10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Introduction
There lived in this town two brothers who were notorious for their wickedness. They were the sorriest two men who ever lived. There was not anything they wouldn’t do. They would lie, cheat, steal, drink, fight, cuss, and chase women. They would do anything and everything. And in the passing of time one of these brothers died. And so the surviving brother went to the preacher of the Baptist church and said, “Pastor, I want you to conduct my brother’s funeral.”
The pastor said, “No way. Everybody knows the kind of man he was. He would lie, cheat, steal, cuss, fight, drink, and chase women. No way I am going to preach his funeral service.” “Oh,” the man said. “Preacher, if you preach my brother’s funeral service and somewhere in the service say that he was a real saint I will pay you a thousand dollars.” The preacher said, “Well, I didn’t realize the kind of funeral service you wanted. I think we can work that out.”
So the pastor agreed and the word spread throughout the community and everybody came to see what the preacher was going to say about the deceased. So he stood to preach and as he did he looked down at the casket in front of him and said, “All of you people know this man. He has lived his life before you and you know that he was one of the sorriest men who ever lived. He would lie, cheat, steal, drink, cuss, fight, and chase women. He would do everything. But compared to his brother over there he is a real saint.”
It is dangerous to make comparisons. But let me tell you, when you compare the Bible to the book of the month, or the book of the moment, you discover it is the book of the ages.
Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). If it is the one eternal, everlasting book, then we need to give ourselves to the studying of it and the living of it. We can do that better if we understand the nature and the purpose of the word of God.
I know of no passage in all of the Bible that speaks to us more of the purpose and nature of scripture than the one that is before us today. The apostle Paul is writing to young Timothy and says to him, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Now this is an admonition from the apostle Paul and he begins with a challenge. And the challenge is that Timothy continue in the things that he has learned and been assured of. This is a part of a larger teaching where Paul is trying to prepare Timothy for the last days that are upon him. He began this chapter by saying to Timothy, “Perilous times shall come.” And he is describing those last days that shall be wicked and violent and treacherous days. And as he describes the last days before our Lord returns he cautions Timothy to avoid apostasy, to be careful about the times in which you live for they can so easily take you away from the truth and away from God and away from what you ought to be. Paul is telling Timothy what the last days are going to be like so he can avoid the apostasy that will characterize them.
Having warned Timothy to avoid apostasy he then turns to the other side of the coin to encourage him to continue in the word of God. It is never enough just to avoid evil—we must then give ourselves in a positive way to that which is good. So Paul says to Timothy, “But continue thou in the things that thou hast learned and been assured of.”
We Baptists are a whole lot better at beginning than we are at continuing. We start well but we have a tendency to fizzle out early in the race. Somebody has said that a faith that fizzles before the finish has a flaw in the first place. Jesus made it very clear that the mark of an authentic disciple was that he continued to the end. He told us explicitly, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). And Timothy needed and we need this word of encouragement from God, not just to make a beginning in the Christian life, but to continue in the Christian life. Paul’s challenge to Timothy is, “You are to continue in that which you have learned and that of which you have been assured.”
What is Paul talking about? What is he encouraging Timothy to continue in? Later on in the passage he will tell us explicitly. He is talking about the holy scriptures. Now the word scriptures literally means “that which is written.” And when the word holy is placed in front of it it means that which has been written, that which has been given to us by God. Before he gets to that though he says, “Timothy, I want you to continue in that which have learned and that of which you have been assured.”
Who taught Timothy the scriptures? Well, we know that the apostle Paul was one person who taught him. In fact he said earlier in this same chapter, “Timothy, you have known my doctrine, you have known my manner of life, you have known my purpose. Timothy, you have heard me teach and preach and you have watched my life and all that has been a part of your learning process.” Timothy was fortunate indeed, not only to have a teacher who knew the word of God, but a teacher who was a person of integrity. Timothy could look at Paul’s life and examine his motives. Timothy could listen to Paul’s words and they were all consistent with one another. And he had the privilege of being under the influence of that kind of teacher.
