THE INSPIRED, SUFFICIENT WORD 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17

I am surrounded by .

One day in my office several years ago I counted 22 Bibles on my shelves and desk. I don’t have as many at home, but another dozen or so is likely (I haven’t counted them). I have 20 English translations in my software. I have three different Greek New Testaments with that software, and the Hebrew Old Testament, and the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), and at least 14 more versions I cannot read (Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Romanian among them). I have a in my car. And my cell phone has an iOS version of my desktop Bible software, so I have access to all those versions of the Bible on my phone. And I also have a phone app that gives me access to Bible versions in hundreds of languages. And I’m pretty sure I’m overlooking some copies of the Bible somewhere.

I am surrounded by Bibles, and I suspect that you are, too. The question for most of us isn’t “do we have the Bible?” but “Do we know the Bible and do we believe the Bible?”

Since you are attending worship at Grace Bible Church this morning, you likely affirm the authority of the Bible. You probably agree that it is inerrant. You certainly will readily affirm that it is sufficient and powerful. But do you really believe those statements? Does the way you live affirm that the Bible not only has a priority place in your life, but that you really believe this Book to be true — that it is “the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed,” as our doctrinal statement says? Do you trust this Book so much that it is the first place you turn for help when you have a problem and you allow it to dictate your daily desires, decisions, and deeds? When you counsel others, as you do on a daily basis when you offer opinions, share stories, give feedback, and pray with others, is your counsel saturated with the authority of Scripture? Is your counsel just one more voice of “opinion” or does your counsel carry the weight of God’s authority because your counsel is marinated and wrapped in the grace of the Bible?

At GBC, we love people and love Christ and love discipleship and love the Bible. Because we love Christ and love people, we want to help hurting people in the name of Christ. But we are incapable of changing people. Because we cannot change people, we are pointers to the one means of change in the life of the sufferer or sinner: the Bible.

Why are we so adamant about the necessity of using Scripture as the primary means of ministering to people? Because Scripture itself attests to its power to change individuals and that Scripture is the means the Spirit of God uses to change people. Consider just a few examples: • Obedience to the Bible is the mark of prosperity and success (Josh. 1:8)

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• Scripture is the means to spiritual stability and prosperity (Ps. 1:2-3) • As we read this morning, the Bible restores, makes wise, produces joy, enlightens, warns, protects, and is more desirable than gold or honey (Ps. 19:7-13) • The Word of God is an enduring (eternal) message, in contrast to everything else mankind knows, which is why the teacher and preacher are persistent in proclaiming only the message of God’s Word (1 Pt. 1:24-25) • Every part of Scripture is beneficial to grow the believer (2 Pt. 1:2-3) • God’s Word is the tool used by the Spirit to bring transformation in the believer (Col. 3:16)

These are just a few of the compelling reasons Scripture gives why it is essential. The Bible is unique in its power and abilities. There is no more important weapon the believer has to defend himself and guide his life than the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. It is useful to protect him from the deceiving attacks of the evil one (Eph. 6:10-11, 17), and it is useful to protect him from the desires of the flesh by helping him understand the inclinations and longings of his soul (Heb. 4:12). It’s both a life protector and a soul examiner. It is powerful.

Perhaps you are unconvinced. Let’s look briefly at one short passage in Scripture that compels us to trust and use this unique, divinely-given Book.

As we examine this passage, we will find that —

ALL SCRIPTURE IS SUFFICIENT FOR ALL THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF ALL PEOPLE.

In this passage, we will see three primary principles about the Word of God:

1. The Word of God is GOD’S Word (v. 16a)

2. The Word of God is God’s SUFFICIENT Word (v. 16b)

• It will TEACH you (because you are IGNORANT)

• It will CONVICT you (because you are REBELLIOUS)

• It will RESTORE you (because you are INCAPABLE)

• It will TRAIN you (because you need OVERSIGHT)

3. The Word of God is God’s Word to EQUIP Believers (v. 17)

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ALL SCRIPTURE IS PROFITABLE FOR ALL THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF ALL PEOPLE.

