Today I want to address to you the importance of the word of God. It is not an understatement to say that we live by the word of God, and in fact we cannot live without it. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ said in the wilderness when being tempted by the devil. He said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” It is no surprise that there is a decreasing commitment to the word of God as the word of God side by side with an increase in some of the most pernicious deception and confusion. Have you seen this in the past week? The fastest woman swimmer in college is actually a man. And one of the individuals up for woman of the year is a man. We are supposed to believe this. But as Christians, we can’t! How did we get here? Romans 1:24-25 describes our present insanity. We are called to live not by lies, but by the truth. 

It is also no surprise that at a time when there is a complete breakdown of trust in our institutions (medical, scientific, political, media, law enforcement), there is also a growing distrust of the reliability of the scriptures. There is a general distrust of any authority. The bible, which used to be commonly referred to “the word of God” is now called by some cool, hip pastors “ancient documents” that we love but may not be completely reliable. 

Increasingly if you hold to biblical fidelity and authority on such things like sexual ethics you will be seen as outdated, backwards, an outcast, and possibly dangerous. In other words, you will be marginalized and persecuted to some degree. If you go along with the culture or remain silent, you won’t be. And of course so some have done just that, and many more will. It’s called “progressive Chrisitanity”. The idea is that we need to make progress with the times. We can’t really believe what Christians believed before they had google can we? Well, yes we can and we must. The point of our text is clear:

Big Idea: As the world proceeds from bad to worse, we are to continue in the word of God. We are to continue (two phrases used in these four verses) in the “sacred writings” or “scripture”. 

This is exactly what Paul is talking about here in 2 Timothy 3. Remember back at the beginning of chapter 3, “in the last days there will come times of difficulty”. The difficulty is described as coming from people who are described in various ways, but I think it’s summed up in that they are lovers of self and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They don’t love God. They love themselves and they love to please themselves, and so their lives are defined by self-love. Narcissism. Paul says these are the people who will persecute Christians. These are the people who proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 

But there is a pivot in our passage. Paul says in verse 14, “But as for you [Timothy], continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed…” Continue in the things you learned. And remember who you learned it from - no doubt his mother, grandmother, and of course Paul. And then look at how Paul reminds Timothy of the ultimate source of what he learned, namely the “sacred writings”, no doubt referring to the scriptures contained in the OT (for sure) and perhaps some NT scriptures that were circulating at the time Paul was writing this. These writings were able to make Timothy wise for salvation, and he is to continue in them. 

Brothers and sisters there are only two options before us today. Will we go the way of the world which leads inevitably into deception and confusion. Or will we go against the current and continue in the word of God. We need to hear this word today and take it to heart.

Big Idea: As the world proceeds from bad to worse, we are to continue in the word of God. 

What you believe about the bible has everything to do with your commitment and steadfastness, in the face of hostility to the truth. We are given three reasons to continue in the scriptures in verses 16-17. Here they are: 1) the nature of scripture, 2) the value of scripture, and 3) the sufficiency of scripture. These three truths serve as three cords to tether you to the bible so you continue in it. The first is the nature of scripture.

1) The Nature of Scripture (v. 16a)

All scripture is breathed out by God… (v. 16)

This is one of the most important statements on what the bible is in the scripture. In fact when it comes to the nature of scripture, this is the most important. Some translations use the word “inspired” or “inspiration”. I don’t think that’s the best translation. Certainly the way we use the word inspiration today wouldn’t fit what Paul is trying to communicate here. All scripture is breathed out by God. 

What is the nature of scripture? What does this mean that scripture is breathed out by God? It means nothing less than that Scripture is a divine product. The scriptures are not the product of human authors that God comes and gives inspiration to. It is not the product of human authors that God breathes into or breathes upon. The word translated “breathed out by God” is the Greek word “theopneustos”. Two words - theos (God) and pneustos (breath). The scriptures are the breath of God. When you speak, you are breathing out, right? That is what scripture is. God breathing out. God speaking. It is not a human product. It is not merely ancient documents, written by Moses, David, Isaiah, Paul, Peter, and so forth. 

