If you recognize and acknowledge the authority of the Scriptures, not just under it but in it as well, you know that when we talk about Yahweh, we are referring to a living Person, not contemplating about an abstract construct of the mind and treating Him as theoretical like the gray-minds; those who are opposed to absolutes. This mentality openly challenges any concept of white or black because it represents encroaching boundaries that doesn’t fit their worldview. To a gray-mind, everything is relative; there are no absolute truths, no black or white, only gray matter. In their undying wisdom, they are absolutely certain of the existence of only gray though they will tempestuously argue that there are no absolutes!
According
to the authority of the Scriptures, we have a world that was created by a
Person with unlimited power who literally spoke the world into existence, ex nihilo, literally, out of nothing
(cf. Psa 33:6), and He did so in six solar days (Gn 1:31)! Every bit of
creation has the overt look of design all over it, that could only come from a
Designer, not random chaos (Psa 19:1-6; Rom 1:19-20).
Only
God the Father (Psa 102:25), God the Son (cf. Jn 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16; Heb
1:2), and God the Holy Spirit (Gn 1:2) can fill the Designer bill, not
evolution or any future alternate theoretical cosmology of man’s explanation of
the world around us. Only
from the Scriptures do we have faith and fact merged into one. Given the visual
and immensity of the macro-revelation of God in creation, we also have the
written micro-revelation, the Word of God. It was meticulously crafted and
given all the attention as was the world and all therein.
These
writers of Holy Writ were not like the stenographers of our day; the Holy
Spirit through the Apostle Paul informed us that all scripture is the result of the inspiration of God (Gk, theopneustos); literally, it was
God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16), breathing into something rather than out, like a
sailboat being moved along by its billowing sails filled by the wind (cf. 2 Pet
1:20-21). Figuratively speaking, the writers of Scripture were driven by the
wind; the Holy Spirit had hold of the rudder. Inspiration cannot be adequately
explained any more than creation itself; other than, that both have a supernatural
origin.
I
personally refer to the process of inspiration as a miracle when you take into account that
over the course of 1500 years, Yahweh utilized 40 authors from the highly
educated (Moses and Paul, for examples) to simple fishermen, spanning three
continents, and utilizing three languages. And what is simply amazing is that Yahweh
did not have to mechanically dictate verbatim of special revelation (the Word
of God) to them. And yet, the verbal plenary view of Scripture means every word
is from God! Even more unexplainable is how we see the writing styles are
different among the writers which is an argument for not being dictated.
Explain that one? The writers never came up with the who, what, when, where,
why, and how of Scripture; that was the job of the Author.
This
process of inspiration delves deep into God’s wisdom, knowledge, and power to
produce a revelation that is all sourced in Him (All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, 2 Tim
3:16) and not from any human input (2 Pet 1:20-21). Some see this as a
contradiction; I classify inspiration as a typical unexplainable miracle. Peter and Paul are in essence
saying,
“This
stuff is not from us; yes, we are writing it down as it was given, but the Holy
Spirit is using our individual makeup and experiences to reveal precisely what
He intended. Only an all-knowing God could do such a thing. So, though it may appear
as if we came up with this information because our writing styles are different,
it truly was Christ in us doing the work!”
Survey
from the world said, “Yeah, right? I got some cheap swamp-front property for
sell worth millions!” Compare 1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 4:4.
I
know even some snicker at the idea of the Holy Spirit “superintending” the work
of inspiration, and perhaps a better word could be used to describe this divine
activity that doesn’t dictate verbatim but also does not empower through
delegation.
The bottom line is this; the process of inspiration is either a miracle or it is a byproduct of
man! It’s your pick, but I prefer the former not because I understand it; I don’t.
But because I believe the Word of God not only teaches that it is a byproduct of inspiration,
I also believe that the Bible is the absolute and final authority in all
matters of faith and practice whether I understand it or not.
When
was the last time you adequately explained how a miracle worked to someone? The
reality is that these 40 men were never in charge or left to their own devices
in making any determination during inspiration. This is my understanding of how it is
presented in Scripture. If Paul and Peter said that was how it went down, then
who are we to question the authority of Scripture? Only those who have no fear
of God in their lives do that.
Some
interpreters give the impression that Paul had an opinion on something, and it kind
of looks that way until you recall he was writing under inspiration. When Paul
went personal, for example, it was the Holy Spirit leading Paul, not Paul
taking it upon himself to consider himself the chief of sinners (cf. 1 Tim
1:15) and persecuted the church of God (Acts 22:4; 1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13). These
men were chosen to be a part of inspiration because their personal makeup and life’s
experiences would convey precisely what the Holy Spirit originally intended.
I
can recall this one liberal interpreter accusing Paul of being a chauvinist
because Paul’s theology was believed to be a byproduct of His culture. The
truth of the matter is; she, the liberal interpreter, was unwittingly accusing
the Holy Spirit of being a chauvinist! If one is of an atheistic persuasion,
then the Bible has to be of human origin. Unbelievers are not going to buy into
the divine origin of the Bible. You know what I have learned about people
attacking the Scriptures for various reasons? Your view of God can rise no
higher than your view of Scripture. A low view of Scripture keeps the idea of a
god to a lower level, say, that of man? Our view of the Bible determines our
view of God.
God
would advance the revelation of Himself to man for a span of time much longer
period than the six solar days to create the heavens and the earth, ranging
from Moses’ book of beginnings in Genesis to John’s apocalyptic work in
Revelation. Though the general revelation of God reveals Him to be incredibly
powerful beyond imagination (creation itself, including the epitome of His
creative work: human beings), we can only conclude from other parts of the Scriptures that it demanded a Creator possessing omni-attributes greater than
His creative acts, such as all-power, all-knowing, all-wise, and all-present, et al.
Look
to the heavens at the myriad of stars, God is greater than all of that (cf. Psa
19:1-4; Rom 1:20). He cannot be equal to or less than His creative acts, hence,
the Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth! His eternality would argue that,
having no beginning or end. The truth is that we will never know the depth,
height, and breadth of His Person (cf. Isa 55:9; Rom 11:33); He is God and God
alone with such an awesome magnitude of majesty: eternal (no beginning or
ending), infinite (without limitation), and unchanging (eternal in His
essence), holy (set apart), et al.
With
all that said, mosey on down to Jeremiah with me and see Yahweh’s expectation
from the wise, the mighty, and the rich about Him (Jer 9:23-24),
(Jer
9:23) Thus
says the LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not
the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man
glory in his riches;
(Jer 9:24) But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the LORD. <><
