2 Timothy 3:16-17 - God's word.

2 Timothy 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.”

-         Written by the apostle Paul

-         Tells us that all of the bible is God’s word and what it is useful for.

“All scripture is God-breathed.”

-   That means every bit of the bible is written by God. The Old Testament and the New Testament are both God’s word and they are useful.

So, how is it God’s word if it was written by people? I said before that this is written by Paul, so how was it also written by God?

2 Peter 1:21 says “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” – The bible is God’s word because he sent his Holy Spirit on people to tell them what to write. We see this all through the Old Testament and it’s the same with the New Testament books. Since the bible is God’s word, we should listen to it.

Paul says that the bible is useful. This means that it is good for us and helpful to us to show us what God wants. The bible is God telling us what to do and what he wants us to do, and by it we know how we should live, what he wants us to do.

Paul says 4 things the bible is useful for.

Firstly: Teaching.

-         The bible tells us about who God is, and about ourselves.

-         It tells us that we have all disobeyed God, from Adam and Eve at the beginning to us now

-         Because of that we deserve God’s punishment - Hell.

-         It also tells us about Jesus and that by faith in him we can be forgiven and saved from God’s wrath and into his mercy and love and become part of his family. Jesus is God, but he came to earth as a man, dying on the cross so that whoever believes in him will be forgiven - he takes our sins and God's wrath against them so we can be forgiven.

Secondly Paul says it is useful for rebuking.

-         Rebuking means telling us that we are wrong. The bible tells us when we are disobeying God.

Thirdly it correct us.

-         It tells us we are wrong, and then it shows us that we are meant to be doing.

-         The word used means to straighten something out, and the first and biggest thing the bible tells us to fix is to turn to Jesus and put ur faith in him instead of living our own way.

-         It’s like if I was walking one way, then I found a sign that said “Wrong way, go back” – The bible tells us that sin is the wrong way, and that we need to turn to God – another word for doing this is repentance.

-         We need to Trust in Jesus and obey him instead of living our own way.

Training in righteousness.

-         Righteousness means being right with God, or good in his sight - we can only be righteous through faith in Jesus.

-         So the bible tells us which way to go and continually shows us how to live as Christians.

In verse 17 Paul ties all these together saying that the bible “equips us to do good works”.

-         It makes us able to obey God.

-          Doing good things doesn’t save us or make us right with God, Only Jesus was perfect and only by faith in him can we be saved.

-         But if we are Christians, that involves giving up disobedience to God and instead obeying him. The bible tells us what is wrong and how we should be living, and if we are Christians we need to listen to God and live his way instead of our own way.

-         The point of becoming a Christian is realising that we can’t do it ourselves and that our way can’t save us, and instead we live God’s way and follow Jesus. 

So, the bible is God’s word, it shows us who he is and how he wants us to live and also where we have done wrong so that we can say sorry for that. Since the bible is God’s word, we should read it – he created us, his way is better. We should read it because it is useful and it shows us how to live. So my challenge today is, are you reading the bible?

How else are we meant to know about Jesus? Learn about him while you're young (if you're young) so that you can decide to follow him throughout your whole lives. How else are we meant to obey God and see how he wants us to live? How else can we realise God’s love for us, even though we don’t deserve it? How else are we meant to honour God and put him first in everything? How else are we meant to realise just how much he has done by saving us in Jesus? How else are we meant to Know how we can serve God here at school and when we leave?  How else are we meant to grow to be stronger Christians? How are we meant to teach others how to follow God and about all he has done for us? How can we direct them and teach them from the bible if we don’t read it ourselves?

Job 23:12 - I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

Psalm 19:7-11 - The law of the LORD is perfect,

reviving the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever.

The ordinances of the LORD are sure

and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 119:97 - Oh, how I love your law!

I meditate on it all day long.