BIBLICAL TERMS AND THEIR MEANINGS—PART 2

INSPIRATION

Refers to the extraordinary or supernatural divine influence graciously granted to those who wrote the Holy Scriptures, rendering their writings infallible. 2Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 

The word translated "inspiration" is "theopneustos" and is a far cry from the dictionary meaning of the "act of an elevating or stimulating influence upon the intellect, emotions or creativity." "Theopneustos" literally means "breathed into by God" and this refers to the whole (not part) of the Scriptures. This is true of all the "sacred writings", not in the sense of their being works of genius or of supernatural insight, but as "theopneustic", that is, "God-breathed", in such a sense that the writers were supernaturally guided to express exactly what God intended them to express as a revelation of his mind and will. So then, the Scriptures are not merely products of human interpretation, they are the revelation of God. 

The testimony of the sacred writers themselves abundantly demonstrates this truth; and if they are infallible as teachers of doctrine, then the doctrine of verbal plenary inspiration must be accepted. 2Peter 1:19-20 says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." Therefore, the Bible does not contain the word of God as some claim, the Bible is actually the word of God. 

Verbal Plenary Inspiration

Refers to the doctrine of the church which asserts that every word, word form, and word placement found in the Bible’s original manuscripts was divinely and intentionally written. God supernaturally guided the authors of the Bible to write exactly what he wanted to communicate. Everything in Scripture is there because that’s what God desired to say to humanity. Verbal means that every word of Scripture is God-breathed. Every single word, not just the ideas behind the words, is in the Bible because God wanted it there. Every jot or tittle was intentionally placed there by God. The word plenary means “complete or full”; when used to describe the inspiration of God’s word, plenary means that all parts of the Bible are equally of divine origin and equally authoritative. 

Inspiration refers to the composition of the autographs (original manuscripts, under the authors' handwriting) as well as the preservation of the apographs (copies or transcripts of the manuscripts). Inspiration does not refer to the translation of the Bible which act is of human origin. 

There are no errors in the Bible as it came from God, none have been proven to exist. Difficulties and phenomena we cannot explain are not errors. All the canonised books of the Old and New Testaments are inspired. This is not to say that they contain, but that they are, the word of God. The gift of inspiration rendered the writers the organs of God, for the infallible communication of his mind and will, in the very manner and words in which it was originally given. 

As to the nature of inspiration we have no information. This only we know, it rendered the writers infallible. They were all equally inspired, and are equally infallible. The inspiration of the sacred writers did not change their characters. They retained all their individual peculiarities as thinkers or writers. 

The writers of the Bible were God's organs in communicating his will to men. It is his "word", because he speaks to us in its sacred pages. Whatever the inspired writers here declare to be true and binding upon us, God declares to be true and binding. The word is infallible, because it was written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and therefore free from all error of doctrine or precept or fact, which fact include genealogy and geography. All saving knowledge is obtained from the word of God. In the case of adults, it is an indispensable means of salvation, and is efficacious unto salvation by the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit. 

It is important to state that no preacher or teacher today can claim that the message they preach or teach, speak or write is "theopneustos", that is, "God-breathed". Inspiration was a special influence of the Holy Spirit upon the biblical writers by which they penned down and preserved God's revelations for all generations.

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