1. The Word of God is GOD’S Word (v. 16a)

• If John 3:16 is the first Bible verse that most Christians memorize, then perhaps 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is the first Bible verse most fledgling pastors and seminary students memorize. That is with good reason. If a pastor’s primary job is to care for God’s people by the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4; 1 Tim. 3:2; 4:16; Tt. 1:9), then he must know and believe the Book he dispenses on a daily basis in discipleship and counseling and weekly basis in the pulpit. These two verses are necessary for the pastor and the teacher and discipler because they affirm the source of Scripture’s power (God, v. 16a), the nature of its power (sufficiency, v. 16b), and the purpose of its power (equipping, v. 17).

• When Paul says all Scripture, he is alluding to what he said in verses 14-15 — “continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them…” Why should Timothy continue in his Scripture learning and why should Timothy continue to obey the things he has learned in Scripture? He should continue because of what Scripture is — it is inspired by God (v. 16). Not just some Scripture, but all Scripture is inspired by God. The whole of Scripture is from God. P We understand that at the time Paul wrote, the New Testament was not yet canonized (or even completely written), so his primary reference is to the Old Testament, though some New Testament writers already considered the writings of their contemporaries to be equal in authority to the Old Testament (e.g., 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 5:18 [quoting Lk. 10:7 and Dt. 25:4 and saying they are both Scripture]; 2 Pt. 3:16). P Paul means that there is nothing superfluous in Scripture. It is all from the mouth of God and revelatory of God. • Specifically, he says that Scripture is inspired by God. That word (it is one word in Greek) does not refer to something that is inspiring, as in motivational. Scripture is inspired by God in that it originates from God. More literally, it is “God-breathed.” God breathed out His Word. Every word in the book (and every stroke and mark, according to , Mt. 5:18) emanates from God. The Bible is sourced in God. The Bible is from Him and it is His. P In 2 Pt. 1:20-21 we are told how Scripture was written — Men wrote with their own education, vocabulary, and personality, but supernaturally empowered and undergirded so that only God’s intended words were written, and they were written with His accuracy and authority. Even though it was the words of men, even more it was God’s intended, breathed-out Word. P But the emphasis in this verse is not how God compiled the Scriptures, but that the Scriptures are His. They belong to Him and they come from Him. Because they come from Him, they come with the accuracy and inerrancy that only infinite God can have. Further, they have the authority and power that only the infinite God can have.

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• This is what theologians call “the inspiration of Scripture.” It teaches the source of Scripture. P It does not mean that the Bible contains God’s Word or that it becomes God’s Word (in certain situations), but that it is in its very nature God’s Word — “the expression of His person (heart, mind, will, etc.).” [Constable] P The truth of God’s inspiration of Scripture is taught throughout Scripture: Mal. 4:4; Matt. 1:22; Acts 1:16; 7:38; Rom. 1:1-2; 1 Cor. 2:4-5ff; 1 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 1:1-2, and dozens more. P John Stott is very helpful —

“Scripture is not to be thought of as already in existence when (subsequently) God breathed into it, but

as itself brought into existence by the breath or Spirit of God…It originated in God’s mind and was

communicated from God’s mouth by God’s breath or Spirit. It is therefore rightly termed ‘the Word of God’,

for God spoke it. Indeed, as the prophets used to say, ‘the mouth of the Lord has spoken it’.” [Message of 2

Timothy, 102.]

P If you want to hear God speak, then listen to what His Word says — when Scripture speaks, God speaks. Scripture is no less authoritative than if Christ was bodily present in this room, speaking.

• Why should the counselor or discipler or pastor or church member take pains to know Scripture? Why should we make the effort to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Pt. 3:18)? We should pursue this knowledge with vigor because it is from God and because it is the final authority for faith and life. It stands above all other claims to truth and authority because it is from God’s very mouth. We need to and want to know Scripture because it is powerful, and it is powerful because it is from God alone.

• There is second aspect to God’s Word revealed in this text —

2. The Word of God is God’s SUFFICIENT Word (v. 16b)

• In the remainder of this verse, Paul speaks of the nature of Scripture’s power (v. 16b). It is often said that Scripture is sufficient. That means it is powerful, but it is more than merely strong. It is supremely powerful. By “supreme” we don’t mean it’s like a pizza that has about a dozen toppings on it, as in, “It’s a pizza that is bigger and has more toppings than any other pizza — guaranteed to provide two days of heartburn.” When we say Scripture is supremely powerful, we mean it is infinitely powerful; it has a power that is without limit or end. There is no power beyond its power. There is no power that supersedes the power of Scripture. It really is limit-less — without limits — and has influence and ability in every circumstance and situation of life. What kinds of things does Scripture do and in what circumstances will it demonstrate its limitless power? Paul tells us in verse 16.

