“Lets go fly a kite,
-From Disney’s Mary Poppins
Up to the highest height!
Let’s go fly a kite
and send it soaring…”
Wait a minute! What does the inspiration of the Bible have to do with a song from “Mary Poppins”? Well, not a lot. LOL! Okay hold on, there is one way a kite illustrates the inspiration of the Bible, but we will get to that shortly.
The Bible is God’s inspired Word to us; His inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word. Yet, we also say things like: “I’m inspired to write a poem”, “That song was inspiring”, or “The pastor gave an inspirational message this morning.” We use “inspiration”, “inspired”, and “inspiring” in ways which are different than “the inspired Word of God.” What then are we really asserting when we call the Bible the “inspired Word of God”?
Dictionary.cambridge.org defines “inspirational” as “making you feel full of hope or encouraged,” While the Bible is inspirational in this sense, that is not what we are talking about. What about “inspiring”? The definition for “inspiring”: “encouraging, or making you feel you want to do something.” Again, this is true of the Bible, but not what we are talking about here either. When we speak of God inspiring the Bible, we are expressing a distinct truth that these other definitions fall short of communicating.
Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NASU):
16All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
This quote is from the NASU, like the vast majority of translations it has “inspired by God.” The KJV and the NKJV are very similar: “given by inspiration of God”. Yet in the ESV it is translated as “breathed out by God,” and the NIV has a similar “God-breathed” (also used by the very paraphrastic MSG). The AMP has both: “God-breathed (given by His inspiration)”. Yet note the NASU does have a footnote indicating a literal translation of “inspired by God” would be “God-breathed”. The CSB’s footnote has “breathed out by God”.
How do we get a range of translations from “inspired” to “God-breathed”? Well, the first thing that comes to my mind by “God-breathed” is the creation of man (Gen 2:7). Here God is pictured as breathing life into Adam’s nostrils: God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”. The implication then for our passage is God has imparted life into the words of Scripture as He did Adam. When we talk, our words come forth by our breath. In the same way, the words of the Bible have come from God. They are in every way God’s Words! They are ALL God’s! Notice the “All Scripture is inspired…” at the start of the verse — each and every word is God’s Word!
The Greek word used for “inspired” is “θεόπνευστος theópneustos; adj. from Theós, God, and pnéō, to breathe or blow. Prompted by God, divinely inspired”1
In case you thought I forgot the kite; this is the connection to our kite. A kite is moved, carried along, by the wind. The light material drifts with the ebbing and flowing breeze, soaring to the highest heights.
Likewise, the inspired writers were also being moved by the Holy Spirit. In 2 Peter 1:20–21, Peter tells us God spoke through the writers of Scripture not by dictation but by the moving of the Holy Spirit. Now don’t take our kite illustration beyond this thought. We are just linking the idea of being moved. Each writer wrote his own words in his own style and vocabulary. The Gospel of John is very different from Mark’s Gospel or Paul’s letters. Thus, clearly, we are seeing the personality of each writer, obviously refuting the idea of them just being robotic in writing via dictation from God. Yet God was right there moving the author to say just what He wanted them to say. God worked in the personal life of the authors: their experiences, education and relationships. Then in the moment of writing, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, they wrote what they felt needed to be said, while at the same time they wrote what God would have them say, as only God could do.
The Bible also explicitly claims to be God’s Words. Countless times we see in phases such as “the word of the LORD came to me…” or “thus says the LORD” in verses like Jer 18:1,5; Ezek 12:1, 8, 17, 21, Hos 1:1 to name a few. In the New Testament — Heb 1:1-2 — “God spoke … by the prophets”. God and writer working in concert.
While the concept of inspiration may not be completely understood by us and “God-breathed” is an unusual phrase, the message is clear. When we say the “inspired Word of God” we are saying that these words are God’s. They are His words as if we had seen Him write them or heard Him say them. Yet at the same time, each writer was writing his own thoughts, using his own words and putting them down in his own style. This is where the kite illustration breaks down. The writers were not powerless “kites” having no input into what they were doing, but they were active participants in the process.
It is crucial to understand the Doctrine Inspiration for it affects the rest of our theology and our Christian growth. The first point of the Cultivating Faith’s Core Beliefs is The Scripture:
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
This is the key for all we say and do at the CF. As our motto state: “Sharing our family’s passion for the Word of God”. We are passionate because it is the inspired Word of God. They are not words from a holy man, a religious treaty, or positive saying for life but the very message of the God of the universe to us. He created us, loves us and sent His Son so we may be reconciled to Him, to have a personal relationship with Him. If the idea of a personal relationship with God is absent in your life, read “Do You Know God Personally?” to find out how you too can have this relationship.
For those of us who do have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, we have to understand that the starting point for coming to know our Savior is also the same place we go to for our growth in Him: His Word! The Bible is more than good teaching or a guidebook, a “How To” on life, but it is God talking to us. He tells us first of all who His is, what He expects from us, and how we can know Him; yet He also shares who we are, who’s we are, and who we can be. We need to hear. We need to read and study. Most of all, we need to obey.
So, the next time you see a kite flying up to the “highest height”, remember the amazing inspiration of God’s Word: His loving message for us. He wants more than salvation for us, but for us to have a life which is lived to glorify Him. His desire is for us to live a full life, John 10:10. Not a life full of things but one that is complete in Him. Remember He is speaking to us!
In our next post we will get a little more technical about the theories of Inspiration. Don’t worry, nothing too deep. We will just wade into some ideas which should help us get a better grasp on what inspiration and the Bible is all about.
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash