The second part of 2 Timothy 3 is in the three-year Lectionary used for public worship and, as I am going through the Gospels for Year A at the moment, it will be some time before I reach this Epistle reading for Year C.
These verses, which we all know, caught my eye in particular:
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[b] may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Matthew Henry and John MacArthur wrote about them in such an inspired way that it would be remiss of me if I did not excerpt their thoughts on the importance of knowing Scripture from a young age. Do not wait until you are in your 50s, as I was, before studying the Bible in depth. Some of my readers have been reading the Bible since they were children. May we follow their example.
Scripture is God-breathed
‘All Scripture is breathed out by God‘: Paul could not have expressed this better.
John MacArthur tells us of the Greek in the original manuscript:
Theopneustos means “God breathed out.” It should say, “All Scripture is expired from God.” It isn’t that God breathes into a writer and he writes. It is that God breathes out the word and the writer is caused to write it down. It isn’t that God blows on a man and he does something, it is that God speaks and the man records. It proceeds from God. That’s why it’s authoritative.
So, all Scripture is God-breathed, it isn’t God breathing into man some kind of inspiration so he can write, it is God breathing out truth which men then carried along by the Holy Spirit wrote down. God breathed the Scripture and caused men to write it down. It’s no different than creation. The greater book is the creation of the world, it says in Psalm 33:6, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made by the breath of His mouth, all their host.” God breathed out all creation and He breathed out His Word. The book of creation He wrote with His breath and the book of Scripture He wrote with His breath. Scripture is God’s Word.
As youngsters, Christian children learn that the Bible in its entirety was given by God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. St Peter tells us that in 2 Peter 1:20-21.
Matthew Henry’s commentary says (emphases mine):
The scriptures we are to know are the holy scriptures; they come from the holy God, were delivered by holy men, contain holy precepts, treat of holy things, and were designed to make us holy and to lead us in the way of holiness to happiness; being called the holy scriptures, they are by this distinguished from profane writings of all sorts, and from those that only treat morality, and common justice and honesty, but do not meddle with holiness. If we would know the holy scriptures, we must read and search them daily, as the noble Bereans did, Acts 17 11. They must not lie by us neglected, and seldom or never looked into. Now here observe,
(1.) What is the excellency of the scripture. It is given by inspiration of God (v. 16), and therefore is his word. It is a divine revelation, which we may depend upon as infallibly true. The same Spirit that breathed reason into us breathes revelation among us: For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men spoke as they were moved or carried forth by the Holy Ghost, 2 Pet 1 21. The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but what they received of the Lord that they delivered unto us. That the scripture was given by inspiration of God appears from the majesty of its style,—from the truth, purity, and sublimity, of the doctrines contained in it,—from the harmony of its several parts,—from its power and efficacy on the minds of multitudes that converse with it,—from the accomplishment of many prophecies relating to things beyond all human foresight,—and from the uncontrollable miracles that were wrought in proof of its divine original: God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will, Heb 2 4.
Of Peter’s second letter, MacArthur says:
In 2 Peter 1:20 it says, “Know this first, know this first. First of all, that no message”—the word “prophecy” here has a very generic sense not meaning some kind of prediction of the future, but message. No telling forth. “No message of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,” epilusis. Now notice this, no message of Scripture is a matter of one’s own epilusis. Now, what does that mean? It could mean releasing, and that might be the truest essence of the term.
No message from Scripture is of one’s own releasing. Some have suggested that the best way to translate it would be “inspiration” because that’s what it’s intending to say. No message of Scripture is a matter of one’s own inspiration. That is to say, Scripture does not come out of inspired men in the sense that some men are inspired because of some level of religious genius. The genitive case here suggests that Peter has in mind source or origin of Scripture, and that he’s really not talking about interpreting the Bible in the sense that you would describe what it means. But He’s talking about the origin so that it could say this, “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of origination in one’s own mind.” No message of Scripture comes out of any human source. That’s the idea.
