Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3:1–17

I believe 2 Timothy chapter 3, as we open it up, is a wonderful presentation of the doctrine of Scripture. So I'll just begin reading in chapter 3 at verse 1. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. and from such people turn away.

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith. But they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all as theirs also was. But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured.

And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for 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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Amen.

Introduction

So the Apostle Paul has exhorted Timothy in verse 14 to continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of. There is a marked contrast set forth by the Apostle of those false teachers, those heretics, those wicked men that lead away or that make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts. There's a contrast between the godless and godly Timothy. And the Apostle wants him to continue to persevere, to be steadfast, to be faithful in the things of the Lord.

He reminds Timothy of those things that he had taught him and now he reminds Timothy of the source of his teaching. Verses 15 to 17. 15 is a reference to the holy scriptures that Timothy has known from his childhood which are able to make him wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. And then Paul gives this doctrine of scripture in verses 16 and 17 for Timothy's benefit again to charge him that he continues in those things which he has learned and seen in the Apostle Paul. I just want to quote Michael Horton in a book called Christless Christianity.

He makes this statement. He says, my concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is mined for relevant quotes, but is largely irrelevant on its own terms. God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshiped, and trusted. Jesus Christ is a coach with a good game plan for our victory rather than a Savior who has already achieved it for us.

Salvation is more a matter of having our best life now than being saved from God's judgment by God Himself. And the Holy Spirit is an electrical outlet we can plug into for the power we need to be all that we can be. That's a very excellent description of what does pass for much of biblical preaching or teaching. The apostle had a contrary view.

The apostle saw the origin of the scriptures as being God himself. The apostle realized the necessity and the importance of the scriptures for all of life, for all of thought, for all of practice.

Three Aspects of Scripture's Doctrine

So tonight, we're going to consider the doctrine of scripture under three considerations from verse 16 primarily. First, its extent. Paul says, all Scripture. Secondly, its character, Paul says, is given by inspiration of God.

And then thirdly, its utility or its usefulness. He says, it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. Based on the reality that we have this God-breathed Word, from him himself, there is profit in it for us in terms of study, in terms of memorization, in terms of application in our own lives.

First Point: The Extent of Scripture

So let's take up first the extent. Paul says all scripture.

The Old Testament's Binding Authority

Now primarily in focus, at least at this particular time, he has in mind the Old Testament Scriptures. He is speaking, yes, of the apostolic writings, and we'll see that as we move along in our study tonight. We're not going to just confine ourselves to this particular verse. We're looking at a doctrine, so we'll let other passages shine some light on it for us.

But notice the referent in verse 15, "...and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Now when Timothy was a child, the Holy Scriptures consisted of what we call the Old Testament Scriptures, from Genesis to 2 Chronicles in the Hebrew canon. or in our English Bibles from Genesis to the book of Malachi. Those Old Testament Scriptures are what Timothy had, and this is what Paul is referring to. Again, he is referring to the New Testament, and we will see that as we move along. But we need to appreciate this reality.

For the Apostle Paul, the Old Testament had binding authority upon the New Testament Church. For the Apostle Paul, he was not a dispensationalist. Some dispensationalists believe that in the New Covenant era church, the Old Testament has little or nothing to say in the life of God's people. That it's essentially an irrelevant book, or at the most, it's a book of stories designed to teach us moral lessons about certain heroes of the faith.

But Paul doesn't see it that way. He says that Timothy from childhood has known the Holy Scriptures. Now notice, those holy scriptures, Genesis to Malachi, or Genesis to 2nd Chronicles, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. So a reading of the Old Testament can bring one, by the power of God the Holy Spirit, to a saving faith rooted in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So the Old Testament has binding authority. It is necessary. It is useful. It is something the Church dismisses at her peril.

The Apostle says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and as a result, as New Covenant Christians, We ought not to make only much of the New Testament Scriptures, but we ought to be students of the entire Bible. We ought to know the history of Israel. We ought to know God's covenantal dealings throughout the history of redemption. We ought to know the major movements and shapes and characters of what is going on in the Old Testament.

