“All Scripture Is Given by Inspiration of God”
It is of the utmost possible importance that the Lord’s people should be rooted, grounded and settled in the grand truth of the plenary inspiration of Holy Scripture, for in many quarters it has become fashionable to pour contempt upon the idea of plenary [unqualified, absolute] inspiration. Men presume to sit in judgment upon the Bible as though it were a mere human composition, and they virtually sit in judgment upon God Himself. The present result is, as might be expected, utter darkness and confusion.
God’s Book
There is nothing like Scripture. Any human writing of the same date as the Bible would be merely a curious relic of antiquity, something to be placed in a museum. The Bible, on the contrary, is God’s own book, His perfect revelation. It is a book for every age, for every class, for every condition, high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, old and young. 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)). It deals as accurately and forcibly with the habits and customs of today as with those of the very earliest ages of human existence.
But then this book judges man—his ways, his heart. It tells him the truth about himself. Hence man does not like God’s book, and hence, too, the constant effort to pick holes in God’s blessed book. Other books are let alone, but the Bible they cannot endure, because it exposes them and tells them the truth about themselves and the world to which they belong. And was it not exactly the same with the living Word—he Son of God? Men hated Him because He told them the truth.
Absolutely Perfect
The inspired Apostle tells us, in 1 Corinthians 2:1414But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14), that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” This is conclusive. Man in nature cannot know the things of the Spirit of God. How then can he give a judgment as to the Word of God? Surely no one has any title to be heard on a subject of which he is wholly ignorant. If God has given us a revelation of Himself, it must be absolutely perfect in every respect, and being such, it must be entirely beyond the range of human judgment. Man is no more competent to judge Scripture than he is to judge God. The Scriptures judge man, not man the Scriptures. This makes all the difference.
The Holy Spirit
But we may, perhaps, here be met by the question so often raised, “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. As we have already seen, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God . neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 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, and, on the other hand, if He does give us the blessed certainty, we do not need the testimony of man. God alone can give us the certainty that He has spoken in His Word. The true believer rests in holy tranquillity in that peerless revelation which our God has graciously given us.
Infidelity
Infidelity undertakes to tell us that God has not given us a book—could not give it. Superstition undertakes to tell us that even though God has given us a revelation, yet we cannot be assured of it without man’s authority, nor understand it without man’s interpretation. And this is precisely what the devil aims at; he wants to rob us of the Word of God. We must hold that the Scriptures, having been given of God, are complete; they speak for themselves and carry their credentials with them. God has spoken: it is ours to listen and yield an unreserved and reverent obedience. What we specially urge upon all Christians is that condition of soul, that attitude of heart expressed in those precious words of the psalmist: “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)). This, we may rest assured, is grateful to the heart of God. “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word” (Isa. 66:22For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)).
Moral Security
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 shall be preserved from a thousand errors. And then there will be steady growth. We shall grow in the knowledge of God, of Christ and of the written Word. The Word of God will become more and more precious to our souls, and we shall be led by the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit into the depth, fullness, majesty and moral glory of Holy Scripture. We shall be delivered completely from the withering influences of all mere systems of theology, because we have divine perfection in the Word of God—in the wide circle of divine revelation which has its eternal centre in the blessed person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
C. H. Mackintosh (adapted)