“For,” verse 21 says, “no message was ever made by an act of human will.” Scripture is not the product of men. It is not the product of the will of men, but men moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God. Very clear and very vital. No message was ever made, aorist passive indicative. The verb is pherō. It means to bear, carry along, convey, produce, bring forth, bring along. No message was ever conveyed, borne, carried along, produced, brought forth by an act of human will, but men—same verb, pherō—were borne along, carried along, conveyed, brought forth by the Holy Spirit to speak from God. The Holy Spirit filled them. The idea is like putting your sails to the wind on a ship and being borne along by the breeze. The Spirit of God moved them along, blew them along.
Now that tells us the process. The content of the Bible is revelation. The process by which that content was written down is called inspiration. It wasn’t a high level of human activity. It wasn’t even a high level of religious human activity. Men were in the process, but it didn’t originate with them. It didn’t come from their desire and their will. They were used as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit and enabled to speak from God. They spoke diving words. God used them. It was their personality. It was their background, some of their insights, their experiences, their perceptions, but every word was the Word of God. That’s the miracle of inspiration.
Men, they were used, carried along by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God. That’s what the Scripture says. So when you pick up your Bible, you’re not reading the word of men. You’re reading the Word of God that was written by men who were moved along in the process by the power of the Holy Spirit, not apart from their personalities, and not apart from their experiences, and not apart from their vocabulary, and not apart from their heart, passion, and compulsion. But integrating all of that into the power of the Spirit of God and never compromising the truth that every word came from God: a great and glorious miracle. So vital.
The Book of Hebrews also discusses that point.
MacArthur directs us to Hebrews 1:
Hebrews chapter 1. It begins like this, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers by the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” Now, that’s the statement I want you to focus on. I don’t intend to exhaust all of the ramifications of that statement, but in its simplicity, it is abundantly clear and deeply profound.
It’s giving us the essence of revelation. Mark that word. Revelation in its simple sense means to reveal, to reveal, to make something known that prior was not known; to make something understood that was not understood; to disclose truth never before known. God has revealed Himself, and here you have a statement with regard to revelation. God spoke long ago and God has spoken in these last days. The writer of Hebrews is, in effect, saying God spoke on two occasions. He spoke once long ago. He speaks in these last days by His Son …
Hebrews 1:1–2 talks about revelation, the revealing of God.
Henry mentions Hebrews 4:
It is able to make us wise to salvation; that is, it is a sure guide in our way to eternal life. Note, Those are wise indeed who are wise to salvation. The scriptures are able to make us truly wise, wise for our souls and another world. “To make thee wise to salvation through faith.” Observe, The scriptures will make us wise to salvation, if they be mixed with faith, and not otherwise, Heb 4 2. For, if we do not believe their truth and goodness, they will do us no good.
MacArthur describes the various means — genres — of revelation in the Bible:
God spoke long ago to the Jewish fathers. Those were the Old Testament prophets, those who received God’s Word long ago under the Old Covenant. He spoke to those fathers by means of the prophets in many portions, polumerōs, many books, many sections, and you know that. There’s the Pentateuch [law] and there are the prophetic books and the historical books, and there are the books of poetry. In many, many portions and in many books God spoke. He spoke to the Jewish fathers. He spoke by means of the prophets.
He also spoke, it says, in many ways, polutropōs. That means through vision and prophecy and parable and type and symbol and ceremony and theophany, and sometimes audible voice, and he even wrote with His finger on stone. There were many ways in which God spoke many things, collected in many texts, put into many books, and He spoke to those of old by means of the prophets. That is a statement with reference to the fact that the Old Testament is God speaking.
Now let me make it as clear as I can to you, the Old Testament is not a collection of the wisdom of ancient men. The Old Testament is not a collection of the best of religious thinking. The Old Testament is not a collection of the good musings of godly people. The Old Testament is the Word of God. It’s not the thinking of any men; good men, godly men, or ancient men in and of themselves. It is the Word of God. The writer of Hebrews says, “God spoke.” God spoke. The Old Testament was God speaking to the fathers by means of the prophets.
