Wednesday, February 15, 2012
2 Peter 1:20-21 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
THE SPIRIT-INSPIRED SCRIPTURES: OUR SOUL'S SURE ANCHOR
Peter goes on to further bolster the faith of his readers by encouraging them to consider the prophetic writings of the Old Testament which foretold Jesus' coming, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorious return on Judgment Day. Yes, the prophets from Moses to Malachi wrote about these things too! And what they wrote they didn't spin from their own heads. They spoke words which the Holy Spirit gave them.
Here we have a section of Scripture that presents the all-important doctrine of verbal inspiration. "Verbal inspiration" means that every book, chapter, sentence, and word found in the Bible had its origin in God who used the writers to record the exact things He wanted them to put down.
Of course Peter, when he wrote his letter to Christians of the first century, was referring to the writings of the Old Testament since the books of New Testament hadn't been collected yet. Still, we may include the writings of the New Testament in what Peter says. From the first book of Genesis to the last book of Revelation -- all sixty-six books -- were written by individuals whom the Holy Spirit chose for this task and inspired. Since this is true, we may stake our very lives on the teachings contained in them, knowing they were provided by our God for this one grand purpose: that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we have life in His name.
Oh, may these heavenly pages be
My ever dear delight;
And still new beauties may I see
And still increasing light!
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 284:5)
