According to 2 Timothy 3:16, all scripture is God-breathed. Also, according to a recent study by the Barna Group, “More people have more questions about the origins, relevance, and authority of the Scriptures….the steady rise of skepticism is creating a cultural atmosphere that is becoming unfriendly—sometimes even hostile to claims of faith….It is an increasingly hard pill to swallow that an eclectic assortment of ancient stories, poems, sermons, prophecies and letters, written and compiled over 3,000 years is somehow the sacred Word of God.”
Believers today walk by faith and hold that the entirety of scripture, Genesis to Revelation, is literally God-breathed. When Paul told that to young Timothy, he would’ve been referring primarily to the 39 books of the original Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. But also by the time Paul wrote Timothy, the accounts and teachings of Jesus were recorded by eyewitnesses, and respected as “scripture”. In 1 Timothy 5:18 Paul quotes 2 scriptures, one from Deuteronomy and another, Jesus’ words from Luke chapter 10, proving Paul had access to Luke’s gospel. He considered the words Jesus spoke to be on par with Deuteronomy, or any other book of the Old Testament. In 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter acknowledges Paul’s letters were written “with the wisdom that God gave him” and he groups them along with “other scriptures”.
2 Peter 1:20 tells us that prophecy in Scripture never came from the prophets themselves, but that it was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God. Interestingly, the word for Spirit and the word for breath are the same word in the original language!—don’t miss the connection between the breath of God and the Holy Spirit of God.
Although 40 different authors wrote the Bible, it’s all God-breathed. Where the Bible speaks, God speaks.
In John chapter 20, Jesus, risen from the dead, appears to the disciples and says “Peace be with you!” He shows them his scars and they’re overjoyed to see him. Then the resurrected Lord does something interesting. He says, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Then Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
The breath of Jesus is no ordinary breath. He exhaled and gifted his beloved friends with a comforter-counselor, who would strengthen and encourage them to the end of the age. When we read that Scripture is God-breathed, think of it alive with the wisdom, power, and authority of eternal God.
Hebrews 4 describes the Word of God as both living and active. Oh Christian, in the pages of scripture, our God, He is alive.
Donielle Winter
EFCC Member