Answer: Many people in religious circles believe that the Bible is inspired by God. They believe what Paul said about this. But no one investigates whether Paul had any basis for this statement. They have such a view all because they worship Paul too much and have too much blind faith in Paul. Has anyone considered whether Paul’s statement conforms with God’s word? Is it supported by the words of the Lord Jesus? Are there words of the Holy Spirit as proof? People use Paul’s words to blindly conclude that the Bible is entirely inspired by God. Does this conform with the Lord’s word, conform with the truth? If this statement by Paul is corroborated by the words of the Lord Jesus or the Holy Spirit, then we should accept and obey that, which is completely in line with the Lord’s intentions. But we all know very clearly that Paul used to resist God and oppose the Lord Jesus. It’s a recognized fact that he was the ringleader of the opposition against the Lord Jesus’ work. Even though the Lord Jesus chose Paul as an apostle to spread the gospel, Paul is still a created creature. Therefore, his words are undoubtedly all the words of a man. The Lord Jesus is God, while all of the Lord Jesus’ apostles and disciples are men. The apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus cannot be compared to the Lord Jesus Himself. If they are not supported by the words of the Lord Jesus or the Holy Spirit, then no matter what man says, we cannot accept them blindly. Otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable. Thinking back to the time when the Pharisees resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus, many people rejected the Lord Jesus because they followed the Pharisees. They were eliminated and condemned precisely because they resisted the Lord Jesus. Have we not absorbed these lessons? Actually, in the Bible, only the words of Jehovah God, the words spoken by the Lord Jesus, the words of the Holy Spirit, the words of God conveyed by the prophets, and the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, are God’s word. Apart from that, it’s all the records and letters of man. These all count as testimonies of God’s work and have a need to be recorded in the Bible, but we must not treat man’s words as the word of God. Man’s words are man’s words, and only God’s words are truly the word of God. If we insist that the words of man and Satan in the Bible are the word of God, then that’s slandering and blaspheming God! Therefore, the saying that “All scripture is inspired by God and is all the word of God”, does not conform with the facts.
Answer: In the past, we used to treat the words of apostles like Paul as the word of God and go by Paul's word to believe in the Lord and work for the Lord. We went by Paul’s word even with the matter of the Lord’s return, but cast aside the Lord Jesus’ word. Wasn’t this a problem after all? When we believe in God, should we listen to the word of God or man? As for the word of Paul in the Bible, was it the word of God or man? As far as how to distinguish whether it is the word of God or man, let us first set it aside. But we can be certain that the words of Jehovah and the Lord Jesus in the Bible are the words of God. No one can deny this. The words of apostles like Paul were definitely the words of man. Even with the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, those were still the words of man, absolutely not the word of God. It is because neither the Lord Jesus nor the Holy Spirit had witnessed that the word of apostles, like Paul, was the word of God. Even the apostles themselves did not say what they had written was the word of God. Isn’t this the fact? The words of man in the Bible are the words of man and cannot be regarded as the word of God, let alone be used as the basis as if they were God’s word because some of man’s words originated from the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit while some were mixed with human will. They were not the expression of the truth. If we treat the word of man as the truth, it is easy to cause confusion and lead to nowhere for man. Why did thousands of denominations appear throughout the religious community? The root cause is because man has interpreted the word of man in the Bible as the word of God, giving rise to such serious confusion. About the matter of entering into the kingdom of heaven, we should only go by the Lord Jesus’ word as final because the Lord Jesus is the incarnate Christ. Only the Lord Jesus is the Savior. The word of the Lord Jesus is the truth. Only the word of the Lord Jesus has authority. Paul was only a man. He was not Christ. He could not express the truth. So it was unavoidable that his word was blended with man’s will and imagination. Even Paul dared not say his word was inspired by God, not to mention his letters being the word of God. Wouldn’t it be absurd if we regard the word of Paul as God’s word? So whether we are obedient to God’s will or qualified to be brought into the kingdom of heaven or not, we should go by the Lord Jesus’ word alone for introspection and pursuit of the truth in order to find the right answer.