Living Abundantly
According to God's Word
The Integrity of the Word
Part I
Read Time: 15 Minutes
The Word of God is a vast resource of truths and wisdom that God has given
to us
so that we may live a more-than-abundant life. It is important for us to know
how we got the Word and by what authority. We need to know for a certainty and
be assured that these truths are vital and trustworthy. The Word of God needs to be examined thoroughly to answer these questions.
II Timothy 3
:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof,
for correction,
for instruction in righteousness:
All
The very first word in this verse is "all." There are two usages of
the word "all" in the word of God. We use the words "all"
and "every" in our daily living the same way. "All" can be
without exception or with distinction. "All" can mean including every
possible one or all of those of a specific group.
Understanding the usage of the word is very important when rightly dividing the
Word of truth.
Hebrews 2
:9 But we see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honour;
that he
by the grace of God
should taste death for every man.
We need to know; is the word "every" all without exception or all
with distinction? Did Jesus Christ taste death for all of mankind? God sent His
son to be a payment for all of mankind to redeem us, buy us back from the
adversary. Jesus Christ was the sacrificial lamb that redeemed all of mankind
without exception so that anyone who chooses to call on his name can be saved.
Let us look at John 12:32
John 12
:32 And I, [Jesus Christ]
if I be lifted up from the
earth,
will draw all men
unto me.
The question here is will all without exception be drawn unto Christ or will
all with distinction be drawn unto him. From Hebrews 2 we know that Christ died
for all mankind but has everyone responded to him? Does everyone believe that
Christ is their lord and that God raised him from the dead? No, not everyone has
believed. All those that are drawn unto him are those that believe. This word
"all" is all with distinction, all that have believed on him, not all
of mankind without exception.
In II Timothy 3:16 the word "all" means all without exception. That
means all scripture from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.
Is
The next word is the word "is." In the King James Version (KJV)
"is" is italicized. The KJV is translated from the Stevens Greek text and
when the translators added a word or words in the English version that didn't
correspond to the text they italicized it. The reason why I use the
King James version is so that I know when the translators added words. Sometimes
they are appropriate for our understanding, other times they should have been
left out because they distort the Word of God.
The word "is" was added to the text; it is not in the original
manuscripts. There are two things we must understand here. If I remove an
italicized word, a word that was not in the original text, do I still have the
Word of God? Certainly, I have not touched the Word at all. When you come
across the italicized words in the KJV remember that they are added to the text.
The second thing we must know is that in the Hebrew or Aramaic there is no
word "to be" of which "is," "was" and "were" are forms. There is
a good example of this in Genesis.
Genesis 1
:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
:2 And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Look in verse 2, the first "was" is not italicized whereas the second
one is. There is a corresponding Hebrew word for the first "was" but
the second one was supplied by the translator. However, there is no Hebrew word
for "was." We must find out what that word is. in the Hebrew text it is hayah
; to become. The earth became without
form and void, God didn't create it that way. By leaving the word
"was" in there the translation is incorrect. The earth became without
form and void.
The words "without form" is tohuw in the Hebrew text and we
can find mention of this Isaiah also.
Isaiah 45
:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens;
God himself that formed the earth
and made it;
he hath established it,
he created it not in vain [tohuw],
he formed it to be inhabited:
I am
the LORD; and there is none else.
God created the earth "not in vain," tohuw; He didn't
create it " without form." It became without form. Now the Word fits like a hand in a glove.
So far we understand that:
II Timothy 3
:16 All [without exception] scripture is . . .
Given by inspiration of God
The next five words "given by inspiration of God" is one word in
the critical Greek text, theopneustos. This Greek word theopneustos
is made up of two root words theo meaning God and pneo (the root word of
pneustos), to breath. So, theopneustos means God-breathed. Those five words "given by inspiration of
God" mean God-breathed. All scripture God-breathed.
This leads us to another question. Does God breath?
John 4
:24 God is a Spirit . . .
Spirit does not have a form like our bodies. Spirit doesn't breathe. So,
what does God mean when he says that all scripture is God breathed?
In language, when a statement is made that is not true to fact, not literal,
it is a figure of speech. Figures of speech are legitimate grammatical usages of
words which depart from the norm. Why are figures of speech used? They are used
to draw attention to, to emphasize that which it refers to. For instance, we can
say the ground is dry. That is a literal statement. If we say the ground is
thirsty we are giving the ground human characteristics, as the ground cannot thirst
as we do. The statement paints a picture in our minds of the ground being hard
and cracked open because it hasn't seen water in so long. Which statement is more
emphatic? The one in which the figure of speech is used.
God has used figures of speech in the Word of God to emphasize what He wants
emphasized. The figures in God's Word are set with divine design and precision. I have no right, nor does any other mortal, have any right to say
what is important and what needs emphasizing in the Word of God. God used
figures of speech to mark His Holy Word.
The figure of speech used in II Timothy 3:16 is called condescensio in it's
Latin term or anthropopatheia in the Greek. The root words used in
anthropopatheia are anthropos, meaning man and patheia, meaning "ways or
desires" or "the ways of
man." Whenever God is given human characteristics it is this figure
anthropopatheia or condescensio. It is very important that we realize and believe that the Word of God is
God breathed. It is given by inspiration of God literally and figuratively and
emphatically it is God breathed. Part of understanding the Word of God is
understanding the figures of speech used in it. They are used with mathematical
exactness and scientific precision. When you understand figures of speech your
understanding of the Word increases.
The only person that has done considerable work on figures of speech used in
the bible is E. W. Bullinger. He has cataloged over 212 different figures of
speech that have been used in the Word of God. His book, "Figures of Speech
Used In The Bible"1 is a tremendous asset to
your biblical research library.
