All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16
What a useful book the Bible is! Our text declares that it contains everything that we as Christians need concerning the doctrine of our faith. It also contains everything that we need concerning reproof and correction, as well as providing complete instructions for living righteously. If we have no other books, we are not deprived in any way; it’s all in the Bible. That means it is profitable for us to read and study the Scriptures, and to live by them. Why are the Scriptures so valuable? Because they are inspired. What does inspired mean? Let’s look at three words that define inspiration: divine, plenary, and verbal.
The Scriptures are divinely inspired. That means they are of God. Like God, they are eternal and infinite. Although penned by men, they do not originate with men, in fact, they do not originate at all; they always were and always will be. ‘The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them. 0 Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever (Psalm 12:6,7)’. ‘The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever (Isaiah 40:8)’.
The word ‘plenary’ is not one that we use every day. But it simply means full and complete. That is why our text says that ALL Scripture is given by inspiration. There is no difference in the inspired nature of the Bible from one testament to another, nor from one book to another. We cannot subtract from them, as King Jehoiakim did with his penknife (Jeremiah 36:23). We cannot ignore any parts that condemn us. Nor can we add to the Scriptures as Revelation 22:18 makes plain: If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. That is why we must utterly reject anyone, including Mohammed or Joseph Smith, who comes along with something that they claim is a revelation from God. It cannot be because the Scriptures are complete.
The Scriptures are also verbally inspired by God. Although God allowed the personalities of the various writers to be apparent in many of the books, He chose the words that these men penned. Because He chose the very words they wrote, and not simply the ideas to convey, that is why we need to use Bible versions that are primarily word-for-word translations from the original languages. The Lord Jesus declared,’The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). He said ‘the words’, not ‘the ideas’ or ‘the thoughts’. The translation process known as dynamic equivalence, or thought-for-thought, used in such versions as the NIV, allow for the ideas of men to become mingled with the words of God. And that violates the principle of verbal inspiration. So does using versions that are based on manuscripts that were corrupted by Alexandrian scholars who sought to alter the words that were penned by the original writers of the New Testament. Most modern-language versions use those corrupted manuscripts.
If we have learned anything today, it is that the Scriptures are far more profound than we can grasp, although they are everything we need for life. – Jim MacIntosh