16 All
Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped
for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
20 knowing this
first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own
interpretation. 21 For
no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:20-21
The doctrine of the Scripture is one of
the most difficult doctrines to ponder, understand, and discuss. There are things that can only be accepted by
faith in order to proceed further.
Without accepting the “basic assumptions” set by Scripture itself and
believed through faith given by God, we won’t get what the Scripture says. John Calvin commented on this most famous
Pauline passage, saying:
In order to
assert its authority, Paul teaches that it is God-breathed, for if that is so, it is beyond all question that
people should receive it with reverence. This is the principle that
distinguishes our religion from all others, that we know that God has spoken to
us and that we are certain that the prophets did not just speak for their own
time, but as instruments of the Holy Spirit they uttered only what they had
been told to say from heaven. Anyone who wants to benefit from the Scriptures
must first of all accept this as a settled principle, that the Law and the
Prophets are not teachings handed down at the whim of men or produced by human
minds, but are dictated through the Holy Spirit. If anyone objects to this and
asks how this can be, my answer is that it is through the revelation of the
same Spirit both to students and to teachers that God is made known as its
Author.[1]
This
leads to the next basic assumption that the Scripture is authoritative over our
life. Francis Schaeffer and J. P.
Moreland pointed out this basic assumption as held by the Reformation:
For the
Reformation, final and sufficient knowledge rested in the Bible—that is,
Scripture Alone, in contrast to Scripture plus anything else parallel to the
Scriptures, whether it be the church or a natural theology.[2]
The
Scripture is then holding the final authority over the life of humankind. And the Scripture here is the Scripture in
its final form as we know it today – 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 Books
of the New Testament, 66 books in all, no more no less.
Peter’s sharp argument supported
Paul’s teaching very strongly that the Scripture did not find its source in
humans. But that the main source is God
Himself who spoke through humans in the Holy Spirit. In this way, thus, we ought not to treat the
Scripture like any other books produced by humans. Up to this point we must be well acquainted
with the Doctrine of God. Because we
can’t honor the Scripture properly if we do not understand who God really is.
Now, I will assume that all of you
here today know God. That He is the
Creator. He is the Supreme Being that
controls the entire universe even to the minute detail. That He is King in its truest sense, in which
His commands must not be rejected or else.
God holds the supreme authority over everything in the entire world,
heaven and earth. Before God all beings
tremble. James 2:19 speaks:
You
believe that God is one; you do well.
Even the demons believe—and shudder!
Yes,
even the demons tremble before God. It
would be absurd if human beings do not tremble before God. Know, then, that the Scripture is God’s
words. His commands there must not be
rejected or else. His teachings there
must not be ignored. The Scripture, in
the grace and mercy of God, is intentionally written for all of us humans so we
may know Him, His wisdom, His will, and His purpose.
Therefore, no other books, or
writings, can be compared with the Scripture.
The Scripture stands tall above all other writings. And no, not even science can stand toe to toe
with the Scripture. For all other
knowledge is inferior compared to the Scripture. With these basic assumptions we must approach
the Scripture, so we may treat it with our utmost respect. Whoever treats the Scripture disrespectfully in
any way will be held accountable by God Himself who is the Author of the entire
Scripture. Please heed the warnings
spoken at the end of the Scripture, Revelation 22:18-19 says:
18 I warn
everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in
this book, 19 and
if anyone takes away from the words of
the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and
in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Sola
Scriptura, the Scripture Alone, no additional things, no tradition, no
philosophy, no science, no other knowledge can be put side by side with the
Scripture. And we should not take away
what rightfully belongs to the Scripture, be it is content or its honor.
Now, with this settles, though not
comprehensive, we can proceed to the next teaching in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. In verse 16 Paul states that the Scripture
that is breathed out by God is “profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Paul spells out the benefits of the Scripture
for humankind. The first benefit is
teaching. The second is reproof. The third is correction. And the fourth is training in
righteousness. The secret of the purpose
of the four benefits can be found in verse 17: “17 that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work.” Those people chosen by God are to be made
complete, and their being complete has something to do with them doing every
good work. This is not any good work,
but it is the special kind of good work as mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 2:10:
“10 For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Special because God’s elect can’t be found
outside of Christ.
