LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1965, Page 294

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294 SUPPLEMENT TO CTCR REPORT

clare to Jacob his transgression” (Micah 3:8). The
Spirit of the Lord falls upon the prophet and enables
him to say, “Thus says the Lord” (Ezek.11:5). When
Ezra looks back over the history of God’s people, he
confesses: “Thou ... didst warn them by Thy Spirit
through the prophets” (Neh. 9:30; ef. 9:20, “Thou gav-
est Thy good Spirit to instruct them”).

13. It is difficult to draw a sharp line between inspi-
ration and revelation. The inspired prophetic and apos-
tolic word, the Scripture inspired by God, is the word
by which God’s revelation reaches man, for through
this word God makes known His will to man and makes
His will count in the life of man. That is why this word
is “profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16) as is no human word, no
matter how good and wise it may be. It does for man
what man cannot do for himself. It is profitable “for
teaching”; it brings man into the presence of God, makes
known to him the work and will of God. It is useful
“for reproof”; it brings sinful man low, it makes him
bow before the holy God; it works repentance. It is
useful for “correction” (“restoration”); it raises man
up and lets him stand before his God. It is useful for
‘4raining”: it takes the life of man in hand, lays on him
the kindly yoke of the Son of God, and makes man
a servant of God “equipped for every good work.” It
works sanctification (2 Tim. 3:16). The inspired word
does what only the Spirit of God can do; it makes man
““wise unto salvation” (2 Tim. 3:15).

E. The Spirit of God and the Word of God

14. The Spirit gives the revealing word, and He
works through the revealing word. Inspiration is ver-
bal inspiration. In this connection it is worth noting that
many references to a word of God in the Scriptures are,
at bottom, a witness to inspiration; for the Scriptures
again and again say of the word of God just what they
say of the Spirit of God; “word” and “Spirit” are pic-
tured as doing the same work of God. According to the
Scriptures the Spirit is active in the creation of the
world; so is the word (Gen. 1:2; cf. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, etc.; Ps.
33:9; 148:5). The Spirit of God works the new creation;
so does the word: When Jesus proclaims “the acceptable
year of the Lord,” the year of jubilee begins. It is there.
“Today,” Jesus tells His hearers, “this scripture has
been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:18-21). The
Spirit of God is the source of the prophet’s power; so
is God’s word. Ezekiel, for example, says that the
Spirit of the Lord “fell upon” him, and so he could say:
“Thus says the Lord” (Ezek. 11:5). Jeremiah says, “The
word of the Lord came to me”; thus he was enabled
to say, “Thus says the Lord” (Jer. 1:1, 2). Both proph-
ets are describing the same act of God.

So in the New Testament also. The angel Gabriel
says concerning John the Baptist: “He will be filled with
Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:15); St. Luke says, “The word of
the Lord came to John.” They are both saying: John
is “the prophet of the Most High” (Luke 1:76); through
John God gives “knowledge of salvation to His people
in the forgiveness of their sins’ (Luke 1:77). When

Paul calls his apostolic preaching the word of God
(1 Thess. 2:13), he is saying the same thing as when he
says that he has received the Spirit and speaks in words
taught by the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:12, 13). “Word” and
“Spirit” are closely linked in the thought and language
of the Scriptures. The combination of “verbal” and
“inspiration” is a fitting and natural one.

15. The inspired words of the Holy Scriptures are
all in the service of the one Word of God, the Word that
became flesh and dwelt among us; they are all refrac-
tions and reflections of the one Light of the world. The
one great task of the Spirit is to glorify the Christ. By
the power of the Spirit working in words we can hear
the incarnate Word; we can confess and proclaim:
“Jesus is Lord.”

A STATEMENT ON THE INERRANCY
OF THE SCRIPTURES

1. God in the Holy Scriptures speaks to us in many
and various ways. His written word uses many forms
of human speech, from sober straightforward narrative
to the picture language of poetry and the symbolism of
numbers. He speaks of the glories of the world to come
in the language and images of this world, language and
images that we can grasp. He graciously comes down
to our level and speaks of Himself in terms of our human
life and experience. In defining the inerrancy of the
Scriptures we must therefore keep the definition broad
enough to cover all this variety of divine speech in
human form.

2. The Lutheran Symbols confess the inerrancy of
the Scriptures with simple and forceful words: “They
will not lie to you” (Large Catechism, V. 76, in The Book
of Concord, ed. Tappert, p. 455; compare also the For-
mula of Concord, Epitome, VIII, 13, ed. Tappert, p. 483;
Large Catechism, IV, Baptism, 57, ed. Tappert, p. 444).
When we make that confession our own, our faith,
a faith created by the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures
themselves, expresses the conviction that the witness
of Scripture in all its parts in their intended sense is
true and wholly reliable. These words of the Scriptures
are inerrant because they are inspired by God — words
taught by the Holy Spirit, written by men moved by
the Holy Spirit. These inspired words in all their vari-
ous forms are the word of God. They are true and will
not lead astray, but will accomplish the purpose for
which God gave them. In them the church hears the
very voice of the God of her salvation.

3. Certain aspects of inerrancy need further study.
We should study the inspired, inerrant Scriptures with
the question in mind: Just how does the Holy Spirit
make use of the various forms of language and literature
in order to do His work, to make men “wise unto salva-
tion”? Further study of the inerrancy of the Scriptures
should include an examination of the various forms of
language and literature employed by the inspired au-
thors. This involves a more comprehensive study of
hermeneutics, or principles of interpretations. The Com-
mission on Theology and Church Relations is proposing

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