One of the fundamentals of Christianity is believing the Good News about Jesus, the Messiah, and His sacrifice for our sins. “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The Gospel (Good News) is revealed to us through the Bible. If we didn’t have anything written about the events that led up to Jesus fulfilling the promises of God, we wouldn’t have a reliable understanding of what defines the good news. We have been given the written accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry to help give us confidence in His claims to be the savior of the world, the only way to achieve eternal life.
Yet, despite the fundamental fact that God’s words outline His will for us, we see misunderstanding or complete ignorance about how to use the teaching and can see how that has impacted our culture. Therefore, an important question we must ask is, “Do I believe ALL of these words are from the Creator?”
The word inspiration (God-breathed) becomes the focus of this dilemma. One definition of the word is, “the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.” Others might focus on this influencing and motivating power being based on God—divinely imparting His will so we can know what to do.
Peter says in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Many people have difficulty understanding how the Bible helps them with personal problems now, which brings inspiration into question. While many believe in the idea of the Bible being inspired, they live as if they have to still search elsewhere to find solutions to their problems. The Bible is filled with hundreds of examples of people rejecting or accepting God’s teaching (through prophets, priests, or kings), His rebukes (2 Samuel 12), His correcting (Hebrews 12:9-11), or His training towards righteousness (John 13:13-15; 1 Peter 2:21). But, we have to seek discernment to understand the essence of the Biblical examples and teachings we read. This takes maturity; as Hebrews 5:14 says, “Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” And the way to do this is by reading the Bible, carefully considering what we’re reading and how it applies to our lives, and constantly praying for illumination.
I pray that we all seek discernment and maturity to best reach the world with the Good News of salvation and joy.
