Inspiration of Scripture: Christ as the Key
This post is a continuation of previous discussions of different views of inspiration.
What I look for in "inspiration" is that the text is a carrier of God's Spirit, capable of making us born again of the Spirit. As Jesus said, "The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life." I know there are all kinds of things to be said about whether this or that part of any given text was original, and they're useful conversations in their ways. But we don't worship a book. There are several places where the Bible names its own main point. The point is never itself, but Christ. The information is useful, but it is also the means to conveying God's Spirit and new life. This conveying of new life only works because the content is Christ crucified and risen.
"He (Jesus) opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, this is what it says: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke, recap of dinner the night of Jesus' resurrection)
All the ink and electrons that have been spilt on people claiming to have some sort of secret decoder-ring to understand Scriptures. But Jesus says the meaning plain as day: it's him and his redemption for the life of the world. Or like Jesus said elsewhere,
"You diligently search the Scriptures because you think by *them* you have life. These are they that testify of *me*, yet you refuse to come to *me* and have life."
If Scripture testifies of Jesus, it has done its job successfully. Not just being "God-breathed", but like God in the account of Eden or like Jesus in John's resurrection accounts, breathing life into us, which is Jesus. "He who has the Son has life." (John's first letter)
People may say some work or another is "inspiring" -- and by that they may mean it makes them feel very good or that they found it encouraging. But Scripture is "inspiring" in the more profound sense: through it, God breathes his spirit and his life into us.
This post is a continuation of previous discussions of different views of inspiration.
What I look for in "inspiration" is that the text is a carrier of God's Spirit, capable of making us born again of the Spirit. As Jesus said, "The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life." I know there are all kinds of things to be said about whether this or that part of any given text was original, and they're useful conversations in their ways. But we don't worship a book. There are several places where the Bible names its own main point. The point is never itself, but Christ. The information is useful, but it is also the means to conveying God's Spirit and new life. This conveying of new life only works because the content is Christ crucified and risen.
"He (Jesus) opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, this is what it says: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke, recap of dinner the night of Jesus' resurrection)
All the ink and electrons that have been spilt on people claiming to have some sort of secret decoder-ring to understand Scriptures. But Jesus says the meaning plain as day: it's him and his redemption for the life of the world. Or like Jesus said elsewhere,
"You diligently search the Scriptures because you think by *them* you have life. These are they that testify of *me*, yet you refuse to come to *me* and have life."
If Scripture testifies of Jesus, it has done its job successfully. Not just being "God-breathed", but like God in the account of Eden or like Jesus in John's resurrection accounts, breathing life into us, which is Jesus. "He who has the Son has life." (John's first letter)
People may say some work or another is "inspiring" -- and by that they may mean it makes them feel very good or that they found it encouraging. But Scripture is "inspiring" in the more profound sense: through it, God breathes his spirit and his life into us.
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