Implications of the Inspiration of Scripture – Part 1
Given all that we have looked at in previous posts regarding the inspiration of Scripture, I want to now spend three weeks drawing out three key ramifications of the inspiration of Scripture.
The first key ramification of a proper understanding of the inspiration of the written Word of God is the authority of the Scripture. This is seen in three key areas.
First, since Scripture is God’s Word, it speaks with His authority.
Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word. Psalm 119:17
(The Psalmist does not just obey God Himself; he obeys God’s Word. A follower of God must obey the Word of God.)
Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time. Deuteronomy 4:40
(The words God was speaking through Moses were written down, and the people were to keep and obey these commands and decrees. Also note that God’s Word is referred to as His commands – they are backed by His authority and therefore must be obeyed.)
Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Deuteronomy 6:17
(Once again, we are urged to keep God’s commands, stipulations, and decrees – His Word. God has given His Word to us so that we might obey it.)
If you love me, you will obey what I command. John 14:15
(To love Jesus is to do what He commands. The commands of Jesus are available to us in the written Word of God – the Scripture. Those who obey the written Word of God love Jesus, but those who flippantly disobey it do not love Him.)
Second, Scripture can not fail.
If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came — and the Scripture cannot be broken — John 10:35
(Jesus specifically states that the Scripture can not be broken. What it has said will come to pass.)
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Matthew 24:35
(Jesus again says His Words will never pass away. What He said was written down, and those words will never pass away. It would be easier for the creation to go away than for God’s Word to go away.)
Third, to ignore or disobey Scripture is to ignore or disobey God.
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. Deuteronomy 18:18–19
(When God spoke through the prophets, to ignore or refuse to listen to the prophet was to be called to account by God Himself. Because God was speaking through the prophet, to refuse to hear the prophet was to refuse to hear God Himself.)
Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 4:8
(Paul had written instruction to the Thessalonians – and us – and to reject those written words was to reject God Himself. One can not claim to follow God while rejecting His written Word, the Bible)
All of these points mean that God’s written Word has the authority of God Himself. This is not bibliolatry – it is giving God’s Word its proper place. To ignore or disobey God’s Word is to ignore or disobey God – and to hear, receive, and obey God’s written Word is to hear, receive, and obey God Himself. This is the authority of God’s Word!
In Christ,
Bret