But before Timothy was ever taught by the apostle Paul he had been taught by his grandmother Lois and by his mother, Eunice. Paul said in the beginning of this book, “When I think about your faith I am reminded of the faith that was in your grandmother Lois and in your mother, Eunice. That same faith I find in you.”
And Paul says in this passage that from the time when you were a child—and the word child literally means a nursing infant—you were taught the holy scriptures by your mother and your grandmother.
There are a couple of challenges in that very experience for you and me. There is the challenge that we must see to it that our children are taught the holy scriptures. In the midst of all of the ideas that they are bombarded with today, all of the false philosophies and the crooked thinking of our world today, we dare not neglect to teach our children the holy scriptures like Timothy was taught. They need to be taught in every age.
There is another suggestion there. Timothy did not have a believing father. His father was a Greek. His father was a pagan. He did not share the conviction of his mother or his mother-in-law concerning God and the holy scriptures, but these two women without a believing husband were still able to teach young Timothy the word of God. Your husband or your wife may not share your convictions concerning the Lord Jesus. You can still teach your children. Your child may not have a father living in the home or a mother living in the home. You can still as a single parent teach your children the word of God. And Timothy had that special heritage of being taught not only by the apostle Paul but by a believing mother and believing grandmother. From the earliest days of his life, he had been taught the holy scriptures.
Now Paul said, “I want you to continue in that which thou hast learned.” But he goes beyond that to say “and that of which thou hast been persuaded.” For you see the truth that Timothy had been taught by Paul and at home had become forged into a religious conviction. It was more than just something he had learned. He had become persuaded that it was the truth. He was assured of the reliability of it and that which had become a conviction in his life, that which had been welded and forged into a burning compassion in his life, that he was to continue in.
It is not enough for us just to read the Bible. It is not enough for us just to memorize the Bible. It is not enough to us to teach the Bible. Friends, we need to have our knowledge of scripture forged into convictions so that we know what it is. And we are committed to it with heart and mind and soul.
Paul’s word then to Timothy is, “You continue in that which you have learned and that which you have been assured of.” And then he gives to Timothy a glimpse of what the scriptures were intended for, what they were intended to do. And if you read the passage carefully, you will discover that they were given to us for three reasons.
First of all, the scriptures were given for salvation. Paul tells us that in verse 15. “From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The scriptures were given for salvation.
Second, they were given for indoctrination. In verse 16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The scriptures were given not only for salvation, they were given for indoctrination to teach us what to believe and how to live.
Finally, they were given to us for edification, to build us up into Christian maturity. In verse 17, “That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” And the idea there is that he is built up to full maturity in the Lord Jesus Christ so he can do what he ought to do and be what he ought to be.
So you need to understand that the scriptures have been given to you for salvation and for indoctrination and for edification. And when you understand their purpose and their nature, it ought to cause you to continue to abide in them.
1. Salvation. The scriptures were given to us, then first of all, for salvation. It is important that the hungry be fed. It is important that the sick be doctored. It is important that the illiterate be taught. It is important that the discouraged be lifted up. But dear friends, it is imperative that the lost be saved. And the greatest need of any man and every man is that he come to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The first great purpose of scripture is salvation, that men might be wise unto the salvation that is through Christ Jesus the Lord.
The Bible asks us, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26) And all around us there are healthy and wealthy and educated and affluent people who have everything that life can afford except the one thing they need most and that is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation centers in the Lord Jesus. And Paul makes that very clear. The scriptures are able to make you wise unto salvation, which is in Christ Jesus. The whole hope of the world centers on the Jewish carpenter who was raised in Nazareth and eventually gave his life for us on the old rugged cross. He is the one and only Savior. And anyone who is saved must come to God through him.
But scripture plays a vital role in that it makes us wise unto salvation. And one of the primary purposes of the Bible is that it might eventually lead us to the foot of the cross, that we might bow in repentance and faith before the Lord Jesus so that our sins can be forgiven and we can become a part of the family of God. And until the scriptures work that in your life, until they bring you to faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, they have not accomplished their intended purpose. So the first purpose of scripture is salvation to make you wise unto it through faith in Christ Jesus.
