Monday: The Process of Inspiration
Daily Lesson for Monday 26th of October 2026
Many books and writings, not just the Bible, have come down to us through the ages. And yet, we deem the Bible as the Word of God. What separates it from other writings?
Read 2 Timothy 3:15-17 and James 1:17. What important message should we take from these verses?
There is some discussion about the best translation of 2 Timothy 3:16, but most Bible translations render this passage in a similar way, emphasizing that the whole Bible is of divine origin (2 Peter 1:20-21).
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
One Bible commentator explains that “it seems more likely that Paul is contemplating scripture as a whole here and that he would say that the whole of scripture is ‘profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness,’ than that every scripture passage is profitable in these ways.”—G. W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), p. 445.
But how should we understand the inspiration process that originated in the Bible? We should recognize that prophetic inspiration is the Holy Spirit assisting true prophets for the reliable communication of divine messages. That assistance is provided not only in the process of receiving the messages but also in communicating the messages clearly to their recipients.
God’s messages came through visions and dreams (Numbers 12:6; Isaiah 6:1,8). God also used eyewitnesses (1 John 1:1-3), Spirit-inspired historical research (Luke 1:1-3), and divine impressions on the mind (2 Peter 1:21). Regardless of the means used by the Holy Spirit, the prophets and biblical authors were given objective, rather than subjective, messages of truth to be shared. That is, God’s messages were not to be tampered with or in any way distorted by His messengers, even if they used their own words to express those messages.
The task of communicating prophetic messages to their original audiences could be done orally (2 Peter 1:19-21), in written form (John 20:30-31), or even through dramatization (Ezekiel 4:1-8).
|
Though many questions remain about how the Bible was inspired, or how inspiration works in general, why is it so important to trust the Bible as God’s inspired Word, regardless of what we may not fully understand about how it was written? |
[I am starting on the lesson study late this week because I have spent the last few days on a houseboat on the Myall Lakes with my family with limited access to the Internet. Great time, peace and quiet. Good to see our grandsons maturing and taking responsibility.]
The lesson title is “Revelation and Inspiration”. This is not a case of someone looking up a Thesaurus and putting two synonyms together for reparative emphasis. They have distinct meanings.
Revelation is God making himself known to man.
Inspiration is when someone writes down or communicates what God has revealed.
It is important to understand that the purpose of Revelation is not to compile a static pile of doctrines or create a creed. Rather it is to establish a relationship, or in other words a dynamic for living.
Now for a science story. Not so long ago, it was thought that matter was continuously divisible. Dalton in 1808 proposed the idea of atomicity and did some work to establish the atomic weights of the then known elements. His idea was atoms were small, solid, and indivisible. This idea worked well and a lot of chemistry is based on that idea. Then in 1897 J J Thompson found the election and that formed the basis for work by Earnest Rutherford (A New Zealander) and Niels Bohr around 1911-13 that developed the nuclear model of atoms consisting of the three particles, protons, electons, and neutrons. Discovery did not stop there and we have a whole farmyard of particles that both help us understand matter and puzzle us still further. (And, I might add, contribute greatly to our modern technology we rely on and enjoy.)
There are a couple of points to this story. The revelation of the nature of matter has been an ongoing process with each understanding appearing to contradict our previous understanding, It has taken time for these ideas to develop and to explore the implications of our understanding. In hindsight we can see the progression but at the time of each new idea, there were many sceptics who thought that the new ideas were bunkum. It was not a case of “Eurekea! We have found the new scientific truth!”
I would like to apply this story to our spiritual understanding. We do not know everything there is to know about God and our understanding should grow and develop. We should not be too quick to dismiss the new, and at the same time we should not rush to discard the old. There is a maxim: “Not all that is old is gold, and not all that is new is true.” Only a dynamic relationship with Jesus will guide us into a better understanding.
The church pioneers had a dynamic and robust interaction with their understanding of revelation and sometimes it took a generation before a new idea gained traction. The process did not stop when they died. The really important thing is to have the sort of dynamic relationship that grows and develops, not a creed or set of catechistic answers that potentially become dated.
