“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.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Holy Scripture is unique. God’s Spirit brought about these writings. They were willed by God. God determined their content. The Spirit moved the writers to write in the way they did. The Scriptures truly are the Word of God. In the verses above, we receive encouragement to spend more time in Holy Scripture. 

The ability to make a person wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ makes Scripture a treasure beyond measure. It is only the Holy Scriptures that reveal the way of salvation, which is through faith in Jesus Christ. God wants you to be acquainted with Scripture so that you and those you love may be made wise for salvation. 

And church is to be teaching the Scriptures as part of fulfilling the Great Commission. When Jesus said, “make disciples of all nations,” he said to do this by “baptizing them” and by “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). The “all that I have commanded you” is what God has given us in the Holy Scriptures.

The Scriptures are profitable for “reproof,” for exposing and convicting of sin. The world is full of confusing and contrary opinions and values. God determines what is sin. In Scripture, God gives us the only reliable criterion on which to determine what is right and what is wrong.

Scripture is useful for “correction,” for restoring or improving those who fall. The law rebukes, convicts; but to restore the sinner, the gospel is essential. The gospel moves the heart, strengthens faith, builds up so that correction takes place. Only Holy Scripture proclaims the saving gospel that leads us to Christ, without whom we can do nothing (John 15:5).

And Scripture is profitable for “training in righteousness.” The Christian during his life on earth needs ongoing training to attain to the righteousness of life (sanctification) that is part of the being a Christian in this world of sin. The temptations of the flesh must be resisted. Scripture reveals to us the grace of God that brings salvation, that “trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” (Titus 2: 11,12)

God has given us his holy, inspired, infallible, powerful Word. Having this, every Christian “may be complete, equipped for every good work” the Lord may ask of him.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col 3:16) Paul’s letter to Christians in Colossae is helpful for Christians today. Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Col 2:8) We are exposed to various philosophies and empty deceit conveyed through the media we absorb and the people around us who follow these. When the word of Christ does not dwell in us richly, we are vulnerable to being taken captive and deceived. 

One deceitful belief that some hold onto is that God’s Word is simply data, and we process it like computers. In other words, once we download the data to our memory, we are good to go. But we are much more than lifeless computers made by man. We are living, breathing children of the Almighty, fearfully, and wonderfully made by and in the image of the Creator. We are loved, redeemed, and renewed. We are joined to Jesus Christ in our baptism – He in us and us in Him. Though hidden in Christ, we are living our eternal lives now by faith. That faith comes by the hearing of the Word of God, which, “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). God works faith and life through His Word. It was written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, we may have life in His name (cf John 20:31).  

Rather than trying to understand God’s Word in human terms, such a data in a computer, we let God Himself tell us about His Word and its purpose. The Lord declares, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Is 55:9-11). 

As Paul writes, “the sacred writings…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 competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:12-17 

So, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. It will succeed in the thing for which God sent it.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Thomas