Why should I live my life according to what some book says? Why should I listen to it, especially when that book is over 2,000 years old and some of the parts of it contain things that happened 6000+ years ago? Why should my wants, desires, and actions be shaped by a piece of literature that was written by people who couldn’t have imagined the world that we live in today? How can I really completely follow a book that talks about a sea parting before people’s eyes, 3 year droughts, people coming back from the dead, and demons being driven out of people and into pigs? You see, these are just a few of the many questions that we face today when trying to convey the importance of Scripture when it comes to our daily lives. The scary part is that many times, these are the types of questions that we get from our Christian friends. Our non-Christian friends don’t even ask us these things, because they’ve already dismissed all of Scripture as laughable many times. Our Christian friends will say, “Yes, I believe in God and I believe in Jesus, but the Bible is just so outdated and irrelevant in today’s world.” I can’t begin to tell you the number of times that I’ve heard this quote in almost this exact wording. Even worse, I can’t begin to give you even a glimpse into the heresies and fallacies that have come about as scholars, pastors, and some neo-theologians have sought to update Scripture into our modern context. They think that the message is still in there somewhere, but that somehow it needs our help in becoming applicable in today’s world. As we’ll see, the Bible speaks clearly enough to our world today, because it finds its origin, its source of creation, in the One who has known all that will come to pass since before the foundations of the earth.
What is the Bible? If someone were to walk up to you on the street leaving church this morning and ask you what the Bible is, what would you say? Why is it called the Bible? Well, because the Greek word that means book is biblia. How many books are there in the Bible? In total, there are 66 books, with 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Who wrote the Bible? Well, the human authors who actually put pen to paper totaled about 40, with their occupations ranging from kings, fishermen, priests, shepherds, farmers, doctors, and government officials. However, as the words of our text tell us, the Bible ultimately has only one author, and that is God. Who is the Bible about? While the Bible has a host of characters throughout its pages, the Bible is ultimately the story of Jesus. It’s not the story of you or me, it’s not our motivational or self-help handbook (like we’ve said the past two Sundays), but it’s the story of Jesus Christ.
Paul is writing here in the third chapter of this letter of encouragement to his friend and younger minister Timothy and reminding him of the calling to which he has been called. Yes, he’s encouraging him as a minister of the Word, but also just as one who is found in Jesus Christ. Near the end of this encouragement, he gives him this reminder about the power of Scripture. He says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” All Scripture (which as it existed at the time of Paul’s writing this was the Old Testament) is breathed out by God, or God-breathed. All of Scripture, while it may have been penned by human hands, finds its origins in God Almighty. The Greek word here that is translated as God-breathed, this is the only occurrence of that word in Scripture. You see, Scripture is not just some collection of works written by a bunch of random folks, but a collection of works written by different people whom God worked through throughout history to compile this complete story about Jesus. Now, I mentioned a moment ago that these words were in reference to the Old Testament specifically in Paul’s day. However, we know from the writings and teachings of the early church that the apostles and church leaders taught that this verse was just as true for the New Testament as it was for the Old. All of Scripture, the entirety of it, every word, every punctuation mark, is inspired by God. Yes, there are human traits within it, but the substance is from God.
So, we read and affirm that this God-breathed work is profitable or useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training. Well, how is it useful in all of these areas? I want to take a second and look at each of these elements or aspects that Scripture is useful for, starting with teaching. This one should be pretty obvious. Scripture contains the things of God; therefore, we must spend time and energy in Scripture if we are ever to come to know God. Yes, we may feel God’s presence outside of Scripture or come to an initial faith apart from His Word, but we don’t really get to know Him. I have a good friend of mine who I went to college with. We were at school together for two years, but never really spent a great deal of one-on-one time together. However, when he finished college, he came back to his hometown for a semester before beginning law school. Since he didn’t want to spend all of his time at his parents’ house, he was over at our house probably four days a week. I really got to know him on a personal level better in those 4 months than I had the previous few years that I had known him, and to this day he is one of my closest and best friends. To really know God, we have to be in His Word and be being taught from and by His Word. We have to spend time alone with God through the study of His Word if we ever want to truly know Him. Anything else runs the risk of us just making things up about who God really is.