In many ways, if you come only to the New Testament and you don't have that rich backdrop of the Old Testament, you're really only getting a portion or a piece of the pie. The Old Testament is full of information concerning the person and work of our Lord Jesus. And the Apostle says that those Old Testament scriptures are able to make one wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. The rest of the New Testament refers to the Old Testament as authoritative.

Let's just look at a few of these. Luke 24. Luke chapter 24. I'm going to move quickly through these verses.

You can write them down or fill. Which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms. Notice, concerning me, Jesus says. And He opened their understanding. that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Notice in John 5. John 5 verse 39. 539 you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of me and then notice in verse 46 for if you believe Moses you would believe me for he wrote about me notice in Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 10. Incidentally, this was one of the texts that I spoke on at my mother's funeral. I knew the man that was leading the service was going to read these passages, and I also knew he wasn't going to comment on these passages.

So I took up the passages that he read and just simply tried to explain them. Verse 43 in Acts 10. The Apostle Peter says, to Him, to the Lord Jesus, all the prophets witness that through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. So when you read Isaiah, and you read Micah, and you read Zechariah, and you read Malachi, and you read Hosea, you are reading of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember when we were standing on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy chapter 30, God through Moses announces the new covenant that is to come, the new covenant that would be brought to fruition by the Lord Jesus Christ. What happens in the fullness of the time when God sends forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, this wasn't the first statement concerning this. It started in the garden with the announcement by God that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. And then that promise is unfolded all throughout the Old Testament, so that when we come to the New Testament, we understand why John the Baptist can look at Jesus and say, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

People that knew their Old Testament Scriptures weren't scratching their heads saying, what does he mean by that? They would say, oh, that's the one who comes to answer all of the types, all of the shadows set forth in the Levitical system and the sacrificial rites. It is Christ who is the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. So all of this to say, if you don't read your Old Testament, go home and read.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God. You ought to know what's going on in the prophets. You ought to know what's going on in the book of Joshua. You ought to know that the book of Judges, which so many see as just a bleak picture in the history of Israel, And it is in some regard, or others.

I know my sons love the story of Eglon and Ehud. My sons love when Jael drives that tent peg through Sisera's head. There's excitement around every turn in the book of Judges. But you know what the recurring theme in Judges is?

Yes, I know there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. But the series, the cycles of sin and oppression and repentance and deliverance. Judges is about the fact that Yahweh is salvation. He saves his people.

You ought to read Judges with great joy and happiness, especially in light of the reality that those earthly judges were typical and pointed forward to the one hero that would come and save his people from their sins. So all scripture is given by inspiration of God. The Old Testament certainly.

The Apostles' Awareness of Writing Scripture

Then we must ask the question, did the apostles understand that they themselves were writing scripture? Yes, they did. They understood this. Notice in 1 Timothy chapter 5 when the apostle is arguing for the payment or remuneration of gospel ministers.

Notice in 5.17, 1 Timothy, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor. That doesn't mean they get a parking spot or they get a placard on their door. Honor in the context means money. Honor those who are widows indeed.

That doesn't mean just give them special parking, it means help them buy their groceries. That's what honor means in the context. Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.

Where is that? Deuteronomy, that's right, 25-4, and the laborer is worthy of his wages. Where is that? Luke chapter 10, the scripture, and then Paul cites the Old and the New Testament.

Notice in 2 Peter chapter 3, just surveying some passages here to demonstrate and highlight the reality that the apostles understood their place in God's redemptive plan to be authoritative agents or representatives of Jesus Christ to communicate His Word. Before we get to 3.14-16, notice 3.1. Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle, in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder. There's a legitimizing reminder.

Repetition is good in the Christian faith. That you may be mindful of the words, notice, which were spoken before by the holy prophets. Take this as a reference to Isaiah, to Jeremiah, to Ezekiel, to Daniel, to Hosea, to Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Zephaniah, all of them. and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. You see, the Apostle Peter puts the apostolic ministry on par with the holy prophets of the Old Testament.

You see, the New Testament occurs in a context. God is the Covenant Lord. When the Covenant Lord speaks, there are written documents to testify. There are authorized agents that bring those written documents.

The prophets in the Old Testament bring the Covenantal Lord's documents. The same thing is true in the New Covenant. He has his designees. He has his agents.

