Biblical
Authority and Jesus
The apostle Paul accepted the fact that the Word of God was
inspired, incorruptible, indestructible and indispensable.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Since “all Scripture is inspired by God,” then no scripture
is uninspired.
It is God-breathed, breathed into by God, or inspired.
The Jewish rabbis taught that
the Spirit of God rested on and in the prophets and spoke through them so that their words
did not come from themselves, but from the mouth of God. These men spoke and wrote in the
Holy Spirit. The New Testament church was in full agreement with this
view of inspiration.
Literally, the apostle Paul says, “All Scripture, or every
Scripture, is God-breathed.” It is God inspired. The Bible is the authoritative
Word of God
because it is divinely authorized. God inspired it. The whole Old
Testament is divinely inspired. Extensions of the same claim to the
New Testament is not expressly stated, however it is more than merely implied. The New
Testament is no less authoritative than the Old Testament. The apostles
expressly declared their inspired proclamation to be the Word of God (1
Cor. 4:1; 2 Cor. 5:20; 1 Thess. 2:13).
When you accept the plenary, or full, inspiration of the Scripture
God’s superintendence of the whole implies inerrancy of the content.
The inerrancy of the Scriptures is consistent with what the Bible
says about itself. The whole Bible is “the seat of authority.” The historical evangelical position is the divine inspiration, complete
trustworthiness, and full authority of the Bible. Scripture is authoritative and fully trustworthy because it is inspired
by God.
The divine authority of the Scriptures rests eventually and solely on
it’s being God-breathed. The Scriptures are God-breathed in all its parts.
We believe in biblical inerrancy and infallibility.
With confidence we confess faith in the divine origin of the Bible. It
is completely truthful and trustworthy.
The New Testament is no less authoritative because it is the
fulfillment of the Old. Jesus, the apostles, the early church, all clearly agreed that the
Old Testament was absolutely trustworthy. They are authoritative because they are
God’s fully inspired Word. The authority of the Bible is divine authority. God is the
author.
The doctrine of plenary, verbal inspiration stresses that the Holy
Spirit acted in relationship with the biblical writers so as to render them infallible
revealers of God’s truth. We can therefore have complete confidence in God’s
infallible Word. The New English Bible says, “It was not through any human whim that
men prophesied of old; men they were, but, impelled by the Holy Spirit they spoke the
words of God.”
Why the importance of the doctrine of inerrancy in a day when most
people detest moral authority? This great doctrine of Christianity avoids instability in
expounding authoritative doctrine and morals.
In our day it is in vogue to who claim to honor the authority of Jesus Christ rather
than the authority of Scripture. This is to contradict Jesus’ teaching, since Jesus held a high
view of Scripture. It is illogical to pick and choose from the
teaching of Jesus during His earthly ministry only those elements that serve one’s
own presuppositions. To do so would be to reject the full
trustworthiness of Scriptures. How would you know the Jesus you worship
is the same as the one the Scriptures declares to be the Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world? Without His resurrection we are still
in our sins.
Remove the doctrine of full divine inspiration and inerrancy of the
Scriptures in whole and in part and you effectively remove any reason why a person’s
life ought to be transformed by Jesus Christ. You can then live any life-style you so
desire. The great tragedy in our day in that is exactly what many in the church are doing.
You cannot tell the difference between the Christian and non-Christian in today’s
society.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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