ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED

2 Timothy 3:1-16

Key Verse 3:16-17

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.

This passage teaches us the two purposes of the Bible. God gave us the Bible to make us wise for salvation. God also gave us the Bible to equip us to do every good work. When we combine these two purposes, one grander purpose emerges: to help us grow as fruitful children, and thereby fulfill the purpose of God's creation, as stated in Genesis 1:28, "Be fruitful and increase in number." 

Soon the Fall semester is going to be in full gear. Fall is the season to bear fruit. So we pray to hold a Fall Bible conference at the Downey Center from October 22 to 24. May the Lord bless today's Bible study so we would know how to be fruitful and increase in number.

Part I. But mark this (1-9)

Before trying to learn anything from the Bible, and thereby pray to grow up and bear good fruit, we must first think about what prevents man from becoming productive, efficient, and fruitful, and thereby causes man to remain unproductive, inefficient, or even counterproductive. 

In verses 1-9, the Apostle Paul addresses these questions by describing the people of the last days. He lists 24 character traits of those who make the times of the last days terrible. Here is the list: 1) lovers of themselves; 2) lovers of money; 3) boastful; 4) proud; 5) abusive; 6) disobedient to their parents; 7) ungrateful; 8) unholy; 9) without love; 10) unforgiving; 11) slanderous; 12) without self-control; 13) brutal; 14) not lovers of the good; 15) treacherous; 16) rash; 17) conceited; 18) lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 19) having a form of godliness but denying its power; 20) they are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women; 21) they are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires; 22) they are always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth; 23) they oppose the truth; and 24) they are men of depraved minds. 

Most noticeably they start out as lovers themselves. Then they render themselves as lovers of money, and then lovers of pleasures. Although Paul characterizes them with very colorful words, we can put them in one catch-all category, that is, "self-seeking" people. This indicates that it is sin, especially the sin of self-seeking, which keeps man from becoming productive. Consistent with this truth, it also has been said, “Nature does not support a selfish man.” 

What is most deceiving however is that these self-seeking men present themselves as “spiritual”; they themselves are confident of their own good. They think that they are godly. In their confidence they enjoy their “Christian” title. They have no problem in saying, “Oh, I am a born again Christian. What about you?” To make matters more confusing, they are very diligent in learning. In this way they look like good Christians on the surface. However, because they deny the power of godliness they never grow up in the likeness of Jesus. They are still swayed by all kinds of sin problems.  

Therefore in verse 8 Paul says, "as far as the faith is concerned, [they] are rejected." By the word “rejected” Paul means that God rejects them as his children. Thus they are still lost. They are still under the power of sin and Satan. 

According to Paul, the truth is that if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. What Paul means here is that if one truly believes in Jesus, he helps that person to become a different person. Then Jesus helps that person to bear good fruit. Let us remember that Jesus came to resolve the problem of sin once for all. Without Jesus it is impossible for one to have one's sin problems resolved for good. Naturally, when one does not sincerely turn to the Lord and receive him as the Lord and Savior, it is impossible for that person to overcome his own sin problem. By the same token when one sincerely repents and turns to the Lord, then the Lord empowers him to overcome his sin problem. When this happens, what Paul says is true: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2Co 5:17) Speaking of the same truth, Jesus says in Matthew 7:15, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” 

How then can we avoid their errors? We find an answer to this question in what Paul says of them. 

(1) Firstly, Paul says that they have a form of godliness but they deny its power. Therefore, the solution is that instead of denying, we must affirm the power of godliness. The power of godliness refers to the power which God bestows upon those who genuinely repent and turn to God in and through Jesus. This power helps man to put to death the misdeeds of the body. It also helps man to overcome the world. It sets man free from the bondage to the power of sin and Satan. It empowers man to do what is good! 

(2) Secondly, Paul says that they are always learning, but never able to acknowledge the truth (7). One example of this is to study the word of God habitually. Instead of habitually studying the Bible and forgetting, we must ensure that our Bible studies result in knowing Jesus more deeply and personally than ever and thereby grow in his image, for this power (of godliness) is available to those who not just learn the truth but acknowledge the truth. Here, "the truth" refers to Jesus Christ and all the truths Jesus embraces. In fact, in John 14:6, Jesus declared that he himself is the Truth. Then Jesus said in John 8:31,32, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

(3) Lastly, Paul says, "But they will not get very far because...their folly will be clear to everyone" (9). This indicates that we should not envy those who live as their own men, for they won't go very far. Instead of being envious of those who do only their own good all the time, we must be thankful for the life that follows Jesus, the life that dies to oneself and one’s own desires daily and lives by faith in Jesus, for Jesus, and through Jesus alone.

Part II. You however know all about my teaching... 

In verses 10-12, Paul describes the life of everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. A godly life is the life that is God-centered. As we know, and as God's name which is LOVE suggests, a godly person chooses to live for the sake of others, particularly the salvation of their souls. Moved by the love of God, the Apostle Paul braved hardships to serve the gospel to many. But strangely the more Paul served the gospel, the more people persecuted him. It was particularly true with his fellow Jewish people. In his broken shepherd's heart, he visited virtually all the synagogues around the Mediterranean Sea, testifying to them that Jesus is the Christ. But they did not like Paul's message. They persecuted Paul. 

Speaking of all the hardships that come from preaching the gospel, Paul says that if anyone chooses to live a godly life, one must go through many hardships. 