They are called the Apostles and they speak and bring these Covenantal documents to bear upon the New Covenant community. Now notice in 2 Peter 3.14, Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless, and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. The context. What's going on?

Scoffers are saying, where's the promise of His coming? How come Jesus hasn't returned yet? Well, here's why, according to verse 15. Consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.

The fact that Jesus has not returned means that there are elect out there in every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, that are to be called out through faithful preaching to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to be saved. At some point in history, that last elect sinner is going to believe the gospel, and then Jesus is going to return. It would be nice to be that last elect sinner, wouldn't it? It would be like, there's no sanctification there, you believe, and then Jesus comes, right?

And then you're ushered into glory. That person is going to be doubly blessed. Actually, we're as blessed as that person. We're going to the same Christ, going to the same heaven.

But that's what he means. Consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. Now notice, as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles. You see, already in the first century, there was a collected body of the epistles of the Apostle Paul.

Do you realize that by early into the second century, the church recognized what we call the New Testament canon? It wasn't this shifting, mysterious thing that Hollywood novelists like to portray. The church recognized early on those documents that came from the hand of an apostle or an apostle's representative, a la Mark, a la Luke. They were not apostles, but their letters bore apostolicity.

That's what's important, and that's what those documents had, and they, in the language of Coleman, forced themselves upon the church. It wasn't like the church sat around like we're doing and said, who votes that James belongs in the canon? Who votes for Romans? No, these letters force themselves upon the church by virtue of their apostolic character.

Notice what he says, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand. We speak of the purpose-scuity of Scripture. The purpose-scuity of Scripture means its clarity. All things concerning God's glory and man's salvation are clear in Scripture.

But Peter acknowledges there are some things that are hard to understand. when it comes to the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2. There are some tough things there. When it comes to the Nephilim in Genesis 6, there are some tough things in there. But in terms of how is a sinner saved, it is absolutely clear.

We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The perpiscuity of Scripture does not mean that every jot and tittle of Scripture is readily understood by every jot and tittle of God's people. But the purposes of God in terms of salvation and His glory are clear. They are undeniably clear.

So we ought to take solace in the fact that when we don't understand something in the Scripture, Peter himself said that in some of Paul's writings, there are some things that are hard to understand. Peter wasn't afraid to admit that. It's good to admit that once in a while. We could say there's some things in Peter's epistles that are hard to understand.

But now notice, speaking in them of these things, eschatology, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction. Imagine that. If you twist a letter that I wrote, I doubt you'll go to hell. You twist a letter that Paul wrote, you'll go to hell.

You twist it to your own destruction. I mean, that's a huge statement. I mean, the main point is following, as they do also the rest of the scriptures. I mean, that's the big tada in this verse.

Peter says that what Paul has written is scripture. God breathed scripture on par with the holy prophets of old. The apostolic writers knew and were convinced that they were agents of our Lord Jesus Christ in order to convey those covenantal documents. Peter acknowledges that all of Paul's letters were written according to wisdom given him.

Who gave him that wisdom? the Holy Spirit. All of Paul's letters are within the category of divinely inspired scripture. Their divine authority is seen in the result of distorting their message. Destruction.

Again, I might send you an email. You may totally disagree with it. That might hurt my feelings. But I don't think for a moment you're going to go to hell as a result of that.

But when you twist Paul's writings, when you twist Peter's writings, when you twist James' writings, when you twist Luke's writings, when you twist Isaiah or Jeremiah's writings, destruction is your portion and your lot. You see, this is the authority of God that we need to take into consideration. Paul insisted in the churches that his letters be read. Now remember when Jesus goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath day in Nazareth in Luke chapter 4.

What does Jesus do? He reads from the prophet Isaiah. In the synagogue, which the early church modeled their services after, not the temple. Not the sacrificial temple, not the incense, and not the ritual, and not the pomp, and not the glory, and not the show.

The temple system was done. They modeled their worship on the synagogue, which was reading, singing, preaching. What did they read? They read the Word of God.

And this is precisely what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5.27. He insisted that his letter be read in the church. Paul insisted that his letters be exchanged in Colossians 4.16. Paul insisted that his letters be obeyed.

