Holy Spirit in Inspiration (No. 3)
Text: (No specific text; continuation of series — II Tim. 3:16-17 governs the series)
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Topical
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Name and describe the three elements in God's divine administration and give a biblical example of each.
- State the economy principle that governs God's use of these elements: in what order does God employ natural, providential, and miraculous means?
- State the true theory of inspiration as it emerges from Section II and explain what it accounts for that the false theories could not.
- Explain the "divine economy" in inspiration: why Paul's superior education did not make him more inspired than other writers, but was used differently by the Spirit.
- Explain what the phrase "no real discrepancies, contradictions, nor errors in the original manuscripts" means — and what the qualifier "original manuscripts" acknowledges.
Thesis
The true theory of inspiration is grounded in God's consistent pattern of working through the natural, the providential, and the miraculous in a purposeful economy — never using more than the situation requires. In inspiration, the Spirit exercised a special providential and miraculous influence over both the words and thoughts of the writers. The human element was fully present; the divine guidance was fully operative; Paul's superior education was a natural resource the Spirit used, not an evidence that Paul was more inspired. No errors were in the original manuscripts.
Burden
With the false theories cleared away by the previous sermon, the true theory can be established. The true theory must account for three things simultaneously: the human element (why the writers sound different), the divine content (why the Bible contains what human observation cannot produce), and the verbal character of inspiration (why Paul says the Spirit taught the words, not only the thoughts). The three elements of divine administration — natural, providential, miraculous — together provide the framework.
Introduction
Every theory should be rejected as false that does not recognize the agency of the Holy Spirit in every word as well as in every thought of the Bible. That is the standard. The false theories exposed in the previous sermon failed to meet it. The mechanical theory recognized the Spirit's agency in every word but denied the human element; the natural theory recognized the human element but denied adequate divine agency; the noematical theory recognized the Spirit's agency in the thoughts but limited it short of the words.
The true theory must recognize both: the Spirit's agency in both the words and the thoughts; and the genuine presence of the human element throughout. How is this possible? The answer lies in understanding the three elements through which God works.
I. Three Elements in the Divine Administration
God does not work in only one way. His administration of the created order operates through three distinct elements, each appropriate to different situations, and he employs them in a consistent economy.
The natural element. This is the most visible, lying closest to the surface. God acts through certain fixed laws — the powers of nature that are constant in both the moral and physical realms. Gravity is a natural law; so is the consequence of sin described in Gal. 6:7 ("whatever a man sows, this he will also reap"). The natural element is not less divine for being regular — it is the expression of God's consistent governing of what he made.
The providential element. God's power exercised through natural laws is often increased or diminished according to his purpose. The providential element operates in and by natural law but modulates it. The care of Joseph in Egypt is the classic example: no miracle suspended the laws of nature; no angel appeared; but God guided events — the dreams, the favorable interpretations, the timing, the placement — so that the outcome was exactly what he had purposed. Joseph says it explicitly: "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen. 50:20). The natural events were real; the providential shaping of them was equally real.
The miraculous element. When natural forces are sufficient, God never uses the providential. When natural and providential together are sufficient, God never uses the miraculous. The miraculous is not the default method but the last resort — employed only when what the situation requires exceeds what natural and providential means can accomplish. When the miraculous is required, sometimes it operates through the laws of nature (as in the parting of the Red Sea through a wind — Ex. 14:21) and sometimes independently of them.
The economy principle: God employs the minimum means necessary. He does not use a miracle to accomplish what natural law can accomplish; he does not use providence to accomplish what natural law can accomplish; he uses each level only when the level below it is insufficient.
II. True Theory of Inspiration
With the three elements of divine administration established, the true theory of inspiration can be stated.
All false theories removed, the true theory becomes visible. The Spirit exercised a special providential and miraculous influence over both the words and thoughts of the writers of the Bible.
Not mechanical (pure miraculous): the writers were not passive instruments; the natural element was present — their learning, personalities, styles, and experiences were all real contributions.
Not natural: the Spirit's influence was more than the elevated impulse of natural genius; it was a special influence, providential and miraculous, that ensured the truth of what was communicated.
Not noematical: the Spirit's influence extended to the words, not only the thoughts — but through the providential and miraculous elements, not through a word-by-word dictation that would eliminate the human element.
The mysteries of how this works are not to be fully explained. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God" (Deut. 29:29). Not every detail of the Spirit's operation in inspiration is revealed; what is revealed is the result: reliable, divine truth expressed in genuine human language.
Only what is revealed matters for theology. The theology of inspiration is based on what the texts say about themselves — not on a theory of how the Spirit must have worked that goes beyond the texts.
III. Divine Economy in Inspiration
God never employs unnecessary means. This is the economy principle, and it applies to inspiration as fully as it applies to creation or providence.
God used all the natural learning and talents of the writers, as far as these could be made available. Paul's education under Gamaliel, his knowledge of Greek philosophy and rhetoric, his command of both Hebrew Scripture and Greek language — all of these were natural resources that the Spirit used. Luke's careful historical research (Luke 1:1-4 — "having investigated everything carefully from the beginning") was a natural means the Spirit employed. John's years of direct personal observation of Jesus were natural material. The Spirit did not bypass these natural contributions; he used them.
An equal degree of inspiration was not always necessary. The divine economy applies here specifically: the Spirit exercised whatever degree of influence was required to ensure truth in each case. For the revelation of divine mysteries that no human mind could discover — the mystery of redemption, the content of prophecy, the doctrinal summaries that go beyond what any observer could report — a higher degree of miraculous influence was required. For the historical records where careful investigation could produce reliable results, a lower degree was sufficient, because the natural and providential means were adequate.
