Knowing this first: that no prophecy of Scripture has a particular interpretation; because a prophecy was never given by human will; yet the holy men spoke of God, animated by the Holy Spirit.
On 27 June 1819, Adoniram Judson baptized his first convert to Burma. His wife, Ann Hasseltine, described how Moung Nau responded to the scriptures: “A few days earlier, he was reading with him the words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mountain. He was deeply impressed and endowed with an unusual solemnity. ” Those words,” he said, filled my guts, made me tremble. God had spoken through the prophet Isaiah 2700 years ago and said, “Look at this, the poor and the dejected, and tremble before my word: Do ye hear the word of the Lord, those who fear it?(Isaiah 66:2, 5)
The impact of the Bible on history
For two thousand years, the Bible has been rooted in many men and made them tremble, first out of fear, because it reveals our sins, and then by faith, because it reveals God’s grace. Only one verse, Romans 13:13, convinced and converted the immoral Augustine. For Martin Luther, a wretched monk, the light passed through Romans 1:17.
For Jonathan Edwards, it was 1 Timothy 1:17. He said
From the century to the century, from Egypt to Germany, from Germany to New England, the Bible takes people to Christ, renews them.
The Bible as the Word of Man and Word of God
Why does the Bible have this continuing relevance and power?I think I can find the answer in our text?2 Peter 1:20?21 😕 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of particular interpretation; for a prophecy was never given by human will; However, the holy men spoke of God, encouraged by the Holy Spirit. This passage teaches that when you read the scriptures, what you read comes not only from a man, but also from God. The Bible is the work of many different men, it’s also much more than that. Yes, men spoke in their own language and style. However, Peter mentions two other dimensions of his discourse.
Speaking of God, encouraged by the Holy Spirit
First, they talked about God, what they had to say wasn’t just from their limited point of view. They are not the source of the truth they say; they’re the channel. Truth is the truth of Dieu. One meaning is the meaning of God.
Second, it is not only what they said about God, but how they said it, controlled by the Holy Ghost. “Holy men have spoken of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. “God not only revealed the truth to the writers of the scriptures and then left, hoping that they would communicate it correctly. Peter said that in communicating it, they were guided by the Holy Ghost. The creation of the Bible was not left alone to human communication skills; the Holy Ghost himself put an end to the process.
A recent book by three of my former teachers (LaSor, Hubbard and Bush, Old Testament Survey, p. 15) expresses it this way:
Not just the prophecies, but all the scriptures
It could be said that 2 Peter 1:20-21 refers only to prophecy, not all Old Testament scriptures, but look closely at how he argues. In verse 19, Peter says that a prophetic word grew in his certainty from his experience with Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration. Then, in verses 20-21, he supports the authority of this prophetic word by saying that it is part of Verse 20: No prophecy of Scripture is of particular interpretation. Peter does not say that only the prophetic parts of Scripture are inspired by God. He says, we know, that the prophetic word is inspired precisely because it is “prophecy”. scriptures. ” Peter’s statement is that everything in the scriptures comes from God, written by men who were led by the Holy Ghost.
He teaches the same as Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for rebuke, for correction, for the education of justice. “None of the scriptures of the Old Testament came from a human impulse. this is true of God, because men encouraged by the Holy Spirit spoke of God.
What about new Testament writings?
But what about the New Testament? Did the apostles and their close associates (Mark, Luke, James, Judas, and the writer of Hebrews) experience divine inspiration in writing? It was them? by the Holy Spirit to speak of God? The Christian Church has always said so. Jesus told his apostles in John 16: 12-13: “I still have much to say to you, but now you cannot bear it; but when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth; Because he will not speak for himself, but will say everything he has heard and announce what is to come? So does the apostle Paul confirm this when he says, from his own apostolic teaching, in 1 Corinthians 2:12? 13 😕 Now, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that comes from God, so that we know this from God, it has been given to us for free. We also speak of it, not with words taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, bestowing spiritual things with spiritual things. In 2 Corinthians 13: 3 it says that Christ spoke through him. And in Galatians 1:12, he said, “Because I did not receive [the gospel], nor did I learn it from anyone, except by revelation of Jesus Christ. ” If we take Paul as a model of what it means to be an apostle of Christ, then it would be fair to say that the New Testament, like the Old, did not come simply from men but also from God. The Old and Testament writers spoke while being inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Ghost is the divine author of the scriptures.
The doctrine that arises is this: the Holy Spirit is the divine author of all Scripture. If this doctrine is true, then the implications are so profound and profound that all parts of our lives should be affected. I want to talk about these implications this Morning, however, for our own reinforcement and for those who still hesitate to participate in the doctrine, let me begin by laying the groundwork for our persuasion.
