“All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16).
Important words! Oh that they were more thoroughly understood in our day! It is of the highest importance that the Lord’s people should be rooted, grounded and settled in the grand truth of the absolute, unqualified inspiration of Holy Scripture. Men of this world may scoff at the Word of God, but it is that “which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). As for us, let it be our deep joy and consolation to meditate upon the Word of God, so that we may ever be discovering some fresh treasure in that exhaustless mine, some new moral glories in that heavenly revelation which speaks to us with a poignancy and freshness as if it were written expressly for us — written this very day.
The Living and Ever Current Book
There is nothing like Scripture. If you could lay your hand on any human writing of three thousand years ago, what would you find? A curious relic of antiquity, having no application whatever to us or to our time — a musty document, a piece of obsolete writing, referring only to a state of society and to a condition of things long since passed away. The Bible, on the contrary, is the book for today. It is God’s own book, His perfect revelation. It is His own voice speaking to each one of us. It is a book for every age, for every class, for every condition, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, old and young. It speaks in a language so simple that a child can understand it, and yet so profound that the most gigantic intellect cannot exhaust it. Moreover, it speaks right to the heart; it touches the deepest springs of our moral being; it goes down to the hidden roots of thought and feeling in the soul; it judges us thoroughly. In a word, it is, as the inspired Apostle tells us, “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:1212For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)).
And then notice the marvelous comprehensiveness of its range. It deals as accurately and forcibly with the habits, customs and manners of this present century of the Christian era as with those of the very earliest ages of human existence. It displays a perfect acquaintance with man in every stage of his history. The culture of today and that of three thousand years ago are mirrored with like precision and faithfulness on its pages. Human life in every stage of its development is portrayed by a master hand in that wonderful volume which our God has graciously inspired for our learning.
The Faithful Book
But then this book judges man; it judges his ways and judges his heart. It tells him the truth about himself, and for this reason man does not like God’s book. There is a constant effort to pick holes in it. In every age men have labored hard to find flaws and contradictions in the Word of God. Its enemies are to be found, not only in the ranks of the vulgar and coarse, but among the educated and refined. Just as it was in the days of the apostles, “certain lewd fellows of the baser sort” and “devout and honorable women” — two classes far removed from each other, socially and morally — found one point in which they could heartily agree, namely, the utter rejection of the Word of God and of those who faithfully preached it. (Compare Acts 13:5050But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. (Acts 13:50) with Acts 17:55But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. (Acts 17:5).) So we always find that men who differ in almost everything else agree in their determined opposition to the Holy Scriptures.
It was exactly the same with the living Word—the Son of God — when He was here among men. Men hated Him because He told them the truth. His ministry and indeed His whole life were a standing testimony against the world, hence their bitter and persistent opposition. Other men were allowed to pass on, but He was watched at every turn of His path. At the close of His life, when He was nailed to the cross between two thieves, these latter were left alone; there were no insults heaped upon them. No — all the insults, all the mockery, all the coarse and heartless vulgarity — all was heaped upon the divine occupant of the center cross.
The Link to God
Thank God, He has revealed His mind — He has given us the Holy Scriptures. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:1617). Let us praise the Lord for such words! They assure us that all Scripture is given of God and that all Scripture is given to us. What a precious link between the soul and God! Nothing can touch the Word of God. “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven” (Psa. 119:8989LAMED. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. (Psalm 119:89)). What remains for us? Just this: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psa. 119:1111Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)). Here lies the secret of peace. The heart is linked to the very heart of God by means of His most precious Word, and is thus put in possession of a peace which the world can neither give nor take away. The Word is that which endures forever, and thus our salvation and our peace are as stable as the Word on which they are based.
How Can We Know It Is God’s Word?
We may be met by the question so often raised and which has troubled many. The question is this: “How are we to know that the book which we call the Bible is the Word of God?” Our answer to this question is a very simple one. The One who has graciously given us the blessed book can give us also the certainty that the book is from Him. The same Spirit who inspired the various writers of the Holy Scriptures can make us know that those Scriptures are the very voice of God speaking to us. It is only by the Spirit that anyone can discern this. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God . . . neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). If the Holy Spirit does not make us know and give us the certainty that the Bible is the Word of God, no man or body of men can possibly do it. On the other hand, if He gives us this blessed certainty, we do not need the testimony of man.
Its Credentials and Supremacy
We must faithfully maintain the divine authority and, therefore, the absolute supremacy and all-sufficiency of the Word of God, at all times, in all places, and for all purposes. We must hold that the Scriptures, having been given of God, are complete in the fullest sense of the word. They do not need any human authority to accredit them: They speak for themselves and carry their credentials with them. All we have to do is to believe and obey, not to reason or discuss. God has spoken; it is ours to listen and to yield an unreserved and reverent obedience.
Subjection to Its Authority
Never was there a moment in the history of the church of God in which it was more needful to urge on the human conscience the necessity of implicit obedience to the Word of God. Some believers feel that they have a right to think for themselves, to follow their own reason, their own judgment, or their own conscience. They think that there are some things in which we are left to choose for ourselves. The result is innumerable sects, parties, creeds and schools of thought. If human opinion is allowed at all, then one man has as good a right to think as another. Thus the professing church has become a proverb and a byword for division.
What is the remedy for this widespread disease? It is absolute and complete subjection to the authority of Holy Scripture. It is not men going to Scripture to get their opinions and views confirmed, but rather going to Scripture to get the mind of God as to everything. This is the one pressing need of our day —reverent subjection in all things to the supreme authority of the Word of God. Here lies the true secret of moral security. Our knowledge of Scripture may be very limited, but if our reverence for it is profound, we will be preserved from a thousand errors, and there will be steady growth. We will grow in the knowledge of God, of Christ, and of the written Word. We will delight to draw from those living and exhaustless depths of God’s Word and to range through those green pastures which infinite grace has so freely thrown open to the flock of Christ. We will find divine perfection in the Word of God and a wide circle of divine revelation which has its eternal center in the blessed Person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
C. H. Mackintosh, adapted