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2 Timothy – Gospel Passion and Urgency Resounding Out of a Roman Dungeon! (7 of 9)
The Bible: All Scripture is God-Breathed
2 Timothy 3:10-17
In verses 10-17 we find ourselves facing the themes of the reality of persecution and of Scripture.
2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV) –
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...”
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) –
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness...”
We must face the significant threats of false teaching and persecution by holding tightly to Scripture. The Bible is God-Breathed. God has spoken! We must not allow the challenges of our day to draw us away from completely trusting God’s Word.
2 Timothy 3:10-17 (ESV) –
“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 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.”
1. Followers of Jesus should expect opposition.
2 Timothy 3:10-11 (ESV) –
“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.”
Timothy had been at Paul’s side through the ups and downs of ministry. Did you catch the mention of: Antioch, Iconium and Lystra? In Lystra, Paul was stoned and left for dead but God spared his life and he went back into the city.
Acts 14:19-20 (ESV) –
“Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city...”
Timothy was from Lystra and had experience with these events. Paul reminds him that God rescued him but rescue didn’t exempt him from suffering. Faithfulness to God does not mean escaping earthly suffering.
2 Timothy 3:12-13 (ESV) –
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
Matthew 5:11-12 (ESV) –
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
John 15:20 (ESV) –
“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
Matthew 10:38 (ESV) –
“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
The Bible teaches that followers of Jesus ought to expect opposition and persecution. If you desire to follow Jesus, expect there to be a cost! Ask – How should this change the way I look at things? In this passage Paul calls Timothy to consider his example and experience. Pushback against living according to Christian convictions is real and following Jesus requires perseverance when facing suffering.
John 16:33 (ESV) –
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
2. In the midst of facing opposition, we must hold tightly to the Bible.
2 Timothy 2:14 (ESV) –
“…continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed…”
Paul calls Timothy to remember not only what he had taught but to look back to what he had learned from his mother and grandmother.
2 Timothy 3:14 (ESV) –
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it...”
2 Timothy 1:5 (ESV) –
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”
2 Timothy 3:15 (ESV) –
“…and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
The Old and New Testaments point us to Jesus in whom salvation is found! Everything points to Jesus who is the only way to be saved.
John 3:16-17 (ESV) –
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Romans 6:23 (ESV) –
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The glorious news of the offer of forgiveness of all of our sins and eternal life is found in the Scriptures.
In verses 16-17 we come to what is probably the most compact statement about the nature of the Bible found within the pages of the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) –
“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.”
All Scripture is – …breathed out by God… The early church leader, Augustine said – When the Bible speaks, God speaks.
How is the Bible unified when it was written over more than a millennium in multiple languages about events on multiple continents? Answer: It’s God-Breathed.
2 Peter 3:15-16 (ESV) –
“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) –
“…for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”
2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT) –
“…is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”
Teaching and training carry the idea of instruction, correcting and reproof (or rebuking) carry a corrective disciplinary connotation intended to return us to the right path.
If we want to know how God sees things, if we want to know the right path – we need the Bible. If we want to know what is good, true, right and beautiful – God’s Word tells us.
If we desire to know who God is and who we are – God has spoken. When we find ourselves searching for purpose and answers – remember, the Bible speaks.
There’s a phrase – Where stands it written? We need to search the Scriptures and allow the Scriptures to search us. We meet the challenges of our day with an open Bible.
Psalm 119:105 (ESV) –
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
When facing challenges and questions our first reflex needs to seek the answer to the question – What does the Bible say? If God has spoken (and He has) then we need to measure everything by what He says.
Evangelical Free Church Statement of Faith – Article 2: The Bible
We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
If we want to know who God is, who we are and how to be saved, we need to look to the Bible! I’d encourage all of us to ask ourselves – What would a step of growth deeper into God’s Word look like, personally?
3. The Lord’s Supper.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV) –
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”
1 Peter 3:18 (ESV) –
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God...”
Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins, to make a way to cross from death to life, to offer forgiveness.
Christ’s body was broken and His blood was shed on the cross. He did this to freely offer rescue to all and secure it for all who receive Him. Christ died for our sins.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV) –
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”