Fruit of the Spirit

For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth...Eph 5:9

Spring 2005                                                            Volume 6, Issue 2

(Inspiration, continued from page 6)

What Inspiration Is Not. Inspiration is not revelation. As Hodge expressed, revelation is the act of communicating divine knowledge to the mind, but inspiration is the act of the same Spirit controlling those who make that knowledge known to others. "The one is the influx, the other the efflux" (Chalmer). Persons inspired sometimes received revelation in Biblical history. Luke does not claim to be the recipient of any revelation, but he traced the course of all things accurately. This he did by inspiration. Inspiration is not illumination. All New Testament Christians are illuminated by the Holy Spirit working in them through the Word of God, but this does not imply inspiration. Inspiration is not human genius. Human genius is a natural qualification and differs both in kind and degree. Inspiration is the breath of God working through the writers of the Bible.

Verbal Inspiration. D. R. Dungan suggested that “Divine wisdom has adopted the word-method of revelation. Therefore the words that make up the Bible cannot be anything but God-breathed. We have verbal inspiration or no inspiration. It is foolish to entertain any other thought.” “The line can never rationally be drawn between the thoughts and words of Scripture... That we have an inspired Bible, and a verbally inspired one, we have the witness of God Himself” (A. A. Hodge). "The theory of A Divine Revelation, in which you could have the inspiration of thoughts, without the inspiration of the language, is so inevitably irrational that it cannot be sincere, and proves false even to those who propose it" (Gaussen). The slightest consideration will show that words are as essential to intellectual processes as they are to mutual intercourse.

Thoughts are wedded to words as necessarily as soul to body. Without it the mysteries unveiled before the eyes of the seer would be confused shadows; with it, they are made clear lessons for human life (Westcott).

Noah Hackworth
Visalia, Ca.

(Casual Decorum, continued from page 1)

man who came to the feast without wedding clothes on. When the king came in, he saw the man, and inquired of him, "Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes" (verse 12, NASV)? The man was speechless because there was no valid explanation to be offered. Acceptable conduct in those times required proper attire for such occasions. Thus, the man was immediately and harshly expelled from the feast (verse 13).

In like manner today, even "common sense" tells us that we should "dress and act" to fit the occasion. One does NOT gather for the purpose of worshipping Almighty God in the same kind of clothes he'd go fishing or golfing in! And one does NOT "holler and cheer" in the assembly of worship as he would at a ball game! The word, "decorum" means: "a standard or code of what is proper, fitting, and established; conduct appropriate to established principles or circumstances; propriety; quality or state of being in accordance with a standard of what is fitting; proper behavior." The principle of acceptable decorum in the assembly of the saints would include appropriate dress and appropriate deportment. If not, why not? Think about it.

Maxie B. Boren
Fort Worth, Tx.


(The Good Shephard, continued from page 5)

Jesus stated that He would bring these other sheep into one fold, He spoke prophetically of the gathering of Jew and Gentile into the church. Such is in harmony with Old Testament prophesies such as Isaiah 56:8. This joining of sheep into one fold was fulfilled in Acts 10 and is reaffirmed by Paul in Galatians 3:28-29.

Furthermore, when Jesus stated that these “other sheep” would be brought, He said that they would all constitute “one fold,” not many folds. He also affirmed that there would be only “one shepherd.” Jesus is that shepherd, and when man tries to be guided by additional shepherds, such as creeds, councils, disciplines, synods, and others, he is not in the one fold of the Good Shepherd.

Ted Parks
Vacaville, Ca.


Inside...
Page 1 - Casual Decorum | Page 2 - Encouragement By The Word
Page 3 - Prison Report | Page 4 - Old Testament Studies
Page 5 - The Good Shepherd, Part 2 | Page 6 - Inspiration of the Bible
Page 7 - Christian Evidences | Page 8 - Ready For Sex
Page 9 - Continuation | Page 10 - Continuations
Page 11 - The Children's Page | Page 12 - Continuations

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