Jesus Believed in Inspiration
by Perry Hall
"Inspiration," how it happens, what it means, and why it is important are all questions, some of which have more straightforward answers than others. As far as how it happens, I don't have all the answers other than the personality of each writer is apparently intact, which I do not find incompatible with "The Dictation Theory" since God's omnipotence is involved. Saying that is how I understand it happens doesn't mean I can explain it other than what I often say, "If you can believe the first four words of the Bible, then you can believe all the words that follow."
What inspiration (better understood as "breathed out by God" - II Timothy 3:16 ESV) means is that the prophets and writers didn't necessarily understand what they wrote (I Peter 1:10-12; II Peter 1:19-21). Therefore, while the Bible is written by men, the Bible is not authored by men about God, but rather authored by God about men and God as self-revealed.
The commands to love one another and God are the most important. But among the other teachings that are not commands, I consider inspiration the most important. To borrow a visual image from Jesus, "all doctrines hang on this one doctrine." One reason I believe in Jesus's resurrection is that I believe in the apostles' inspiration.
Jesus Himself believed in and taught inspiration. In Matthew 22, when discussing whose son the Messiah is, the Pharisees answer with, "David's;" Jesus follows with, "How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'" (Matthew 22:43)? I am not sure David understood (see above), and "No one was able to answer him at all" (Matthew 22:46), meaning the Pharisees couldn't explain it either.
What do we learn from this simple exchange:
- Scripture is inspired. Jesus believed this, and so should we.
- Writers didn't always understand what they were writing, which means the ideas didn't derive from their thoughts. Did David originate the idea of a human son of himself while being the divine son of God?
- Truth is not truth because we understand or approve of it. Our responsibility is to believe it.
When you read the words in the Bible, you are reading the words of the Spirit.
