Read 2 Timothy 3:16–17

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful
to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.
It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:16–17)

The difficult times in which we live will try everything possible to persuade us to doubt God’s Word. Science, philosophy, psychology, and sometimes even shades of theology will be held out as proof that “people no longer accept the Bible as inspired.” But they do. Paul did. So did Jesus. Many of us still do.

While there are numerous objective facts that support, and some would even argue prove, that the Bible is inspired, in the end we each find ourselves kneeling by a stump and trusting the wisdom of our infinite God over the limitations of human intellect. Without apology, without embarrassment, and without committing intellectual suicide, we believe by faith that God’s Word is what it says it is. An awakened church stands firm on the inspired Word of God.

The Bible declares its inspiration: “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). The words all Scripture literally mean “every individual writing.” That’s every word in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. And to the degree that our modern translations accurately render the original text, they, too, are authoritative. All Scripture. That means that all parts are equally inspired.

If you carry a red-letter edition, the text in red isn’t more inspired than the black print surrounding it. The red letters represent the words of Jesus, but they are no more inspired than the Epistles of Paul, the writings of Moses, or the book of Revelation. The written Word of God comprises all Scripture. That includes the Old Testament, by the way. Just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean that the Gospel of Luke is more inspired than the book of Leviticus. You may have to work harder to glean the timeless truths from Leviticus, but they are just as relevant for you. Why? Because Leviticus—and all Scripture—is “inspired by God.”

Taken from The Church Awakening by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2010 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Faith Words, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.