In a similar way God has preserved his word so the Scriptures we read are safe and enjoyable, whenever we read them. One difference between preserved vegetables and the preserved Word of God is that the vegetable undergoes a certain amount of change in texture and taste in the preserving process, whereas the books of the Bible are essentially the same sense they were originally written.

How can this be? Consider what holds the universe together. Hebrews 1:3 tells us Jesus sustains all things by his word. The word sustains means to carry or to bear. Colossians 1:17 says that in Jesus all things hold together. As Jesus carries the universe holding it all together, so God preserves the original books of the Bible making them available to us today.

One way God used to preserve his word was through the painstaking manner in which it was copied. Before the age of the printing press each copy was made by hand, checked, and double-checked by people trained to look for the smallest error. Since erasers had not yet been invented, whenever a mistake was found standard procedure was to throw out the entire copy. Today copies are printed on high-speed presses, whereas then the Scriptures were methodically copied and even translated from one language to another, word-by-word, and sometimes letter-by-letter just to protect its ancient sayings.

Such a preservation is important because it allows us to trust that the Bible we read is indeed God’s Word. When we read words such as believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, we can be confident that these words mean the same thing today as when they were first written.

]]> http://bethelbaptistkalamazoo.com/preservation/feed/ 0 http://bethelbaptistkalamazoo.com/inspiration/ http://bethelbaptistkalamazoo.com/inspiration/#comments Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:27:08 +0000 Kipp Crigger http://bethelbaptistkalamazoo.com/?p=146 When establishing the authority of Scripture, we often look to verses like 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God….” But what does it mean to be inspired by God? It is important to have a solid understanding of this concept to understand Scripture and to represent God and His Word to a lost world.

We use the words “inspiration” and “inspired” to discuss great performances by athletes, actors, or musicians. Is this what is meant by inspiration of Scripture, that the writers of Scripture were moved with great intellect and emotion to write the words of God? The NIV translation of 2 Tim. 3:16 uses the phrase “God breathed.” This is a great translation because it gives a word picture of the concept, one where God is actively involved in the work. The phrase “God breathed” implies more than just emotional or intellectual influence; it implies purposeful direction. As 2 Tim. 3:16 says, God inspires all of Scripture. This view of the Scriptures is often referred to as verbal-plenary inspiration. Verbal inspiration means the inspiration extends to the words themselves, not just concepts or ideas. Plenary inspiration is the idea that the whole of Scripture is inspired, that it is complete.

Painters can be inspired by the beauty of a woman or a sunset when painting a masterpiece. But neither the sunset nor the woman have the painter’s painting in mind when displaying their beauty. God did have a purpose in mind when inspiring the writers. “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.”–2 Peter 1:21 This verse uses the phrase “carried along.” Other translation use the word “moved.” This gives the picture of direction with a purpose. In Acts 25:15-17 we find the same word being used to describe Paul’s ship being driven by the wind. The ship is still a ship but was at the mercy of the wind. As you apply this to the inspiration of Scripture, God used men to write His words. They, like the ship had all their faculties and resources, yet God directed them. He used their personalities and writing styles, but within His sovereign purpose and plan. God moved men purposely to create a written revelation of His glory.

Although we have just scratched the surface in this short note, I would encourage you to dig deeper into this topic and see how important is was to our fathers in the faith.