2 Peter 1:21—“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

Peter writes these words to anchor the church’s confidence in the origin and authority of Scripture. In a world already troubled by false teachers (2 Pet. 2), he draws a sharp line between human opinion and divine revelation. Prophecy, which is God’s revealed Word, did not arise from human initiative, creativity, or religious impulse. It was “not…by the will of man.”

This verse confronts a subtle danger in every generation: the tendency to treat Scripture as the product of gifted personalities rather than the voice of God. Peter reminds us that the prophets were not religious innovators but instruments. They did not speak from themselves; they spoke from God.

Yet Peter also preserves the mystery and dignity of God’s servants. He says, “holy men of God spake.” God did not bypass human agency. He sanctified it. The prophets spoke with their own voices, vocabularies, and historical settings, but they were “moved by the Holy Ghost.” The word “moved” pictures a ship carried along by the wind. The sailors are active, but the power driving the vessel is not theirs.

This truth calls us to humility and confidence in the Scriptures. Humility, because no preacher, teacher, or believer speaks with authority apart from God’s Word. Confidence, because the Scriptures we hold are not uncertain reflections of human thought but the reliable revelation of the living God.

If God has spoken by His Spirit, our calling is not to edit or evaluate His Word, but to receive it with reverence, trust it with confidence, and obey it with submission.