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• It will TEACH you (because you are IGNORANT) P Paul says that all Scripture is profitable for teaching. The word profitable speaks to its value — it “[proves] serviceable to the moral and spiritual needs of man.” The entire volume of the Bible — every word and phrase — has profit to the one who will read it with care. There is nothing unprofitable in the Book. Some parts are, to be sure, harder to understand (even Peter acknowledged this, 2 Pt. 3:16), and some parts are harder to apply (like the genealogies), but there is profit and value in every word. This value is extended in four areas: teaching, conviction, restoration, and training. Why does Scripture teach? Why do we need Scripture? P Part of the effect of the fall of Adam into sin was a corruption of the mind. Theologians call it the noetic effect of sin, which most simply means that because of sin, the mind does not think the way that God designed it to think. John Frame describes it this way:

“Although we generally consider Satan to be knowledgeable and intelligent, and although many opponents of God seem wise to the world and to themselves, they are guilty of the worst imaginable stupidity. They haven’t a ghost of a chance to defeat God. Yet sinners embrace sin with reckless enthusiasm. This is the root of its noetic effects.” [Systematic Theology]

P The failure of the mind to work is particularly true of the unbeliever, as Paul demonstrates in Eph. 4:17-19 — because of the fall into sin, the unbeliever’s thinking is futile (v. 17), his understanding is darkened (v. 18), he is ignorant (v. 18), his heart is hardened (v. 18), and he is callous (v. 19). But even at salvation, the noetic effect of sin is not completely reversed in the believer. Frame:

“Regeneration does not, however, immediately convey to the believer a sense of cognitive rest about all matters pertaining to the faith. Our basic presuppositional commitment to Christ begins at regeneration, but other commitments develop more gradually—or at least it takes a while for us to become conscious of them. Thus, there is not only noetic regeneration; there is also noetic sanctification. There is a radical change at the beginning, gradual change after that.” [Frame, Systematic Theology.]

P The New Testament writers emphasize this gradual change in our thinking when 16 times they ask the question, “Do you not know?” Invariably, that question is not being asked of unbelievers, but believers, as the New Testament books were written to churches filled with believers. The implication is that there is something the readers don’t know or understand that they should know. But their minds are still under the influence of sin’s noetic effect. P The unbeliever and the believer both need a teacher, and the Scriptures are that teacher. The truth of Scripture gives knowledge to those who are blind (unbelievers) and growing understanding to those who are His (believers). The Scriptures are profitable to us in that they increasingly inform and teach and guide us to the truth of God when we don’t know what to do or when we have been taught and believed incorrectly.

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P Scripture is not just “teaching,” but it is specifically teaching about God, Christ, salvation, and life. It is ultimately, sound (true) words about God Himself (1 Tim. 1:10-11; 4:6). We need to know God to be righteous before God and we do not have the ability to know God in ourselves. The Scripture is the tool our teacher, the Holy Spirit, uses to give us the knowledge of Him (Jn. 14:26; Col. 3:16). P It has been noted that God’s truth contained in God’s Word are the first and last pieces of the believer’s armor — we are to stand, having put on the belt of truth (Eph. 6:14) and taken up the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). From the beginning to end of our spiritual lives, the Word of God is what teaches us. John MacArthur said that, “When it comes to godly living and godly service, to growing in ‘the discipline and instruction of the Lord’ (Eph. 6:4), God-breathed Scripture provides for us the comprehensive and complete body of divine truth necessary to live as our heavenly Father desires for us to live.” We need Scripture to teach us because we are ignorant, and Scripture teaches us exactly what we need to know to live adequately and be equipped to do God for the glory of God (2 Tim. 3:17). This is part of the power of God’s authoritative Word.

