Thursday, May 12

Thursday

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.   – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Yesterday we looked at the doctrine of the Inspiration of Scripture.  Today we are going to get a bit more practical as we examine the second half of this passage.

Actually, the truth is that if theology = the study of God, and doctrine = the teaching of God’s Word, then they should be of great practical significance in our lives!  This is why Paul immediately follows up his statement of what Scripture is (“God-breathed”) by telling us what Scripture does.  Paul gives us a little list of the ways in which God’s Word shapes our thoughts and actions.

Let’s take each of these functions of God’s word and consider how this may or may not be happening in our lives.

Teaching – God’s Word teaches us.  The word for teaching means to instruct.  God’s Word instructs us in what is true. God is a God of truth (Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18; Ps. 119:160).  God breathed out (originated) all the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).  The Scriptures are God’s truth (John 17:17).  So here is the question – Is the Bible teaching you?  Is God’s Word the place you turn to determine what is true? 

Rebuking – The Greek word here comes from a root word that means “to cut away” or “to expose”.  The idea here is that God’s word is intended to expose our faults and to cut certain things out of our lives.  The writer of the book of Hebrews says that the Word of God is sharper than any double edged sword (Heb. 4:12).  Sometimes the truth hurts.  So, the question is – does God’s Word ever pierce, convict and cut you to the heart?

Correcting – Once again, the original language can help us gain a deeper understanding, this word means “to set right” or to restore.  So not only does God’s Word tell us what is wrong, it also goes on to tell us what is right!  It is one thing to be told what not to do, it another thing to be told what to do.  A good coach does not just tell his or her athletes what they are doing wrong, he shows them how they should be doing it correctly.  God’s word restores us and corrects us in that it shows us the path that God desires us to walk in!

Training – Actually Paul says that the Scripture trains us in righteousness.  This means that God’s Word prepares us for the life that God has called us to live.  None of us are fully mature or fully prepared for what life may throw our way, but God’s Word promises that if we will continue in it, we will be “thoroughly equipped for every good work” that God has for us!  So, the question is – Are you in training?  Are you being trained and prepared and equipped for life by the Word of God?

In his book, In the Heavenlies, H. A. Ironside, told a story of a saintly old Irishman, Andrew Frazer, who had come to California to recover from tuberculosis. The old man could barely speak because his lungs were almost gone. But he opened his worn Bible and, until his strength was gone, he simply, sweetly opened up truth after truth in a way that Ironside had never heard before.  Before he knew it, Ironside had tears running down his cheeks.  He asked Frazer, “Where did you get all these things?  Could you tell me where I could find a book that would open them up to me?  Did you learn these things in some seminary or college?”

Frazer answered, “My dear young man, I learned these things on my knees on the mud floor of a little sod cottage in the north of Ireland.  There with my Bible open before me, I used to kneel for hours at a time, and ask the Spirit of God to reveal Christ to my soul and to open the Word to my heart.  He taught me more on my knees on that mud floor than I ever could have learned in all the seminaries or colleges in the world.”


Jeff Frazier