“All Scripture is Godbreathed” and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3: 16-17). So what do we mean when we talk about the scripture being God breathed or inspired, and why does it matter? Historically, the teaching and understanding of scriptural inspiration was that the Bible was the very word of God and truth on matters both spiritual and non-spiritual. In other words, not only is the Bible truth in matters of morality and philosophy, where the Bible touches on and discusses matters such as science, history and geography, it is 100% truth; reliable and accurate. During the Enlightenment, many started holding on to the idea that truth could only be known if it could be tested and confirmed with direct observation. No longer could truth be known in matters of philosophy or morality and discussions of these areas were confined to matters of personal opinion or preference. Inspiration of scripture has come to mean many different things to different theologians based on the prevailing winds of the culture. Some hold the scripture to be only partially inspired, and some claim that some parts are more inspired than others. Problem being, none can agree on which parts are or aren’t inspired, or more inspired.
So what. Not everyone has to believe what we believe right? Well that is where inspiration comes into play. Consider the matter of sin and salvation. We are in the season of when we reflect on Christ’s death, burial, and His resurrection. The Bible clearly states all of us have sinned (Rom. 3:23, 5:12), our good deeds are as filthy rags (Is. 64:6), the payment of our sins is both physical and spiritual death (Rom. 6:23), Christ is the only Way to God (Jo. 14:6, Acts 4:12), Hell is a real place (Ps. 9:17, Matt. 5:22, 29-30, 23:33, Lk. 16:23, Acts 2:27, 31, 1Pet.2:4), and that the end result of our sin is eternal separation from God with punishment, except for the cross of Christ and faith in Him (Ps. 9:17, Rev. 20:11-15, Rom. 8:1). Yet even amongst evangelical Christians, these doctrines, which are clearly in Scripture, are not believed. Too exclusive? What gives us the right to force our beliefs on other people? A loving God would never condemn people to Hell. Without believing in the full inspiration of scripture, we can then question the very words of God and make them mean what we want. Isn’t that what Adam and Eve did? “Did God really say,” was the question they were asked by the serpent. So now we have leaders teaching things like Universalism; all people are eventually saved because God is a God of love. All religious roads lead to God; if this is true why send Christ to die in the first place? All that suffering on His part becomes totally unnecessary. If there is no place of eternal punishment and separation, then perhaps those who don’t believe only cease to exist. From what, then, do we escape by believing in Christ, and what hope or benefit do we gain? Most atheists would be quite content to cease to exist and live their lives in the here and now with no sense of accountability “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” If we truly believe the Bible to be the very words of God, and hold that it is truth for all, are we not more compelled to go out and spread the good news of Easter-God loves you and sent His very best that you might be reconciled to Him and dwell with Him forever, escaping eternal punishment. Christ has died and risen again. Alleluia!
2 comments:
Yes, Hallelujah! Jesus Christ has risen and is seated at the right hand of God, ever interceding for all of us. I wonder what this world would really be life if Jesus Christ was not seated at the right hand of Abba. I believe the events we are seeing happen in Japan, New Zealand, the Middle East, etc. would not be happening right at this time because the world would be long gone.
It is a terrible thing for any to fall into the condemnation of our mighty and Holy God.
Thank you JIB for a well written post.
Great post Jib. Even when I was a rebellious teen, living my life away from the Lord, I knew the truth of scripture. I even argued this truth one day with a very troubled friend of mine. He believed in the universalism and all roads lead to God sort of thing. He even argued that Jesus death gave us a license to sin. My argument then was "but then why did Jesus have to suffer so? That is a mockery to his suffering and death". His statements were highly offensive to me, even as I lived my life in unrepentant sin.
These ideas that make a mockery of the suffering of my Lord are so offensive to me, it makes me ache.
Yes, Wilma, a terrible thing to fall into the hands of a Holy and just God!
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