“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
-2 Timothy 3:16
This verse deserves a million sermons, but today we will only dip our toes in it.
The first thing we notice is that God breathed all scripture out. Paul is talking about the OT here because that’s what they had, but later he says in 1 Corinthians 2:13: we impart this (the first letter to the Corinthians) in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit and in 2 Peter 1:21. Peter says…no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So, it’s very safe to say that, in fact, its right to say all scripture from Genesis to Revelation is breathed out by God.
This means that as you hold your bible in your laps this morning, as you read it at home, it is communicated to us as God’s voice flowing from His mouth. We know that translations aren’t perfect, but the holy scriptures are. Church, God has given us His very word… What a privilege.
In all the information of the world, nothing is more valuable and instrumental than a single word spoken by the Creator of all things. In the breath of God nothing became everything. A divine word, echoed the vast void, and the glory of God was made known to us.
If He had only given us one word it would have been more than we deserved yet you have more than a thousand pages. It’s in your pockets. It’s on your walls. It’s in our songs and Lord willing it’s found a home in our hearts.
God’s word is His divine revelation of Himself to mankind. In it is His plan for all time. How do you know the character of the one who always was? How do you know who you are? It’s in His very word.
Two part takeaway….
Believe and trust in the inerrancy of God’s word and then Read and love God’s word.
Believing and trusting in God’s word looks like letting it fix you. Letting it tell you that you are broken. Letting it tell you that you are prideful and wrong or perhaps it tells you are right. If you ever think there is something wrong in the text, you always need to examine yourself because nothing can be wrong with the text. Church, the bible should be changing you over time and it can only do that if your trusting in it. Chance and I do our very best to give you the truth, that’s our most important task, but we too are fallible men and you have every right to cast anything we say to the side if it doesn’t add up to scripture. That’s the priority of God word. Church, you are gathered here today because God has given you His word, and His word is perfect. Trust and believe it.
Don’t neglect it, church.
Read and love it.
Good reading habits will change your life. Whether you wake up early and have alone time with your bible, or you read in the evenings as a family. Maybe you don’t have a specific time but you read throughout the day. It’s not about the time, or the amount. The most important thing is that you read it and read it to understand it. How many Christians around the world are biblically illiterate? How many in the bible belt? How many Christians have never read the bible the whole way through? Far too many. You must read it.
And you need to love it.
In Psalm 119, God’s word is compared to gold and silver, He says, the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of golden and silver pieces. Later he says, How sweet are you words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. What makes it valuable is the truth that’s in it. There is eternal life in it. There’s food for your soul in it and without it you will be destroyed. You were created and saved to worship God by reading and loving His word. 1 Peter 2:2 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.
Church, believe, trust, read and love the word of God, because All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.