All Scripture Is Inspired
The Holy Spirit did not have to change the prophets into machines to do this. They still wrote in the language and manner of their time. This passage in 2 Peter is about the Old Testament prophets. They usually used the Hebrew language. (The New Testament used the Greek language.) We can often see in the writing what kind of person the writer was. The Holy Spirit used all of this—the place and time, the language, and the person himself—to write exactly what God wanted. That is why Paul could be so confident in describing all Scripture in this way:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
ERV: All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.
Are you looking for “teaching” that is truly from God? Go to Scripture! Do you need “training in righteousness”? Go to Scripture! If you are mistaken and need “correcting,” go to Scripture! There God Himself guides you, so that you can return to Him. In fact Scripture is so dependable in every part that all of it is useful. It completely (”thoroughly”) prepares us for every good work.
God gave the New Testament in much the same way as He had given the Old Testament. As we shall see later in this lesson, the Holy Spirit worked in the apostles and their fellow-prophets in the early church. Their writings are also called “Scripture” (2 Peter 3:16; 1 Timothy 5:18).
The statements of the Bible itself leave no doubt. God has spoken fully and clearly through the Scriptures! Many great thinkers have written their own books. But not one of their books is like the Bible. The Bible is like a great library of 66 books. God used 40 different writers to pen these 66 books during a period of over 1,500 years.
Yet all these writings agree. They tell one story—the greatest theme of all history. Yes, this Book is “breathed” or “inspired” by the one true God Himself. The Bible is the Lord’s own book!