The Integrity of the Word

A study of any subject in the Word of God usually involves quite a few verses.  And prosperity is no exception.  It'll take some time to go through them, but it'll be well worth while.  First, however, there's something we really should look at to set the stage, so to speak.

These verses talk about how one may become wise.  Notice it does not say, "smart."  "Smart" implies intelligence − the ability to know and correlate facts.  Wisdom is knowledge applied − what to do about a situation.  If God had meant "smart" He would have said "smart."  He's got that word in His vocabulary.

Notice also that it doesn't say, "wise unto the world."  It says, "wise unto salvation."  And it says that it is the holy scriptures that are able to make one wise unto salvation − not your favorite magazine, not the TV, not your neighbor, not your clergy, not even your church doctrine.  The holy scriptures are able to make one wise unto salvation.

In verse 16, the words "given by inspiration of God" are at best a poor translation.  They seem to imply that God gave someone the idea to write a portion of scripture, and that person wrote what he thought best.  Is that what God did?  Is that how we got the Bible?  Get out your Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and look up those words.  (For those of you who don't have one, you can get one at any Bible bookstore.  It's a great investment if you want to know what God really says in His Word.)

Looking up the word "given" we find that after the entry, in the place where the number of the Greek word should be, there is only a star − no number, not even ditto marks, just an asterisk (*).  (Some editions have only a blank.)  What does that mean?

Looking up the word "inspiration" we find "*2315" or "2315."  Looking up the word "God" we find "2315."  What's going on?  How can "God" and "inspiration" both be the same word?

Go to the Greek dictionary (in the back of the concordance) and look up word 2315.  It's the Greek word "θεοπνευστος," transliterated (written in the English alphabet) "theopneustos," and it comes from 2316, "θεος" (theos), meaning "God," and a presumed derivative of 4154, "πνεω" (pneo), which means, "to breathe."  Literally it means, "God-breathed."

The last item in the listing is not a definition, and please don't ever take it as such.  That'll get you more and more confused the more you study.  It is, and should only be taken as, what the word was translated as, i.e., what the translators thought that word should mean at that place in the Bible.  It is included in the dictionary so that you can find all uses of that Greek word, thus enabling you to study that word and find out how God uses it.

In my copy of Strong's, all of the words given as definitions (what Strong thinks they mean) are in italics (with added words in regular type).  Then there is a colon, followed by a dash, and then a listing in regular type of all the ways the word is translated in the King James.  "Theopneustos" only appears in the original text once, and the King James translates it as, "given by inspiration of God."

I'm not saying that I don't see how they got that; I'm saying that there are several much better translations.  This is a very important point; one that, because most people miss it, causes no end of confusion about the Word of God.  In fact, man's greatest spiritual problem is lack of believing in the integrity and accuracy of the Word of God.  Let me say it another way.  The greatest secret in the world today is that the Bible is the revealed Word and Will of God.

Look, when someone is inspired to write a book, what happens?  Well, the inspiration gives him the idea, and he thinks up the words and writes them down.  Sometimes he rewrites them several times.  That's not how we got the Bible!

If the scripture is God-breathed, then God must have spoken the words.  (That's the only way you can breathe scripture.)  So "theopneustos" could be, "spoken by God."  But if that's how it should be translated, why didn't God have it written that way?  After all, God has those words in His vocabulary.

Using the word "theopneustos" makes this a figure of speech.  God did that for emphasis.  (That's what figures of speech are for.)  A figure of speech is an expression that is not literally true to fact, but gives a better understanding than the literal fact would.  In our modern world people often refer to a half truth as a "figure of speech," but true figures of speech are precise and exact and each one has a name.  There are 212 different figures of speech used in the Bible and as many as forty varieties under one figure.

The figure we're dealing with here is called in the Latin, "condescencio," meaning "condescension," and in the Greek, "anthropopathia," meaning "pathos of man."  The Hebrew calls it "derech benai adam," meaning "ways of the sons of men."  It is God expressing what He does in human terms so that we can understand Him.  It always paints a picture that's more true to fact than the literal expression would be.  God doesn't have a body, so He doesn't literally breathe.  But we do so we understand better because of this figure of speech.

