(Exodus 34:27) “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.””

(2 Timothy 3:16-17) “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

(2 Peter 1:20-21) “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

“Inspiration is a supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit upon divinely chosen agents in consequence of which their writings become trustworthy and authoritative.” (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p.160)

The Bible is God’s word. This is true in a way that is not true of any other book. Other books are good and helpful and may contain God’s truth, but they are not God’s word in the way the Bible is. So what do we mean when we say that the Bible is God’s word? What we mean is that the Bible comes from God through Divinely inspired authors. It is “God breathed” in the fullest sense possible. God used a number of different people to write His book. He motivated them to write, He led them to write what they wrote. He carried them along in their writing, and He stopped them from writing what they were not supposed to write.

Parts of the Bible are direct quotes from God; but much of the Bible is not. God used the biblical authors to communicate His truth, but they were not passive in this activity. It is interesting to note how different biblical authors use different words, pictures, and images when writing. Some of them were shepherds, and therefore they used shepherd analogies. Some were highly educated, and you can tell that in the way they wrote. God inspired the authors of scripture in such a way that the human authors were active in the process, and the full accuracy of the text was preserved.

