Blake Long

The Bible is a book—or a collection of books—unlike any other. It is holy, set apart, other-worldly. Scripture is not just any ancient, historical document. There is far more to it than that.

What makes the Bible different—what makes it holy!—is the Author. Holy Scripture is authored, ultimately, by God Himself. Yes, more than 40 authors wrote the text of Scripture, from Moses and Paul, Solomon and Peter, to John and Luke. That’s certainly part of the reason why the Bible is so unique: all these different writers form a cohesive message in the grand redemptive story.

But more than anything, the Bible is different from other works of literature because it speaks. Reading the newspaper perhaps will inform me of yesterday’s news, but won’t transform me. Perusing the periodicals of the day will entertain me, but doesn’t speak authoritatively over my life. Even the most popular book on the market isn’t going to be 100% accurate. Reading self-help books might help me change a few habits, but it doesn’t have the words of eternal life within them.

That is why the Bible is different. It speaks clearly, authoritatively, infallibly, and supernaturally.

The Bible speaks clearly. Many claim that Scripture is not clear and is full of contractions. This is not so. For example, take the supposed contradiction of Paul and James. In his epistles, the Apostle Paul is making the point that justification is by faith alone. Nothing more, nothing less. In the letter that bears his name, James is not writing that works are an integral part of salvation; he’s not arguing that one must work to be saved. No, James is explaining that works reveal one’s salvation. (There’s more to this, to be sure, but that’s another blog for another day.)

These two coincide with each other. They’re either side of the same coin.

But this is the connection to the problem of many saying, “That’s just your interpretation.” Sure, we all interpret the Bible, but that doesn’t mean Scripture is not understandable.

“The clarity of Scripture does not deny that some passages of Scripture are difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:15-16),” a Ligonier Ministries devotional writes. “It does mean that anyone who studies the Word of God can discern the basic message of salvation and what it means to please the Lord.”

The Bible speaks authoritatively. What Scripture says, goes. The Bible has authority over my life because God is the author of Scripture. I breathe, I eat, I drink, I work, I play — I do all things in accordance with Scripture, albeit imperfectly.

Scripture is the ultimate authority—which, by the way, is the whole point of sola Scriptura—because it’s breathed out by God (1 Tim. 3:16-17). Its authority reveals itself in that we need Scripture in our day-to-day lives (Matt. 4:4).

When the Bible speaks, God speaks. And when God speaks, He does so with divine authority.

The Bible speaks infallibly. Scripture is perfect, without error. For the Bible to be infallible, it not only means that Scripture never errs in its claims, but that it’s simply not possible for it to do so.

God so guided the human authors of the Bible in a way that reveals their unique personalities and writing styles, yet does so in a way that preserves the validity, truthfulness, and infallibility of the text. In other words, God spoke through the human authors to ensure that what was written through them was not erroneous. It was impossible because God orchestrated it all. The Bible is God’s words to us.

When the Bible speaks, it does so infallibly.

The Bible speaks supernaturally. Scripture speaks supernaturally, again, because it is God-breathed. If the Bible wasn’t inspired by God, it would be just any other book, and certainly wouldn’t be supernatural. But the Scripture 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” (Heb. 4:12).

Scripture “discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart” because of the God of Scripture. God knows our hearts, He examines our motives, He understands when we’re being genuine or fake. We can’t hide from God, and that’s when He uses the supernatural Scripture to convict us through the work and power of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible is a treasure. Amidst a society that despises God and His Word, we must stick to the truthfulness of Scripture and let it speak. Because the Bible does speak, it has the ability to bring sinners home through the reading of the gospel.