Thanks you Maurice. Early missionary to my island Lou Island, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea, told our people, one coconut from 10 is tithe, and the other one coconut, is ‘second tithe’ or offering. Then my grandfather told my father and my father told us that offering is 10% equivalent to tithes,then it is ‘gold’. Can’t change it. Some of us, through studying returned more than ‘one coconut’ as offering. Other family members told us it is not ‘true’. Thanks for insights.
The “one coconut for tithe and one coconut for offering” is a beautiful principle for us all to adopt, if at all possible. I’m sure that God blesses such systematic giving.
Thanks for making me understand between revelation and inspiration more
What is the spiritual significance of knowing how the Bible came into existence?
The Bible is not a collection of human thoughts, reflections or ideas. The Bible has its origin in God. It came into existence by the power of the Holy Spirit through human authors. The origin is divine and the process of bringing it into existence was divinely orchestrated. The study to understand how the Bible came into existence is not a mere academic endeavour. Its spiritual significance runs deep.
1) This helps us to understand the authority of the Bible. As we know and believe that the Bible is the final authority in all matters that pertains to Christian faith, doctrine, practices, teaching and spirituality. We approach the Bible not as a collection of information about God, but as the Word of God which leads to eternal life (John 5:24)
2) Having a clear knowledge and understanding about the origin of Scripture helps us to strengthens our faith and confidence in the Bible. The Word of God is our spiritual compass. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105, KJV). The Bible is our heavenly GPS.
3) Knowing that the Bible is God inspired book (Timothy 3:16–17), it helps to know that we are required to be transformed by what we are reading. It helps to appreciate why we are reading this Book. “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” (James: 1:22, NLT).
4) The spiritual usefulness of studying inspiration and revelation is that it helps us understand not only how God has made Himself known and how Scripture came to be, but also why His Word deserves our careful attention and faithful response.
5) At times people mishandle the Bible and its contents because they lack understanding about its origin. The Bible is sacred book, it is holy and it must be read with reverence, humility and prayerfully.
We need to pray for God’s inspiration to read the Scripture with more excitement, commitment and understanding.
The process of inspiration goes beyond communicating correct information; it is about allowing God’s Word to reach the heart and bring transformation through the Holy Spirit. Although Scripture is logical, doctrinally sound, and historically reliable, information alone does not necessarily change a person’s life. The ultimate purpose of inspiration is to reveal God’s truth in a way that leads people into a transforming relationship with Him. Paul declares, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16). The Word is therefore more than a source of knowledge; it is God’s instrument and process for awakening faith, convicting the conscience, and transforming lives.
The understanding of the process of inspiration should therefore shape how we preach and teach Scripture. An inspirational sermon does not merely inform the mind; it creates an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to transform the heart. The preacher’s responsibility is not simply to explain biblical doctrines, recount historical events, or deliver educational content, but to present God’s truth in a way that points people to Christ and invites a response of faith and obedience. As Hebrews 4:12 explains, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,” discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart. Similarly, Romans 12:2 calls believers to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. When Scripture is faithfully proclaimed and received through the Spirit, sharing moves beyond the transfer of information to the transformation of hearts and lives.
Excellent, well said.
Each time we open God’s word, our goal should be: “To be drawn closer to Christ by his written word.” The same for each church service and each sermon. If not, what is the point of church?
You wrote
Indeed. When we approach the study of Scripture with prayer, we are spending time in the presence of God.
And when we spend time in His presence, we are transformed – no matter what portion of Scripture we are reading/studying.
Ok I am so glad I have joined this group of discussion
I am one of your member in Christ and I am so proud of your answer it is true that we can’t just listen to the word of God and not act on it
We routinely trust realities whose workings we do not completely understand. In the same way, we do not need to understand every detail of how inspiration worked in order to trust the Scriptures. God has given us sufficient evidence that His Word is trustworthy. Ultimately, our confidence in the Bible rests not on our ability to explain the process of inspiration, but on our confidence in the God who inspired it. Faith does not mean having no questions; it means trusting God even when some questions remain unanswered.
It is important for one to understand that there is a
distinction between understanding the process and having sufficient reason to trust the result.
Paul Kiseka. it’s true my brother, not that we need many things to believe but God gives us evidences that we need within every human sphere.
What important message should we take from these verses?
