THE USE OF THE SCRIPTURES IN OUR LIFE
Jesus used the scriptures both in His own life, to avoid falling into sin, and also in His teaching the truth to others.
1st Timothy 4:13–16, Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. In these verses, Paul urges Timothy to read the Scriptures and put them into practice in his own life, that he will be saved and also those he taught.
How are we Christians to apply this to our own lives?
In the language of the New Testament (Greek) the word « inspired » literally means “God – breathed.”
2nd Timothy 3:16 says, All Scripture is God–breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Notice how this confirms what Jesus believed about the Scriptures, because it says clearly that all Scripture is inspired by God.
So God breathed out the scriptures through the Holy Spirit who moved upon the authors as they meditated and wrote. See 2nd 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.
Jeremiah and the Apostle Paul were only two of about forty writers of the Bible whom God prepared for the task. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and moved to write down the very thoughts of God.
Some people think that the divine inspiration of the Bible means that God dictated the words, the writers being nothing more than machines. This is not correct.
The writers of the Bible received their message from God. But they had to express this message in the language and terms of their day and culture, which people would be able to understand.
We see that among the writers, there were men of different occupations. Peter and John were fisher men. Daniel was a governor. Paul was a tent–maker. Matthew a tax collector, David was a king or shepherd.
The New Testament was written for the Gentilles. The common language, spoken by the Gentilles throughout the Roman Empire, was Greek.
In spite of different writers, with different occupations and languages, living in different continents, and different times, the 66 books of the Bible show a unity which is overwhelming evidence of the divine inspiration of the Bible.
This unity is based on God’s unchanging promises.
Through the centuries, God has been speaking, and continues to speak, through Jesus Christ today.
May our eyes be open, our ears alert and our hearts eager to receive and obey all of this marvelous message from God.
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