In these last days since the coming of Christ, He has spoken again, and He has spoken in the Son. The gospels record God speaking through His Son; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The book of Acts; God speaking through the extension of the proclamation of the message of His Son. The epistles; God speaking through the deep and profound understanding of the meaning of the life and ministry of the Son. Even Revelation, the consummation when the Son comes back in glory, the consummation of God’s communication to this world.
So the Old Testament is God speaking and revealing Himself. The New Testament is God speaking, and revealing His Son. The Old Testament is God’s self-revelation, and that is the theme of the Old Testament. From Genesis to the very end of the Old Testament to Malachi and all in between the main character is God. It is the revelation of God, who He is. What are His attributes? What are His attitudes? How does He react to every possible given human situation? What is He like? What does He do? That’s the Old Testament. It is the revelation of God. It is not the story of man. It is not the story of Israel. Those stories are there, but it is the revelation of God, and we see God revealed through man, through history, through Israel, through all that happens. God’s attributes are sometimes listed very clearly, as in the Psalms. On the other hand, sometimes we see His attributes very clearly, and He’s not even mentioned such as in the book of Esther where no mention of God is made, and yet He is the dominant force and dominant character throughout the entire book.
MacArthur sums up what we learn from both the Old and the New Testaments:
The Old Testament is the revelation of God to show men what God is like, who God is, what God tolerates and does not tolerate, how God desires holiness and punishes sin. The New Testament is God revealed by His Son in the life of His Son, in the message of His Son, in the understanding of the work of His Son, and in the culmination and the coming of His Son to establish His eternal kingdom. But in either case, Old Testament, New Testament, God spoke. What we have is, indeed, the Word of God. This is not the word of man. The New Testament writers wrote down the Word of God.
Teaching children the Bible
There was a time when children learned the great Bible stories from both Testaments. I remember growing up in the United States in the 1960s. It was nigh impossible to get books of Bible stories from the local library because they were always lent out to young readers.
Henry says that it is important to teach children the Bible from a young age:
It is a great happiness to know the holy scriptures from our childhood; and children should betimes get the knowledge of the scriptures. The age of children is the learning age; and those who would get true learning must get it out of the scriptures.
MacArthur cites the example of Timothy, Paul’s protégé. Timothy’s mother Eunice and grandmother Lois steeped him from a young age in knowledge of Scripture, which was in that era the Old Testament. Therefore, it was not surprising that all three became Christians and learned even more from hearing Paul preach in Lystra.
2 Timothy 3:14-15 say:
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom[a] you learned it 15 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.
MacArthur reminds us:
The Jews, you remember, claimed that their children drank in the law of God along with their mothers’ milk. And the law of God was so imprinted on their hearts that they would sooner forget their names than they would the Law of God. Formal training began till the fifth year and by that year that little life had already been infused with convictions passed on by a loving mother and a tender grandmother. And so he says, “Timothy, don’t move from your convictions.” Remember now, Timothy didn’t have all of that constitutional strength that Paul had. He tended to be a bit weak and somewhat timid. And he’s saying to him, no matter what comes at you, no matter how hard the battle gets, you have to stand strong in these dangerous times and that means you’ve got to bow your back in a sense and stand against the opposition and continually remember the things that you were taught by godly people, your mother, your grandmother who from infancy gave you those convictions.
Those two women taught him. The … pronoun “whom” in verse 14, the pronoun “whom” is plural so he has in mind here more than one. And so we reflect back on Lois and Eunice but I think he also includes himself here because in chapter 2 verse 2 he said, “You’ve heard things from me in the presence of many witnesses.” His first and early teachers, his grandmother and mother, no doubt he had other teachers as well that those godly women surrounded him with, but then there came that wonderful teacher, that teacher of all teachers who took Timothy when he was still in his teen-age years and drew him to himself and brought him along on his journeys and poured his life into that young man for a number of years, namely the Apostle Paul. What a group of teachers, Lois, Eunice and Paul and no doubt others.
