2 Timothy 3
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:14-17, NIV)
The Daily DAVEotional
A few months ago, I published a post entitled, “Can You Make the Bible an Idol?” which referenced Psalm 119.
The “inspiration” (you will see why this pun is intended) for that post was a series of online interactions I saw on X.com (formerly Twitter) in which a certain online influencer who identifies as a former evangelical was making the case that Christians should not make the Bible an idol.
The idea that one could make the Bible an idol seemed odd and confusing to me. I’d never heard anyone make such an admonition. I soon learned why as I fell further down an online rabbit hole exploring the theological views of Progressive Christianity.
Progressive Christians have a view and understanding of God that is in stark contrast to the traditional orthodox understanding. Whereas the traditional Christian view of God is that He’s immutable, which is to say He is unchanging, the progressive view of God is that He is evolving.
I explain the ramifications of this differing foundational belief in my previous post, but the summary is that if God is evolving then His standards are also evolving. And if God’s standards have evolved, then perhaps some of those behaviors that you were once told were “sinful” aren’t really sinful any longer.
The end result is that the Progressive ends up creating a God whose moral standards amazingly mimic their own lifestyle choices and preferences.
But how does the Progressive get around the clear teachings of Scripture that might restrict some of their life choices? To put it another way, how does the Progressive Christian deal with Biblical passages that seem to indicate that certain behaviors are wrong?
The simple answer is that the Progressive Christian doesn’t view the Bible as “God’s Word”. Hence, passages that seem to indicate certain actions as “sin” aren’t authoritative to them.
What? How can that be? Doesn’t the Bible clearly identify itself as “God’s Word”?
The argument made by Progressives is the same argument which is promoted by non-Christians, which is that the Bible wasn’t actually written by God but by fallible men.
And that leads us to our passage for today.
In this passage of 2 Timothy, Paul is exhorting Timothy to continue in what he has learned before. Timothy had grown up with an understanding of the Scriptures, which at that time was what we know as the Old Testament.
According to Paul, following these “Scriptures” would make Timothy wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul then follows with this oft-quoted verse:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)
This verse is often cited by Christians to demonstrate that the Bible is God’s Word and therefore authoritative for our lives.
According to this verse, the Bible (Scripture) has four main functions in our lives. I wrote about and explained these four functions in a previous post entitled “Training in Righteousness (Part 2).”
The question I want to focus on here is what does it mean when it says that “all Scripture is God-breathed?”
The greek word used here by Paul is theopneustos, which is a compilation of two separate words, theo = God and pneustos = breath.
This verse is the only place in Scripture where this particular word (theopneustos) is used. So what does it mean?
Most bible translations translate this verse as “all scripture is inspired by God…”
The idea is that God Himself has breathed His life into these words, making them inspired and useful for the purposes listed. Hence, the words are God’s words.
The response I have often seen online from Progressives is that the Bible was written by men, not by God. It is “inspired” only in the sense that it inspires people by bringing life to things that were lifeless.
This line of reasoning does not seem faithful to the text. Paul does not say that Scripture is inspiring, though that is almost certainly true as a by-product. What he says is that Scripture is inspired BY GOD. The difference in this wording may seem subtle and inconsequential but the difference in the resultant meanings is enormous.
In one view, the Progressive view, Scripture is the subject and it does the inspiring on the object, people who read it. This makes the Bible a book that is sort of like an ancient “Chicken Soup for Soul” to the reader. It’s a guidebook that one may utilize for navigating life’s journey, but it is certainly not the only tool one might consult.
In the other view, the traditional view, God is the subject who does the inspiring on the object, the Scriptures. Because God Himself has inspired the words, using various authors to communicate the message He desired and intended, it is indeed a guidebook for life and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
The bottom line is that, according to Paul, the Scriptures are divinely inspired by God. This means that the words are God’s words; they are the words He intended the authors to write. For this reason, we refer to the Bible as “the Word of God”. Because the Bible is “the Word of God”, it’s not just an inspiring read, it’s authoritative. It alone contains the final word on the rule of life, including morality and our understanding of what is right and what is wrong.
The implications of this are massive. If the Bible is a book that is not written or authored by God, but is simply “inspiring” in some way, then I can pick and choose the parts that actually inspire me to feel good, and I can ignore the parts that I disagree with or that make me feel uncomfortable or “uninspired.”
But if the Bible is God’s Word and therefore authoritative, then I must relent to its position on all matters pertaining to faith and morality. According to Paul, as he made his charge to Timothy, when we acquiesce to God’s standards as outlined in the Scriptures, we’ll not only experience salvation through Jesus, but our lives will be transformed as we allow God’s Word to train us in righteous living, the fruit of which will be good works that glorify God.
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Reflection
What has been your position on the Bible? Do you believe it is God’s Word and therefore authoritative or is it something else? What are the reasons that support your position?
What are some of the things in the Bible that you struggle to agree with in terms of their moral implications?
In what ways do you need to give the Scriptures authority in your life?
Paul’s charge to Timothy was to “continue what you have learned and become convinced of.” What can you do this week to “continue” your learning and conviction of the Scriptures?
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The Lowedown 