Handling the Word of God
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Bible by the Beach, 2.5.15
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be
ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15)
My aim and prayer:
(1) even more confident
(2) a little better resourced
The inspiration of Scripture
“All Scripture is breathed out by God” / “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16)
Two blind alleys to beware of:
a. ‘The writers were inspired by God’s revelation of himself in events’
b. ‘The Bible is inspiring’
The orthodox understanding of inspiration: “God is the author of the Bible”.
Inspiration is telling us about is the Bible’s ultimate origins.
The meaning and implications of ‘God-breathed’ (2 Tim 3:16)
In the original Greek: theopneustos.
B.B. Warfield on theopneustos: ‘What Scripture says, God says’.
‘Plenary verbal inspiration’
Plenary inspiration: the whole of Scripture is breathed out by God
Verbal inspiration: the words (and not just the overall ‘spirit’) are breathed out by God
It’s not like a boss giving a secretary the gist of a letter, so the secretary can go off and put it in
their own words. The very jots and tittles come from God.
What about the NT?
- Four Gospels were very quickly accepted as Scripture
- Paul’s letters too (2 Pet 3.16)
- The establishing of which books were God-breathed, and which were not, was a process of
discovery rather than decree
- Jesus’ own teaching, John 16.12-15
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Inspiration and different versions of the Bible
Strictly speaking, it’s the original manuscripts (‘autographs’) which are ‘God-breathed’.
A good translation of the Bible is also ‘God-breathed’.
The Holy Spirit and the Bible-writers
But what about how the Bible came to be written?...
B.B. Warfield: ‘By “concursive operation” may be meant that form of revelation illustrated in an
inspired psalm or epistle or history, in which no human activity - not even the control of the
will - is superseded, but the Holy Spirit works in, with and through them all in such a manner
as to communicate to the product qualities distinctly superhuman.’
Word and Spirit
Two blind alleys that evangelicals can make here, in relation to word and Spirit:
a) The word effectively takes over the Spirit
b) ‘The Spirit is sometimes present and sometimes not in word-ministry’
A better way: the Spirit always accompanies the word.
The Spirit doesn’t modify or manipulate the meaning of the word; he ministers it to us.
Sufficiency
All this means that Scripture is sufficient for faith and godliness.
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Implications
1) Be spiritually-minded by working away hard at the word.
Think of that in relation to your own working hard at the word:
Think of that in relation to your pastor’s working hard at the word:
2) Encountering Scripture is encountering God as he comes speaking to us.
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