A Biblical View Of The Mechanics Of Inspiration

A BIBLICAL VIEW OF THE MECHANICS OF INSPIRATION
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:20-21).

Remember that Peter is writing these words in the midst of an epistle which attacks false doctrine and false prophets. There were those who were claiming to have their own revelation of God - this was the origin of Gnosticism.

Peter says that the Scripture is more authoritative because it came from a higher source and a higher will. The Scriptures are not merely a collection of private opinions. It is not even a collection of well-informed opinions. The Scriptures had their origin in God. The writers of Scripture were able to speak from God because the were “moved by the Holy Spirit.” The verb used here to describe this movement is feromenoi, a present passive participle. This is the same root word used as is found in Acts 27:15 where “the ship was caught in it, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and let ourselves BE DRIVEN ALONG” (evferoumeqa). Just as the driving force behind the ship was the wind, so the driving force behind the writers of Scripture was the Holy Spirit. This is important to understand. The human writers of the Scriptures did not consider the those Scriptures to be a work which was the combined viewpoints of God and man. This was God's word because it was God who had carried out the work. God was able to use...

All of the past experiences of the human writers. Their vocabulary and grammar. Their thought process and style of writing.

...and still have the result to be the exact message which He sought to impart. How is this possible? To us it would not be. Such a work would only be possible to the Sovereign Lord of the Universe.