05-The Bible's Communication
THE BIBLE’S COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER FIVE
I must confess that when I come to consider the manner in which God communicated His Word to men, and through men to the parchment, I bring you to a battleground. Here the theologians have fought! Here they still fight! And here no finality is reached! But we are not going to have even the semblance of a fight; so, if you are one of the fighting type, you might as well quit immediately -let alone trade blows on the subject.
It is my purpose, in the main, to get across to our hearts the tremendous fact that God has definitely, once for all, communicated His Word to us through human instrumentality. I am perfectly satisfied that it is the Word of God.
VARIETY OF OPINION For the sake of some who may have no idea as to the variety of opinion entertained in connection with inspiration let me cite a few instances.
Dr. William Evans, in his book entitled “The Doctrines of the Bible” (which should be in every Christian’s library) {eS module note: this excellent book is available as an eSword module from www.DoctorDaveT.com}, discusses very fully and ably the subject of “The Doctrine of the Scriptures.” He points out the terms “Natural Inspiration” which “identifies inspiration with genius of a high order,” and “Universal Christian,” which means that “The ordinary Christian of today is inspired as much as was the apostle Paul.”
He discusses also “Mechanical, or Dynamic Inspiration,” which “ignores the human instrumentality in the writing of the Scriptures altogether, and claims that the writers were passive instruments, were machines . . .” And “Concept, or Thought Inspiration,” a theory which “claims that only the concepts, or thoughts of men, were given by inspiration.”
Finally, he gives what is called “Verbal Inspiration” which claims that “the very words of Scripture were given by the Holy Ghost, that the writers were not left absolutely to themselves in the choice of words they should use”; and “Partial Inspiration,” which says that “The Bible contains the Word of God” but that it is not all inspired; and “Plenary, or Full Inspiration,” which vouches for all Scriptures as the Inspired Word of God.
Now you may appreciate why theologians, like military men, enter the field of battle!
Most Christians know nothing about Greek, Hebrew, or Latin, so never enter the ring of controversy. What we do know, however, is that the Book has been written regardless of the persons empowered, or the means employed. We know also that every jot and tittle of it is there because of the inbreathing of the Holy Spirit.
IT INSPIRES ME The dear old Scotch lady very quaintly remarked, in response to a question as to how she was so sure the Bible was inspired, “I ken fine that the Book is inspired, for it inspires me!”
Somehow this remark finds an echo in the soul of every born-again one. By believing the message of the Book about the Lord Jesus Christ we were “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1Pe 1:23). And that was our first soul-thrilling experience enjoyed in the things eternal. THE UNSEARCHABLE GOD This is a precious portion. It advances, first and foremost, that God is unsearchable. The question is asked, “Who hath known the mind of the Lord?” and again, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” How impossible for mortal man, with finite limitations, to discover or comprehend the mind of the Eternal!
Ponder this truth for a moment. To Moses God said, “Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live” (Exo 33:20). John declares, “No man hath seen God at any time” (John 1:18). And Paul writing to Timothy says, “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen” (1Ti 6:16).
GOD REVEALS HIMSELF And once we conclude that if God is ever to be known He must reveal Himself. And that is exactly what He has done. Here is an emphatic statement: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son” (Heb 1:1-2).
The things man cannot comprehend, God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.
Speaking after the manner of men, it seems perfectly reasonable to expect God to reveal Himself.
In the final analysis, He is responsible for our creation. “We are the offspring of God.” and “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” Has He not given man a voice to speak and words to convey his thoughts to others? Surely, then, it must not be deemed something incredible for God to speak and to use words to convey His thoughts to men. The Bible furnishes many instances of God both speaking and writing to men. He spoke face to face with Moses. He wrote on the tables of stone, on the Babylonian Palace walls. Then, in New Testament times. He appeared in this world in the Person of Jesus Christ. So God has really revealed Himself to men.
REVELATION AND INSPIRATION But there is a difference between revelation and Inspiration.
“Revelation is that act of God by which He directly communicates truth not known before to the human mind; inspiration superintends the communication of that truth.”
It is in both instances that we witness the Holy Spirit at work. He alone could choose the instruments to receive the truth, and to pen the exact data revealed. He alone could select the very words from the writer’s vocabulary and produce a perfect work.
Again, I quote Dr. William Evans:
“We may therefore safely say that in a very real sense the words as well as the thought you have been given, whether mediately or immediately, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. We claim that the Bible is in deed and in truth the very word of God in the language of men; truly divine, and at the same time truly human; that is the revelation of God to His creatures; that infallible guidance was given to those that wrote it, so as to preserve them from error in the statement of facts; that what the writers of the Scriptures say or write under this guidance is as truly said and written by God as if their instrumentality were not used at all; that the ideas expressed therein are the very ideas the Holy Ghost intended to convey; that God is, in the fullest sense, responsible for every word. This is what the Bible claims for itself.”
WHAT THE SINNER UNDERSTANDS
How many people come to us and confess that they do not understand the Bible!
They say that some things are clear, while other things are very vague. Well, for this we are prepared. The Book says: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Really, the simplest and youngest child of God, however illiterate, understands the things of God better than the greatest intellectual philosopher who is not born again.
However, there is a side of truth that any person may understand. I refer to the elementary truths of salvation’s plan. Here, the wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err. Here, he understands that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23); and that “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Here, he understands that “God is love,” and “He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1Jn 4:8; 1Jn 4:10). Here, he understands that “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
Jesus Himself testified that “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7:17).
So, if the sinner will believe in Christ there is the promise. In the first place he will receive everlasting life, and then God will give unto him His Holy Spirit.
Then the Bible will become a new Book to him. Immediately he will begin to understand its message. Of course, the growth in knowledge will be gradual, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. But the fact abides; he will “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2Pe 3:18).
SIN IN THE LIFE How is it with you, dear child of God? Has the Book become dry and uninteresting? Perhaps you have laid it aside. That means that God no longer reveals His truth to you. What a tragedy!
Now this condition need not persist. Beloved, there is sin somewhere in your life. You know it, and if you will bring it to God, He will forgive.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” For “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1Jn 1:9; 1Jn 2:1-2).
Remember, “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant” (Psa 25:14).