God does not breathe into the words on the page, the words on the pages of scripture are the very product of God’s creative, divine breath. The breath of God in scripture is a symbol of his almighty power. Listen to David in Psalm 33:6,

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

Creation came into being - the heavens, the host of heaven by the breath of the Lord. Paul makes this connection, knowing the OT well in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 when he describes how Jesus will destroy the end times figure, the man of lawlessness:

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

How will Jesus deal with the lawless one? By the breath of his mouth. Christ will destroy him by his word. All scripture is breathed out by God - it's the product of God’s divine and creative power. These are not human words. The apostle Peter elaborated a bit on this and how the human authors are part of God’s word in 2 Peter 1:19-21:

And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy of scripture was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.  

There is a lot here that we cannot get into. But notice that Peter says that the Scriptures are something “more sure”. More sure than what? Well, in context, Peter is talking about his experience of being on top of the mountain and seeing Jesus transfigured and talking to Moses and Elijah before his very eyes. The scriptures are more sure than that! And he tells us why. Because the written scriptures are a divine product. They were not produced by the will of man. He says “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”. The human authors of scripture were not merely given inspiration. They were not just managed or supervised as they wrote. No. They spoke from God. They were carried by the Spirit and thus what he intended for them to write.

And so at the end of the day, let it be said: “What the scriptures speak, God speaks!” All scripture is breathed out by God. Meaning what the scriptures say God says - whether OT or NT, the law, the psalms, the letters, the gospels, the prophets, Revelation. All of it is God breathed. A.W. Tozer said, “Nothing less than a whole bible can make a whole Christian.” This text clearly affirms that. 

The Lord Jesus Christ affirmed this, and he is a pretty good authority on the subject. Christ had a high view of scripture (God breathed), and so should we. BB Warfield (died in early 20th century) wrote in an excellent essay on the nature of Scripture and said the following on this text, 

In a word, what is declared by this fundamental passage is simply that the Scriptures are a Divine product… No term could have been chosen, which would have more emphatically asserted the Divine production of Scripture than that which [Paul] here employed.

Paul wanted to emphatically and unambiguously communicate that scripture is Divine and said “all scripture is breathed out by God…” And he spoke from God and was carried by the Spirit as he wrote these words. If these are the very words of God, then what Christ said in John 10:35 is abundantly true, “The scriptures cannot be broken…” And if this is true, then what other foundation could we possibly want to stand on? What other path could we want to continue on? If all scripture is breathed out by God and cannot be broken, then the word of the Sovereign Lord must have ultimate authority AND trusted fully. 

I can hear the thoughts of some (maybe not here, but I’ve heard it before), you are honoring God’s word above God himself. To the contrary, we are simply taking God at his word and to do so, honors him. So continue in the scriptures because of their nature which is DIVINE. 

Once we understand the nature of the scriptures, the other two reasons given to us follow naturally. Of course if the word of God is divine, this makes perfect sense. So it follows, we are to continue in the word of God because of its immense value. 

The Value of Scripture

All scripture is breathed out by God, and profitable… 

Do we understand the incalculable value of scripture? Do you remember the old Mastercard commercials? A dad and his son at a baseball game. And it goes through the price of the ticket, a hot dog, a souvenir baseball cap… and then the punchline, “time spent with your son: PRICELESS. Truly the scriptures are priceless, they are infinitely valuable. 

Since scripture is the product of God’s omnipotent, creative breath it derives its value from nothing less than this divine quality. And so, the scriptures are supremely valuable for Christians. Psalm 119:72 says, “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces…” He says essentially, “If I could have all the money to buy whatever I wanted for the rest of my life, it wouldn’t compare to the treasure of your word.” WOW! 

Specifically in our text, the bible is supremely valuable for everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). And that’s what Paul essentially says:

[All scripture is] profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness… (v. 16)

This is not an exhaustive list of how the scriptures profit us, but certainly is a good place to start. The first pair have to do with doctrine, and the second pair have to do with conduct. Let’s look at each in turn.

Scripture is valuable for teaching. This means doctrinal truth. What is true and false? Our understanding of God and mankind and sin and why the world is so messed up. The scriptures teach us who Christ is and what he has done to save sinners and reconcile them to the Father. The scriptures teach us what God’s plans are in the future and how Christ will come and make everything right. The scriptures teach us how we are to live a life pleasing to God in the power of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures are valuable for teaching. Without God’s word we are stumbling in the dark. 

