“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Gutenberg Bible, New York Public Library
In the instruction of our youth, pastors have found it important to assign key Bible passages for memorization. This practice has served to arm believers with God’s Word of truth whenever their faith comes under attack. Consider how Jesus withstood the temptations of the devil. He overcame the deceptive lies and enticing allurements of Satan by answering him, saying, “It is written . . .” (Matthew 4:4,7,10) In other words, He told the devil, “this is what God says in response to your temptations.”
One of our evil foe’s lines of attack is to call into question what God tells us. This goes back to the very beginning of time when he raised doubts in the minds of Adam and Eve about whether or not God really forbad them from eating the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, saying to Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)
The devil has continued this approach down through the centuries. We hear his human surrogates making the claim that we cannot say that the Bible is God’s Word, but rather that the Bible merely contains God’s Word. And it is up to the reader to determine what parts are God’s Word and what parts are man’s word in the Bible. Still others tell us that the Bible writers only recorded what the current teachings developed by the religious leaders were, and—claiming that beliefs are ever changing and evolving—critics tell us that not all the teachings in the Bible are valid and applicable in modern times.
These two cunning stratagems have caused people to question the veracity and applicability of teachings found in Holy Scripture. It has also resulted in folks picking and choosing which teachings and moral precepts are to be accepted and which ones are to be disregarded as outdated.
The final desired outcome in Satan’s plan of attack is to cause sinners to reject the saving Gospel of Christ and thereby lose their only hope of salvation.
God gives answer to such assaults on the Bible in the two verses found above. He teaches us that the writings of Holy Scripture did not have their origin or interpretation in human minds.
No. He continues by informing us that His chosen writers spoke and wrote what He moved them to reveal. The Spirit of God made use of His writers’ unique vocabulary, style of writing, and life’s circumstances to record word for word what He wanted to make known to us in the Bible.
Now, some would point out that what is found in 2 Peter 1:20-21 only applies to the prophetic writings in the Old Testament. However, the Apostle Paul gives the following divinely inspired testimony in 2 Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (3:16) All Scripture, which includes both the writings in the Old Testament and the New Testament, was inspired by the Holy Spirit. He breathed into the writers of Holy Scripture in a very special way exactly what He wanted them to record, word for word. Catechumens will recognize this as yet another key passage to be memorized.
How very important it is for Christians to be armed with God’s Word of truth so that we will recognize the lies of the devil and send him packing with memorized Bible passages!
is retired from the pastoral ministry. He lives in Sunnyvale, California.