Obey my instruction in these things. 1 Corinthians 14.37, 2 Thessalonians 2.15, and 3.14. Paul insisted his words were taught by the Holy Spirit. So if we ask the question in 2 Timothy 3.16, what does Paul mean there by all scripture? Certainly he means the Old Testament, certainly he means the New Testament as well.

The apostles of Christ were conscious of the fact that they were used by God to pen the Holy Scripture. We're going to look at a few verses in just a moment. But if you've been paying attention, in our studies especially, in Matthew chapter 10, what does Jesus do in verses 1 to 4? An extra 10 bit for anyone who answers this.

What does he do in verses 1 to 4 in Matthew 10? He appoints the 12. These men were paradigmatic. They were foundational.

They were what, in a sense, the church is built upon. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. But the apostles were crucial. Again, they're representatives of the Lord.

He appoints these men for a very specific task. Notice, again, just to look at a few of these verses so that we understand that the apostles themselves and even their representatives, Mark and Luke, realized that what they were writing was in fact from God. Mark 1.1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He doesn't give any defense.

He doesn't give any apology. He doesn't spend time establishing his credibility. He just says, what I'm about to write is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John 21, 24.

John 21, 24. This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true. 1 Thessalonians 2. 13. The apostle commends the Thessalonians.

Why? Because they received the word that was preached by them. Not as if it was only the words of men, but as it was in truth the word of God. 1 Thessalonians. 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Paul is dealing with what we would call a mixed marriage situation.

He says that the Lord Jesus didn't speak to this particular situation. That means that in his earthly ministry, the Lord did not speak specifically concerning that contingency. So Paul speaks authoritatively to that contingency and gives instruction that must be obeyed. That would be great arrogance on the part of a man if he wasn't God's representative, right?

It would be great arrogance on the part of a Moses to say, look, we're going to leave Egypt and we're going to wander through the wilderness and we're going to come to the land of Canaan unless he's God's man. It'd be arrogance on the part of Joshua to say, look, I'm going to take you now since Moses is dead. No, God conspicuously makes sure that the people understand that Joshua is the successor of Moses. You see, there is this paradigm, there is this pattern that God establishes.

And in the New Covenant setting, It is the very same thing, and it is the apostles that bear this particular responsibility. Notice in 1 Corinthians 14, already referred to this, we'll read verses 37 and 38. Verse 37, if anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord, but if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant." Paul says, what I'm writing is the commandments of the Lord. The only way that a pastor, a minister, could do that today is if he cites scripture, is if he uses the quotation marks, and then he indicates chapter and verse.

No pastor can say something that is not from the scripture and says, this is the commandment of the Lord. I hope that if someone ever says that, you'd say, no thank you, I'm not going to drink your Kool-Aid today. That is not godly. What we find in the apostolic ministry is an authority given, vested in them by the Lord Christ for the communication of Scripture.

Ritterbos says it this way. For the communication and transmission of what was seen and heard in the fullness of time, Christ established a formal authority structure, just like God did with the prophets in the Old Testament. Again, this new covenant didn't happen in a vacuum. It didn't just fall out of heaven.

They were operating consistently with what they had known from of old. He says that Christ established a formal authority structure to be the source and standard for all future preaching of the gospel. From the beginning of his public ministry, we see Jesus' intent on sharing his own power with others. Where do we see that?

Just said it, Matthew 10. Remember the flow. Matthew 5 to 7, Jesus speaks. Matthew 8 and 9, Jesus does.

Matthew 10, Jesus invests that authority. He gives that power to his disciples and he sends them out to do and he sends them out to preach. He shares that authority for the communication and transmission of what was seen and heard. From the beginning of his public ministry, we see Jesus' intent on sharing his own power with others so that this authority would take visible, tangible shape for the foundation and extension of the church on earth.

It is not an accident that the two abiding offices in the church are elder and deacon. 1 Timothy 3, not apostle. The 12 were unique. The 12 were the 12, not the 13, not the 14, not the 144,000. But these 12 Christ invested with this authority for, as Ritterbaugh says, the communication and transmission of what was seen and heard in the fullness of time.