Lois and Eunice were following that Old Testament instruction in Deuteronomy 6 that they were to instruct their children and they were to talk about the law of God when they stood up, sat down, lay down, walk in the way. All the time infusing those little lives with the truth of God. Particularly did those women teach, it says in verse 15, from childhood you have known the sacred writings, heiros grammata. What is that? That is a name for the Old Testament used commonly among Greek-speaking Jews. It’s a stock term in Philo and Josephus, it simply means the Old Testament. Your mother and grandmother taught you the Old Testament. You remember that he had a Gentile father and was dependent then on his mother and grandmother for that intimate teaching of the Old Testament. Certainly after his conversion to Christ, then his mother and grandmother began to teach him the truth of the New Testament, not yet fully completed. And then when Paul came into his life in his late teens, Paul began to top off his teaching by exploding on his young mind all the great revelations and mysteries that God had revealed to him in the new covenant.
…by the time Timothy … had come out of his teen-age years, his convictions were in place. Let me tell you something, people, the convictions that your young people hold are well in place by the time they get in to their teen-age years…in fact they’re well in place even before that. They can only be enhanced, enriched and added to. And Paul came along and had Paul endeavored to teach Timothy a whole different system of truth and morality, Timothy probably would have rejected it all because of the power and impact of the convictions that are poured into a little life. But Paul came and added to and enriched and expanded what Timothy had already learned.
MacArthur advises parents on teaching young children the tenets of the Bible:
This is vital, parents, know this, that you’re teaching your children convictions by what you say, by the way you live. And when you tell your children this is a principle, this is a truth, this we can’t compromise and you don’t compromise they learn it as a conviction. When you tell them this is a truth, this is a principle, God wants this, we will always obey that and you violate that, they will learn that you don’t hold convictions that convictions aren’t important and they’ll grow up without convictions.
In the case of Timothy, he was given a tremendously strong foundation of convictions. That foundation was then added to and continually expanded by his tremendous relationship with the Apostle Paul. By the way, Jewish parents used two means for instruction of children…one was the memorization of Scripture and two was a question and answer format, that’s where the catechism concept came from. First was the memorization of the Word of God, secondly was the question and answer as children asked questions, they gave answers out of God’s Word. That’s your job, parents, build convictions into your children. Don’t just tell them Bible stories, don’t just tell them nice things about God, teach them where you cannot bend, where you will not compromise, where you stand no matter what the opposition says.
Godly parents produce godly children
MacArthur tells us how grateful he was for Christian teachings in childhood. His grandfather was an Anglican priest in Canada, and his father was a Baptist minister in the United States:
I thank God for that in my own life. I thank God for a grandfather and a father who poured into my life very, very strong convictions about the Word of God, the truth of God and places where you don’t compromise.
He points out how multi-generational godliness brings about strong Christian leaders:
The first characteristic then … of a strong defender of the faith is that he is usually the product of another strong defender. And that is why I am so committed to the fact that we must invest our lives in building that strong generation of godly men who will defend the truth against the attacks that are incessantly coming against it and tragically and sadly being ignored by many who claim to be preachers and teachers of God’s Word. We need a strong generation of men who will not compromise, who will stand for the truth against apostasy …
The second element in the man who stands strong against apostasy is he has strong convictions built in to his spiritual foundation …
Men of conviction are usually formed out of the soil of a strong parentage and a strong teaching environment. It starts with childhood.
I found the next part of his sermon fascinating:
Now I’m going to give you just a little insight personally out of experience. It is my experience that the men in this generation that I know of, that I would consider great strong defenders of the faith, uncompromising men who have the heart of God and the heart of Christ toward His truth…not talking about belligerent men, but I’m talking about men who really stand for the truth…are usually the product of a deep, deep rooted biblical background. Not always. Sometimes men without that background can be mentored by someone else. But when you look at the men who are the leading Pole Stars, if you will, the points of reference, the uncompromising throughout history, usually they had deep roots in a family and a home and an environment where there were strong, strong biblical convictions.
