And a very familiar text, 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Jude will say that these things were “once for all delivered,” thus, no other Scriptures are needed after the New Testament was completed in about 95 A.D. [Jude, verse 3: “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”]

Thus, there are warnings within the Scriptures which say that nothing should be added to, that nothing should be taken away, that the Scriptures should not be changed in any way. Some of those include Galatians, chapter 1, verses 6 through 10 [“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him Who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”]; 2 John, verse 9 [“Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”]; 1 Peter 4, verse 11 [“If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to Whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”]; John 12, verse 48 [“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My Words, has that which judges him?the Word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”]; and Revelation 22, beginning with verse 18, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

That is an overview of the authority of Jesus, and that authority being extended through the Holy Spirit to inspired writers who wrote down and recorded those things that Jesus had said, as well as other things that the Holy Spirit had revealed to them. They are contained for us in this book that we call the Bible. We should not—we must not alter it or change it in any fashion!

All that is well and good, but someone might say, “Okay, so what? What does all that mean?”

Let’s look first of all at the BIBLE’S CLAIM OF INSPIRATION. As we know and as we have seen, the Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God. If that claim is true, then I submit to you that it must be accepted as the final authority in religion today. If the Bible’s claim to be the inspired Word of God is true, then that’s all we need. We don’t need anything else. We don’t need any manuals, we don’t need any catechisms, we don’t need anything else to supplement—to go along with—the Word of God. On the other hand, if it is not true (and many claim that it is not true that the Bible is the inspired Word of God), then it ought to be rejected on its face, not partially accepted, not accepted in some areas and rejected in others. If it is not the inspired Word of God, then it ought to be rejected, along with other works of men. If it is not of God, then it must be of men.

Therefore, it is imperative that we be able to verify that the Bible is, in fact, the inspired Word of God. The word “inspired” comes from two Latin words: “in spiro”—“in” meaning “in” and “spiro” meaning “breath.” “In breath.” The word was translated into the Latin vulgate from the original Greek, the Greek word being “Theopneustos,” which is formed from two separate Greek words: “Theo” meaning “God,” and “pneo” meaning “to breathe.” Thus, the word “inspiration,” as we just read from 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16, literally means “God-breathed.”

Think about that. As we read the Scriptures, we often say it is God speaking to us. Some might ask, “How can that be?” Well, here it is. These Words are “God’s breath.” It is as if God’s breath is upon us. The action of speaking is the moving of air across our vocal cords. As we speak, we are exhaling air. Think about that image. The Words that we have in the Bible are God’s breath on us.

The word “inspiration” refers to the process by which the Scriptures were originally given through those who wrote the words down. Those were the apostles, the prophets, and others who were selected to write. They did this by the guidance and the direction of the Holy Spirit. This process of inspiration has all Truth originating with God, thus making Him the primary source of the Scriptures. If inspiration means “God breathed”—“God’s breath on us,” then indeed, He is the source of Truth.

Now this Truth was passed to men by the authority of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. As Peter wrote, “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved along by the Holy Spirit,” 2 Peter 1, verse 21. [“for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”] I like the way Bro. Hugo McCord translates that passage in his translation. He says, “For no prophecy was ever born by the will of man, but men being borne,” (that’s “b-o-r-n-e” or “carried”) “but men borne by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.“ Well that says it, doesn’t it? Listen again: “For no prophecy was ever born by the will of man, but men being borne by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”