Jesus says in Matthew 10, verse 40, to the apostles, again, we can make the application that if a minister of Christ is faithfully expounding the word of God, as the Helvetic Confession says, the true word of God is coming forth. That is certainly true. But in Matthew 10, 40, Jesus says, he who receives you, receives me. He who receives me, receives the one who sent me.

You see, the father sends the son. The son appoints these 12 to duplicate, to extend his ministry, and to write these documents for the codification of God's new covenant word for the Church of Jesus Christ. John 14, verse 26, the Spirit teaches and brings to remembrance the words of Christ. Again, there is a doctrine of illumination.

Faithful preachers will pray, God the Spirit, illuminate our minds as we study the Scripture. But in the upper room, Jesus is especially concerned to equip these men so that when Jesus dies, rises, and goes away from them, they will leave that upper room to extend the ministry of the kingdom, to make disciples, and to plant churches, and to write or inscripturate the word. That's why he says the Spirit teaches and brings to remembrance the words of Christ. It's because they were putting it in the print. 15, John 15, 26 and 27, the Spirit testifies concerning Christ and then the apostles will bear witness to Christ.

You see the apostles preached, the apostles witnessed, and the apostles taught concerning the Lord of Glory. And then in John 16 verses 12 and 13, the Spirit will guide the apostles into all truth. And then in Acts chapter 10, we read verse 43, but in chapter 10 verse 40 we read that him Christ God raised up on the third day and showed him openly not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before by God even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead." Again, Ritterbaugh says the apostles were not simply witnesses or preachers in a general ecclesiastical sense. And that's true, they were.

That's true today when men speak the truth of God, be they pastors or missionaries or you're faithfully witnessing to, you know, Sophie the wash woman who's doing your cleaning. That is true in that general sense. But he says their word is the revelatory word. In other words, when Matthew writes, when Mark writes, when Luke writes, when John writes, when Paul writes, when Peter writes, when James writes, there's something more going on than Jim writing.

I doubt James was known by Jim, so maybe there was one Jim anyway. But notice what he goes on to say. It is the unique once and for all witness to Christ to which the church and the world are accountable and by which they will be judged. More at stake in these documents than there are in other documents.

And then again, Ritterbos, on this idea of apostolicity. Because sometimes people get hung up on the fact that Mark and Luke weren't apostles. People get hung up on the fact that Jude wasn't an apostle, that James, though a small a apostle, wasn't one of the 12. Ritterbaugh says, the apostolicity of a book is determined by whether its content embodies the foundational apostolic tradition, not whether it was written by the hand of the apostle.

In other words, just suppose for a moment that you were a very important person, and you had your own letterhead, and you had correspondence going out daily on that letterhead. Probably after a while, you're not writing every piece of correspondence. Probably after a while, you have agents that are doing some of your bidding. But you are ultimately responsible.

There is a tradition associated with that letterhead. You are saying and stipulating and stating that whatever flows from this office on that correspondence comes from my authority. And the association of these particular men with the apostles, they are covered in that apostolicity. The early church saw it this way as well.

Justin Martyr, who lived from AD 100 to 165. We're not talking about 700. We're not talking about 800. We're talking not long after the death of John the Apostle.

Not long at all. AD 100 is when he was born. He died in AD 165. He says, for the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them.

He knew that Mark and Luke weren't technically apostles. in the strictest sense, but the early church accepted Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as the gospel records, as the memoirs. Irenaeus lived from 130 to 202. He says, we have learned from none others the plan of our salvation than from those through whom the gospel has come down to us. which they did at one time proclaim in public, and at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the scriptures to be the ground and pillar of our faith." Reading that book by Kruger, it's a book I highly recommend. It's called The Canon of Scripture by Michael J.

Kruger. It is an enlightening and very helpful read on how the canon of scripture came to be. But the quotes that he gives from the early church and how very early on the church recognized the church did not designate, the church did not appoint, the church did not decide, but rather the church recognized those books which were apostolic in nature. It was from early on.

You know, there's this idea that it wasn't until 400 that the church got around and made some decisions. It wasn't even in reaction to Marcion. It wasn't in reaction. It was the fact, again, I mentioned this man Coleman earlier, forced, the canonical books forced themselves on the church by their intrinsic apostolic authority.