By God saying that the scriptures are God-breathed, He's saying not only that He spoke the words, but that they didn't just come off the top of His head.  Each word came from the depth of His being.  And we desperately need to treat them as such.  That's the point people are missing.

Often I've heard people say, "Peter said ...," "Paul said ...," "In John's gospel ..."  Wait a minute!  If it's God's Word then Peter didn't say; Paul didn't say; it's not John's gospel.  God said!  It's God's gospel!  God is the Author!  And the writers wrote exactly what He told them to write.

Let me give you some more verses on the subject.

The Word of God didn't come by the will of man.  People didn't think it up!  God breathed every word of it from the depth of His being and holy men of God wrote those words down.

The Bible didn't come from man; it came to man by revelation.  Therefore, it is revelation!  Right from the depths of God's being!

Now let's look at 2 Timothy 3:16 again.  Incorporating the information we just discovered about the Greek, from which the King James was translated, it reads:

(By the way, the words in italics in the King James are not for emphasis.  They are italicized to indicate that they were added by the translators.)

If the Bible is really God-breathed, then He spoke every word to someone who wrote it down.  It didn't come from the man's mind at all; he just wrote it down like a secretary takes dictation.  Then what right do we have to interpret it?  Where do we get off trying to understand it in light of our experiences or in light of what we think?  We need to let the Word of God speak for itself; we need to let it interpret itself.  And then we need to align our thinking with the Word, not the other way around.

Through research we've discovered that all scripture interprets itself in one or more of three ways:

We'll need to use each of these ways as we study, so let's start with the first.

To allow the scripture to interpret itself in the verse, we must first read exactly what's written.  We cannot add anything, delete anything, or change anything.  (If we do, we will no longer have the Word of God.)  At times we need to look at the Greek from which the King James was translated, because it's closer to the original, but most of the time we just need to read it correctly.

To do that we ask ourselves several questions:

(The last two are because of differences in culture.)

Now look at 2 Timothy again.

Verse 16 also gives the profit of the Word of God − "and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:."  Godly doctrine, reproof, and correction is instruction in righteousness.  This is not saying that we follow the Bible so that we can be more righteous.  Nor is it saying that when we sin we're less righteous.  It's saying that we need the doctrine, reproof, and correction of the Word in order to be able to get the greatest blessing from the righteousness that God gave us when we were born again.  (See Romans 10:9&10.)

Verse 17 gives the purpose of the Word − "That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."  This does not mean that we should be religious or goody-two-shoes or anything of the kind.  It doesn't mean that we should put ourselves or anyone else under the law, nor does it mean that we should follow a religion of works.  And it certainly doesn't mean that we should go around pointing out other people's faults.

The word "perfect" is Strong's word number 739, "αρτιος" (artios), meaning "fresh" or "complete."  The phrase, "throughly furnished" is word 1822, "εξαρτιζω" (exartizo), which is a derivative of 739 (artios), and means, "to equip fully."  These two words are used in secular literature of a ship that's fully outfitted for its voyage.  It has everything on board necessary to handle any situation that may arise, including emergencies.

So the purpose of the Word of God is that we may be complete and fully equipped unto all good works.  Health and prosperity are part of the equipment that God wants us to have in our lives, along with the manifestations, the fruit of the spirit, and several other things.  These things are not optional; we need them in order to be able to do God's Will!

So the Bible didn't come from man; it came to man by revelation.  Therefore, it is revelation!  Right from the depths of God's heart!

Ok, if that's true, then does 3 John 2 say that John wishes Gaius to prosper and be in health?  In one sense, yes, because John obviously agreed with God or he wouldn't have written that.  But there's a deeper meaning here.  God dictated that to John (or whoever wrote that epistle) to write to another believer.  There's nothing in the Bible to indicate that Gaius was anyone special − just that he was a believer.  Since God is no respecter of persons, and since God had those words written in His Word so that we could be fully equipped unto all good works, and since we are in the same administration, then that is what God wants for us.  Do you see the promise there?

Back to the Prosperity teaching.

By Jeffrey Moore, Southern California

Copyright © 1993 - 2012, Jeffrey Moore