• It will CONVICT you (because you are REBELLIOUS) P Scripture also is profitable to give reproof. This word can refer to a refutation of doctrinal error. But most often it “means ‘to show someone his sin and to summon him to repentance.’ This may be a private matter between two people, as in Mt. 18:15; Eph. 5:11. But it may also be a congregational affair under the leader, as in the Pastorals: 1 Tm. 5:20; 2 Tm. 4:2; Tt. 1:9, 13; 2:15.…The word does not mean only ‘to blame’ or ‘to reprove,’ not ‘to convince’ in the sense of proof, not ‘to reveal’ or ‘expose,’ but ‘to set right,’ namely, ‘to point away from sin to repentance.’ It implies educative discipline.” [TDNT; my emphasis] Cf. Tt. 1:13. P This is Scripture’s further power: it exposes us where we are in sinful error. Notice also the connection to the previous word, teach. As it teaches, Scripture informs the mind and conscience about what is right and true. As the mind is informed, it is also then brought under conviction (reproof) for areas of both ignorant disobedience and willful rebellion. Scripture is powerful to expose every aspect of error, falsehood, and sin in the believer’s life. P The natural (fleshly) and ungodly inclination is to be rebellious and to resist this reproof. What said of Israel could be said of every person: “You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day I knew you” (Dt. 9:24). But when we are willing to be taught by Scripture, the error of our ways will be revealed and exposed, enabling us to be repentant. The rebuke and conviction that come from Scripture are a powerful tool and blessing in the life of the believer, painful as they may be at the moment, for the Word of God is a sword that cuts into our lives, separating the spiritual from the fleshly (2 Tim. 4:2; Heb. 4:12) with the intention of producing confession. P Part of the blessing that comes from the rebuke of Scripture is that it doesn’t leave us in a state of being rebuked. It also convicts us of our guilt before God and provides a means of restoration (which is what Paul emphasizes with the next word).

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• It will RESTORE you (because you are INCAPABLE) P Not only is Scripture powerful to expose our sinful error, but it is also powerful to change us and transform us from that error. That is what is meant by the word correct. The word comes from a word that means to straighten. It refers to putting people “upright on their feet.” We might say, “it straightens us out.” The idea is that even when we experience the convicting rebuke of Scripture, we are incapable of doing anything about that rebuke. We can’t fix ourselves any more than a patient with cancer can perform surgery on himself. We need something and someone outside of us to change us. Scripture is that tool, used by the Holy Spirit, to change us. P This is a further powerful grace of the Bible; the intent of God and His Word is not to expose our sin and leave us in awareness of our misery, but to transform our lives and to restore us to His intended purposes for our lives — to live for His glory. This word correct, then, must be combined with the previous word reproof. Correction cannot happen without reproof. It takes the rebuke of Scripture to produce a yearning and willingness for correction. And rebuke without correction is hopeless as it leaves one in his sin without possibility of change. That means that there must always be the pain of rebuke in the believer before there can be the joy of restoration. But it also means that with the Word of God there is always hope for transformation. The believer with the Bible is not consigned to a vain despair of endlessly repeating his sin without possibility of pleasing God. Because he has Scripture, he has the hope that he and his exposed sin will be restored to God and used by God for God’s glory.

“When we grow careless of keeping our souls, then God recovers our taste of good things again by sharp crosses.” [Richard Sibbes]

P Those “crosses” are often the conviction that comes through Scripture. We need His Word so that we won’t sin; we meditate on His Word so that we will be firmly rooted and not blown away by the first winds of temptation. P That hope leads to Paul’s final explanation of the Word’s power — it trains us.

• It will TRAIN you (because you need OVERSIGHT) P The word Paul uses for training is a pedagogical term. While including discipline, training is discipline that instructs. It is “the act of providing guidance for responsible living, upbringing, training, instruction,…as it is attained by discipline, correction…” P It is also a particular kind of instruction — it is instruction in righteousness. Scripture is not a book to educate our scientific minds, or give us strategies for our sporting endeavors, or to provide specific regulations for our diets. The Bible is the tool to inform us about righteous and holy living. The Word of God, like nothing else, will train you to be righteous — to think and live in the right way before God and for the right reasons.

