the prophecy of Christ through the Old Testament. One powerful element in the preaching of the apostles is the fact that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. The fact that the Christ would come through Abraham (Gen. 22:18), Isaac (26:4), and Jacob (28:14) was predicted. He was to descend through the tribe of Judah (49:10) and be of the seed of David (2 Sam. 7:11-14). 

His virgin birth was predicted (Isa. 7:14). Even the place of his birth was foretold (Micah 5:2). Many of the events of the earthly ministry were predicted, as the Gospel of Matthew attests time after time. The suffering and death of Jesus were foretold in Isaiah 53 and other places. Even his resurrection was predicted in Psalms 16. The establishment of his church can be seen in Isaiah 2:2-4 and Daniel 2:44. 

The thread of prophecy in the Old Testament and its fulfillment in the New is ample proof that this book is the work of a divine hand. The purpose, planning, and design for the coming of Christ, and the intricate details of the life of Jesus of Nazareth as predicted centuries beforehand offer proof not only of the deity of Christ, but also of the inspiration of the book that contains these marvelous truths. Here is another rock that hits the can! 

Conclusion

You can trust your Bible to be the word of God. There is just too much evidence all pointing in the same direction to deny it. The claims of the Bible, the history of the book, its uniqueness, its working in the lives of those who accept it, and the undeniable evidence of prophecy all unite to proclaim this book is God’s Word. 






This material was taken from Chapter One in Dr. Neale Pryor’s book entitled
You Can Trust Your Bible. Abilene: Quality Publications: 1980.