Articles

Question: “I heard an artist on the radio the other day say he was inspired by God to write a song. Is there a difference between his song being inspired and God’s Word being inspired?”

Answer: There is a big difference.  When the Bible says “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16), the Greek word for “inspired” literally means “God-breathed.” It is referring to the mysterious process by which God worked through specific individuals to produce an inerrant and divinely authoritative message.  Though the Scripture doesn’t explain specifically how this occurred, it does say: “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation (origin), for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (II Peter 1:20–21).  

Scripture didn’t originate on the human level but when the Holy Spirit “moved” upon the authors as they recorded it. “Moved” is a nautical term that describes the effects of wind upon a ship as it blows against its sails and moves it through the water. Similarly, the Spirit moved on the Biblical writers to produce God’s word to man.

The artist’s song is not "inspired" in the same sense as Scripture.  Men and women can be led today by the Holy Spirit to obey God's word and to be guided by the Holy Spirit to make right decisions in accordance with Scripture; if not, they grieve or quench the Holy Spirit.  However, for anyone to claim they are divinely inspired is to make the same heretical mistake Montanus made in the second century when he claimed he could add to the word of God his prophecies.    

Some preachers today claim they have additional revelation from God equal to Scripture, which is the claim of the pope when he speaks ex-cathedra.  However, if the Lord is inspiring these individuals as He inspired Scripture then Biblical texts such Hebrews 1 are wrong and Scripture is unnecessary, because all man would have to do is go to these divinely “inspired” individuals to discover the latest and greatest messages from God.  Religious cults were started by individuals who claimed to be divinely inspired with messages that added to (and contradicted) Scripture. 

Some use the term "inspired" to refer to an emotional experience they’ve had or when they feel particularly creative as in the case of the artist, but this is not the proper use of the word in a Biblical context. They are simply trying to add significance to their creative efforts by claiming the Holy Spirit was guiding them. However, when someone claims God “inspired” them to say something or to write something they believe has divine authority equal to or superior to scripture, they have crossed the line into heresy.  Therefore, when you hear some preacher claim divine inspiration and he says, “God told me” the next words out of his mouth had better be Scripture, or you need to beware of such heresy.