Most Christian believers believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God. So they are willing for the scriptures to be their main guide in life throughout their lives. We see even in the Old Testament many verses that describe the preciousness of the scriptures for those who trusted in God. For example, the writer of Psalm 119 wrote of the value of God’s revelation to humans through His word. He saw that acting on the word of God enabled one to refrain from sin, Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”He also saw that God’s word provided guidance for his journey in life, like light illuminating the path he was meant to tread, Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
In Deuteronomy 8 we read that Moses was preparing the people of Israel to enter the Promised land. He reminded them of God’s faithfulness to them in rescuing them from Egypt and caring for them during their wilderness wanderings. But he added words that reminded them that they were to continue to live by God’s words to them, Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Victory in living as God’s people would come from obeying the word of God.
When Jesus was beginning His public ministry, Satan came to tempt Him to ignore the word of God and to do something dramatic to prove He was the Son of God. However Jesus saw this as a temptation to do what Satan wanted and so He countered with the word of God as He answered, quoting the words of Deuteronomy 8:3, Mat 4:3 “And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
The scriptures come from the mouth of God, by His divine revelation to humans.
St Paul’s understanding of the “inspired” word of God
This important truth was later taken up by St Paul in writing to Timothy in 2Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The Greek word for “breathed out “is [theopneustos] where theos = God and pneustos is from pneō to breathe. God has breathed out His word. It is from Him and thus has ultimate eternal authority. We note too that the noun [pneuma] is derived from this verb “to breathe” and is used to describe the Holy Spirit [pnéuma hagios] as well as meaning breeze or wind.
One could say that all Scripture is given by the ex-piration [breathed out] of God to Bible writers who were in-spired by the Holy Spirit to write what they did. However we need to recognise the New Testament does not use the word “inspire” of the Scriptures except in a few translations of 2 Timothy 3:16 to translate “God breathed.” But similar concepts are used in the Bible to convey that meaning. The following are some examples.
St Peter wrote about prophecy in 2 Peter 1:20 “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 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 prophets were “carried along “by the Holy Spirit as they spoke their prophecies. “Carried along” translates the Greek word [phero ] which is to be moved physically or mentally. It is used of a ship in Acts 27:15 “And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.” It is as though the prophets raised their sails to the breath of the Holy Spirit to go in the direction God wanted them to go and to say the things God wanted them to say.
In another epistle of St Peter he wrote, 1 Peter 1:10-11, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.” 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you … .”
We note 3 things in verse 11. The first is that the Holy Spirit is described as being in them. The second is that the word for “indicating” which is [dēloō ] means to make evident; to make known, to bring to light. That is, the Holy Spirit in them was active in making known or bringing to light what was to happen at a future time. The third is the word “he.” It was “he” [the Holy Spirit Himself] who was predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories, but through human prophets. There was a divine origin behind their prophecies.
There was also a divine origin behind the words of Jesus as we see in John 14:10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” The origin of the words He spoke and of the signs he performed, was His Heavenly Father.
Jesus said of His own ministry, that He had shared God’s word with His disciples, John 17:14 “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Jesus’ ministry involved sharing God’s word with humans.
St Paul praised God for the fact that the believers in Thessalonica had received and acted on the word of God they had preached, as though it had come from God, 1Thessalonians 2:13 “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
It is no wonder that Anglican churches worldwide are still willingly to be subject to the 6thArticle of the 39 Articles of Religion which states, “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation…. .”
If the Bible is the “breathed out” words of God into the minds of human prophets and writers to speak and to record, then it is incumbent on humans in every age to receive them and to live by them. Then we will be achieving His purpose for us in His world! To His glory!
Blog No.493 posted on Monday 14 August 2023.
holbeck 
493. HOW IS THE BIBLE THE “INSPIRED“ WORD OF GOD?
Most Christian believers believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God. So they are willing for the scriptures to be their main guide in life throughout their lives. We see even in the Old Testament many verses that describe the preciousness of the scriptures for those who trusted in God. For example, the writer of Psalm 119 wrote of the value of God’s revelation to humans through His word. He saw that acting on the word of God enabled one to refrain from sin, Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”He also saw that God’s word provided guidance for his journey in life, like light illuminating the path he was meant to tread, Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
In Deuteronomy 8 we read that Moses was preparing the people of Israel to enter the Promised land. He reminded them of God’s faithfulness to them in rescuing them from Egypt and caring for them during their wilderness wanderings. But he added words that reminded them that they were to continue to live by God’s words to them, Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Victory in living as God’s people would come from obeying the word of God.
When Jesus was beginning His public ministry, Satan came to tempt Him to ignore the word of God and to do something dramatic to prove He was the Son of God. However Jesus saw this as a temptation to do what Satan wanted and so He countered with the word of God as He answered, quoting the words of Deuteronomy 8:3, Mat 4:3 “And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
The scriptures come from the mouth of God, by His divine revelation to humans.
St Paul’s understanding of the “inspired” word of God
This important truth was later taken up by St Paul in writing to Timothy in 2Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The Greek word for “breathed out “is [theopneustos] where theos = God and pneustos is from pneō to breathe. God has breathed out His word. It is from Him and thus has ultimate eternal authority. We note too that the noun [pneuma] is derived from this verb “to breathe” and is used to describe the Holy Spirit [pnéuma hagios] as well as meaning breeze or wind.
One could say that all Scripture is given by the ex-piration [breathed out] of God to Bible writers who were in-spired by the Holy Spirit to write what they did. However we need to recognise the New Testament does not use the word “inspire” of the Scriptures except in a few translations of 2 Timothy 3:16 to translate “God breathed.” But similar concepts are used in the Bible to convey that meaning. The following are some examples.
St Peter wrote about prophecy in 2 Peter 1:20 “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 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 prophets were “carried along “by the Holy Spirit as they spoke their prophecies. “Carried along” translates the Greek word [phero ] which is to be moved physically or mentally. It is used of a ship in Acts 27:15 “And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.” It is as though the prophets raised their sails to the breath of the Holy Spirit to go in the direction God wanted them to go and to say the things God wanted them to say.
In another epistle of St Peter he wrote, 1 Peter 1:10-11, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.” 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you … .”
We note 3 things in verse 11. The first is that the Holy Spirit is described as being in them. The second is that the word for “indicating” which is [dēloō ] means to make evident; to make known, to bring to light. That is, the Holy Spirit in them was active in making known or bringing to light what was to happen at a future time. The third is the word “he.” It was “he” [the Holy Spirit Himself] who was predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories, but through human prophets. There was a divine origin behind their prophecies.
There was also a divine origin behind the words of Jesus as we see in John 14:10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” The origin of the words He spoke and of the signs he performed, was His Heavenly Father.
Jesus said of His own ministry, that He had shared God’s word with His disciples, John 17:14 “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Jesus’ ministry involved sharing God’s word with humans.
St Paul praised God for the fact that the believers in Thessalonica had received and acted on the word of God they had preached, as though it had come from God, 1Thessalonians 2:13 “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
It is no wonder that Anglican churches worldwide are still willingly to be subject to the 6thArticle of the 39 Articles of Religion which states, “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation…. .”
If the Bible is the “breathed out” words of God into the minds of human prophets and writers to speak and to record, then it is incumbent on humans in every age to receive them and to live by them. Then we will be achieving His purpose for us in His world! To His glory!
Blog No.493 posted on Monday 14 August 2023.
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About Jim Holbeck
Once an Industrial Chemist working for the Queensland Government but later an Anglican minister in Brisbane, Armidale and Sydney. Last position for eighteen years before retirement in 2006 was as the Leader of the Healing Ministry at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney.