THE PROPERTIES OF HOLY SCRIPTURE

By Gary Ray Branscome

Up to this point our focus has been on the divine origin of the Bible, its inspiration, and the fact that every part of it is God-breathed. I pointed out that the words, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one letter of the law to fail,” tell us that even the letters were inspired by God (Luke 16:17). However, because the Bible is the Word of God it also possesses certain properties or attributes which we will now look at.

The first two properties that I call to your attention are the divine truthfulness and unity of Scripture. While the sections following this one will focus on some of the other attributes of Scripture, because these two properties are closely related to, and dovetail perfectly with, the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture, much that can be said about them has already been said.

Regarding the truthfulness of Scripture, because the Bible is the Word of God, and “God… cannot lie,” all that the Bible says is true (Titus 1:2). And, all of the Bible passages that testify to the divine inspiration of Scripture also testify to its truthfulness. As to its truthfulness, Jesus Himself, in prayer to the Father, said, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). In the Psalms we read, “Your law is the truth, // Your word is true from the beginning: and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever, // the word of the LORD is right, and you can trust everything He does” (Psalm 119:142,160 and Psalm 33:4).

Regarding the unity of Scripture, even though God moved men to write down the words, because the words were inspired by God the Bible is the Word of God. And, because God is its real author, the Bible only contains one theology, His theology. And, His Word testifies to that fact when it says, “All the prophets testify of Him [Christ] that through His name whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43). Jesus Himself said, “Search the scriptures; for in them you think that you have eternal life: and they are they that testify of me” (John 5:39). David said, “I have trusted in your mercy [grace], my heart will rejoice in your salvation” (Psalm 13:5). Paul taught, “Nothing other than those things that Moses and the prophets said would happen” (Acts 26:22). Isaiah said, “Whoever believes in Him [Christ] will not be ashamed” (Isaiah 28:16, Romans 10:11). And, the Apostle Paul tells us that “The covenant concerning faith in Christ, that was confirmed by God at the time of Abraham, cannot be nullified by the law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, so as to make the promise of no effect, for if the inheritance comes by the law, it is not given by promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise” (Galatians 3:17-19).

One attack on the inspiration of Scripture that I have not yet dealt with is the attack on the divine unity of Scripture. This attack assumes that the Bible is not inspired by God, and, therefore, that there must be a natural explanation for its existence, and that the men who wrote it must have had differences in their thinking. Some who accept that assumption then let their imagination run wild, twisting some statements to contradict others when they could just as well be interpreted to agree. And, by doing so they only show their ignorance, because they violate one of the fundamental rules of Bible interpretation, the rule that no passage of Scripture should ever be interpreted to contradict what the Bible says elsewhere. As it is written, “If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

The people I have in mind pick out statements made by different Apostles, and then claim to see different theologies, theologies that only exist in their minds. Others imagine that the first two chapters of Genesis give different accounts of creation, even though Christ’s words, “He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man will leave father and mother, and will be united to his wife,” quote from both chapters as from one account (Matthew 19:4-5). Others ignore the historical evidence pointing to Moses as the writer of the first five books of Scripture, and then, out of pure fantasy, fabricate different writers for different parts of the Pentateuch. Of course their entire construct is nothing more than the product of an overactive imagination (a fairy story), yet they prefer their lie to the truth. For that reason, their attack on the unity of Scripture is a perfect illustration of the words, “God… has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts” (Luke 1:47, 51). And, the words, “Those who know God accept what we [the apostles and prophets] say, those who are not of God will not accept what we say,” tell us that those people are not of God (1John 4:6).

A Guide to Interpreting God’s Word

The properties of Holy Scripture guide us in our interpretation of Scripture. For example: Because one of its properties is its unity, we should never interpret one passage of scripture to contradict another. Because it has the authority of God behind it, we should conform our thinking to it while rejecting any interpretation that contradicts what it says. Because its purpose is to testify of Christ, we should interpret all that it says in the light of its testimony of Christ. Because it is sufficient, containing everything needed for our salvation, we should never try to supplement what it says, or read unscriptural ideas into it. And, because it is clear, the meaning God intends for us to get from it is exactly what the words say, nothing more, the plain grammatical meaning of the words, the same meaning that you are placing on my words as you read this.