From 2 Timothy 3:16, “God-inspired”, means not human authorship alone. How can I (a previous doubting Thomas) trust it? Isaiah 46 9-10, “9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,”. There are prophecies I can confirm. The timeline of the world empires. The first coming of Jesus. The 1260 Day prophecy beginning in 538 and ending in 1798. The 2300-day prophecy & Investigative judgement. The great Lisbon earthquake, The dark day, The falling of the stars. The probability of winning the lottery is more than my mind can fathom. The probability of all these biblical events randomly happenings are exponentially more than that. How can I trust that the text wasn’t changed? We have the dead sea scrolls. And the prophecies span 1500 years.
How can I not see the inspiration? If I can confirm those prophecies, why would I not believe all the other prophecies and accounts of what happened?
There is also the consistency. James 1:17 part that says, “no variation or shadow of turning.” The bible doesn’t contradict itself.
Then I have my testimony. He has given me victory. I am weak. It is a daily fight. I cling to him.
Though many questions remain about how the Bible was inspired, or how inspiration works in general, why is it so important to trust the Bible as God’s inspired Word, regardless of what we may not fully understand about how it was written?
Faith precedes full understanding. I can’t fully read one’s heart. Yours, my sons, my daughters, my neighbor, God’s. I might see evidence of it at times through their actions. Asking for complete understanding before trusting is like demanding full transparency before any relationship. My finite mind can’t fully grasp you with your sources, why would I think I can grasp an infinite mind?
The more I trust, the more I lean into faith, the more I learn. The journey involves wrestling with the Word, wrestling with God, not understanding from the start. Which I feel is the same with most relationships.
Beautifully stated
I love that God loves the diversity of individuality! He created us each to be one-of-a-kind. It is comforting to know that we each can be used by God to communicate a message of His love and truth and mercy. God doesn’t just choose especially talented people. We don’t all think alike, we don’t all speak alike, we don’t all teach alike, we don’t all write alike, we don’t all pray alike, we don’t all minister alike… but anyone who is surrendered to the work of the Holy Spirit in his or her own life is a walking epistle pointing to Jesus. It’s like how there can be different instruments and different musicians all playing the same piece of music. The music will sound a bit different each time in tone and style, but the melody will be the same.
In the Bible writers, we see such a diversity of literary styles, personalities, vocabularies, emotions, education, personal experiences, etc. For example, looking at the four gospels, we see differences in the authors that complement each other to reveal a more complete picture of Jesus’ life on earth. Matthew the tax collector and record keeper showed how Jesus fulfilled the Jewish law. Working as a government official himself, he presents Jesus as an authority figure. Young Mark used the word “immediately” a lot in his gospel, and showed Jesus putting in long, active days of ministry. Perhaps Mark was also recording “can-do” Peter’s first-hand testimony. While Luke the physician was drawn to share more stories of Jesus’ compassion observed through His healings and how He restored dignity to outsiders. Luke, also a careful historian, records several miracles no other Gospel mentions. Sensitive, relational John wrote his gospel to include several one-on-one conversations Jesus had, and he emphasized Jesus’ divinity. John also focused on symbolic signs. I wonder if this more mystical, poetic aspect of John’s personality is one reason he was chosen to write the book of Revelation.
May we all let God reveal what He hopes to reveal of Himself through us!
he Bible is such a versatile book. You can read it many times, but each time, depending on your mindset, it can apply to your life in a different way.
Two important themes jumps out of the end of Monday’s question –
1. Is it only the human Bible writers that are inspired?
2. Or the written WORD (Scripture) is inspired as well?
The Bible provides the answers. Of course, it is best that the Bible speaks for itself in order to escape easy errors. For sure, the human writers were inspired. “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but [a]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit”. 2 Peter 1:21.
How about the written Word – is it inspired? It seems YES, the WORD (perhaps, some statements in the Bible) is inspired based on the following verses or what do others think? Buttress your response with Bible passages.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. Note a “Living Word”. Not just as it is statically written.
The Word itself points to or is Jesus. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made”.
The Biblical point or statement that EVERYTHING written in the Word (Bible or Scripture) shall be fulfilled:
“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one [a]jot or one [b]tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled”. Matthew 5:18.
And finally, that the Words spoken by Jesus are LIFE and SPIRIT!
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life”.
I am convinced that the WORDS on the scriptures are in fact Jesus Christ, and are for us to assure us of his holyness.