So when Paul says in 2 Timothy 3.16, Old Scripture, he means the Old and the New Testament. It is important to have an understanding of the unique role of the apostles. This, of course, helps with reference of revelation itself. With the death of the 12, with the end of the apostolic ministry, we don't look for more revelation.

The Book of Mormon is a fraud. It purports to be another testament of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not. Muhammad is a fraud.

Unless they were sanctioned, unless they were appointed by the Covenant Lord himself, they are fakes. It's a fraudulent. There is no claimant to the Word of God, except today, save the 27 books in our New Covenant canon. So that's its extent.

Second Point: The Character of Scripture

Notice secondly, its character, what Paul says concerning scripture. Verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Literally, it is God-breathed. And I know the NIV has that, so kudos to that translation.

Probably the ESV does too, does it? Breathed out is good, yeah. given by inspiration of God can fall prey to some pretty bad interpretation. We get inspired by pretty sunsets. We get inspired by lovely people.

And we take that idea of inspiration and assume that when the scripture, when theologians speak about the inspiration of scripture, Paul got this burst of energy and sat down and penned Romans. He was frolicking through some gardens and he thought about the Corinthians. He wrote 1 Corinthians in a fit of inspirationalism. That's not what inspired means.

It is God breathed. It means that God used these human authors to pen divine words. It is literally God breathed. The text does not say the men themselves were inspired.

When Paul went down to the local market to buy a steak, it wasn't under inspiration by God. When he sits to pen Romans, when he sits to pen 1st and 2nd Corinthians, it is inspiration by God. Raymond says, just as God's breath, his word, created all the hosts of heaven, just as his breath gave physical life to Adam and all mankind, just as his breath gave spiritual life to Israel, the valley of dry bones, so also his powerful, creative breath, in its word form, is living and active, imperishable and abiding, And through it, God's Spirit imparts new life to the soul. It's a great sort of explanation of that concept of Theanoustos, which is God-breed.

That's what the Apostle says in terms of its character. Well, the fact that it's God-breed, the fact that it comes from the Lord, again, highlights the origin or source And then it does, should, provide some implications to us in terms of the doctrine of Scripture.

Confession on Scripture's Properties

I'm appealing to our confession because I think it nails it with reference to these various categories. Our confession of faith, chapter 1 of the Holy Scripture, speaks first of the necessity of Scripture. It is necessary that these apostles, these representatives of Christ, write these things down. Not just because that's what was done in the Old Covenant, that when the Covenant Lord spoke, there were documents that were written and inscribed and placed in the Ark of the Covenant as a testimony and as an instruction to the people, but because if the Scriptures are not written, what happens?

We lose them. Our minds aren't that sharp, especially as we get older. You start forgetting things. There is a necessity to the scripture.

The confession then highlights its identity, spells out the 39 books of the Old Testament, the 27 books of the New Testament. That is important. The Confession highlights the reality that the Apocrypha are not the Word of God. Those books that Roman Catholics include in their Old Testament are not scripture.

And the Confession identifies those books. It highlights the authority. It is God speaking in Holy Scripture. It highlights its infallibility.

Now, if you followed evangelicalism or any of the controversies that have affected the church, say, over the last 10, 20, 30 years, you'll know that inerrancy has been a battle point. People say the Bible is not inerrant. The Bible is an errant word. In other words, what is said concerning God and salvation, those things are inerrant.

That's good, that religious instruction. But the Bible does not purport to be accurate in matters of science and history and all those particulars. And so inerrancy has come to the forefront. We don't hear much about it anymore.

I don't even think we're discussing that anymore. We just don't care. period, about the Scripture and its authority. I think that's the bigger problem, not us particularly or specifically, but in general. I think Horton is right.

The Church has taken the Scriptures and used them as a slogan or as mottos or as inspirational sayings to sort of fire up the people of God, rather than the voice of God Himself. Anyways, the Confession speaks of the infallibility of Scripture. It doesn't speak of inerrancy. And people say, well, the confession doesn't identify the scriptures being inerrant.

So why do you proponents of the confession insist on inerrancy? Because an infallible Bible is an inerrant Bible. Infallibility is a larger concept. Infallibility means that the scriptures cannot lie.

