Building from his encouragement to Timothy to remember the things written in the holy writings, here Paul continues and opens this up even further.
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.
Rather than referring back to the sacred writings as those Scriptures, here Paul writes all Scripture, and, so I read, included the truth that the writings of the apostles and prophets connected to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus are Scriptural too.
For us, we take from this passage that the Word of God which we carry around in our Bibles is all sufficient; Paul writes that it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that we are equipped for every good work.
Has there been any other book in the history of book writing that can claim this?
Has there been any other book that can actually deliver on this claim?
There is simply nothing like the Word of God which we carry around in our Bibles.
The Bible is so often challenged in so many ways, yet in so many ways defeats so many challenges. With all the intellect, self-spiritual thinking, God-less thinking, secular academia, attempted archaeological antagonists, nobody has ever written a book as inspired as the Bible (breathed out by God), as transformative as the Bible, as sufficient for life as the Bible (…may be complete), and as revelatory as the Bible.
Friends, there really is nothing like the Word of God. I read this anecdote about it recently, and would encourage you to think on this today,
A critic once wrote a letter to a magazine saying, “Over the years, I suppose I’ve gone to church more than 1,000 times, and I can’t remember the specific content of even one sermon over those many years. What good was it to go to church 1,000 times?”
The next week, someone wrote back: “Over the past many years, I have eaten more than 1,000 meals prepared by my wife. I cannot remember the specific menu of any of those meals. But they nourished me along the way, and without them, I would be a much different man!”
The Bible will do its spiritual work in us, if we will let it.
James Travis 