Even though this passage points
specifically to those elected by God in Christ to be saved for all eternity,
understanding that all humans are actually created in the image of God (Genesis
1:26-27), who is Christ (Colossians 1:15), no one therefore may be exempted
from its charge, in which all humans must do good works that is modeled in
Christ. Now, with that being said, the
elect is given that special privilege in Christ to receive all the benefits of
the Scripture, because through God’s grace and the gift of faith they repent of
their meaningless way of life upon God’s conviction of their sins, return to
God by accepting Jesus Christ as their savior, and obey the Lord in their
transformation to be like Christ. The
benefits of the Scripture to teach, reproof, correct, and train in
righteousness can then be effected in the elect. Through the process of the progressive
sanctification all the four benefits are applied, so that we all as God’s elect
are made complete, equipped to do every good work that God has prepared for us
in Christ Jesus.
Thus teaching God’s elect never ends
as long as we all live. This is what the
church does primarily for God’s people.
The preaching of the sermon every Sunday worship service, the preaching
of the sermon in any given service – be it in Christian fellowship or in any other
special worship services, is one form of the first benefit. The discussion of God’s word in every
opportunity like in a Bible study, or a cell group meeting, or in spiritual
training and seminar, or in catechism class of any sort, is another form of the
first benefit. Teaching is almost in all
Christian life. The main thrust is that
the teaching is not from any other source, but from the Scripture. This is the most important thing.
The second benefit follows the
teaching, which is reproof. To point out
mistakes Christians make finds its source also from the Scripture as the final
governing authority. Ever since the fall
we all are confused as to which is morally right or wrong. We long for standard, yet we are confused
which standard of life to adopt. There
are many philosophies, many ideas, many teachings, in this world, and we find
ourselves overwhelmed by the pressures and appeals of so many attractive
teachings out there. But the Scripture
is given by God to solve that problem.
You can imagine the Scripture is like our GPS. If we arrive in a city we know nothing about,
and we are lost in that city, we need some kind of direction. GPS helps us by showing that if we go on the
street not suggested by the GPS there is a good chance we might be on the wrong
path. In that case, GPS shows us our
mistakes. The difference between GPS and
the Scripture is that GPS might be wrong too, but the Scripture can’t be
wrong. This discussion falls under the
heading of the Inerrancy and Infallibility of the Scripture. But we won’t have time to discuss about that
matter here.
The third benefit is that the
Scripture is useful to correct our life, be it our thinking, feeling, or
behavior. The Indonesian translation
directly translates to “behavioral correction.”
The Greek word is “ἐπανόρθωσις” which simply means
correction or improvement. Thus it is
better to not limit the meaning of this only to behavioral correction, since
other aspects of our life must also be corrected according to the Scripture. In order to correct the mind, the heart, and
the action, one must know the right one.
If merely pointing out the mistakes, we will still be lost if we don’t
know the right thing. Imagine a math
teacher teaching first grade student about addition. The teacher writes on the board a math
problem for the students to solve.
2+2=…. Imagine none of the
students know how to do addition. So
none know how to solve the math problem.
One by one tries to solve it. The
first student says 100. The teacher says
wrong. The next says 10. Again the teacher says wrong. Until all the students try, none got it
right. Yet the teacher never teaches the
students what the right answer is. The
students would go home frustrated and still not knowing what the right answer
to the math problem is. The Scripture is
unlike that teacher. Instead, the
Scripture provides the right answer, including the model for the more complex
problems.
Fourthly, the training in
righteousness or the educating in righteousness. The Greek word is “παιδεία”
which BDAG (A Greek-English Lexicon of
the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature) describes as “the
act of providing guidance for responsible living, upbringing, training, instruction.[3]” Or it
is also translated as discipline. The hardest part of discipline is to get the
person to jump from external discipline to the internal discipline. External discipline uses external forces, be
it rewards or punishment, in order to encourage the person to adopt the good
and abandon the bad. When the external
forces are absent, the person either will continue the bad or neglect the
good. However, internal discipline
always there. It doesn’t need any
external force to encourage the person at all.
He/she will always adopt the good and abandon the bad. This is the secret of education. However, putting it into practice is the
problem.
