2Ti 3:16-17 | KingComments | STEP | These two verses are worthy of paying attention to in a particular section. They deliver you a description that surpasses every expression concerning the importance of the Scripture. It is necessary to stress that because the attacks on the inspiration and the content of the Scripture will ceaselessly go on and on in its intensity. One of these attacks is that we have God’s Word in the Bible. This formulation opens the opportunity that we also have words in the Bible that do not come from God. It is of great importance to hold on to the verbal, word-for-word inspiration of Scripture. . “All” means that there are no parts or portions that are less or more inspired than other ones. The inspiration does not focus on the Bible authors, but it focuses on what is written in God’s Word. God has inspired the Bible authors what they had to write down. “Inspired” does not refer to the message , as if the Bible writers could phrase them afterward in their own words, as if only the contents but not the form has been inspired. The words were given by inspiration to them to write those words down, so that also the words of the unbelievers and even of the devil have been written down. God wanted to have those words of unbelievers and the devil in His Word that are important for us to know. That all Scripture is “inspired by God” means that each word that is written in the Bible has been written in it because God has inspired the Bible author to precisely write down that word. When Paul speaks here about “Scripture” (and not’ Scriptures’) it underlines the unity of all Bible books as one whole, “and the Scripture cannot be broken” ( ). In the original language in which the New Testament is written, the Greek language, ‘inspired by God’ is one word. Literally it says ‘God breathed’. That may refer to ‘breathed out by God’, but also ‘breathed in by God’. They are both true. When we say that God has ‘breathed out’ the words of the Scripture it lays the emphasis on the fact that the words of the Scripture are His words. Those are words that come out of Him and are written down the way He wanted them to be written down. When we say that He has ‘breathed in’ them, then we emphasize the fact that He breathed them in people and that He had His words to be recorded in the Scripture by human instruments. The fact that God inspired the books Himself gives Divine authority to the Bible books. The inspiration coheres with faithfulness, infallibility or inerrancy and the absolute authority of the Bible. God has given His Word because of its profit for you. The word “profitable” has the meaning of ‘support’, ‘help’, ‘benefit’. The Word helps you, it supports you in your activities as a man of God. It equipes you to do every good work. Every good work is each work in which the rights of God become visible in a Christianity that for a greater part does not consider those rights. To do that correctly God’s Word is given in the first place “for teaching”. The Scripture teaches you Who God is, Who the Lord Jesus is and who man is. The Scripture teaches us about a lot of truths like sin, redemption, the value of the blood of Christ, the church, sanctification, the future. It is important to read the Scripture, in order to learn to know about these truths. Studying the Scripture in order to know ‘the teaching’, has the side-effect that you will not easily be dragged by your emotions. Within Christianity there are quite a lot of groups or movements that focus on emotions. These movements are focusing more on what you experience than on what you read in the Bible. There is another danger that you should be beware of if you want to know the teaching of the Scripture. The danger is that you limit yourself to a doctrinal understanding of the Scripture without surrendering yourself to its living power. Then you can be compared to someone who pours water from a flowing stream in a cistern, causing it to come to a complete stop. That can be the result of attending all kinds of gatherings and eagerly reading Bible commentaries without absorbing the Word in your heart. Then it remains limited to intellectual knowledge. The opposite danger is to say that those Bible studies are just nothing and that practical Christendom is the only important thing. But how is practical Christendom thinkable if you do not know what you are supposed to be practicing? The first effect of sound Bible study will be that you thank God for everything that you were able to learn from the Scripture. Praise and worship Him for every teaching. Sound Bible study also implies that everything you were able to learn from the Scripture will have influence on the practice of your life. The second profit of the Scripture is that it offers you a mighty weapon in your hand “for reproof” false allegations. You see in Matthew 4 how the Lord Jesus reproves the allegations of the devil by quotations from the Scripture ( ). The devil may for example approach you in the image of your biblically critical Bible teacher or of a person who comes to your house or of a prominent person in Christianity. They can, like the devil, also say: ‘It is written.’ Then you need to know how to reprove them. Pay attention to how the Lord Jesus goes to work when He is being tempted by the devil. He simply responds to every challenge with: “It is written” ( ). After the Lord cited three times from the Scripture the devil runs off. The way the Lord Jesus goes to work is an example for us to follow. He did not chase the devil away by Divine power, but by using the means that is also available to you. Therefore you need to have some Bible verses ready. You need to exercise in using them. Have you ever heard about ‘memorizing’? That means learning Bible verses by heart. Do that with as many Bible verses as you possibly can. It does not come down to win a dispute. You will always lose a dispute with the devil. You ought not to argue, but to let the Word speak itself. Each Christian needs correction. That is the third profit of the Scripture, “for correction”. Sometimes you want to go a way that is not good or do things that are not well without being aware of that. Through prayerful reading of Scripture, you will discover that. You after all want to do the will of God, don’t you? God speaks to you in the Scripture and helps you in that way to find the right way or to do the right thing. It is perilous to be content with yourself as if nothing is to be corrected. In the mirror of the Word you always see things that need to be corrected. The exhortation for correction is not meant to discourage you, but on the contrary to encourage you. The purpose is not to make you performance centered but ‘Christ centered’. And whom of all those who are focused on Him, dares to say that there is nothing to be corrected anymore? The fourth profit is the “training in righteousness”. That does not imply the doctrine of the righteousness of God. Of course it connects to that and it coheres with that, but righteousness is seen here with a view to the practice. The point here is that you live in accordance to your position. Therefore you need to be taught. You ought to be ‘trained’ or ‘educated’ in righteousness. You undergo that training or education when you read the Bible. Then you receive instruction on how your behavior is supposed to be toward God and men. You are being trained to give to God to what He is entitled. You also obtain instruction on how you suppose to give to your fellow man to what he is entitled. In the word ‘righteousness’ the whole Christian life is embedded. . God has given His Word, the Scripture, with a purpose. This purpose, indicated by the words “so that”, is that “the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”. Less than that will not do when you read the Bible. The Scripture wants to shape you into a ‘man of God’. It is worthy to examine once who in the Bible are being called ‘man of God’. You will discover that those are all people who defended God’s interests in spiritually dark times. They represented Him toward people who turned away from Him. If reverence for God in society and also in Christianity is diminishing, a ‘man of God’ shows in his or her life that God is there and how He is. In such a man the features of God become visible. God reveals Himself through him or her. God uses people who lean on nothing else than the Scripture alone for that purpose. ‘Man of God’ is an honorary title. The eternal, almighty God connects Himself to a weak, mortal human being when he is willing to be shaped by the Scripture. The Scripture makes a ‘man of God’ “adequate”, which means that he is brought to full maturity by the Scripture. That is regarding the person. The Scripture also gives ‘the man of God’ everything that is needed for him to be able to do “every good work”. That is regarding his work. If you want to be a ‘man of God’ you will not be made equipped for your task by an academic education. You find the equipment for the work which you are ordered to do in the Scripture. I sincerely hope that you desire to be a ‘man of God’. Then you will find everything in the Scripture that meets your desires. The true Man of God on earth was the Lord Jesus. As Man He showed all features of God in a perfect way in the midst of a nation that had turned its back on God. You become like Him as Scripture gains a foothold in your heart. Scripture shapes you after His model. Now read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 again. Reflection: Do you want to be a man of God? What should you do for that?