Secondly, Scripture is useful for reproof. Actually, I’ll handle reproof and correction together, since they are (or at least ought to be) two-sides of the same coin. You see, reproof, Biblically speaking, is being shown what sin is. Reproof is being shown that sin is a transgression or breaking of God’s law. So, when we say that Scripture is useful for reproof, we’re saying that Scripture is useful for showing us our sins. John Calvin, who viewed and promoted three uses of God’s law, stated in his first use this principle of reproof. Calvin stated that the law is a mirror that while showing us God’s holiness, also shows us our sinfulness and our weakness which in turn drives us to Christ. So, when we learn about God, then we see how far off we are from God through our sinfulness, and hopefully we seek to correct those sinful acts and tendencies. Now, this is where the disconnect comes in that I opened with this morning. People have no issue learning about God. They even have no problem learning what sin is and what things are considered sinful. The problem comes in in that there is, for many, little-to-no desire to correct their sinful behavior. This is quite honestly a mind-boggling thing to me. It’s just foolish. It’s like having a gas appliance that you know leaks carbon monoxide and having no desire to do anything about it. Carbon monoxide is deadly in the physical sense just as sin is in the spiritual sense. We hear things like “Everyone sins, so what’s the big deal?” Well, the big deal is that when you understand the severity of sin, then you understand how saddening a statement like “everyone sins” truly is. We try and dull the power of Scripture by saying that it has lost its meaning and application in today’s world because of its age. If something is inspired by God and is without fault, error, or inaccuracy, then why would we not do everything in our power to adhere ourselves to such a standard? Maybe it’s because many Christians don’t believe the Bible to be without error; maybe you’re one of those who doesn’t think that Scripture exists without error. If Scripture isn’t fully inspired and fully without any flaw, then it cannot be our source of reproof and correction like Paul so plainly tells us that it is.
Finally, Scripture is useful for training in righteousness. This is a nice way of saying that Scripture is useful for preemptive correction. It’s a beautiful way of saying it that conveys the sense in which it isn’t reactionary discipline, but something that seeks the good of others. In all of this hatred-spewing that has seemed to go on in our world recently with court cases and political agendas, we have seen this firsthand. Amy had some friends who were having an online debate over the issue of same-sex marriages and one of the girls stated that the reason why she opposed it was because she loved her friends deeply and didn’t want to see them commit such an egregious sin. The other girl responded with, “You can mask hate any way you want to, but it’s still hate.” Now, this second girl’s misguided and incorrect response aside, the initial comments made by the first girl is the nature of Scripture when it comes to discipline. Scripture isn’t a list of do’s and don’ts placed upon us to hinder us. The things that we are called to in Scripture, some of them things to do and others things not to do, are for our benefit. If we can’t see that they are for our benefit, then that’s a problem with us, not with Scripture. My son Robert loves to be outside. That kid would spend all day outside if we let him. One of his favorite things to do is to try and put his face in the dog’s water bucket outside just like the dog does. Now, every time we get on to him about it he cries (or at least pouts). Amy and I aren’t fussing at him to be mean; we’re fussing at him for his own good. There’s no telling what he could catch from that bucket if we just let him do what he wanted to do. The only act of love that we have is to stop him from doing it. We’re not being loving parents if we let him continuously drink from a bucket that has much more than water in it. God doesn’t place certain commands and responsibilities on us for our lives because He’s mean, unjust, unfair, or any other adjective you’ve heard. He places them upon us for our benefit, so that we may live holier lives that draw us closer to Him, where we were originally created to be.
So, what is the point of it all? What is the point of Paul reminding Timothy of Scripture’s origin? What is the point of Paul reminding Timothy of these four ways in which Scripture is for our benefit? Well, because as he says in verse 17, that “the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Now, this doesn’t show up in the English, but in the Greek, the words translated as competent (or completed in other translations) and equipped are variations of the same Greek word. In other words, the children of God aren’t just equipped; they’re super equipped, perfected for every good work. Notice that Paul isn’t just talking about ministry work, but every good work. Being taught, learning from Scripture, equips us for every kind of good work that we can imagine. We’re not just somewhat prepared, we’re perfectly prepared. I was never a boy scout, but my wife will tell you that I have their motto down pat. I’m always prepared. I’m not the guy who rolls into a situation and doesn’t have what he needs. When I show up, I have what I need, what someone else might need, and even the things that I might need in case of the most bizarre of emergencies. Paul is telling Timothy that through Scripture, God has given him everything that he needs for a life of ministry, as well as just living a Godly life.
I want to close this discussion on the inerrancy, infallibility, inspiration, and power of Scripture by reading to you something that Dr. R.C. Sproul wrote about his view of Scripture. Sproul wrote, “I think the greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes that God invests His power in the Bible. Everyone is looking for power in a program, in a methodology, in a technique, in anything and everything but that in which God has placed it—His Word. He alone has the power to change lives for eternity, and that power is focused on the Scriptures.” Friends, there is no greater source that we can look to other than Scripture. There is no added wisdom that God is going to impart upon us in terms of knowing who He is. Yes, He may reveal certain things to us, but those things come through careful study of and complete trust and obedience in His Word. All Scripture is God-breathed for our benefit. Don’t waste this precious gift that God has given to all of us. Don’t allow you Bible(s) to collect more dust than they do tears, wrinkles, and smudges from constant use. Don’t allow the Word of God to become stale and complacent in your life. After all, God has given His Word to us so that we might be drawn closer to Him. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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