scripture equips us to be effective…
One of the things I desire in life more than anything else is to be an effective Christian and to equip others to be effective Christians. In 2 Timothy 3:16, we read…
“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 competent, equipped for every good work.”
As your pastor, I can think of no better “word” than to encourage you to recognize your deep, ongoing need for scripture. In this passage, we are told that the scriptures are profitable to each and every one of us in four ways:
First, scripture is profitable for teaching. In other words, the scriptures provide structure for our thoughts. We all need to be taught. But the questions we need to consider are “Who is teaching us?”, “Who are we learning from?”, and “Who are we looking to, to influence our thinking?” As Christians, we go to the scriptures and we say, “Lord, teach me.”
I’ve had all kinds of teachers growing up – good, bad and otherwise. But I know when I come underneath the authority of scripture, the result will be profitable – it’s going to shape my thinking for the good. This is crucial because belief determines behavior. If we’re not thinking correctly, then we’re not going to live correctly. So we all need to be taught, and of all the sources for teaching, we need the scriptures.
Next, the scriptures are profitable for reproof. In the same way that we all need to be taught, from time-to-time we all need reproof. Reproof is when we discover we are “out-of-bounds” in some area of life. Many times when I read my Bible, I come across scriptures that “blow the whistle” on some issue in my heart. Like a referee, the Holy Spirit calls a foul or throws a penalty flag on me, letting me know that I’m out-of-bounds. Personally, I see this as a good thing because, as sinful people, we need an objective authority in our lives that can declare the proper boundaries for our lives.
Solomon had a lot to say in the proverbs about wisdom and foolishness. And he always spoke of the fool as one who wouldn’t listen to reproof. Here are a few examples:
“If you turn at my reproof, behold I will pour out My Spirit to you.
I will make My words known to you.”
Proverbs 1:23
“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of His reproof.
For the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son whom He delights.”
Proverbs 3:11
And then he gets very poignant in Proverbs 12:1,
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge but he who hates reproof is stupid.”
Isn’t that a great word? Especially when it comes out of the Bible. Calling someone stupid seems rude everywhere else, but the Bible says the person who hates reproof is stupid! And now I’m going to say it. “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge but he who hates reproof is stupid” – just plain stupid. So don’t be stupid! Instead, be receptive to reproof.
Next, we see that the scriptures are profitable for correction. You know those closets in our homes, where everything that doesn’t have a place gets shoved and builds into piles. Then somebody comes along and opens the door and it all comes crashing out. We have one in our house. I’ll open the door and the vacuum comes tumbling out, and then some exercise ball takes aim and hits me every time! You open that thing, and, Boom! And each time you say, “Man, we’ve got to fix this. We’ve got to clean that thing out.” Well, the Bible is like that. It opens up doors in our lives and it tells us, “You’ve got to clean this out.” Correction is where we expose ourselves to God and say, “Open it up! Show me the closets, where are the dark places? Where’s the stuff? Where is there a mess in my life?” And we hear Him say, “This needs to change. That has got to be fixed. This can’t do in a child of Mine.” It’s this purifying dynamic that helps to clean out sin in our hearts and teaches us to conform to God’s will. That’s what correction does.
Finally, he simply says the scriptures are profitable for training in righteousness. Spiritual effectiveness is not just about correcting negatives but also involves pointing out the positives. In Psalm 23:3 David writes, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” And in Psalm 119:105, we read, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” For His name’s sake, God will reveal righteous ways to us through His Word and will work by his Spirit to train us in pursuing those paths in life. In that way, the scriptures give us training is in righteousness.
All of this combines so that, in the end, “…the man of God” (or woman of God) “may be competent, equipped for every good work.” And that’s what I hope we all we want…to be as effective as we can for Jesus.