‏ 2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture

These two verses are worthy of paying attention to in a particular section. They deliver you a description that surpasses every expression concerning the importance of the Scripture. It is necessary to stress that because the attacks on the inspiration and the content of the Scripture will ceaselessly go on and on in its intensity. One of these attacks is that we have God’s Word in the Bible. This formulation opens the opportunity that we also have words in the Bible that do not come from God. It is of great importance to hold on to the verbal, word-for-word inspiration of Scripture.

2Tim 3:16. “All” means that there are no parts or portions that are less or more inspired than other ones. The inspiration does not focus on the Bible authors, but it focuses on what is written in God’s Word. God has inspired the Bible authors what they had to write down. “Inspired” does not refer to the message, as if the Bible writers could phrase them afterward in their own words, as if only the contents but not the form has been inspired.

The words were given by inspiration to them to write those words down, so that also the words of the unbelievers and even of the devil have been written down. God wanted to have those words of unbelievers and the devil in His Word that are important for us to know. That all Scripture is “inspired by God” means that each word that is written in the Bible has been written in it because God has inspired the Bible author to precisely write down that word. When Paul speaks here about “Scripture” (and not’ Scriptures’) it underlines the unity of all Bible books as one whole, “and the Scripture cannot be broken” (Jn 10:35).

In the original language in which the New Testament is written, the Greek language, ‘inspired by God’ is one word. Literally it says ‘God breathed’. That may refer to ‘breathed out by God’, but also ‘breathed in by God’. They are both true. When we say that God has ‘breathed out’ the words of the Scripture it lays the emphasis on the fact that the words of the Scripture are His words. Those are words that come out of Him and are written down the way He wanted them to be written down. When we say that He has ‘breathed in’ them, then we emphasize the fact that He breathed them in people and that He had His words to be recorded in the Scripture by human instruments.

The fact that God inspired the books Himself gives Divine authority to the Bible books. The inspiration coheres with faithfulness, infallibility or inerrancy and the absolute authority of the Bible.

God has given His Word because of its profit for you. The word “profitable” has the meaning of ‘support’, ‘help’, ‘benefit’. The Word helps you, it supports you in your activities as a man of God. It equipes you to do every good work. Every good work is each work in which the rights of God become visible in a Christianity that for a greater part does not consider those rights.

