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"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
Can I Trust My Bible’s Inspiration?
Evangelist Al Lacey
From Can I Trust My Bible?
The Alexandrians tell us that ONLY the "original manuscripts" were inspired. On page 3 of letter #1 in his "Public Forum", J.H. Melton says, "The King James Version is the most beautiful and one of the best translations we have - But is NOT inerrant, infallible or INSPIRED".
On page 2 of letter #2, he says, "THERE NEVER HAS BEEN, THERE IS NOT NOW, THERE NEVER
WILL BE BUT ONE INERRANT, INFALLIBLE, VERBALLY INSPIRED WRITING - THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS
OF THE SIXTY-SIX BOOKS COMPRISING THE ONE BOOK, THE BIBLE, THE WORD OF GOD!"
On page 1 of letter #1, Melton says, "To claim the KJV does not have any errors or
mistranslations is to claim for it verbal, plenary INSPIRATION".
Let's go to the dictionary to learn what "verbal" and "plenary" mean: verbal: of,
in or by means of words plenary: full; complete. Is not the King James Bible totally
made up of WORDS? Then it is VERBAL. We have already seen that the TRANSLATION of
the King James Bible was OVERSEEN by the Holy Spirit. Since the King James Bible
IS the very Word of God in English, it has EVERY WORD God wants us to have (Mat.
4:4).
Therefore, it is FULL of His words and totally COMPLETE. So it is PLENARY. Mr. Melton
and his Alexandrian compadres now have TWO strikes against them already.
What about strike THREE? What about inspiration? The dictionary has five definitions
of "inspire".
Since only ONE is linked to Scripture, we will not bother to list the others. The
third definition is as follows: inspire: to motivate by divine influence.
Since the prophets and the apostles who wrote the Bible were motivated by divine
influence as they wrote the "originals", they were INSPIRED. When the apostle John
was motivated by the Holy Spirit to write the last word of Revelation, that was the
end of men being divinely motivated to write God's Word. But!
Did God stop motivating His WORD by divine influence when He finished giving the
sixty-six books of Scripture? If He DID, when the original parchments faded, crumbled,
and went back to the dust, the LIFE went too.
The root of the English word "inspiration" has in it the idea of LIFE. Notice the
letters "S-P-I-R". These are the same letters found in the English word "S-P-I-R-i-t",
which is the Greek word pneuma, meaning "LIFE", "breath", "wind", or "SPIRIT". If
you do not have breath or wind in your lungs, you are DEAD.
If you do not have life in your body, you are DEAD.
The Alexandrians make a big to-do about the word "inspiration" meaning GOD-BREATHED.
They insist that God BREATHED the words of the ORIGINALS as He "moved" (II Pe. 1:21)
the holy men to produce the Scripture. And I wholeheartedly agree. However, according
to the Alexandrians, the "inspiration" stopped when the ORIGINALS disintegrated.
Mr. Melton and all of those like him insist that the ONLY inspired writing were the
ORIGINALS.
But this foolish idea won't hold Scriptural water! GOD says:
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand FOR
EVER" (Isa.40:8).
What about THAT, Alexandrians? The Word of our God shall stand FOREVER! The papyrus
withereth, the parchment fadeth, but the Word of our God standeth FOREVER!!! God
did NOT inspire the fibers of the material upon which the Scriptures were originally
written, nor did He inspire the INK! He inspired the WORDS...and the Word (comprised
of WORDS) of our God shall stand FOREVER!!!
Look what else God said about His Word:
"For the word of God is QUICK and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,
PIERCING even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a DIS-CERNER of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb.4:12).
The word "quick" has many meanings, but in this verse it means ALIVE even as it does
in I Timothy 4:1 where Paul speaks of Christ judging the "quick and the dead". The
opposite of DEAD is "QUICK"...ALIVE. In Hebrews 4:12, God says His Word is QUICK...ALIVE!
He does not say the Word of God WAS alive until the original parchments disintegrated...
He says the Word of God IS alive!! The Holy Spirit is STILL breathing on it!
Notice that Hebrews 4:12 says the powerful Word of God which is ALIVE "pierces" to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. To "pierce", according to the dictionary, is to "FORCE a way into". By its own power, the Word of God PIERCES or FORCES its way into the soul and spirit of men.
Only something that is ALIVE can do that! You will also take note that the Word of
God is a "discerner". The dictionary says to discern is to "perceive or recognize
clearly". To be able perceive, recognize, or discern, you must be able to THINK.
