We have a powerful tool in the spiritual battle before us. We have God’s word, recorded for our benefit – so that we might be the people God designed us to be:
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.
2 Timothy 3:16-172 Timothy 3:16-17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
16 Everything in the Scriptures is God's Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. 17 The Scriptures train God's servants to do all kinds of good deeds.
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This tool is not given in a vacuum. Our understanding of what Scripture teaches is given in community, and through the presence of the Spirit. God’s word is not a matter for “private” interpretation. There is this urge to treat the words of the Bible as a sort of divining rod – flip to a random page and point, and God will “reveal” his will. But this treatment of revelation is hollow. Often, we find the stories and messages of Scripture difficult. It isn’t all pithy sayings and one-liners. It is the hard-fought for experiences of men and women through the ages, trying to grasp who they were and who God is.
While many Christians can quote 2 Timothy 3:162 Timothy 3:16
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
16 Everything in the Scriptures is God's Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live.
WP-Bible plugin, maybe even 17, it is easy to overlook the context. We can reduce these verse to a comforting declaration of God’s provision of a clear message. But when we look in context, we find something much richer; something that in no way weakens our confidence, but rather sets it in perspective.
If we look at what leads Paul to make this statement about the worth of Scripture, we see him telling Timothy the following:
- you know what I teach and how I live
- you have seen how those who follow God suffer persecution
- you know evil impostors will flourish, deceiving who they may
- you must remain faithful to what you have been taught, with confidence based on who it is who taught you
Scripture was something that would be learned in community! If all you have at your disposal is your own understanding and mental agility, then you will find the Bible something hard as rock. It requires humility and patience. It demands us learn together, gaining from the insights each is provided through the Spirit, but also from the insights of those who have come before us.
What book of the Bible poses the most difficulty in understanding and applying it to your life? What resources have you sought out in order to better understand God’s message in that book? Whose insight have you sought? How could the experiences of others shape your understanding of this book?
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