To answer this, I will quote two well-known passages of Scripture: “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke AS THEY WERE MOVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT” (2 Peter 1:21). “All Scripture is given by INSPIRATION OF GOD, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:16-17).

In 2 Peter 1:21 we learn that God chose certain men to speak to mankind through His Word. The Bible was NOT written according to “man’s will” which means they never had any say in the matter. Their ideas, intellect, spiritual insight or desires were not involved at all.  God chose certain “holy men” (men devoted to doing God’s will) to write the exact words He wanted them to write down and the Holy Spirit, at some point, MOVED THEM (controlled and directed them) to write down those very words. Take, for example, the FOUR GOSPELS: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. God chose those four men to write the accounts of the Lord Jesus’ birth, His ministry to Israel (including the miracles He performed), His rejection by Israel which led to His sacrificial death on the cross, and finally His victorious resurrection and glorious ascension to heaven. Those four men were blessed in being chosen to do this but as stated earlier it was “NOT their will or desire” that was involved, and the words they wrote were given to them by the Spirit of God. This is true of all the men who were used to write the rest of the New Testament (and it is also true of the men who wrote the Old Testament). And thus, the Apostle Paul could say, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

In 2 Timothy 2:16-17 we learn again that God “inspired men to write the Bible, His Holy Scriptures.” They were “inspired by God” which teaches us again that God, by the Holy Spirit, miraculously dictated to the “holy men” every word that they were to write down. We call this “VERBAL inspiration.” This means that we can “believe every word that God has spoken since God cannot lie” (Titus 1:2, Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 6:18). We also learn that everything man needs to know has been written down in the scriptures and thus there was no need for “other disciples of Jesus to be inspired to write any more books.” Every “word” has been written for our PROFIT (by teaching us all we need to know, by exposing to us what is wrong in our lives, by showing us what how to correct those wrongs, and by instructing us in every facet of our lives). The scriptures can make us complete (spiritually mature) so we are “equipped for every good work that God has for us to do” (see Ephesians 2:10).  (DO)  (652.1)