To do that correctly God’s Word is given in the first place “for teaching”. The Scripture teaches you Who God is, Who the Lord Jesus is and who man is. The Scripture teaches us about a lot of truths like sin, redemption, the value of the blood of Christ, the church, sanctification, the future. It is important to read the Scripture, in order to learn to know about these truths. Studying the Scripture in order to know ‘the teaching’, has the side-effect that you will not easily be dragged by your emotions. Within Christianity there are quite a lot of groups or movements that focus on emotions. These movements are focusing more on what you experience than on what you read in the Bible.

There is another danger that you should be beware of if you want to know the teaching of the Scripture. The danger is that you limit yourself to a doctrinal understanding of the Scripture without surrendering yourself to its living power. Then you can be compared to someone who pours water from a flowing stream in a cistern, causing it to come to a complete stop. That can be the result of attending all kinds of gatherings and eagerly reading Bible commentaries without absorbing the Word in your heart. Then it remains limited to intellectual knowledge. The opposite danger is to say that those Bible studies are just nothing and that practical Christendom is the only important thing. But how is practical Christendom thinkable if you do not know what you are supposed to be practicing?

The first effect of sound Bible study will be that you thank God for everything that you were able to learn from the Scripture. Praise and worship Him for every teaching. Sound Bible study also implies that everything you were able to learn from the Scripture will have influence on the practice of your life.

The second profit of the Scripture is that it offers you a mighty weapon in your hand “for reproof” false allegations. You see in Matthew 4 how the Lord Jesus reproves the allegations of the devil by quotations from the Scripture (Mt 4:1-10).

The devil may for example approach you in the image of your biblically critical Bible teacher or of a person who comes to your house or of a prominent person in Christianity. They can, like the devil, also say: ‘It is written.’ Then you need to know how to reprove them. Pay attention to how the Lord Jesus goes to work when He is being tempted by the devil. He simply responds to every challenge with: “It is written” (Mt 4:4 ; 7 ; 10). After the Lord cited three times from the Scripture the devil runs off.

The way the Lord Jesus goes to work is an example for us to follow. He did not chase the devil away by Divine power, but by using the means that is also available to you. Therefore you need to have some Bible verses ready. You need to exercise in using them. Have you ever heard about ‘memorizing’? That means learning Bible verses by heart. Do that with as many Bible verses as you possibly can. It does not come down to win a dispute. You will always lose a dispute with the devil. You ought not to argue, but to let the Word speak itself.

Each Christian needs correction. That is the third profit of the Scripture, “for correction”. Sometimes you want to go a way that is not good or do things that are not well without being aware of that. Through prayerful reading of Scripture, you will discover that. You after all want to do the will of God, don’t you? God speaks to you in the Scripture and helps you in that way to find the right way or to do the right thing. It is perilous to be content with yourself as if nothing is to be corrected. In the mirror of the Word you always see things that need to be corrected.

The exhortation for correction is not meant to discourage you, but on the contrary to encourage you. The purpose is not to make you performance centered but ‘Christ centered’. And whom of all those who are focused on Him, dares to say that there is nothing to be corrected anymore?

The fourth profit is the “training in righteousness”. That does not imply the doctrine of the righteousness of God. Of course it connects to that and it coheres with that, but righteousness is seen here with a view to the practice. The point here is that you live in accordance to your position. Therefore you need to be taught. You ought to be ‘trained’ or ‘educated’ in righteousness.

You undergo that training or education when you read the Bible. Then you receive instruction on how your behavior is supposed to be toward God and men. You are being trained to give to God to what He is entitled. You also obtain instruction on how you suppose to give to your fellow man to what he is entitled. In the word ‘righteousness’ the whole Christian life is embedded.

2Tim 3:17. God has given His Word, the Scripture, with a purpose. This purpose, indicated by the words “so that”, is that “the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”. Less than that will not do when you read the Bible. The Scripture wants to shape you into a ‘man of God’. It is worthy to examine once who in the Bible are being called ‘man of God’. You will discover that those are all people who defended God’s interests in spiritually dark times. They represented Him toward people who turned away from Him.

If reverence for God in society and also in Christianity is diminishing, a ‘man of God’ shows in his or her life that God is there and how He is. In such a man the features of God become visible. God reveals Himself through him or her. God uses people who lean on nothing else than the Scripture alone for that purpose. ‘Man of God’ is an honorary title. The eternal, almighty God connects Himself to a weak, mortal human being when he is willing to be shaped by the Scripture.

The Scripture makes a ‘man of God’ “adequate”, which means that he is brought to full maturity by the Scripture. That is regarding the person. The Scripture also gives ‘the man of God’ everything that is needed for him to be able to do “every good work”. That is regarding his work. If you want to be a ‘man of God’ you will not be made equipped for your task by an academic education. You find the equipment for the work which you are ordered to do in the Scripture.

I sincerely hope that you desire to be a ‘man of God’. Then you will find everything in the Scripture that meets your desires.

The true Man of God on earth was the Lord Jesus. As Man He showed all features of God in a perfect way in the midst of a nation that had turned its back on God. You become like Him as Scripture gains a foothold in your heart. Scripture shapes you after His model.

Now read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 again.

Reflection: Do you want to be a man of God? What should you do for that?