II Timothy 3:14-17- 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Timothy knew and believed the Word. We know that Timothy’s mother and grandmother had been tremendous faith mentors. We read in II Timothy 1:5, 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
There had been a faithful transmission of the Word from generation to generation to generation in Timothy’s family. Timothy’s grandmother deposited the Word into his mother who deposited the Word into him. What a beautiful picture of the way faith can be acquired! In our passage for today, Paul tells Timothy to continue to believe the things he had been taught. There are some things that are good for us for a season, but we then outgrow them, we no longer have a use for them, or they are replaced with something better, something that can carry us forward. Hear me: There is no season during which the Word isn’t useful, there is nothing better that could be traded for the Word. The Word provides the path believers are to walk on for a lifetime. So, Paul told Timothy to continue to hold fast to what he had been taught.
After Paul told Timothy to continue on in the Word, he went on to say in verse 15 that the Word is able to make a person wise for salvation, II Timothy 3:15.
Let me be clear…We aren’t saved by reading the Bible, but the Bible contains the information that a saved person needs to be able to live saved. We are saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ, but learning how to live out that salvation comes from studying the Word of God. Your best life with Christ and for Christ results from your relationship with Christ and with His Word.
This takes me to the main verse of our text: 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Scripture is God-breathed. It isn’t man’s opinion on truth. It is God’s revelation to man about what is true. That means the Bible possesses authority. God is the supreme authority, and on the pages of Scripture, we have God’s very words. As God breathed it out to humans, they wrote it down. II Peter 1:20-21 tells us that no prophecy from Scripture comes through the will of a human, but men spoke and wrote down what was communicated by God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Scripture is God-breathed, and you can trust it!
Paul goes on to tell Timothy that Scripture is profitable to us. It offers benefits to us. Paul says first it is profitable for teaching. Every one of us in this room needs instruction. We need to learn about God and ourselves. We need to learn about the pitfalls of sin and the reality of Satan. We need to learn about what to do when we go off the rails and need a reset. We need to understand what faith is and how miracles work. We need to learn about all that is available to us in Christ. We need to learn how to defeat the devil in our own lives. We need to understand what lies beyond the doorway of death. Listen, the One who has gone beyond the doorway of death, who came back from the dead, who overcame death, Hell, and the grave, He’s the Author of the Book! Don’t you want to learn about overcoming death from Someone who has been there and done that? There are things we would never be able to know if it wasn’t for the Word of God. It is profitable for teaching us because it shapes and grows our beliefs which develops our faith. This is so critical because what we believe will affect how we live. Learning the right things, learning about life and the life to come from God’s perspective will positively impact the way we live. We all must be taught the right way to live.
Paul also says the Word will offer reproof to our lives. If teaching enables us to learn the right things to do, reproof helps us understand what wrong things to avoid and convicts us of the need to change. Think of the Word as having convicting power. The Bible reveals things to us that need to be changed. It has convicting power, power that helps us own our wrongdoing and to commit to doing life differently.
So, the Word teaches us what is right, shows us what is wrong, and then offers us correction which gives us a plan to walk out what we learn. Correction shows us how to move in a different direction. That word, “correction” refers to restoring something to its original and proper condition. In Greek literature, that word was used to describe setting an object upright after it had fallen down. It could refer to helping someone get back on their feet after they had fallen. This is the power of the Word of God when we receive the correction it has to offer. After we have been convicted of our sin, we need a way forward so that we don’t repeat it. That kind of correction comes to our lives as we avail ourselves to the Word.
Paul also says that the Word is profitable for for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Think of God’s Word as a coach, a righteousness coach. It prepares you to do the good works that God has for you to do. There is a direct correlation between receiving the Word and being ready to be used of God. You can’t unsee what Paul is saying here. The Word of God brings a completion, a wholeness, a readiness to your life that enables you to more effectively serve God.
Spiritual strength comes by reading the Word. The development of faith comes by reading the Word. Discerning God’s voice becomes a skill that is honed as you read the Word. The way to be prepared to witness, the way to be prepared for the unexpected, the way to be readied for life and eternity is by taking the Word of God seriously.
I want to know what I need to know. (Training) I want to know what I need to acknowledge and confess. (Reproof) I want to know the way to fix what is broken. (Correction) I want to know how best to serve God (Equipped for every good work).
God’s Word is profitable, beneficial teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. If you want to be thoroughly equipped to do God’s work, get into the Word. That is the word on the Word from II Timothy 3:14-17.