Pursuing God In Bible Study Series

With the 2010 Winter Olympics about to begin in British Columbia, the world is focused on excellence. For an Olympic athlete, competing in an Olympics takes hard work, focus and determination. Scripture often describes the Christian life in such terms. In running the race, we are to aim for the prize and avoid obstacles., The key discipline in running the race is awareness of the way to success. The way we become more like Christ, and fulfill our calling, is an awareness, love and devotion to Bible Study.

In the words originally revealed and recorded, all Scripture is God’s inerrant and infallible Word. We do not possess the original manuscripts, the parchment upon which the original human author penned scripture, but we have thousands of concurrent copies testifying to a unified message from God. We hold to the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture.

It is not because the church, upon a certain date, long ago, made an official decision (the decision of the Council of Hippo, 393 A.D.; of Carthage, 397 A.D.), do these books constitute the inspired Bible; on the contrary, the sixty-six books, by their very contents, immediately attest themselves to the hearts of all Spirit-indwelt (people) as being the living oracles of God (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 4: New Testament commentary : Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles. New Testament Commentary (302). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).

Nobody but the most prejudiced person would deny that the Bible is a unique book if only because, after existing for centuries, it continues to be taught, bought, distributed and loved more than any other book that has ever been written. But its true uniqueness lies in its unity, which is the hallmark of its divine inspiration. For the Bible is not just one book but a whole library of thirty-nine books in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. These were written over a period of some fifteen centuries by more than forty authors all of whom were different, including kings (David, Solomon), philosophers (Ecclesiastes), poets (Psalms), farmers (Amos), statesmen (Daniel), priests (Ezekiel, Ezra), prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah), fishermen (Peter, John) and scholars like Paul. With such a variety of authorship over such a long period, one might expect the result to be a book that was no more than a mixed bag of ideas and inconsistencies. Instead, the Bible has a wonderful unity from Genesis to Revelation as it unfolds the single theme of God’s plan of redemption (Williams, P. (2007). Opening up 2 Timothy (82–83). Leominster: Day One Publications).

The discipline of Bible study is profitable because 1) Scripture is Inspired and Inerrant (2 Timothy 3:16a), 2) Profitable for Teaching. (2 Timothy 3:16b) 3) Profitable for Reproof. (2 Timothy 3:16c) 4) Profitable for Correction. (2 Timothy 3:16d) 5) Profitable for Training in Righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16e) and finally:

6) Profitable for Competency & Equipping. (2 Timothy 3:17).

The disciple of Bible study is profitable because

1) Scripture is Inspired and Inerrant (2 Timothy 3:16a),

2 Timothy 3:16a [16]All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (ESV)

The first predicate adjective that describes Scripture, focuses on the authority of His written Word. Scripture is “breathed out by God,” (Theopneustos), “God-breathed.” or inspired by God.

The word God-breathed, occurring only here indicates that “all scripture” owes its origin and contents to the divine breath, the Spirit of God. The human authors were powerfully guided and directed by the Holy Spirit (2 Pt. 1:20-21). As a result, what they wrote is not only without error but of supreme value for man. It is all that God wanted it to be. It constitutes the infallible rule of faith and practice for (humankind) (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 4: New Testament commentary : Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles. New Testament Commentary (302). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).

God sometimes breathed His words into the human writers to be recorded much as dictation. He said to Jeremiah: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jer. 1:9). But, as clearly seen in Scripture itself, God’s divine truth more often flowed through the minds, souls, hearts, and emotions of His chosen human instruments. Yet, by whatever means, God divinely superintended the accurate recording of His divinely breathed truth by His divinely chosen men. In a supernatural way, He has provided His divine Word in human words that any person, even a child, can be led by His Holy Spirit to understand sufficiently to be saved.

It is of utmost importance to understand that it is Scripture is breathed out by God placing the divine perfection on His word, not the men divinely chosen to record it. When speaking or writing apart from God’s revelation, their thoughts, wisdom, and understanding were human and fallible. They were not inspired in the sense that we commonly use that term of people with extraordinary artistic, literary, or musical genius. Nor were they inspired in the sense of being personal repositories of divine truth which they could dispense at will. Many human authors of Scripture penned other documents, but none of those writings exist today, and, even if discovered, they would not carry the weight of Scripture. We know, for instance, that Paul wrote at least two other letters to the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 5:9; 2 Cor. 2:4), but no copies of those letters have ever been found. The letters doubtless were godly, spiritually insightful, and blessed of the Lord, but they were not Scripture.