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Evening Bible Study

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Evening Bible Study

Wednesday

6:00 p.m.

JOURNEY TO A FAITHFUL FINISH

Staying Read for God To Use

2 Timothy 3:15-17

The most important part of a “journey to a faithful finish” is staying ready for God to use. How do we stay ready for

God to use? We find out in this passage. It begins with our salvation, which is the result of the knowledge of at least

some Scriptures. Paul reminds Timothy that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures (3:15). For Timothy,

the holy scriptures was the Old Testament- Genesis to Malachi.

Timothy’s mother and grandmother taught him the Old Testament from a child (BREPHOS, bref’-os), which means babe, or infancy. Therefore,

when Timothy heard the Gospel, what he had been taught made him wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (3:15b) and ready to receive Christ. The Bible prepares us to make all the right choices in life. In this passage we discover three things that must be true in our lives if

we are to stay ready for God to use.

First, we must believe God’s Word (3:16a).

We must believe all of God’s Word, not just some or most. This is because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (3:16a) The phrase inspiration of God means “divinely breathed.” When you speak words, you breathe them out.

Words travel out of our mouths on our breath. So, God’s breath, which is His Holy Spirit, transported His words into

the minds of the biblical writers, and they wrote down God’s words. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Circle

the word all. How does Psalm 119:160 reiterate this truth?

No one in history revered and elevated the Bible like Jesus. Over and over again in the gospels He refers to the Old Testament as “the Word of God.” What does Jesus say about the Bible in Matthew 4:4?

Jesus taught that every word of the Old Testament was divinely inspired and binding. While debating with the

Pharisees, Jesus calls the Bible the word of God and says: “and the scripture cannot be broken” (Jn 10:35b). The word translated broken (LUO,loo’-oh) means to loosen or break. In other words, the Bible is not to be watered down or

faulted. In modern language this means the Bible is the infallible Word of God. Jesus often appealed to Scripture as

His infallible authority by saying, “It is written.” When being tempted three times by the devil in the wilderness, each

time Jesus responds by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy (Mt 4:1-11). Jesus repeatedly testified to the complete inspiration, authority, and reliability of the Old Testament.

The word scripture (2 Tim. 3:16) refers to the Old Testament, since the New Testament was incomplete at this time. But this verse certainly includes any biblical writings considered inspired. The apostles considered the writing of Paul to

be Holy Scriptures inspired by God. However, today even in so-called Christian circles, no portion of the Bible is more under attack than the epistles of Paul. In reference to Paul’s writing, Peter writes that Paul wrote with the wisdom God gave him (2 pet. 3:15b). Then, what does Peter write about Paul’s writings in the next verse (3:16)?

Peter considered the writing of Paul to be Holy scriptures inspired by God. Today, unlearned people are still trying to wrest (distort) Paul’s writing as never before because these truths clash with the morality of our culture and are not “politically correct.” However, staying ready for God to use means we must never retreat from the fact that all the

Bible is the inspired Word of God.

The entire Bible in its original manuscripts is given by inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16a). How does 2 Peter 1:21

describe this process?

By the inbreathing of the Holy Spirit, biblical writers, using their own style, penned the actual words of God as

revealed to them. It is inconceivable an all-powerful, all-knowing God would allow us to have a Bible we cannot trust.

We are in a spiritual war, in which the Bible is our twoedged sword (Hebrews 4:12), and our loving God would not

send us into battle with a faulty weapon.

Staying ready for God to use means we must believe God’s Word and…

Second, we must receive God’s Word (3:16b-e).

God’s Word is not only inspired, it is profitable when we receive it as His Word. The Bible is not just a book of inspiring stories about ancient people or He rebukes us when we are wrong, tells us how to get right, and how to stay right, with Him. Staying ready for God to use requires we believe God’s Word, receive God’s Word, and…

Third, we must let God’s Word achieve its purpose (3:17).

The purpose of the Bible is that the man (ANTHROPOS, awn-thro-pos) (or woman) of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (3:17, explanation mine). The Bible will thoroughly, or completely, equip us to do

whatever God’s purpose is for our lives. We should not study the Bible just for knowledge with which to impress our Christian friends. Why, according to the last statement in 1 Corinthians 8:1?

God didn’t give us the Bible so we could be obnoxious or prideful Bible experts. As we let God’s Word achieve its

purpose in our lives, we conform to the image of Jesus Christ and progressively become more and more loving and

better instruments for God to use in building up His kingdom. What promise does God give us for letting His Word achieve its purpose for our lives in James 1:25?

We will be blessed because only in obeying God’s Word can we find God’s purpose for our lives and experience what it means to be set free in Jesus Christ (Jn 8:36). We will also be blessed because God’s Word points out our sin and

directs us to ask God for forgiveness and cleansing so we can be totally rid our guilt. As someone has said, “It would be worth it to be Christian, even if there were no heaven, just to know all my sins are forgiven.” We will also be blessed because we are ready to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives, which brings incredible significance and happiness.

Staying ready for God to use requires we believe God’s Word, receive God’s Word and let God’s Word achieve it

purpose. What do you need to do, beginning today, to stay ready for God to use?