2. Indoctrination. The second purpose of scripture is indoctrination. Paul said that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. And it is profitable for doctrine, reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness. He is going to tell us that the scriptures have been given to teach us what to believe and how to live. But before he does that he must lay a foundation to make sure that we understand the nature of scripture. So he says, “Timothy, all scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
And that’s what gives it its value. That’s why it is good for doctrine and for reproof and for correction and for instruction and righteousness. It is because it has been given by inspiration of God.
The word inspiration literally means “God-breathed.” And the idea is that God moved the hearts and lives of men to cause them to write down what is holy scripture. You remember in the book of Genesis that God formed man out of the dust of the earth; literally he formed man out of a lump of red clay. That’s why I believe that the Garden of Eden was at one time right in East Texas. Man was made out of a lump of red clay. He was nothing more than a lifeless statute standing before God. And then the Bible says that God breathed into him the breath of life and man became a living soul. That which was dead and lifeless and had no power came to life when God breathed upon it. And Paul says in exactly the same way that God breathed upon that lump of clay and it came a living, breathing, moving thing so God breathed upon men and led them to write down his holy word.
Peter helps us to understand that a bit better. In 2 Peter 1:20-21 he says, “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
That word moved suggests that God was at work in the forming of scripture. It is the same word that the apostle Paul used to describe what happened to a ship he was in when it was caught in a sudden storm on the Mediterranean Sea. They were sailing for Rome and this storm came up from out of nowhere and Paul says there was nothing we could do to control the ship and so the ship was driven by the winds. And it is that word driven that Paul uses to describe how the word of God came to us. Holy men of God were moved, they were driven by the mighty breath of the Holy Spirit and led to the writing of this book.
Paul is saying to us that this is no mere human book, this is in fact the word of God as moved upon the hearts and the lives of men and women. I believe that God so guided the human authors of this book that what they wrote in the whole and in part was exactly what God wanted to say. And that’s what we mean when we say the scriptures are inspired.
If they are inspired, then that means they are authoritative for our lives. If they are inspired, that means they are accurate in all of their parts. For God does not make mistakes. God makes no errors. If they are inspired, they are not only accurate and authoritative, they come from God himself. And so bound up in that one word inspired is all that we need to understand and know about scripture. All scripture is given by inspiration of God.
I want you to notice that Paul is inclusive in that statement. He says, “All scripture.” Christian educator Howard Hendricks said when he was converted a friend said to him, “You need to get in the Bible.” He said, “Fine, where should I start?” And his friend said, “Hendricks, start anywhere. It is all inspired.” And that’s what Paul tells us here.
The man who says “I believe a part of the Bible and I reject a part of the Bible” does not believe the Bible. He believes in himself. If you believe the scriptures, then they are all inspired. And Paul wants to lay that foundation for Timothy and for you and me. Understand the nature of this writing, the nature of this book. It is all inspired of God. And because it is inspired, it has value for indoctrination. And Paul lists for us four things that it ought to teach us.
The Bible is the word of God and it is profitable for doctrine. It teaches you what to believe. Have we ever lived in a time when people were more confused as to what they ought to believe? And in a world where people are screaming for answers, God’s people seem to be stuttering. Folks, we don’t need to stutter. God has spoken to us in scripture and we ought to know what is right and what is wrong and how a person ought to live and what a person ought to believe. God gave us this book to indoctrinate us, to teach us what to believe.
3. Edification. Not only has it been given for doctrine, it has been given for reproof. That is to point out error in a person’s life. There must be a place for the negative in preaching and teaching and in studying, always and ever there are errors that need to be pointed out and wrongs that need to be corrected. But we need to be careful, lest we dwell on the negative too much.
I remind you that Satan by his very name is the anti-one. The opposer. And if you are always opposed, if you are always against, if you are characterized by a critical and negative spirit, then you identify more with Satan than you do with the Lord Jesus. It is never enough just to be against. There is a place for that. But not always that.
