Saturday Study
1 Timothy 6-2 Timothy 4 (10.19.19)
Grab your Bible, and let’s go deeper into 2 Timothy 3 and 4. Specifically, today I want to work through 2 Timothy 3:16-4:4.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 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 complete, equipped for every good work.
The holy Scriptures are our ultimate and trustworthy authority for faith and practice. All that we learn about God and His world and all other authorities should be interpreted in light of Scripture. The Bible gives us everything we need for our theology and our lives.
We believe the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired word of God, infallible and inerrant, complete in the original manuscripts, and the supreme authority for faith and life.
When the reformers used the words “Sola Scriptura,” they were expressing their concern for the Bible’s authority. They meant that the Bible alone is our ultimate authority—not the pope, not the church, not the traditions of the church or church councils, not personal inspirations or subjective feelings, but Scripture only. This is a conviction that needs to lead us still today!
According to the Bible, other sources of authority are established by God—such as the authority of church elders, the authority of the state, or the authority of parents over children—but Scripture alone is truly ultimate. Therefore, if any of these other authorities depart from Bible teaching, they are to be judged and held accountable or in contempt of the authority of the holy Bible.
We stand under the authority of the holy Scriptures above all other ruling governance in our life. So the question is how do we obey God’s word alone and not the opinions of men?
One of the key ways we must learn to do this is to test our understanding of Scripture with Scripture. This is called “The analogy of faith.” “The analogy of faith” is a hermeneutical (Bible study) principle which states that since all Scripture is harmoniously united with no essential contradictions, every proposed interpretation of any passage must be compared with what the other parts of the Bible teach. In other words, the body of doctrine, which the Scriptures as a whole proclaim, will not be contradicted in any way by any passage.
We must be careful not to interpret Scripture according to man’s preferences or religion’s traditions, but according to the rules and authority of Scripture alone. Let me help flesh this out with some base understanding of the word of God.
What are the holy Scriptures:
The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word for book. Holy Bible means holy book. It was written in three languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic) over a period of 1500 years by more than 40 authors. The holy Bible contains 66 books: 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is “inspired by God.” This is one word in the Greek: THEOPNEUSTOS. It literally means “God-breathed.”
We believe God inspired certain prophets and apostles so they then put down in writing the exact words God wanted them to write. 2 Peter 1:21 says that God “moved” certain prophets. The word “moved” means “to carry along; to overwhelm by force.”
Since man’s main means of communication is words (greater than gestures, facial expressions, pictures, music, etc.), God used this means to communicate with us. Praise God!
Why we fully trust the holy Scriptures:
We trust the holy Scriptures because they are God’s word. They do not merely contain God’s word; they are God’s word.
- We trust the holy Scriptures because the Bible is inerrant.
It contains no errors in the original manuscripts. Truth and error are incompatible, like light and darkness.
- We trust the holy Scriptures because the Bible is infallible.
It cannot fail to speak the truth. It does not and cannot error.
Jesus said it “cannot be broken” (John 10:35), for all of its individual words are true. Thus, Scripture has no contradictions between its parts!
Yes, the Bible was written by fallible men, but God so breathed on them and inspired them to record His holy word perfectly, even through each one’s personality and purpose. God then so preserved His word down through the generations and translations by godly men to provide for us what we have today–God’s holy word.
What should we do with the holy Scriptures:
- Obey God’s word above all else.
Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’”
Proverbs 13:13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.
No matter what you believe about God or life, if the Bible says different, you must believe what it says. You must submit yourself fully to it. I want us to be radically submissive and radically surrendered to His word.
John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
This is the good news of Jesus Christ: Because he took on our sin and gave us His righteousness, we now have right standing with God and the power to obey Him.
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”
- Test all things up against God’s word.
I John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
I Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
Matthew 22:29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
We err if we do not know the Bible or if we contradict it.
- Watch out for and rebuke anything that comes against God’s word.
Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Romans 16:17-18 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
I John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Do not add or take away from God’s word.
Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”
Deuteronomy 12:32 “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.”
Don’t add anything to the Scriptures and don’t take anything away from the Scriptures. The word of God is sufficient to lead us in our lives, relationships and families to life and to life everlasting.
God tells us “not to go beyond that which is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6).
- Share God’s word.
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Mark 16:15-16 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
- Study God’s word.
Regularly seek and sit under sound teaching. Good and godly preaching means sermons are expositions of the Bible and its teachings and not sporadic expressions of the preacher’s opinions or the ideas of the age. We must settle for nothing less than what God has given. This is why pastoral elders are called to “hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9).
Professor and theologian, Wayne Grudem, once said this:
“Throughout the history of the church the greatest preachers have been those who have recognized that they have no authority in themselves and have seen their task as being to explain the words of Scripture and apply them clearly to the lives of their hearers. Their preaching has drawn its power not from the proclamation of their own Christian experiences or the experiences of others, nor from their own opinions, creative ideas, or rhetorical skills, but from God’s powerful words. Essentially they stood in the pulpit, pointed to the biblical text, and said in effect to the congregation, ‘This is what this verse means. Do you see that meaning here as well? Then you must believe it and obey it with all your heart, for God himself, your Creator and your Lord, is saying this to you today!’ Only the written words of Scripture can give this kind of authority to preaching.”
Hold fast to God’s word in daily study.
Psalms 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
There is a spiritual diet without which no Christian can be strong and healthy and fruitful. That is a diet of the word of God. Are you holding fast to God’s word daily?
2 Timothy 4:1-2 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season …
Are you ready in season and out of season?
2 Timothy 4:2 … reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
Are you doing the work given to us to do?
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Are you enduring sound teaching or settling for just what makes you feel good or comfortable?
Our tendency in the flesh is to submit to the rational of our human mind instead of the authority of the almighty, eternal God’s holy word. As a result, we form views of who God is and how He acts or doesn’t act based more on our personal feelings or logic instead of the divine and perfectly written words He gave us in Scripture. This is so dangerous and detrimental.
Instead, we need to take very seriously the words of God, submit to God’s authority, and conform to His image and not try to make Him conform to our ideas or our will.
We are at war with our sin, selfishness, and self-reign. We must realize that we are desperate for the authority of God’s word to correct our futile view of God, ourselves, this world, and everything in it. We are desperate for His word to lead us with authority.
Please, don’t slip away to something more comfortable, but fight with us as we cling to and delight in all that He is and has for us!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 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 complete, equipped for every good work.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Joshua Kirstine
Disciples Church