Scripture is valuable for reproof. What is in view here is the refutation of error. The bible not only gives us positive truth for healthy doctrine, it also rebukes us, refuting error. Have you ever been reading the bible and came to a verse that felt like it was sternly warning you or rebuking you? That’s good! That’s profitable! Both the positive teaching and what might be considered negative reproof are needed for the church to be healthy. It is for want of either one that an individual or church strays into danger. The scriptures are valuable for teaching and reproof. 

Scripture is valuable for correction. The word here comes from the Greek word for “straight”. The idea is that the word of God straightens us out. Apart from the teaching and reproof of God’s word, our lives are crooked and twisted like a pretzel. Those who receive its teaching and reproof find their lives beginning to straighten out. The scriptures are valuable for correction, for straightening us out. And finally…  

Scripture is valuable for training in righteousness. The word training is a very interesting and pregnant word. It’s the Greek word “Paideia”. In Greek culture it was used to describe the entire education process by which a child is raised up to be an encultured Greek citizen. For the Chrisitian it is the entire training regiment, the entire program of discipleship in a life of righteous living. Remember the last part of the great commission? Make disciples, baptize, and teach them to obey all that I have commanded. Teach obedience. The scriptures are profitable for this! Puritan John Flavel said, “The Scriptures teach us the best way of living, the noblest way of suffering, and the most comfortable way of dying.” 

Do you want to live well? Do you want to suffer well (when the time comes - last week’s message)? Do you want to die well? Then immerse yourself in and let your life be shaped by the scriptures. It will profit you in every way. It is immensely valuable. So, though the world is progressing from bad to worse in deception and confusion, we are to continue in the word because it is God-breathed, because it’s immeasurably valuable, and finally because it is sufficient. It is sufficient. Look at verse 17.

The Sufficiency of the Word

All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

This is such a comprehensive statement. The word “that” at the beginning of verse 17 is key. It tells us what follows is all about purpose. What is the end goal and purpose of the scripture’s work in our lives? To make us complete and fully furnished for everything God intends for us to do. That’s what this is saying! This is amazing! 

We need to understand this. The word of God is not only without error. Most Christians, at least intellectually, would agree with that. The question is, is the bible sufficient? Do we need information outside the bible, additional revelation, perhaps a secret message, that God has not spoken in scripture in order to know what to believe and how to live for God’s glory? Paul’s answer is an emphatic no! 

Competent. This word means complete, perfect. The word of God makes us complete or perfect for the purposes of God. Equipped. It equips us. The word equipped means “fully furnished”. Think of a soldier going onto the battlefield with everything he needs to fight and conquer. Or think of a farmer fully furnished with every piece of farm equipment he needs to successfully till, plant, weed, water, and harvest his field. 

The word of God makes us competent and equipped for every good work. Every good work. The good work of loving and serving in the church, the good work of nurturing and raising children, the good work of your vocation done to the glory of God, the good work of sharing the gospel, the good work of loving your neighbor, the good work of discipling your children, the good work of teaching Sunday School, and every other good work you can think of. The scriptures are sufficient to equip us for every good work. 

Now some might say, “Wait a second, don’t we need the Holy Spirit?” And I would say, YES! A thousand times yes! Remember, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, who is also the Author of the scripture. And he works through the word. Ephesians 5:18-19 and Colossians 3:16 (the result is the exact same when we are filled with the Spirit and filled with the word). When the God-breathed scriptures are dwelling in us richly, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. How could we not be? We are full of the breath of God! And then we are complete and equipped for every good work God calls us to. The scriptures are sufficient!

As the world progresses down a path of narcissistic, self-loving insanity, confusion and deception and every vile practice, we must continue in the word. To be committed to all scripture will set us at odds with the world, no doubt. To hold to scripture has God-breathed, valuable, and sufficient is to swim against the current. So be it! If we are going to withstand the tsunami of deception, we must. If we are going to be strong in face of persecution, we must. And if we are going to be fully equipped to abound in the work of the Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of King Jesus, we must. We must continue in the God-breathed, infinitely valuable, and totally sufficient scriptures. 

So, take it up and read! Immerse yourself, meditate on, pray over, discuss with others in order to sharpen one another. And be built up and equipped in these evil days!