Uninspired

We know that all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16-17). God-breathed. Superintended by the Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). Got it. It's the reason we refer to Scripture as "inerrant." Not because it's really well written. It's because God breathed it and God doesn't make mistakes. So we know that our Bibles contain the Word of God. Now, if you're paying attention, you will notice that you just heard the most popular weasel words that people use when they talk about Scripture as errant. "Scripture," they say, "contains the Word of God." The trick then is to determine which parts of Scripture do and which parts don't. I, however, didn't say that. I said our Bibles contain the Word of God. That's because it is absolutely certain that not everything in our Bibles is inspired Scripture.

"Like what?" Good question. First, English. No Hebrew or Greek texts contain English. Okay, okay, that's not a good example, but we do understand that there are difficulties in translation and we need to keep that in mind. How about something else? Punctuation. The writers of our Bibles did not use punctuation ... especially not English punctuation. So, for instance, Paul wrote,

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him (Eph 1:7-9)

Some translations leave "In all wisdom and insight" in verse 8 and some put it as the beginning of verse 9. Which is it? It doesn't change a lot, but that punctuation is not inspired. Here's my favorite pet peeve on the subject -- chapter breaks. Scripture does not come with chapter breaks. That was added after for our convenience. The problem is, it breaks things up that shouldn't be. Like Ephesians 2 that begins "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1). Surely anyone can see that the sentence begins with "and," so the thought began previously. Breaking it up like this makes it easy to point to, but it breaks up the meaning. So we miss the point of Ephesians 2:1-7.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians that he was praying for them (Eph 1:15-23). He had three requests for them, the last one being that they would know experientially "what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe" (Eph 1:19). What power? The power that raised Christ from the dead and raised Him to the top (Eph 1:20-23). "And ..." That conjunction continues the thought. You were dead in your sins, and God "raised us with Him (Eph 2:6). The same power. The same surpassingly great power. But the chapter break tends to break up our reading, and we can miss that so easily. All Scripture is God breathed and inerrant. Don't let the parts that aren't in the originals throw you. Do your due diligence. Those are not inspired. Maybe just perspired.