Paul was better educated than other writers. This is a natural fact, not a spiritual evaluation. Paul's superior education meant that the Spirit could employ more natural means in Paul's case — his trained mind, his rhetorical skill, his philosophical vocabulary — without requiring additional miraculous influence to compensate for natural limitations. John, less educated, required more direct miraculous guidance to communicate divine content that his natural education could not supply. Both were fully inspired; the Spirit's economy adjusted to the natural resources available.
Therefore no real discrepancies, contradictions, or errors were in the original manuscripts. The conclusion follows: if the Spirit exercised whatever providential and miraculous influence was required to ensure the truth of each passage — using the natural resources where sufficient, supplementing them by providence and miracle where not — then the result is a text without the errors that uninspired human writing always contains. The qualifier "original manuscripts" is important: it acknowledges the reality that copying and transmission introduce errors; what is claimed is that the autographs — the documents the writers themselves produced — were without error, because the Spirit's guidance ensured it.
Application
The true theory of inspiration has practical consequences for how a person reads the Bible.
Recognizing the natural element means reading the human authors seriously — paying attention to what Luke reports having investigated, what Paul is arguing at the level of his trained mind, what John is communicating through his carefully chosen vocabulary. The human contribution is real and should be studied.
Recognizing the divine element means trusting the result — not treating the human diversity as evidence of error but as evidence of the Spirit's economy: using the variety of human instruments to produce a unity of divine truth.
Recognizing that God never uses more than necessary should produce a specific kind of confidence: the text is not more miraculous than it needed to be; but it is exactly as miraculous as it needed to be to be reliable.
Conclusion
The true theory: the Spirit exercised a special providential and miraculous influence over both the words and thoughts of the writers. The human element was genuine; the divine guidance was sufficient; the economy of God's administration ensured that no more and no less than what the situation required was employed. The result is a text without errors in the originals — not because the writers were superhuman but because the Spirit ensured the truth of what they wrote.
Invitation
The book about which this series has been concerned is the same book that contains the invitation: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16:31), "Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins" (Acts 2:38). The reliability of the inspiration is the ground of the confidence with which the invitation can be trusted. Believe. Repent. Confess. Be baptized. The book that is reliable says these things are required; they are therefore required.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | pronoia | Forethought, foresight — pro (before) + noia (mind). The providential care of God over creation. | Used conceptually in Section I for the second element of divine administration: the modulation of natural laws according to God's purpose. | The Joseph narrative is the classic example: no miracle, but God's providential shaping of natural events to accomplish his purpose. In inspiration, providential influence describes the Spirit's guidance that operated through and with the natural faculties of the writers, without overriding them. | Gen. 50:20; Acts 24:2 |
| Economy | oikonomia | Administration, stewardship — the management of a household on behalf of its owner. | Used in Section III for the principle that God never employs unnecessary means: natural → providential → miraculous, in order of necessity. | The economy of God's administration is the key to the true theory of inspiration: the Spirit used the natural resources of the writers where they were sufficient; supplemented them providentially and miraculously where they were not. Equal inspiration does not mean identical miraculous intervention. | Eph. 1:10; I Cor. 9:17 |
| Inerrancy | (Conceptual — no single Greek term) | The property of being without error. | Used in Section III: "no real discrepancies, contradictions, nor errors were in the original manuscripts." | Inerrancy is the result of the inspiration: because the Spirit exercised whatever influence was required to ensure truth, the autographs were without error. The claim is limited to the originals because the Spirit's guidance extended to the writers, not to every subsequent copyist. | II Tim. 3:16; Prov. 30:5-6 |
| Miraculous | dynamis | Power — often used for the acts that display power beyond the ordinary course of nature. | Used in Section I for the third element of divine administration: direct divine intervention that operates independently of natural law when required. | In inspiration, miraculous influence was exercised where neither the natural faculties of the writers nor providential guidance of circumstances was sufficient to communicate what needed to be communicated — the revelation of divine mysteries that no human mind could discover. | Acts 1:8; I Cor. 2:9-10 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph's care in Egypt — providential element | I.2c | Gen. 50:20 |
| "You meant evil; God meant it for good" | I.2c | Gen. 50:20 |
| "The secret things belong to the LORD" — mysteries not fully explained | II.2 | Deut. 29:29 |
| Luke's careful investigation — natural element used by Spirit | III.2 | Luke 1:1-4 |
| "I have investigated everything carefully from the beginning" | III.2 | Luke 1:3 |
| "Words taught by the Spirit" — Spirit's work extended to words | II.4 | I Cor. 2:13 |
| "All Scripture is inspired by God" — no errors in original manuscripts | III.5 | II Tim. 3:16 |
| Baptism for remission | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 164. Primary text: none stated; continuation of series (II Tim. 3:16-17 governs). This is No. 3 of a four-part series on the Holy Spirit in Inspiration. OCR corrections: "lll." → "III."; "Providential" capitalized consistently. Doctrinal audit: the three elements of divine administration (natural, providential, miraculous) developed as a framework for the true theory — this is a sound epistemological structure used by Restoration movement writers; the economy principle preserved — God does not use more than necessary; inerrancy affirmed for the original manuscripts with appropriate acknowledgment of textual transmission realities; the true theory does not collapse into verbal dictation (the natural element is preserved) or natural inspiration (the divine element is preserved); invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