So the scriptures were given for doctrine, for reproof to point out error, for correction. To redirect the pathway of our life. And then for instruction in righteousness for the teaching and training of people in the ways of God.
We ought not to spend too much time trying to delineate between those four different words. You put them all together and they say basically and essentially that the word of God was given to us to teach us what to believe and how to live. So the scriptures were given to us for salvation, they were given to us for indoctrination, and finally, Paul suggests that they were given to us for edification.
In this last verse, verse 17, Paul says that the man of God may be perfect, completely furnished, qualified, equipped unto all good works. I want you to look for a moment at that word perfect. “That the man of God may be perfect.” He is not talking about sinless perfection there. The Greek word is the word teleios, which literally means that he might become mature, that he might be fully grown.
It is a word that is used a lot of other places in scripture and in secular writings to suggest the idea of maturity. Sometimes that word teleios is used to describe a fully grown man in contrast to a boy who is just a lad. Sometimes it is used to describe a person who is proficient in a subject in contrast to a novice. Sometimes it is used to describe a tool that its exactly what you need. Let’s suppose that you’re working on your child’s bicycle in the backyard and you send the child to find a screwdriver. And they bring the screwdriver back and they say to you, “Dad, how is that?” And you say, “It is perfect.” Now you don’t mean that the screwdriver doesn’t have any grease on it, or that there aren’t any nicks on the handle or scratches on the shaft. You don’t mean that it is perfect in that sense. You mean rather that it is just the right size to fit into the screw that you are trying to loosen. It just fits for what it is needed. And when the Bible says that God has given us the scriptures that we might be perfect, it in no way suggest sinless perfection but rather that we might become all that God wants us to be and all that we need to be, that we might reach maturity in the Christian life.
And then Paul tells us what the end of all of that is. That the man of God may be perfect, completely equipped and qualified and fit for every good work.
I want you to underscore that in your mind: every good work. Because it says to us that the end of Christian growth and Christian maturity is not just good feelings and not just good fellowship, but good works.
You know there are an awful lot of folks in the world today who they think what ought to happen when you go to church is that you ought to just feel good. That that is not the end of Christian maturity—that you feel good. Although good feelings ought to result from a good life and good fellowship ought to be a part of the church, there is more to Christian maturity and the kingdom of God than good feelings and good fellowship. The scriptures have been given to bring you to maturity so that you are ready for every good work. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen said, “I am often haunted by the fear that when I stand before God he shall say to me, ‘Sheen, let me see your hands.’ And then he shall say, ‘Where are the callouses?’”
We can’t have just a goose pimple faith. We ought to have a faith that involves callouses. And until the scriptures lead you into every good work they have not led you to their intended end. If you have stopped short of doing in your life what Jesus would do if he were here on the earth in his flesh today, you have stopped short of the intended goal of scripture.
A pilgrim on his way to Jerusalem on the night before he arrived had a dream and in that dream he saw a beggar sitting at the gates of the city. And someone identified the beggar as the Messiah. He was awakened the next morning and continued his journey to Jerusalem and when he got there sure enough there was a beggar sitting at the gates of Jerusalem. He stopped and said to the beggar, “Sir, are you the Messiah?” And the beggar said, “I am.” He said, “Well, Messiah, what are you doing here?” And he answered, “I’m waiting.” “Waiting?” the man asked. “In a world that is filled with hunger? In a world that is filled with disease? In a world that is filled with ignorance? In a world that is filled with war? In a world full of problems? Messiah, what are you waiting for?” And the Messiah answered, “I am waiting to ask you, ‘In heaven’s name, what are you waiting for?’”
And I think that is the whole thrust of what Paul is saying here. Timothy, stay true to the scriptures. Continue in them. You were taught them from the time you were a nursing infant and I have taught you. Remember that their purpose was to bring you to Christ who can save you. And then to teach you all you needed to know so that you might be equipped for every good work.