How Much of Scripture Is Inspired?

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)

Today’s big question: how much of Scripture is inspired?

Have you ever heard someone say that the Bible “contains” the Word of God? If you have, then you have heard statements that are limiting the inspiration of Scripture to human boundaries of convenience.

It is never up to us to say what the Bible contains or to limit its scope of authority. We need to hear what the Bible claims about itself. Paul, in our continued verse from our last devotional, was telling Timothy that “all” Scripture is God-breathed. God is the limitless creator, and if our short study on His character has told us anything, we can know that God’s authority is boundless and His knowledge is infinite. Every word from Scripture is from the God of boundless authority. This understanding, before we even begin to look at Scripture, helps us to know that “all Scripture” really does mean all.

So what about science? Is Scripture an inspired science textbook? The answer is no—Scripture is not a science textbook. But when Scripture deals with matters of a scientific nature, Scripture is the authority. We see history in the Bible that relates to astronomy, biology, geology, archeology, anthropology, and more. Every time we see this, we can know that Scripture is the authority on the issue, and this is our starting point for viewing the physical world around us. Many people before us in the pursuit of knowledge (science) have tried to do so without the authority of Scripture and ended up in great error. When human philosophy disagrees with Scripture, we can determine that human philosophy is wrong because Scripture is the authority in every area. When human philosophy agrees with Scripture, we didn’t need human philosophy in the first place.

Today’s big idea: the scope of the inspiration and authority of Scripture is all encompassing.

What to pray: ask God to forgive you for the times you have rejected His Word for your own philosophy.