II Timothy 3:15-17 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
The Bible is a wonderful book! It is a perfect book. It is a powerful book. It is the very Word of God! In II Timothy, Paul the Apostle is writing to his son in the faith, a young man named Timothy. Paul is about to exist this life and this is the last recorded letter of Paul. Paul is using this last chance he has to remind his young student some important things to remember. As we get to this portion of Paul’s epistle, Paul begins to remind Timothy about the importance of the scriptures. Paul does this in three ways: first the inspiration of all scripture, then the necessity of all scripture and finally the sufficiency of all scripture.
The Inspiration of All Scripture
The word inspire is the word God chooses to use to describe the way we received the Bible. Inspired means God breathed. It is the same word God used in Genesis when God breathed life into man. That same breath that breathed life and made man alive makes the Bible alive.
Look at the word of God to II Peter 1:20-21, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 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.” From this passage there are a couple of important facts to see about the Bible. One important note is that there is no private interpretation of scripture. What that means is there is only one primary interpretation of the Bible. The Bible reader is not to find out what the Bible passage means to him, but instead find out what God meant by that passage. There are, however, many ways to apply a passage to life.
A second item mentioned in this passage of II Peter is the matter of inspiration. God used the Holy Spirit to move men to write exactly what God wanted recorded. God used their lives, circumstances and personality to get across the message and the words God wanted placed in scripture. Look at the description of these men. They were holy men, men that were surrendered unto God and God’s will. These men wanted to be used of God for God’s will. This is inspiration. The ultimate author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit who moved in men’s life to get God’s will recorded. The Bible holds exactly what God wanted placed in scripture and the exact way God wanted it stated.
The Necessity of All Scripture
Going back to the book of II Timothy, there is an important word that needs to be noticed. It is the three letter word of “all”. All means all, everything. God stated that all scripture is inspired by God. Some people who have us believe that only some scripture is inspired and some of it is not inspired. God says something different. All scripture is inspired by God, therefore all scripture is necessary.
The purpose of the Bible is to reveal God to us. There are sixty-six books in the Bible. Each of those books tells us something specific about God that the rest of the books do not. If we neglect or do have one of those books, we have an incomplete picture of what God revealed to us about Himself. That is way it is important to read the Bible through and study even the unfamiliar passages of the Bible such as the Minor Prophets.
There is no such thing as an unimportant passage. Even the genealogies reveal things about God. The Bible needs to be loved, cherished and treasured. The Bible is the only book that reveals Jesus Christ. All scripture is necessary.
The Sufficiency of All Scripture
The Bible is also sufficient for our daily lives. The Bible meets our every need. The word profitable in this passage means good for a person. In this passage of II Timothy there are five things the Word of God does for man.
First in verse 15 it makes us wise unto salvation. The only way a person can know for sure they are going to Heaven and is forgiven of their sins is by the Bible. The scriptures tell of God’s love for all mankind, and Jesus Christ dying for the sins of the world. The Bible also speaks about the only way of receiving this salvation is through faith through Jesus Christ.
Another important function of the Word of God is the Bible is profitable for doctrine. Doctrine is beliefs and teachings. Basically is can be said like this, the Bible shows what is right. It shows how to live a right life before God. The Bible shows how man can be pleasing to God and what actions are acceptable unto God. God’s will is revealed through scripture.
The scripture also is profitable for reproof. Reproof is what is not right. The Bible also tells what is not pleasing to God. The Word of God clearly states what actions and motives are not acceptable to God.
The Word of God is profitable for correction. It can be said the Bible tells how to get it right. Not only does the scripture tells what in not right in the sight of God, but God is gracious enough to inform how to get things right between God and man.
Finally the Bible is profitable for instruction in righteousness. This is how to keep it right. Life does not have to be lived as a yo-yo, meaning to be right with God one moment and then wrong the second. God gives the Bible to inform man how to keep a right relationship with the Lord.
The Bible is sufficient for all life’s needs. It tells about salvation, what is right, what is not right, how to get it right and how to keep it right. The Bible is profitable for salvation, for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. The Bible is sufficient for all the needs of man.
Finally look that the last verse. “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” The word perfect here means complete. The word of God completes a Christian. The word picture used here is like a house. When we get saved we do clear away the empty junk, emptying the house of our soul. The Bible furnishes the house, making it livable and hospitable. It is like a wife putting the finishing touches of a house, putting decorations and curtains in the house. This is the purpose of the word of God in our lives. The Bible only needs the chance to do it’s work.