So it stands to reason that if they cannot lie, they certainly do not lie. You see? We have an infallible Bible, and it's not just because the Confession says so. The Bible says it's infallible.

If it is infallible, it is most certainly inerrant. So if it cannot lie, it means it does not lie. The Confession highlights that. The Confession as well highlights its sufficiency, its clarity, its availability, and its finality.

Those are implications, I think, justly drawn from this statement in 2 Timothy 3, 16. All Scripture is God-breathed. If it is God-breathed, then we are legit to draw out these implications that our confession sets forth in constructing this doctrine of Scripture. Chapter 1, paragraph 10, I think nails it well when it says, the supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest can be no other, but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved." It's a beautiful, wonderful statement concerning the doctrine of Scripture.

In summary, when we construct a doctrine of Scripture, we look at its inspiration, we look at its infallibility and inerrancy, and we look at its usefulness or utility.

Third Point: The Utility of Scripture

And we'll close there on 2 Timothy 3.16. Notice, Paul says, and is profitable. You see, it's not only true that Old and New Testaments are God-bred. We don't just go to the museum and look at it and say, wow, isn't that amazing?

God breathed that out. Now let's go to Taco Bell and eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. No, because God breathed that word, it has profit for us as his creatures. The Catechism says, what do the Scriptures principally teach?

The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires from man. You see, that's what Paul does. He doesn't just throw this doctrine of Scripture out there and say, well, isn't that wonderful? We have a speaking God who's revealed Himself to us through men like Paul, Peter, James, and John.

No! He says, as a result, or as an implication, or as a consequence of the fact that we have a God-breathed Word, we need to understand it's profitable for doctrine. Profitable for teaching. Profitable for instruction.

This was to be the focus of Timothy's ministry. You can read 1st and 2nd Timothy and become completely enamored with the reality of what Timothy is not doing. Timothy is not golfing. Timothy is not speaking at the prayer breakfast.

Timothy is not shucking and jiving with all the leaders in Ephesus. Timothy isn't just loving on his city. Timothy is sitting somewhere with his books, studying. Timothy is sitting somewhere with his books, praying.

Timothy is preparing his heart so that when he stands before the people of God, he can accurately and effectively feed them the Word of God. That's what Timothy was supposed to be doing, and I trust Timothy was doing. It's profitable for doctrine. Don't just say, oh, I love the Bible.

You better learn its doctrines. You better understand its truth, its content. If the scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, do you know Him in His attributes? Do you know Him in His wisdom, His power, His holiness, His goodness, His justice, His truth?

Timothy was to give himself to the study and to the propagation of sound doctrine. John Murray makes this comment concerning doctrine. I think it's beautiful. He says, doctrine concerns the whole range of thought respecting God, the world, man, man's paramount interests, his destiny.

If doctrine is to us cold, dead, and lifeless. You ever heard anybody say that? No, no, no. Doctrine is just cold, it's dead, it's lifeless.

All you get in your church is doctrine. Shouldn't we just go love Jesus? Well, without doctrine, what Jesus are we loving? If doctrine is to us cold, dead, and lifeless, then there are only two alternatives.

This is Murray. Either our doctrine is not of Scripture, because it's impossible that the truth concerning God Christ's salvation should be cold, dead, and lifeless. That's an impossibility. Either our doctrine is not of Scripture or we ourselves are cold and lifeless.

We do nothing properly without thought and we think nothing aright except as we think the truth of Him who is the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God. Lack of biblical doctrine is lack of interest in God and his will for us. And this is godlessness, is what Murray says. I say amen a hundredfold.

The church needs doctrine.

Profitable for Doctrine

Paul says it's profitable for doctrine.

Profitable for Reproof

It's also profitable for reproof. This is rebuke for wrong behavior or wrong belief. We need that. You need to read your Bible.

You're going to go astray. When you sing 400, do you resonate with what the hymn writer says? Prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love. How many of you sing that and say, wow, I don't know what he's talking about?

Sure, if you're like me, you'll say, he's got that one down. We need the scripture to reprove us. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. How much more faithful are the wounds of God's book in our lives?

