What does it mean to say that Scripture is 'inspired'? We will see that Scripture is what it is because God is who He is. In Scripture, Good Himself speaks and offers us His Son and all that He has won for us. By hearing Scripture with faith, we do more than learn about Jesus: we enter into a relationship with Him.
1. The Inspiring God
When we say ‘Scripture is Inspired’, we need to ask: by whom? God communicates clearly, by His very nature. The Bible does its work because God is who He is. God doesn’t happen sometimes to make Himself understood. Because God is who He is, He is able to speak clearly to us. He knows everything, He is infinitely wise, He is infinitely good and kind. Most of all, He is the One who made us to be in relationship with Him. ‘Whoever would hear God speak, let him read Holy Scripture’. - Martin Luther
2. The Inspiring Subject
When we say ‘Scripture is Inspired’, we need to ask: for what purpose? The Son inspired the Bible so that He would offer Himself to you in its pages. That’s the point of inspiration: the Bible gives us Jesus. Jesus Himself speaks when we hear the Bible. He speaks to offer us the greatest gift imaginable: Himself, and all that He has done for us. ‘The Bible, which the Spirit inspired, is part of Christ’s Ministry’. - Robert Letham
3. The Inspired Bible
When we say ‘Scripture is Inspired’, do we really mean all of it, or only the words of Jesus? We will look at ‘only the words of Jesus’ and see what He says about the Old and New Testaments as a whole. What do we find Jesus teaching? That the Old Testament is God's Word. What do we find Jesus doing? Obeying the Old Testament. Who do we find Jesus complaining about? Those who don't take the Old Testament seriously. And what is true of the whole Bible is true of the New Testament, not just the Gospels: it is Jesus speaking. ‘What “the Scripture says” and what “God says” is the same thing’. - Herman Ridderbos
4. The Inspired Reader
So far, we have seen that the Bible offers Jesus to us: God’s Word was inspired by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Good News to us. Now we will see that as we hear the Bible that the Spirit inspires us to believe the Good News about the Son. The work of the Spirit in inspiring us is not the same as the Spirit’s work in inspiring the authors of the Bible, but it is similar. ‘I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give The living water; thirsty one, Stoop down, and drink, and live”’. - Horatius Bonar
5. The Inspired Readers
We have seen that the same Spirit who inspired the Bible is also at work in us as we receive the Bible. Christ helps us as we hear and read, by His Spirit. The good news is that Christ helps us, by His same Spirit and also through His body. As individuals, we are not the only Christians whom the Spirit helps to hear and read the Bible: we are surrounded by others, who are Jesus’ gift to the Church, as we all build each other up. God uses ‘people, not only in the narrow sense of prophets and apostles, pastors and teachers, but also including parents and relatives, schoolteachers and friends generally’. - Herman Bavinck
