Read Amos 7:10-17, The Bible is God’s Word (2)

Let us continue defining inspiration. 

a.     Inspiration is verbal (it applies to the words of the Bible).  Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words (logos, plural) shall not pass away (Mt. 24:35).  Jesus said, the words (rhema, specific words) that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).  This idea that the very details of Scripture are inspired by God is strongly emphasized in what Jesus said at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot (yod, the smallest Hebrew letter) or one tittle (tiny marks that clarify the Hebrew text) shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  We thus reject the idea that inspiration only applies to the meaning or thoughts of Scripture.

b.     Inspiration is plenary (it applies to ALL of the Bible).  2 Tim. 3:15 begins with the word all.  Jesus applied this to the Scripture of His day.  Matt. 5:17-18 applies to the law; all of it would be fulfilled.  When He studied with His disciples after His resurrection He opened up the entirety of the Old Testament, and showed them how it applied to Him.  He even refers to the accepted understanding of the arrangement of the Bible: the law of Moses (Genesis to Deuteronomy), the prophets (the narrative of Joshua to Esther and the prophetical books of Isaiah to Malachi), and the psalms (the books of poetry, Job to Ecclesiastes) (Luke 24:44).  Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would guide His apostles into all truth so they could record the full message from God.  (Compare also 1 Tim. 5:8 and 2 Peter 3:15-16.)  Again we would reject the idea that inspiration only deals with spiritual truth but not, say, history or matters of science.  Not only to we reject this idea; we strongly maintain that the Bible MUST be true in the recording of history.  The Bible and its central story are tied history.  It takes place in real places at real times.  God Himself comes to earth and dwells among men. 

c.     Inspiration does not eliminate the personalities of the human authors.  It is easy to see this throughout Scripture.  Different authors have different language skills.  1 Peter is well written because Peter used a secretary.  2 Peter sounds a little more like a fisherman.  John speaks in simple terms.  Luke, the doctor, shows evidence of his educated background.  This should not surprise us, especially when we remember that Jesus Himself, who is called the Word (John 1:1) is truly God and truly Man.  The two come together in one sinless and holy Savior.  So the Bible, the written Word of God, bears the marks of God and man, and it does it so that neither is violated.  Being the word of the omniscient and holy and just God, it must be error because that is what He is.  Yet it bears the personalities and background of the human authors.  The Bible is not merely the dictation of God, as a boss to his secretary. 

Our definition of inspiration, from Scripture, is properly referred to as “verbal, plenary inspiration”.  We will come next to consider the result of this doctrine.