Thoughts: The Holy Spirit who came upon and overshadowed the virgin Mary (1:35) at the incarnation of the Living Word, Jesus; is the same Holy Spirit that Peter talked about as inspiring the written Word. Peter, in contrast to what secular or unbelieving scholars say, says that scripture is not simply a human writing. Of course, such a statement is a statement of faith. When the writer of 2 Peter wrote this, he probably had no idea that his own writings would be seen as scripture. Yet the writer writes as if describing his own personal experience- "carried along by the Holy Spirit." (NRSV- "men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."). The Spirit didn't just breathe on them, but moved or carried them to write using their grammar, their background, their language skills.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, give me ears to hear you speaking to me in your Word today. Inspire me through your inspired Word to be like the Word Incarnate- Jesus.
I. God’s Word: The Authority for Our Confession
The clearest declaration of God’s glory is found in His Word,
both incarnate and written. The Son eternally proceeds from
the Father as His Word, the full expression of the Father’s
nature, and since in the incarnation the Word became flesh all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are offered to His disciples
The written Word grants us those treasures, proclaims
the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, and graciously teaches all that
is necessary for faith and life. We glorify God by recognizing
and receiving His authoritative self-revelation, both in
the infallible Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
and also in the incarnation of God the Son. We affirm that
the same Holy Spirit who overshadowed the virgin Mary also
inspired the writing and preservation of the Scriptures. The
Holy Spirit testifies to the authority of God’s Word and illumines
our hearts and minds so that we might receive both the
Scriptures and Christ Himself aright.
No comments:
Post a Comment