Inspiration

What ‘inspiration’ means

The Greek word theopneustos is translated ‘inspiration’ in the Bible to describe how it was written. The literal meaning of that word is ‘God-breathed [out]’. That means that God ‘breathed out’ the words for His writers to write down and which became the Bible.

The key aspects of Biblical inspiration are as follows:

• The Bible was produced by the ‘outbreathing’ of God through His Spirit [2]
• The Spirit of God ‘carried men along’ to write His Word [3]
• The inspired writers of the Bible wrote with the authority of God Himself and their words are binding on God’s people [4]
• The inspiration of the Bible involved the Divine control or superintendence of the very words used [5]
• Because the words themselves were Divinely inspired (as well as the writers), the original Scriptures cannot contain any errors [6]
• The power of God’s Spirit to enlighten, to convert, and to save is in the Scriptures themselves and the benefit of their Divine origin is conveyed to us in their words, without any need for the Holy Spirit to make them intelligible. [7]

There are many facts that help prove that the Bible is reliable. But, ultimately, it is just something true Christians have to believe. Without that belief, the Bible loses its value as the only reliable ‘textbook’ of Christian doctrine.

Conclusion

The value of the Bible to us today is based on the fact that God inspired its writers. God caused those men to write the Bible and to use exactly the right words. As a result, the Bible can be completely trusted as ‘God’s word’ and the only basis for true Christian beliefs.