“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”(2 Peter 1:19-21).
If we begin reading Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, we may appreciate the rich, expansive description—or we may wish he’d been stingier with his words. As we scroll through social media, we grimace at the friend who thinks more adverbs and adjectives make better writing—and we skim. The composition teacher may amaze us with her ability to cross out half our paper and still convey the information, but the Word of God is different! What a blessing to know that every word in the faithful Bible translation we hold in our hands is there because God intends it to be!
In the verses above, Peter reminds us to “pay attention” to those words. Two chapters later, he again emphasizes the importance of God’s Word: “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles”(2 Peter 3:1-2). Later in the chapter, he again stresses the vital nature of God’s Word when warning of the havoc wreaked on Scriptures by ignorant people: “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen”(2 Peter 3:17-18). Did you catch Peter’s guidance to insure stability? “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The more we study and understand the Word of God, the less apt we will be to incorrectly interpret Scriptures and possibly lead others astray.
You may have heard the term, verbal inspiration, or you may sometime hear it in a Bible discussion or from the pulpit. The term simply means what these passages are teaching: the words given to the biblical authors in the original languages were God-breathed, “inspired.” When we feel motivated to accomplish a task, we may use the term inspired to describe how we feel. We are not accurate, however, to transfer that meaning to this doctrine and say that the human authors of our Bible were inspired. More correctly, they were moved by the Holy Spirit to write exactly what he wanted them to write; not one phrase or word was generated by any man. These God-breathed words have been translated into the Bible we hold in our hand. We never need to wonder whether it contains unnecessary wordiness. It doesn’t. It’s all breathed out by God and vitally important.
The Old Testament and New Testament repeatedly reinforce the validity of the Bible we possess. A Bible study or textbook or course on Bibliology which covers these is a thrilling reminder of the treasure we have.
“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers”(1 Thessalonians 2:13).
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”(Hebrews 4:12).