Is the Bible God's Book or Man's Book?
That is, did God write it, or is it simply a collection of the writings of men? It is clear from the character of the bible that it is not the work of man, for man could not have written it if he would, and would not have written it if he could.
And it is also clear that a distinction between man's writings and God's Writings must be clearly made using God's writings to do so.
2 Timothy 3:16 declares: "ALL Scripture is given by INSPIRATION OF GOD."
So we might ask, what does INSPIRATION MEAN? From it, we are to understand that God "DIRECTED" men, chosen by Himself, to put into writing such messages, laws, doctrines, historical facts, and revelations, as He wished men to know.
The term INSPIRATION means "God Breathed" - and means that God Himself - through the Holy Spirit - told men of old JUST WHAT TO WRITE.
The Bible then is the WORD OF GOD for HE [GOD] both WRITES AND SPEAKS directly to man at times.
To review just a few such instances: God wrote the "Tables of Testimony" on stone (Ezekiel 31:18, and 32:16), and wrote on the wall of Belshazzar's place (Daniel 5:5). God talked with Moses on the Mount when He gave him the specifications for the Tabernacle and its Furnishings. He spoke at the Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:17) and on the Mount of Transfiguration.
One could ask does that INSPIRATION extend to every part of the Bible...?
YES!, from the dry lists in Chronicles to the very words of God in Exodus, and through to Jesus Christ. It extends to every word, sentence, phrase, full stop and cross on a 't' in the original parchments.
We know from 2 Peter 1: 20, 21 that "No Prophecy of the Scripture is of any Private Interpretation" meaning NO MAN HAS THE RIGHT TO IMPOSE HIS OWN OPINION ON GOD'S WORD!
When one puts pen to paper on God's word, they need to be very very certain they are not twisting those words with some other meaning than God intended!
Too many men who are not filled with the Holy Ghost take the liberty of trying to explain what God meant in His word, when without the Spirit God, they DO NOT KNOW and ultimately only succeed in adding to the confusion that already permeates the false churches and the world today.
Such men boast of how well received their writings are, when the very same men who have received and accepted their writings, do not themselves believe GOD's WORD.
These error-filled books are then made freely available to other men around the world who read them in place of actually reading and studying God's word.
This is a great scriptural example of "The blind leading the blind" as none are filled with the Holy Ghost and so the errors deepen."
John 16:13 States: "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth [THE HOLY GHOST], is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come."
This demonstrates that not one of the hundreds and thousands of books written in the world about salvation would be necessary if men were indeed FILLED WITH THE "SPIRIT OF TRUTH" which WOULD lead men into ALL TRUTH.
There would be no need for anyone to RISK their salvation (as the scriptures in fact state: "Trust NO MAN with your salvation.").
Look, Psalm 146:3-5 states: "Put NOT your trust in princes, nor in the SON OF MAN, in whom there is NO HELP. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. 5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:"
Here the scriptures emphasize that a man is happiest when he "...hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:" - not that his hope is in some man - but that his hope is in GOD HIMSELF.
Look - the plain truth states: "in whom there is NO HELP..." - however well written or well explained those writings are by men - they cannot HELP and are NO SUBSTITUTE for God's word. In the long run, they can and do only become boulders between you and a fuller understanding of the Word of God - THROUGH THE SPIRIT!
Never forget what the scriptures states: "And in HIS LAW [GOD'S SCRIPTURES] DOTH HE [you and I] MEDITATE DAY AND NIGHT"...
A prayer for today: "Father God, help me know that the only means to salvation is through YOUR WORD, not through some "off-spin" of that word written by some man who is not filled with YOUR SPIRIT - but through YOUR WORD only.
Help me to steer men to your words - and be a beacon not for my words - and not some other man's words - but YOUR WORDS ALONE. So as the Gentile age closes, I will be found steadfast and unmovable in YOU.\
Thank you Lord as I ask for these mercies in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior and soon coming King.
Amen."
