Spiritual Hygiene
So, you’re at the dentist. And if you’re like me, you’ve postponed the appointment at least once, and now the plan is to simply survive the scraping, scratching and stretching, and get on with your day (full disclosure: I do enjoy picking the toothpaste flavor and receiving the little blue gift bag). But I realized something recently: I can avoid most of the pain and discomfort by taking better care of my teeth between visits. What a novel idea! This conclusion is nothing new. It’s not news-worthy or surprising. So why did it take so long for so many of us to realize this? It’s not because we didn’t know better. It’s because being disciplined is hard, and if we are honest, it just wasn’t worth it before.
God-breathed
Scripture is (literally) breathed out (spoken) by God. A better translation for “inspired…” (theo-pnuestos) in 2 Tim. 3:16 is actually “expiated of God.”
The Bible is, at the same time, an extremely human book and an undeniablydivine book.There is a sort of “Dual Authorship.” The author’s personalities and even writing styles are preserved. All but a couple biblical authors/writers were known to be common men with no rabbinic training. But the Bible is ultimately a divine book. Despite merely human authorship, they spoke and wrote for God while never being self-conscious about it, making around 4,000 claims to be writing and speaking the very words of God.