This outlook scares us. When we desire to preach the gospel, people will persecute us. This makes a godly life look terrible. First of all, when people start persecuting us, it is easy think that something is wrong with us. But we must remember that people persecute a godly man not because something is wrong with a godly man, but because the word of God which a godly man serves exposes their wickedness and then rebukes them to repent. But instead of repenting, in order to justify their sinful lifestyles, they end up persecuting a godly man.

But still one might think that living a God-centered life is a terrible way to live. Perhaps Timothy might have thought the same. But we must remember that persecution is a great blessing. Let us remember what Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of God” (Matthew 5:10). In addition, when people persecute us, it means that we have been given opportunities to prove that our faith is genuine, which in turn will result in rendering glory to God. The Apostle Peter explained this concept in 1 Peter 1:6-7, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." Indeed, although a godly life comes with difficulties, it is still a glorious life. 

While a godly man goes from glory to glory, what will happen to those who reject the gospel and continue to live in darkness? Look at verse 13. "While evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." Here Paul distinguishes evil men from imposters. How are they different? “Evil men” refer to those who are evil and do not hide that they are evil.  “Imposters” refers to those who are evil, but on the outside they hide their true nature, and rather put on the façade that they are godly. Yet, the two categories of people have one thing in common: they will go from bad to worse. At first glance it seems that they are having a really good time. But the opposite is true. Paul says that they go from bad to worse. Why? The expression, "going from bad to worse," suggests that the power of sin is working in them. 

Yet why do they keep living the life of sin? Why do they keep sinning? Paul says that they do so because they have been deceived by the devil. Having been deceived by the devil they go out and deceive others, even without knowing what they are doing. Figuratively speaking, sin works like a computer virus that replicates itself within the system until it causes the computer to stop working. In James 1:14-15, the Apostle James explained this concept saying, "But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." 

As James indicates, Satan is a dealer in sin. He always deceives people into sinning. Having been deceived by the devil, a sinner always goes out and deceives many to commit sins. 

How then can we stop a self-destructive life like this? The only remedy is to go by the word of God. In Jesus’ case, he overcame the devil's temptations (to sin against God) by relying on God's word. Likewise, we need to daily rely on the Scriptures and live by them. 

Look at verse 14. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it..." Here Paul encourages Timothy to continue in what he learned and had become convinced of. Why? Look at verse 15. "And how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."  Paul exhorts Timothy to continue in what he learned and has become convinced of, because the Holy Scriptures make man wise for salvation. Here the Apostle Paul links salvation with wisdom. He does not say, “Oh, here is the salvation. Go ahead, and eat it.” Rather, he says that the fruit called “salvation” becomes ours only through us becoming wise for salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Let us therefore stop for a moment and think about three things about wisdom. 

First of all, how does one become wise? This question is easy to answer, because we know that one does not become wise overnight. 

Second, how does one become wise? This question is a little bit difficult to answer, because one does not become wise by merely becoming old. Wisdom is different from aging. Aging just means picking up age. It simply means getting old. And one does not get wise by getting old. In order to become wise, one must study the Bible and struggle to know God.

Third, what is wisdom? This question is not easy to answer. We know that wisdom is different from knowledge. Knowledge is just information. Unlike knowledge, wisdom exists on a higher level. In Hebraic thought, wisdom is the ability to make the right choice between two opposite courses of action. How many courses? Yes, two, not three, four, or more, but two and two alone. Let us think about some examples of two opposite courses of action, such as “arrogance versus humility.” Think about it. It takes a lot of wisdom for one to remain humble all the time. This is true with a young man. This is particularly true when we think about what youth is all about. What is youth? Youth refers to a man who does not know what he does not know. And it is hard for a young man to remain humble, lean not on his own understanding but on what God says in the Bible. Indeed, it requires a lot of wisdom for anyone to remain humble and not become arrogant. Let us think about another example, that is, the wisdom to make a right choice between sexual promiscuity versus purity. How have you been doing on this account? Statistics say that not that many have proved wise enough to pick purity over promiscuity. See what happened to David. Think about what happened to even the wise king Solomon. And if you are sexually immoral, you better forget about going to heaven, for the Bible says that the place of the sexually immoral will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. (Revelation 21:8)

With this in mind let us read verses 14-15 again. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Again the Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Here we find two sources of comfort: (1) the Scriptures are able to make us “wise” for salvation; and (2) salvation comes from “faith” in Christ Jesus. Here the word “faith” indicates that salvation does not rest upon our own strength or integrity but on the strength, integrity, love and power of Jesus Christ. Salvation from this wicked world, salvation from the power of sin and death, freedom from the power of arrogance and lust, comes from absolute faith in Jesus Christ.  And today and tomorrow we better check out this wisdom of salvation from faith in Jesus Christ. 

Let us then consider what Paul says in verses 16-17. Look at verses 16-17. "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." This passage teaches us about the wisdom to help people grow up in the Lord. 

First, it is through feeding on God's word that one can grow up. 

Second, because all Scripture is God-breathed, we need to rely on God's Holy Spirit in order to feed on and serve God's word.

Third, we need to let God's word (not you, but God’s word) do the work, the work of teaching, rebuking, correcting, or training in righteousness. 

Fourth, we need to serve all Scripture, for it contains all kinds of spiritual nutrients that make man grow and become effective in every conceivable way, empowering man to do every good work. 

In conclusion, we learn that the Bible makes man wise for salvation which comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Then, the Bible equips man to do every good work. Let us pray that the Lord God will bless us to be fruitful and increase in number as we dedicate ourselves to serving God’s word which is God-breathed. 

One word: All scripture is God-breathed. 

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