The Bible is fully inspired in all parts and in all respects. I believe in the inspiration of every word of the original text of Holy Scripture. The writers were infallibly guided in their choice of subject matter and the words used to record their sub jects. Such guidance of the Holy Spirit over the human penmen does not extend to other writings but rather excludes all of them as unin spired. Of the Bible it must be said that all is thus inspired, even the jot, which is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and the tittle, the small ornamental mark in .that alpha bet, distinguishing one letter from another (Matt. 5:18). The Bible is the only God-given authoritative rev elation which gives to man an infalli ble rule of faith and practice. This, by the way, is a conviction I penned as a young pastor 30 years ago. If anything, I feel even stronger today about the subject. There is a distinction between in spiration and revelation. Inspiration is that activity of God whereby He imparted certain information to cer tain men of His own choosing for the express purpose of committing that information to writing. Revela tion, while closely related to inspira tion, is essentially the communica tion of that information. It has to do more with the mold or method of pre senting and preserving the imparted knowledge. So, revelation is the act or process of imparting knowledge while inspiration guarantees its ve racity (II Pet. 1:20, 21). Scripture is not the result of any man’s per sonal and p r iv a t e investigation. Knowledge contained in the Bible is not to be found in man. The Scrip tures do not owe their origin to human initiative, investigation, or imagination. The Holy Spirit antici pated scoffers and critics concerning divine inspiration. At the same time, human instru mentality is fully recognized. Set- apart men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit. The hu man penmen did not choose writing as a career. Paul testified in Galatians 1:15, 16, “It pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me.” For this reason the Apostle could say concerning the Gospel he preached, “For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:12). All the writers of Scripture were the human attendants through and to whom God could reveal His thoughts. Peter tells us that the writers were “moved by the Holy Ghost.” This simply means that they were controlled and carried along by the Spirit Himself. When Moses wrote of the creation of the heaven and the earth, it would have to be inspired; he wasn’t present then nor was any other man. This illustrates the as pect of revelation. God set apart a man to whom He could reveal a truth which was known only to Him. The writers were not mere passive auto matons whose own gifts and abili ties lay dormant. Man, unaided by God, could not have written the Bible. Paul knew this great fact when he was directed to write, “Which things we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” He never took credit for what he spoke concerning divine rev elation. He knew the Holy Spirit had given the words. Our Lord gives us an interesting statement, recorded by Mark and Luke. In Mark 12:36 we find, “For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.” In Luke 20:42, 43, we have a simi lar statement: “And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my
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