Saturday, January 14, 2023

Our "God-Breathed" Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16)

In 2 Tim. 3:16, the KJV reads "given by inspiration of God." That's 5 words. The RSV reduced this to 3 words: "inspired by God." But the Legacy Standard Bible (apparently following the NIV here) has 1 word: "God-breathed." I'll go with the latter in that the Greek too has only 1 word: theopneustos. The NEB, incidentally, reads "Every inspired scripture is useful ...." This is dreadful. To say "every inspired scripture" implies that there are other Scriptures that are not inspired. That is certainly not what Paul meant here. The very word "Scripture" means inspired writing. "Uninspired Scripture" is a contradiction. If it is Scripture, it is inspired. 

Thank God for the Bible. Where would we be without it? Thank God that he has not abandoned us to the whim of so-called scholars or to grope our way through life in thick darkness. He's given us a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Thank God he's given us in Scripture a rock on which to stand. What a privilege to believe what it teaches and obey what it commands, all because it is "God-breathed."