Why We Have Confidence in the Bible...Continued from page 1
Charles R. Swindoll
God's Word Is Inspired
But wait. Doesn't all this talk about the Bible lead to an important question that must be asked? The question goes like this: How can anyone get so excited about something that was written by men? We have no problem with the Giver of truth. He gave it . . . but wasn't the truth corrupted when He relayed it to earth through the hands and minds of sinful men?
This is the perfect moment for you to become acquainted with three doctrinal terms: revelation, inspiration, and illumination. Revelation occurred when God gave His truth. Inspiration occurred when the writers of Scripture received and recorded His truth. Today, when we understand and apply His truth, that is illumination.
The critical issue - your confidence in the Bible - is directly related to your confidence in its inspiration. How then can we be sure that God's Word is free from error, absolutely true, and therefore, deserving of our complete trust? Paul provides great help in answering this question:
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)
When God revealed His truth for human writers to record, He "breathed out" His Word. When we dictate a letter to someone, we "breathe out" a message and someone else types what we've said. But did the writers of Scripture simply take dictation?
If you know much about the Bible, you realize that it was written by many different people with many different personalities. Peter doesn't sound like John; John doesn't sound like David. Somehow each writer's personality was preserved without corrupting the text with human weakness and error. That rules out the idea of dictation.
So how did God cause this to happen? Second Peter 1:21 gives us a further clue: "For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
The English phrase moved by is translated from an ancient Greek nautical term (phero) describing ships at sea. When a ship was at the mercy of the winds, waves, and currents of the sea, it was "moved by" a power apart from its own. That's the word used here. They raised, as it were, their sails, and the Holy Spirit filled them and they were "moved by" His desires.
God's Word Will Hold You Up
So our conclusion is this - in the Bible we have the preservation of a completely dependable, authoritative, inspired text. The question each of us must ask ourselves is this: Can I rely on it, especially when I go through those chaotic experiences in life? My answer, and I pray it is your answer, is absolutely and unreservedly! The wonderful thing about relying on God's Book is that it gives you stability. It gives you that deep sense of purpose and meaning. No other counsel will get you through the long haul. No other truth will help you stand firm in the storms of doubt and uncertainty. No other reality will give you strength for each day and deep hope for tomorrow. No other instruction has the power to give new meaning to your life.
Used by permission of Insight for Living. Adapted from
The Living Insights Study Bible, Charles R. Swindoll, gen. ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), pp. 1312-1315.