Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration’
Were the Apostles’ Inspired? Or Was It Something They Wrote?
One of the doctrinal errors I warn our church about is found in the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of 1833. It says, “We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired…” According to 2 Timothy 3:16, God inspired the “graphe” or Scriptures, not the men. While the Holy Spirit carried along the…
Read MoreTHE FUNDAMENTALS: The Bible
September/October 2019 | VOLUME 29 | NUMBER 5 O How I Love Your Law God’s people have always loved His Word. Clement of Rome, who ministered just after the apostles, instructed his readers, “Look carefully into the Scriptures, which are the true utterances of the Holy Spirit.” Augustine is famously quoted as calling the Holy…
Read MoreSola Scriptura – Conclusion
The Bible is fully sufficient for the salvation of man and the development of the believer into full maturity (2 Tim 3:16–17). Through the assimilated Word of God, each man and woman who belongs to God is to be “fully equipped” by the Holy Spirit so that they may know either in precept or in…
Read MoreThe Believer’s Certainty that the Scriptures Are the Final Authority for Belief and Behavior (Part 4)
The Scriptures Counsel by Establishing Correct Behavior Finally, God’s Word “trains” or “disciplines in righteousness” (πρὸς παιδείαν τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, 2 Tim 3:16d). The training is designed to produce conduct whereby “righteousness” (δικαιοσύνῃ) becomes a reality in the life of the believer. Holiness literally means, “to cut,” “to separate,” or to be “set apart”.1 Theologically…
Read MoreThe Believer’s Certainty that the Scriptures Are the Final Authority for Belief and Behavior (Part 3)
The Scriptures Correct by Exposing Aberrant Behavior “Correction” (ἐπανόρθωσιν, 2 Tim 3:16c) is used in the sense of “setting something right,” most likely with reference to conduct as it was sometimes used in extra biblical literature.1 God’s Word has the authority to regulate personal and public conduct. Attitudes and behavior among “Christian” young people toward…
Read MoreSigns, Wonders, and the Testimony of God
In the Bible, the term “signs and wonders” occurs approximately twenty-nine times. The Old Testament references almost exclusively refer to the birth of Israel under the leadership of Moses, through whom God worked the signs and delivered Israel from Egypt. The only exceptions to this rule are three references in Daniel, where pagan kings Nebuchadnezzar…
Read MoreThe Believer’s Certainty that the Scriptures Are the Final Authority for Belief and Behavior (Part 2)
The Scriptures Convict by Exposing Incorrect Belief Paul’s unique choice of words (ἐλεγμός) which occurs only here in the NT has the sense of “rebuke” (2 Tim 3:16b). In other words, a correct apprehension of Scripture refutes error. Paul expresses the identical concept in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out…
Read MoreThe Believer’s Certainty that the Scriptures Are the Final Authority for Belief and Behavior (Part 1)
Paul declares that all Scripture is “profitable” or “useful” (ὠφέλιμος; 2 Tim 3:16) in the sense of yielding a practical benefit (1 Tim 4:8; Titus 3:8). This benefit is delineated in four phrases.1 These phrases are arranged in two pairs, each with a negative and positive aspect. The first pair of words deals with belief…
Read MoreThe Believer’s Certainty of the Doctrine of Inspiration (Part 2)
The Necessary Implications of 2 Timothy 3:16 The Scriptures Are Free From All Error in the Autographs Whatever God immediately creates must of necessity be without error factually, theologically, morally, historically, and scientifically. The infinite perfections of God’s very being demand inerrancy and infallibility. God will not lie (1 Sam 15:20), cannot lie (Titus 1:2;…
Read MoreThe Believer’s Certainty of the Doctrine of Inspiration (Part 1)
The Content of 2 Timothy 3:16 In 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul establishes the Scriptures’ own claim to divine authority and relevance to sound belief and behavior. Paul warns Timothy not to be deceived by false teachers and impostors, but instead to continue in what he has learned, having been fully “convinced” of Scripture’s truthfulness and…
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