Righteousness is not something you can
adopt because of stimulation from either rewards or punishment. Because if one adopts righteousness because there
is a reward for doing so or abandons unrighteousness because there is
punishment if one continues to be unrighteous, then he/she has already being
unrighteous. True righteousness requires
internal discipline. We adopt
righteousness because it is right, not because there is a reward for doing
so. Consider this, if say Ferdinand
appears to be righteous in what he thinks, feels, and does. He helps his mom washing the dishes every
day. All his relatives and friends
praise him for being a good son. He
appears righteous. However, mom knows
better, for Ferdinand will not lay a hand to wash the dishes unless he is
promised the Samsung Galaxy Note 10. So,
day in and day out Ferdinand washes the dishes because his eyes are on the
Samsung Galaxy Note 10. The question is:
“Is Ferdinand truly a good son?” “Is
Ferdinand righteous?”
Now, the Scripture is useful in the
discipline of righteousness. The word of
God fits perfectly with our entire being because we are created in the image of
God, Jesus Christ, who Himself is the Logos – the Very Word of God. We know it within our heart that the word of
God refreshes our spirit. To go against
the word of God is like kicking against a sharp knife. The fitness of our redeemed life with the
word of God is the path of the internal discipline in righteousness. Another mystery strength God has endowed us
with, which is Jesus Christ Himself. He
dwells in us, and so we are enabled to live a righteous life. Paul in his suffering was able to continue to
live righteously because of Christ Jesus.
He testifies in Philippians 4:13 saying: “13 I can do all things through him who
strengthens me.”
When all these four benefits of the
Scripture work optimally in our life, we then shall be equipped to do every
good work that God has prepared for us to do in Christ Jesus.
Let me tell you a short story of Pastor
John. Pastor John has been a pastor for
more than 30 years. He retired from his
parish ministry about a decade ago. I
took the liberty to adapt Pastor John’s real life experience in order to what
we have contemplated all morning in a very practical way. Pastor John was a good pastor. He counseled a lot of parishioners in his
ministry. As a man he faced many
temptations, especially in his counseling and dealing with women. Pastor John admitted that he, at times, would
feel a very strong romantic attraction to a woman, who was not his wife. But Pastor John knew that such romantic
attraction was not to be followed up by furthering his actions toward the
attractive woman. He knew what happened
to David and Bathsheba. He knew that God
commanded: “Do not commit adultery.” He
also remembered how Joseph rejected such temptation from Potiphar’s wife by
being faithful to God. Then he
remembered Jesus’ golden rule in Matthew 7:12: “12 So whatever you wish that others would
do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” The teaching of the Scripture was in his mind
and heart. It gave him a warning of the
potential actions he could take. It
corrected his potentially wrong thought, inclination of feeling, and even his
flirtatious action toward the woman. And
it disciplined him in righteousness by continuously speaking in his heart and
mind of God’s command, of the ruin of David, and of the model of Joseph who
remained faithful. And so, clinging to
the Scripture, Pastor John disciplined himself.
This is what he did in his own words:
when I am
overly attracted to a person of the opposite sex, I try to immediately turn
that thought into a prayer, thanking God for the beauty of that person,
reminding myself that she is somebody’s wife, somebody’s mother, somebody’s
sister, or somebody’s daughter.[4]”
And this is the content of Pastor
John’s prayer:
‘Dear Lord,
help me to think of her and treat her the way I would want any other man to
think of and treat my mother, my wife, my sister, or my daughters.’[5]”
Pastor John then concluded:
A strange
thing happens. I can acknowledge the beauty and channel it in healthful
directions.[6]
As Pastor John submitted himself under
the authority of the Scripture, he then walked in the obedient and faithful
path as God’s child. Pastor John was
equipped to do every good work in Christ.
In that instance, he did what was right.
Brothers
and sisters, how about us? Scripture
Alone is the final authority in our life.
Do not add anything to it. Do not
take away anything from it. Abide by it,
and we shall live properly before the Lord.
We can be creative like Pastor John in our life by faithfully clinging
to the Scripture. But such feat wouldn’t
be reached if we do not faithfully read, contemplate, and put into practice the
word of God in our life. So I’m
encouraging you today to read the Scripture daily, to contemplate on it day and
night, to listen to good sermons that explain the Scripture faithfully, to
seriously attempt to do its teachings in our everyday life. Amen.
[1]
John Calvin, 1, 2 Timothy and Titus, Crossway
Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 155.
[2]
Francis A. Schaeffer and J. P. Moreland, Escape from Reason (Westmont, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2014).
[3]
William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early
Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2000), 748.
[4]
John A. Huffman Jr., The Family You Want: How to Build an Authentic, Loving Home
(Fearn, UK: Christian Focus Publications, 2001), 84.
[5]
Ibid.
[6]
Ibid.
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