Text for the Week: Devoted to Scripture

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:10-17

¹⁰ But you have paid attention to my teaching, conduct, purpose, faithfulness, patience, love, and endurance. ¹¹ You have seen me experience physical abuse and ordeals in places such as Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I put up with all sorts of abuse, and the Lord rescued me from it all! ¹² In fact, anyone who wants to live a holy life in Christ Jesus will be harassed. ¹³ But evil people and swindlers will grow even worse, as they deceive others while being deceived themselves.

¹⁴ But you must continue with the things you have learned and found convincing. You know who taught you. ¹⁵ Since childhood you have known the holy scriptures that help you to be wise in a way that leads to salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, ¹⁷ so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.

Questions

1. Since Scripture in verse 16 cannot apply to what we call the Bible, because not all of the Bible had been written, how are we to understand scripture and can we apply it to our Bible?
2. What does the phrase “inspired by God” mean and how does it help us to better approach and understand the Scriptures?
3. What does it mean to be wise in verse 15?
4. How can we read scriptures in ways that highlight the uses listed in verse 16?

Background

Related Scriptures: Deuteronomy 11:13-21, Psalm 19, 119, Matthew 4:4, 2 Timothy 2:15

Verses 10-13 are set up to remind the timothy of the goal of knowing Christ is with him and working through him. These verses also give Timothy a glimpse into the difficulties in life that he can expect in his future.

It is unclear if verse 13 refers to groups outside the Church of inside, however the commitment to maintaining what Timothy has learned and to immerse himself in Scripture would defend against both.

“Since childhood” in verse 15 implies that Timothy was instructed in Scripture (in some meaningful way) from a very young age, the term is often used for infants and toddlers.

The phrase “holy scriptures” in verse 15 is not used elsewhere in scripture, and means writings that are connected with God. It is likely that this phrase refers to the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint.

Studying Scripture ( verses 15-16) is directly linked to the display of personal character (verse 14) and the center of this character is integrity, both in what is taught and who is teaching.

The concept of divine inspiration is that God worked with human authors to create the writings of scripture but the word stresses the human involvement, God did not supernaturally write the Scriptures through humans.

The point of reading the scriptures is to equip leaders, and through them all Christians for the work of being a Christian.

Reflection

In 2 Timothy 3, we find out that being immersed in Scripture from a young age has played a role in developing his character and allowing him to understand the ministry and mission of Jesus. He is being encouraged to continue this spiritual discipline because it will continue to shape his life. The reason is that Scripture is inspired by God or literally “God breathed” and so has the power to develop a person if approached in the right manner. This phrase means that God has in some way helped the authors write what they have written and so will be more present in these works that in any other. The advice to Timothy is to spend time with the Scriptures because in doing so the same God that helped these individuals in the writing of these words will help you in the understanding of them also. And more than that, God will be present with you helping to change your heart as you encounter this message.

Yet, much like with prayer, many people seem to think that reading Scripture is a one-way activity; I open the Bible and allow the words to inform my life. Approached this way Scripture becomes a one-dimensional object and frequently serves not to change the individual, but only to reinforce that person’s preexisting ideas. The question then is why does the Church place such a high stock in Scripture reading and how do we make it the most profitable experience possible? What are the ways we can read Scripture to help us achieve the spiritual growth that seems to have been the norm for Timothy?

There are many models for Bible study and that focus on different elements, but they all revolve around some basic elements and even if these ways of study reveal different elements of Scripture they all endeavor to point the reader to God. The first of these elements is to read the text with humility, approaching the passage not as a beloved favorite but as something new, not as something “I know” but as something that I need God to teach me. Going along with this is the need to read the text slowly and deliberately. While it can be profitable to read a book of the Bible in one sitting or read the Bible in a year, slowing down our reading allows us to take in more of what the Bible says and wrestle with the words. Third we need to ask questions about the text, and a wide variety of questions from, “what does this word mean”, to “what am I supposed to learn or take away from this”. Asking questions about why a passage is important, or even “is it true” opens you up to God and allows God an opportunity to answer you. These first three steps are about opening one’s self to the moving of the Holy Spirit, about giving God the time and space to work in your life. We do not expect the Bible to speak to us and transform us, rather it is when God works through the words of Scripture that they have true meaning and power. This is part of the reason it is important to approach the text (as much as we can) with fresh eyes, because each time we approach the text we can expect God to speak something we have not thought of before that moment.

But as we do this we must be mindful that there are dangers in reading the Bible, one of which is reading my own thoughts and feelings into it. This is the most frequent danger I have encountered, that I have not properly grounded myself in the possibility that I could be wrong and so allowed my ideas to tint how I see Scripture instead of allowing God to speak through me. In recent years I have begun to think about every passage I read in the light of Jesus’ words in Mark 12:30-31 that all Scripture is about loving God and neighbor and Exodus 34:6-7 where God provides a description of the divine character of just and fair, willing to judge but showing overwhelming mercy. I choose these because in one God is providing a self-description and in the other Jesus, God made flesh, is describing how we approach the world. If my understanding of a given passage seems out-of-step with these then I must ask “what am I missing” and if my understanding of myself living out a passage doesn’t align with these I need to seek God’s help. Reading Scripture, like prayer is an opportunity to converse with God to ask questions and listen to answers, and when we approach Scripture that way God can use it to develop character.