Only someone who is alive can think!
The Bible speaks of itself as a LIVING PERSON. Take a good look again at Hebrews
4:12. The subject here, is THE WORD OF GOD. Now look at the very next verse:
"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in HIS sight; but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of HIM with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13).
A careless glance will cause most people to say, "The 'HIS' and 'HIM' in this verse
is GOD." NO! NO!
NO! To say so is to violate proper English grammar. It is not GOD who is the subject
in the previous verse, it is the WORD of God! The Bible is ALIVE, as a PERSON is
alive who, can SEE and THINK and PIERCE and DISCERN and DEAL with us today. But Scripture
itself says the Word of God IS quick...alive. And it will STILL be alive when it
comes time to judge Christ rejecters at the White Throne!
"If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words
hath one that judgeth him: THE WORD that I have spoken, the same shall JUDGE him
in the last day" (John 12:47-48).
In order to be able to Judge, you must be able to THINK, DISCERN, and PERCEIVE! The
Word of God did not DIE when the "original parchments" crumbled back to the dust!
It IS quick! It IS alive! And it will STILL be alive at the White Throne Judgment
more than a thousand years from now!!! It WAS inspired and it IS inspired! It has
never stopped being inspired! It is ALIVE!
Look at this:
"Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scripture, FORESEEING that God would justify the heathen through faith, PREACHED
before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed" (Gal.
3:7-8).
Lookee that! The Scripture FORESEES!!! In order to foresee, you must be ALIVE...you must be able to THINK, DISCERN, and PERCEIVE. Notice further that the Scripture PREACHES! Only a LIVING PERSON can preach! Yessir!
When the living Word of God pierces down to the dividing asunder of my soul and spirit
and deals with me, it PREACHES to me! Don't tell me the only inspired writing were
the "originals"! My King James Bible PREACHES to me today! If it doesn't preach to
you Alexandrians, it's because YOU are dead...not the Book!
Here's some more:
For the scripture SAITH unto Pharaoh, "Even for this same purpose have I raised thee
up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth" (Rom. 9:17). See there? The Scripture SPEAKS! Ah, but I hear some
wise guy Alexandrian hiss, "Lacy, you're crazy!
It was GOD who said that to Pharaoh in Exodus 9:16! And what's more, it was GOD who
said to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. "In thee shall all nations be blessed'!"
I'm glad you noticed that, pal. This is where INSPIRATION really comes ALIVE! Yes, in the Old Testament, it identifies God as speaking in those passages. Yet in the infallible Word of God, when quoting those passages in the New Testament, it says the SCRIPTURE said it! Get the picture?
Jesus Christ is the Author of the Bible. He is also God. More than that, He is called
the WORD (Jn. 1:1,14) ...the WORD OF LIFE (I Jn. 1:1) ... and the WORD of God (Rev.
19:13)!!!!! And wonder of wonders, the Bible is called the WORD (II Tim. 4:2) ...the
WORD OF LIFE (Phil. 2:16) ...and the WORD OF GOD (He. 4:12)!!!!!
It is the Holy Spirit who INSPIRED the written Word in the first place (II Pe. 1:21).
Being the "SPIRIT", He IS the breath of God. And wonder of wonders, He is called
the Spirit of CHRIST (Rom. 8:9) ...the Spirit of LIFE (Rom. 8:2) ...and the Spirit
of GOD (Rom. 8:9)!!!!! It was the Holy Spirit who raised up Jesus from the dead (Rom.
8:11), and it is the Holy Spirit who LIVES within us and keeps us ALIVE spiritually
FOREVER (Jn. 14:16-17).
QUESTION: Is Jesus STILL alive? Yes...and will NEVER die again (Rev. 1:18)! The Holy
Spirit did a good job in raising Jesus up, didn't He (I Pe. 3:18)?
QUESTION: Can a SAVED person ever die spiritually? No...the Spirit of LIFE keeps
us spiritually alive FOREVER (Eph. 1:13-14)! The Holy Spirit is doing His job, isn't
He? And He ALWAYS will!
"The letter killeth, but THE SPIRIT GIVETH LIFE" (II Cor. 3:6).
If the Holy Spirit is not STILL breathing on the Word, it will KILL you! If He is not STILL inspiring the Word, it CANNOT GIVE YOU SPIRITUAL LIFE! The Alexandrians are full of baloney. The Word of God is as inspired TODAY as it was when it was FIRST breathed out by the Spirit of LIFE!