Inspiration 35 15:3). “That He might sanctify it, having cleansed it, by the washing of water with the Word” (Eph. 5:26). 3. By the Word we are kept from evil and the power of the evil one. The Psalmist said: “By the words of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psa. 17:4) ; and, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psa. 119:11). Therefore, Jesus said: “I have given them Thy Word. . . . Sanctify them through [in] the truth. Thy Word is truth” (John 17:14, 17). The voice said: “Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. . . . The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand forever" (Isa. 40:6, 8). “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth” (2 Cor. 13:8). This, then, is the sum of our contention: The Bible is made up of writings, and these are composed of words. The WORDS are inspired—G od-breathed. Therefore is the Bible inspired — is God’s Word. This is plainly seen, first, in the uniform declaration of the Book. All the Old Testament Prophets, Jesus our Lord, and all the New Testament writers, bear the same testimony con- cerning this transcendentally important matter. Not a single word or thought to the contrary can anywhere be found in all their declarations. The attitude of Jesus toward the Old Testament and His utterances confirm beyond question our contention. He had the very same Old Testament we have today. He believed it to be the Word of God, and pro- claimed it as such. He said, “One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the laws, till all be fulfilled.” In thwarting the tempter He said: It is written! it is written! it is writ- ten !” In confounding the Jews, He said: “If ye believed Moses ye would believe Me; for he wrote of Me.” He never criticised the Scriptures, but always appealed to them as His Father’s words, authoritative and final.
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