God’s Word as Literature

GOLDEN TEXT: “The Word of our God shall stand for ever.”—Isaiah 40:8

THE Bible is indeed a library of religious literature, but it is more than that—it is the revelation of the Creator’s purposes toward his human creation, given for the guidance of those who co-operate in the outworking of his plan. It is therefore an inspired Book—inspired by the Holy Spirit of God—and speaks with the authority of God. Being God’s inspired Book, he is its protector, hence the assurance of our Golden Text that it shall stand forever.

Its enemies—the worst of whom have been its alleged friends—have tried to destroy it but have failed. They have banned it from circulation; forbidden its use under pain of torture and death; and have tried to prevent its translation, and have misrepresented its teachings. But the Word of God continues to stand and to be a beacon light of truth for those whom God calls to co-labor with him in his loving designs toward the children of men.

PSALM 119:97-105—The proper attitude of every servant of God and of all who will be found worthy of everlasting life is that expressed by David in the words, “O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” David loved the law of God because he recognized that its precepts were right—that they were altogether just and righteous. God recognized in David a man after his own heart, and David’s love for the law of God and his desire to meditate thereon is quite in keeping with the divine appraisal of him.

David also loved God’s commandments because, as he states, they made him wiser than his enemies. This can and should be true of the Lord’s people today. We have our enemies, too. They are not of the same character as David’s enemies, nevertheless they are formidable, and without the direction and inspiration of the Word of God we would be outwitted and overcome by them.

Satan is the chief of the Christian’s enemies, and a very wily one. But because God has given us his Word of truth as an armor to protect the mind and heart, we can say with the apostle that we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices. Knowing his methods of attack, we are prepared to battle against him victoriously. We could not hope to overcome in our own wisdom, but with the Word of God as our guide, we can say with the Psalmist that we are wiser than all our enemies.

David wrote, “I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Thy Word.” Neither David nor we would know just what ways are evil except for the Word of the Lord; but when through his Word he teaches us, we know the right and safe way to go, and we are kept from falling.

“I have more understanding than all my teachers,” wrote the Psalmist. He also declared that he possessed more understanding than the ancients. The Apostle Paul expressed a thought similar to this in his letter to Timothy, saying that the Lord has given us the “spirit … of a sound mind.” (II Tim. 1:7) The Lord does not reshape our brains in order to give us soundness of judgment and clarity of discernment. He does it, rather, by giving us his Word. Those who follow the precepts of God’s Word as they pertain to Christian hopes and to everyday Christian living will be able to meet the problems of life much more wisely than those who depend upon their own judgments.

JOHN 20:30, 31—The central figure in the divine plan for human salvation is Jesus. Directly or indirectly, practically the entire Word of God focuses attention upon him as the Redeemer and the One who will yet be recognized as the King of the whole earth. In John’s account of the life of the Master, he explains that the signs which were given subsequent to his resurrection were for the purpose of establishing the fact that Jesus was indeed the Christ, and that this fact was confirmed by his resurrection. And it was for this purpose that many of the signs were recorded and made a part of the Word of God.

II TIMOTHY 3:16, 17—The King James translation of this passage gives quite the wrong thought by saying that all scripture IS given by inspiration. The term “scripture” simply means writing. Any manuscript, or writing, is therefore a scripture, hence there has been much “scripture” that has not been written by the inspiration of God. Some writings have been inspired by the devil. The proper thought of the Greek text is that all scripture, or writing, given by the inspiration of God is profitable “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” It is the zealous application of the inspired Scriptures to one’s everyday life that gives him the “spirit … of a sound mind.”

QUESTIONS:

What was the divine purpose in the writing of the Bible?

In what way does the proper application of the precepts of God’s Word give one the “spirit of a sound mind”?

Who is the central figure in the plan of God to whom the Scriptures point?

What is a clearer translation of II Timothy 3:16?

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