A number of months ago [early 1980s] I had the privilege as a member of the board of trustees of the Moody Bible Institute to be in the process of selecting a new president to replace Dr. George Sweeting upon his retirement from the presidency. We were asked to submit names of men that we thought were worthy to be considered for such an eminent responsibility as leading the Moody Bible Institute with all of its ministries. That organization exceeds 100 years in age, it has a very wide, wide and diverse ministry and it takes competent leadership to handle it. It also takes someone who is a strong soldier of the cross.
We were asked to submit names. Interestingly enough about a half a dozen names came in. They were either, and I can’t remember, six or eight names. And those names were presented to us in a confidential mailing before the ultimate selection of Dr. Joseph Stowell whom you know, he’s been to our church and is a dear friend, those names were submitted to us. And as I came back to the board after looking at those names, I brought up a point which fascinated me, as I went over those names of men who were suggested to be president of that institution, every single one of the men suggested from different men on the board had one thing in common, every single one of them was the son of a well-known teacher of God’s Word…every single one of them, without an exception. Why? Because there is something latent and inherent in that kind of spiritual root that makes distinctive people. And those kinds of people who are distinctive enough for a role of leadership like that are the kind of people that are born out of foundations that have tremendous convictions. And that was not a shock to me, although it was a very interesting thing to notice.
All Scripture is profitable
One of the things I find so dispiriting about some Anglican sermons is that our church’s guest vicars often use novels or poems to explain our Lord’s teachings.
A couple of weeks ago, one of our guest vicars drew on the novels of Philip Pullman — of all people! — to explain something in Matthew 16.
This is one of the reasons I write my Sunday exegeses which cite Henry and MacArthur’s Scripture references. Scripture explains Scripture.
In discussing 2 Timothy 3:17, Henry explains the duty of the man of God, an ancient Hebrew expression meaning God’s messenger, in relation to Scripture:
(2.) What use it will be of to us. [1.] It is able to make us wise to salvation; that is, it is a sure guide in our way to eternal life. Note, Those are wise indeed who are wise to salvation. The scriptures are able to make us truly wise, wise for our souls and another world … [2.] It is profitable to us for all the purposes of the Christian life, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. It answers all the ends of divine revelation. It instructs us in that which is true, reproves us for that which is amiss, directs us in that which is good. It is of use to all, for we all need to be instructed, corrected, and reproved: it is of special use to ministers, who are to give instruction, correction, and reproof; and whence can they fetch it better than from the scripture? [3.] That the man of God may be perfect, v. 17. The Christian, the minister, is the man of God. That which finishes a man of God in this world is the scripture. By it we are thoroughly furnished for every good work. There is that in the scripture which suits every case. Whatever duty we have to do, whatever service is required from us, we may find enough in the scriptures to furnish us for it.
(3.) On the whole we here see, [1.] That the scripture has various uses, and answers divers ends and purposes: It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction of all errors in judgment and practice, and for instruction in righteousness. [2.] The scripture is a perfect rule of faith and practice, and was designed for the man of God, the minister as well as the Christian who is devoted to God, for it is profitable for doctrine, etc. [3.] If we consult the scripture, which was given by inspiration of God, and follow its directions, we shall be made men of God, perfect, and thoroughly furnished to every good work. [4.] There is no occasion for the writings of the philosopher, nor for rabbinical fables, nor popish legends, nor unwritten traditions, to make us perfect men of God, since the scripture answers all these ends and purposes.
Henry concludes:
O that we may love our Bibles more, and keep closer to them than ever! and then shall we find the benefit and advantage designed thereby, and shall at last attain the happiness therein promised and assured to us.
I could not agree more.
My inner life has changed considerably, albeit gradually, over the 14 years I have been studying the Bible, particularly the New Testament. I am particularly grateful to Matthew Henry and John MacArthur for bringing Scripture alive to me, verse by verse.
May you be similarly blessed, if you have not yet been so already.
This post first appeared on Churchmouse Campanologist | Ringing The Bells For, please read the originial post: here