This was also to be a primary emphasis in the life of the minister. Titus chapter 1 verse 9, with that faithful word, he holds it fast as he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict. So it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof,

Profitable for Correction

for correction. After we've been reproved, we need to be corrected. God not only chastens us, not only causes us to see, we're reading our Bible, perhaps we're going through the Ten Commandments, perhaps we get to the Fifth Commandment and we reckon and we realize, you know, I have not been subordinate to lawful authority in my life. There's a stretch of road that I think ought to be a hundred, not fifty.

And so I've been taking matters into my own hand and driving 100. God, forgive me that I've been insubordinate to lawful authority. It's not a sin for them to tell me to go 50. It's a sin for me to disobey.

God, forgive me. So I not only need to be reproved, I need to be corrected. Help me, Lord, to drive 50 on that stretch, or to avoid it altogether. I'm just kidding.

See, not only reproof, but we need to be corrected, setting right with reference to conduct. The Bible not only exposes wrong faith and practice, but it prescribes the right way for us.

Profitable for Instruction in Righteousness

And then he says, finally, in terms of its utility, for instruction in righteousness. The Bible is the book for instructing God's children in the way they should go. Jesus prayed in John 17, 17, sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth. The psalmist prays, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

So the utility of God's Word is seen in the remainder of verse 16, with the goal, with the purpose of verse 17, that the man of God may be complete, that he may not be lacking, that he may not be half a man, but that he may be thoroughly instructed in all of God's Word for all of life in God's world, so that he may then be thoroughly equipped for every good work. So the idea of a God-breathed word is not just a speculative or a theoretical oddity that we have different from all the world's religions. It is a blessed reality that God spoke through the prophets, through the apostles, so that we might have this instruction for doctrine, reproof, correction, and for instruction in righteousness that we may be complete and thoroughly furnished unto every good work.

Application

Well, that was a bit of a thumbnail sketch of the doctrine of Scripture. And if we have a proper understanding of the Word of God, I think it stands to reason we will give ourselves to the study of the Word of God in our private lives. We will read the Scripture. Pastor Cavan mentioned something.

Very good. We need to memorize Scripture. You know, the days of walking around with three by five, you don't even do that anymore. I think there's an app for scripture memory.

Everybody, you see these people walking, you know, on a crowded street, texting. Well, go ahead and read your scripture while you're walking on a crowded street. No, don't do that. That wouldn't be too wise.

But memorizing scripture. What does the psalmist say in Psalm 119? Your word I have hidden in my heart. What does he mean?

So I can get points, so I can get jewels for my vest, so I can be better than my sister. Thy word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you. You see that idea? I hide the word of God in my heart with a practical purpose, that I might not sin against you.

If you're going to lust, think about that seventh word. If you're going to steal, think about that eighth word. If you're going to bow down to Baal, think about that first word. You're to hide it in your heart that you might not sin against the Lord God Almighty.

So we are to give ourselves to the study of Scripture privately. Family worship. Abraham was extolled for leading his family in the things of God. Joshua makes that famous declaration, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

Godly men lead their families in the study of this particular book, and as well church or corporate life. If in fact the word of God preached is God speaking to us, then we will take pains to attend upon that word proclaimed. Those are some practical applications for our benefit.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for what it testifies concerning itself, and we thank You that You have given it to us, God, both the Old and the New Testaments. And I pray that You would help each one of us to have a love for Scripture, help each one of us to take it seriously, to hear in Scripture the voice of our God commanding and blessing and encouraging and inviting and promising, all those things we find in Holy Scripture.

Help us to have ears to hear and hearts to receive Your truth. And I pray that You would just go with us. I pray that You would mark this church by a conspicuous emphasis upon the truth of Your holy Gospel. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 6
• Deuteronomy 25:4; 30
• Psalm 119
• Matthew 10:1-4; 10:40
• Mark 1:1
• Luke 10; 24
• John 5:39; 5:46; 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:12-13; 17:17; 21:24
• Acts 10:40; 10:43
• 1 Corinthians 7; 14:37-38
• Colossians 4:16
• 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 5:27
• 2 Thessalonians 2; 2:15; 3:14
• 1 Timothy 3; 5:17
• 2 Timothy 3:1; 3:14-17
• Titus 1:9
• 2 Peter 3:1; 3:14-16