Dale Ridge church of Christ

             What do the terms “inspiration” and “revelation” mean in regard to God’s Word?  What is the process of the inspiration of the Bible?  What then does it mean to us that the Bible is inspired?  “Revelation” concerns the will of God to give His word to man; “inspiration” is that which has to do with the way He gave that Word.  

            The process of revelation and inspiration began in the mind of God.  Thus the apostle Paul explains, “But God hath revealed them (that is, the words of the Bible, MWC) unto us (that is, the apostles and other inspired individuals of the first century, MWC) by his Spirit:  for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10). 

            In this process, it was then the function of the Holy Spirit to reveal those words from God’s mind to the apostles (John 14:26; John 16:13) and other first century inspired individuals who had received the gift of inspiration through the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 8:14-19; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11).  These individuals were merely human instruments in giving to us God’s living two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Corinthians 4:7).  When the last writer of the New Testament finished inscribing his last word and he laid his pen down the period and process of revelation and inspiration became complete (Jude 3). 

             The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the completed divinely inspired books of God’s revealed will to mankind.  It is completely inspired in all of its parts (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  In this completed revelation we have all that we need to be pleasing unto God in heaven (2 Peter 1:4).   

            The process of biblical revelation and inspiration can only be properly understood by examining the end product of inspiration and scriptures that relate to that process.  The end product of revelation and inspiration shows that there were at least forty writers of the Bible (thirty-two in the OT and eight in the NT), each possessing different and unique qualities and characteristics.  A simple reading of the books of the different writers of the Bible reveals that they had different backgrounds, personalities, interests, educations, styles, etc. 

            The choice of God in using various men in writing the Scriptures provides for us wonderful blessings.  One of the blessings is that we have been given a wide variety of personalities with whom we can personally relate and identify as we apply the teachings of the Bible to our own lives.  Another blessing is that through these individuals, of whom we can readily relate, God brings His word down to us and helps to lift us up to Him (Isaiah 55:6-9).  Recognizing that God would use such imperfect yet faithful people to reveal His will can embolden us as we strive to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Moreover this choice of God helps to strengthen our belief in the deity of Jesus.  Jesus said, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true” (John 5:31).  Jesus provided many evidences of His deity; one of these was the witness of those wrote of Him in Scripture.  Finally, this choice provides for us a greater array of the applications of truth.  In the variety of styles of the forty inspired writers, we are blessed with a treasure house of creativity that continually becomes more and more interesting the more it is searched out.

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Filed under: Doctrine, Michael Carter on September 6th, 2008