Now we have arrived at the point that I would like to make. That is, given that the whole Bible is breathed out by God – all from a single divine source – there is no reason to regard one part of the Bible as more authoritative than another, or to regard one inspired person speaking in Scripture as more inspired by another.

Indeed, if by inspiration we mean God-breathed, then a text is either inspired or not inspired, and inspired texts are equally God-breathed. Thus Moses is not more reliable than Jeremiah, or David more authoritative than Malachi. God is the source of every part of Scripture, and not Moses, Jeremiah, David, or Malachi. Therefore, there is no difference in the reliability and authority between the various biblical books and their writers.

Here I have in mind the "red-letter Bible" mentality. Some people treat the words of Jesus as if they form a Bible within the Bible, or as if they are especially reliable and authoritative. If they are conscious of doing this at all, they might assume that this is right and good, and that it represents an attitude of special reverence for our Lord. However, given the Bible's own teaching that "All Scripture is God-breathed," to especially honor the words of Jesus is in fact an implicit denial of the inspiration of Scripture.

Probably more than a few people would find this assertion disturbing. Someone might say, "Is he denying that Jesus is greater than the prophets and the apostles? But Jesus is God, not a mere man. He is greater than Abraham and Solomon, and even David called him Lord." It is true that Jesus is greater than all men, but to even raise this point in this context is to betray a tendency toward the error that I am talking about.

In affirming the inspiration of Scripture, there is no place to compare the merits of the individual speakers and writers, since the doctrine of inspiration is that "All Scripture is God-breathed," that is, the whole Bible comes from God. In other words, when we are comparing the words of Jesus to the words of Paul, the fact that Jesus is infinitely greater than Paul is irrelevant. All Scripture is God-breathed, so that unless we deny the inspiration of either Jesus or Paul, we are comparing the words of God with the words of God, so that there is zero difference in inspiration and authority. If the words of Paul in the Bible are less authoritative than the words of Jesus, then they are not inspired at all – they are not God-breathed.

(to be continued)

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