All Scripture is inspired by God

2 Timothy 2:22-3:17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ²³ But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. ²⁴ The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, ²⁵ with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. ⁶ For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. ⁹ But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.

¹⁰ Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, ¹¹ persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! ¹² Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

There are many people who question or refute the accurracy and authority of God’s word. They even say it is not God’s word at all because it was written by men. In today’s text it says:  Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,  and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;  so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.   Those who try to discredit scripture will often point out discrepencies between different parts and writers. What Paul says: All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; is critical to our truly understanding the authority of scripture. First, it is all scripture. While it is true that the Bible was written over a period of thousands of years and had many different writers, there is one theme from Genesis to Revelation. The theme of all scripture is sin and redemption. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, God’s Son as Savior, Redeemer and the one who restores creation from the consequences of sin; the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Scripture must be viewed through the lens of scripture, not from the perspective of people or current culture. Rather than wrangling over words (as Paul warned against in yesterday’s text) that may seem inconsistent, the reader should keep in mind what the purpose of scripture is; to reveal God’s plan of redemption through Christ. There may have been many writers of scripture, but there was one coauthor to them all; the Holy Spirit. As the text says, all scripture is inspired by God. The same Holy Spirit, who is the coauthor of the Bible, also works with the reader to give understanding. In John 14:26 Jesus says:  The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. In John 16:13 He says:  But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.  How awesome that we have the one who coauthored all of scripture to teach us and guide us into its truth.

Some of those who discredit scripture say that they rely instead on what the Holy Spirit is speaking today. It is true that God, through the Holy Spirit, still speaks to people today. But if one theme and one message was consistent for thousands of years in scripture, why would anyone think that God would change His mind or His message today? The Holy Spirit is one with God. He will not refute what He has said in the past. Some things may be said in different ways, but the truth remains the truth. Romans 3:23 says: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  In John 14:6 Jesus says:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.    What God has spoken and what He is speaking is to correct, teach and train us; to bring us to an awareness of our need for Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior and redeemer.

Paul says:  Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.  The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,  with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,  and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of  money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,  treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.  Certainly we can see how accurately the Holy Spirit predicted what we see in today’s society and culture. The advice Paul gave two thousand years ago is still sound advice today, as is all of scripture:   Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart… men will be lovers of self, lovers of  money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for Your unchanging word and Your unchanging truth. Through the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit may I not try to change Your word, but rather may I be changed by Your word. As I am redeemed and reconciled to You, may I also be restored to Your image in Christ my Lord and Savior.  Amen.