2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “all scripture is breathed out by God” and therefore God is the ultimate author and source of every word in scripture. There were over forty authors writing with their own unique styles and yet every one of them was guided by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21 says that, “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” God’s Spirit was at work in the authors so that every word they wrote was exactly as God intended. Some books, like the letters of Paul, clearly identify the author. In those cases, it is helpful to read their writing in light of their individual biographies. It enhances your understanding of Paul’s letters to know what was happening in his life when he wrote and where he was writing from. Paul, like the other authors of the Bible, served as God’s instrument reveal God’s words to humanity. Paul himself writes, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” The Bible is the Word of God and therefore not the invention of any man.
Scripture also gives us glimpses into the process of inspiration when it records moments where God told someone to write something down. In Exodus 17:14 God told Moses to, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua.” And in Isaiah 30:8 God tells the prophet, “And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever.” And in the New testament we see the example of John being instructed to write down what he sees in Revelation 1:11.
Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Jesus, who is the Word, has given us his Word as the final and complete revelation of God until we see him face to face. Until that time the Bible is our absolute authority and the primary way in which God speaks to believers. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” No book of mere human authorship can make that same claim. The Bible is unlike any other book, and the only book which reveals God to us.