Profitable
II Timothy 3
:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof,
for correction,
for instruction in righteousness:
"All Scripture God breathed and profitable for" . . . All scripture from
Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 is God breathed and profitable.
Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines profit as "a valuable
return."2 All scripture is God breathed and
provides a valuable return.
What is the scripture profitable for? It is profitable for doctrine, reproof
and correction which is instruction in righteousness. Doctrine how to believe
rightly, reproof is to reprove us in areas where we are not believing rightly
and correction is to get us back to right believing. These three are instruction
in righteousness. This will be expounded upon next week because there are some
necessary truths that we must see regarding doctrine, reproof and correction if
we are to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
How did we get the Word?
We have answered the question "by what authority did we get the Word of
God?" All scripture is God-breathed. That it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof
and for correction which is instruction in righteousness gives us it's benefit.
Now we need to know how we get the God-breathed Word?
II Peter 1
:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.
The context of this verse is the prophecy of the scripture. Prophecy can be
defined in two ways; it has two usages: foretelling and forthtelling . Most
people think of prophecy as foretelling of events in the future. Isaiah
prophesied of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. John
spoke of end times after Christ's return in Revelation. These are prophecies of
future events. This is one usage of the word prophecy. Prophecy can also mean
forthtelling, to speak forth or declare. The Word of God is either foretelling or
forthtelling and the majority of it is forthtelling, the telling forth of the
wonderful works of God and His promises toward mankind.
"Holy of men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost." Now, who did the speaking? The holy men did the speaking. It
doesn't say the Holy Spirit did the speaking, the holy men did the speaking as
they were inspired by God.
We also learn that the scripture did not come by the will of man. Man did not
sit down and decide to write the Word of God. David didn't decide with his
two-bit brain to write some of the Psalms. Men are not the authors of the Word
of God. God is the author. How? Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit, God). God told men what to write and they wrote, or
spoke and their scribe wrote. The Word of God didn't come by the will of man but
they spoke as they were moved by God.
Galatians 1
:11 But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
The God-breathed Word didn't came by man's will.
When you compare the writing styles of the different books of the Bible you can
see a definite difference in vocabulary and style. Paul was a very learned man
and the Pauline Epistles reflect that. Mark was not a highly-educated man. The
Gospel of Mark is direct and to the point. The men of God used their vocabulary. They
could not speak with any other vocabulary than they knew (neither can we). God worked with them
according to their vocabulary.
We have learned that the scriptures are "by inspiration of God" or
God-breathed and here in II Peter God tells us that "holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost." We need to know what being
"moved by the Holy Ghost" means. Now, God didn't take them and move
them around, that is not what moved means. Moved is the Greek word phero
meaning "to carry." The usage in this verse is "to be moved inwardly,
prompted."3
All of our learning has come by our senses; we learn by what we see, hear,
taste, smell and touch. But Paul declares of the Word of God:
Galatians 1
:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
He didn't receive it by the will of man, nor was he taught it, but he
received it by revelation.
There is a mathematical axiom stating, "Things equal to the same thing
are equal to each other." Now let us read these verses again:
II Timothy 3
:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, [God-breathed]
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof,
for correction,
for instruction in righteousness:
II Peter 1
:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost. [Holy Spirit]
Galatians 1
:11 But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
God-breathed = moved by the Holy Spirit = revelation. God-breathed means to
be moved by the Holy Spirit which is revelation. (Wierwille, p 78)4
[L]et?s look into the Old Testament and see how those holy men of God
spoke who received this revelation. We have seen from John 4:24 that God is
Spirit. God being Spirit can only speak to what He is. God cannot speak to
the natural human mind. This is why The Word could not come by the will of
man because the will of man is in the natural realm. God being Spirit can
only speak to what He is--spirit. Things in the natural realm may be known
by the five senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. But
God is Spirit and, therefore, cannot speak to brain cells; God cannot speak
to a person?s mind. It is a law and God never oversteps His own laws. The
spirit from God had to be upon these men, otherwise they could never have
received revelation as Paul declared in Galatians. (Wierwille, p 78)4
All of the people who received the Word of God had holy spirit given to them
by God. A good illustration of this would be to compare it to how a radio works.
You have a transmitter and a receiver (the radio). You cannot understand the
signal until you have a receiver, the radio, decoding it. God speaks (transmits)
to His spirit in you (your receiver) and your spirit tells your mind.
The Biblical usage of "a man of God" is a man in whom the
spirit of God is. Moses had spirit upon him and the burdens of the people became
too great for him to bear. There just wasn't enough hours in the day to handle
all of the people so:
Numbers 11
:17 And I [God] will come down and talk with thee there:
and I will take of the spirit which is upon
thee,
and will put it upon them;
and they shall bear the burden of the people with
thee,
that thou bear it not thyself alone.
The elders needed holy spirit upon them so that they could minister to the
people like Moses; so that they could receive revelation to help handle the
problems of the people.
God is the sole author of the Bible. He inspired men to write the Word. He
spoke to the their spirit and their spirit spoke to their minds and they wrote
down or spoke the Word. There were many writers of the Word of God but only one
author. The original God-breathed Word did not have any errors or contradictions
in it because God was the author and He told holy men what to write. Through
copying and translating there have appeared apparent contradictions and errors.
It is our responsibility to study the Word of God so that we may know the truth
in all it's accuracy.
Isn't God Word wonderful?
God Bless.
Printable
Version
_______________
1 Bullinger, E.W. Figures of Speech Used in the
Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979.
2 Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=profit&x=15&y=18,
July 23, 2004.
3 Online Bible Greek Lexicon. Online Bible
Edition, v 1.4. Lanarkshire, Scotland, 2004.
4 Wierwille, Victor Paul. Power for Abundant
Living. New Knoxville, OH: American Christian Press, 1979.