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P Scripture is the teacher that gives oversight and direction to train us to do what we cannot naturally do on our own — to live in holiness with God. P Having been justified by faith, Scripture provides direction for how the believer must and can live life in this wayward world. Some have suggested that the Bible is powerful to save and produce justification — to give us “the wisdom that leads to salvation” (v. 14), but that it is inadequate for the complex problems experienced by many of our counselees and disciples. Is that true? Ø The context of the passage resists and refutes such an argument. This statement about Scripture’s sufficiency follows the acknowledgement of “difficult times” (v. 1) — times that include manifestations of rebellious sin like selfishness, greedy love of money, disobedience to parents, irreconciled and broken relationships, hostile gossip, lack of self-restraint, haters of anything good, and lovers of pleasure instead of lovers of God (vv. 2-4). The Word of God is sufficient to transform all those things and more. Ø The Word of God is sufficient to provide wisdom for conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and perseverance (v. 10). The Word of God can empower and enable one to stand faithfully under the onslaught of unjust persecution and suffering (vv. 11-12). Ø It is for days like those and troubles like those that Paul exhorts his disciple Timothy, “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of…” (v. 14). Paul’s imperative continue is a present tense verb that means Timothy is to live habitually and continually in the Word of God so that he can thrive in these circumstances. Ø Paul also reminds Timothy that the Word of God was adequate for him in his childhood (v. 15) and implies by that statement that it is still adequate for him in his adulthood, which is why Paul says what he does about Scripture in verse 16. And the next verse will state that the intent of Scripture is not only to make one a believer in Christ, but also to make one able to live like Christ (v. 17). Scripture is adequate to prepare the believer for every good work to which he has been called in his salvation (v. 17; cf. Eph. 2:10). The Word of God is the powerful tool for bringing one to salvation, but also the powerful tool for keeping one in salvation and working out his salvation in the complexities of life. P This verse asserts the power of Scripture by demonstrating that it (alone) is “profitable for doctrine (what is right), for reproof (what is not right), for correction (how to get right), and for instruction in righteousness (how to stay right).” [Wiersbe] The Scripture is powerful to do all this. Why does God give Scripture to us to do these things? That question is answered in verse 17.

3. The Word of God is God’s Word to EQUIP Believers (v. 17)

• This verse speaks to the purpose of God’s Word. When Paul says so that in verse 17, he is telling us the purpose of the Scripture that has been given to us and the purpose for the work it does that he explained in verse 16. The intent of Scripture is that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. page 8 / 10

P By adequate, Paul means that we are “specially adapted” to our calling. It refers to completeness and competency. This person can meet all the demands placed on him. He is proficient in living life because of the effect of the Word of God on His life. P He is also equipped for every good work. He is “fully furnished” and “completely outfitted” to perform what is expected of him. He is not deficient nor lacking. He has what he needs. Like a pilot with an airplane and adequate training to operate the airplane, this man has the tools at his disposal to live life well and to serve others well, because of the work of the Word in Him.

• Scripture can meet every demand of life and every calling of God in our lives. It is sufficient and proficient to produce what is needed in every circumstance. It provides knowledge and direction for every need in ministry and life for Timothy and for every believer (every man of God). • Scripture will never be deficient in its guidance towards the good works God has called us to in our salvation (Eph. 2:10). Hiebert rightly summarizes the purpose and power of Scripture in these verses:

“Wherever it is allowed to have its intended result, ‘instruction by the Scripture will secure for every believer continuous, growing, inward capacity and readiness for the accomplishment of everything pleasing to the Lord’….” [Hiebert]

CONCLUSION: Because the Bible is sufficient and proficient to produce necessary change in the believer and because the Spirit’s primary tool in administering change in the believer’s life is the Bible, our primary tool in offering the hope of transformation and sanctification is the Bible. If we are going to be effective in ministry, we must not only know what God’s book says and means. The Bible is given to us to reveal something to us, so we can discern the meaning, and that we should (and can) do something because of what it means. Heath Lambert has told a story of going to his kitchen pantry to prepare breakfast for his children on a morning when his wife was ill, only to realize that while all the raw ingredients for a nutritious breakfast were available on the shelves, he had no idea how to transform them from ingredient to final product. So he went to a place where they could do that: McDonald’s. Then he drew an application from those events:

If you understand this story, you recognize the difference between resources and facility. I had more than enough resources in my pantry that morning to prepare a delightful breakfast for my children. The problem was that I did not have my wife’s facility to transform those resources into something consumable by my children. It is the same way with the Bible and counseling. We have more than enough Scriptural resources to assist any troubled person whom the Lord would send our way. What we often are missing is the facility to share those resources with folks who are experiencing trouble in a manner that leads to help.

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Our goal is to develop facility with the Scriptures, to handle them with wisdom and accuracy, so we can use and apply those Scriptures to the diverse problems we and our fellow members in the church body will face. Let’s not just be surrounded by copies of the Bible; let’s be equipped servants who can strategically and carefully use the Sword that has been given to us to be God’s agents in the repair of men’s souls. Let’s do that by learning the Word which is inspired and sufficient.

BENEDICTION: Romans 8:37-39

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