Achieving rational faith in the scriptures
Most people achieve rational trust in the Bible as the Word of God in a similar way, which happens in three stages.
1. We are guilty before God
First, the witness of our conscience, the reality of God under nature, and the message of Scripture come together in our hearts to give us the inescapable conviction that we are guilty before our Creator. It is a rational belief because the persuasion that there is a Creator in this world and the persuasion that we are guilty of not honoring him and not thanking him as we should, are not irrational leaps into the dark; They are imposed on us by our experience and our sincere reflection on the world.
2. Jesus earns our trust
The second step toward a rational belief that the Bible is the Word of God is that Jesus Christ is shown to us. Someone is reading or telling us the story of this incomparable man who spoke and acted much more than a man. We see the authority that he claimed to forgive sins, send demons and control nature, we see the purity of his moral teaching, his complete surrender to God’s will, his brilliant calm under questioning, his just fury against hypocrites, his tenderness towards children, his patience with the humble who sought him out, his innocent submission to torture, and we heard from his lips the sweetest and most indispensable words ever said: “I give my life a ransom for many. ” By authenticating His unmatched strength of character and power, Jesus earns our trust and confidence, and we take Him as the Savior of our sins and the Lord of our lives. And this is not an irrational belief. It’s the way you all make rational decisions about who to trust your life to. Is it that babysitter you trust to take care of your children, or that lawyer who advises you, or that friend who keeps your secret? You watch, you listen, and ultimately you are convinced (or not) that this person is a base sun of identification for your trust.
3. We follow the teaching and spirit of Jesus
Once Jesus’ character and power have captured our trust, he becomes the guidance and authority for all our future decisions and beliefs. Therefore, the third step on the road to a rational belief that the Bible is the Word of God is let the teaching and spirit of Jesus control the way we evaluate the Bible. This happens in at least two ways. The first is that we accept what Jesus teaches about the Old and New Testaments, when He says that Scripture cannot fail (John 10:35) and that neither a letter nor a point will pass the law until all is fulfilled (Matthew 5:18), we agree with it and base our trust on the reliability of the Testament. And when he chose twelve apostles to found his church, giving them his authority to teach, and promised to send his Spirit to guide them in the truth, we agree with him and attribute to the writings of these men the authority of Christ.
The other way that the teaching and mind of Jesus control our evaluation of the Bible is that we recognize in the teachings of the Bible the multicolored rays of light, refracted through the prism of Christ, whom we come to trust. And just as Christ allowed us to make sense of our relationship with God and bring harmony to it, the many rays of his truth, throughout the Bible, allow us to make sense of hundreds of our life experiences and see the path to harmony. . Our confidence in the scriptures grows as we understand that Jesus affirmed them and that we understand that the teachings in them are as incomparable as Jesus himself. Little by little, they help us solve the riddles of life: failed marriages, rebellious children, drug addiction, nations at war, return of the leaves in spring, insatiable requests from our hearts, fear of death, childbirth, universality. of praise and guilt, predominance of pride and admiration of self-denial. The Bible confirms its divine origin over and over again by allowing us to understand our experience of the real world and pointing the way to harmony.
I hope, from now on, that one of the doctrines we cultivate in the Baptist Church of Bethlehem, strong enough to die for it (and live for it!) It is that the Holy Spirit is the divine author of all scriptures. the Word of God, not just the word of men.
Implications for everything in life
Ah, if we had all day to talk about the wonderful implications of this doctrine!The Holy Ghost is the author of the scriptures, therefore it is true (Psalm 119:142) and fully reliable (Hebrews 6:18). powerful, working his purpose in our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:13) and not making empty the One who sent him (Isaiah 55:10-11) It is pure, like the silver refined in the furnace seven times (Psalm 12: 6) It is sanctifying (John 17:17). Give life (Psalm 119: 37, 50, 93, 107; John 6:63; Matthew 4:4) Do it wisely (Psalm 19:7; 119:99?100). This gives pleasure (Psalm 19:8; 119: 16, 92, 111, 143, 174) and promises a great reward (Psalm 19:11), gives strength to the weak (Psalm 119:28) and comfort to the troubled. (Psalm 119:76), guide the perplexed (Psalm 119:105) and give salvation to the lost (Psalm 119: 155; 2 Timothy 3:15). God’s wisdom in the scriptures is inexhaustible.
How precious are my thoughts to me, O God!What’s your sum? If I counted them, it would be more than grains of sand.
From: gospeltranslations. org By John Piper. Translation of Desiring God. Part of the series The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
THE PROJECT
Reformed church still reforming? Reformed ecclesia and semper reformanda?
To return to the gospel is always to be reformed, to join this reform?Reformanda!