HOLY SCRIPTURES

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (KJV)

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

I want to begin this morning’s Sunday school lesson by drawing your attention to verses 15 and the phrase “holy scriptures.”

The passage is part of a larger theme that we’ve been working through really since 2 Timothy 2:1 (KJV)

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Paul, a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ and, we may presume, already sentenced to be executed, warned Timothy, one of those preachers taking his place, that it is not going to get easier.

In chapters two and three Paul is preparing Timothy for that hardness he most certainly will endure. He is also teaching him how to prepare those who will come after Timothy.

He has hinted at the Scriptures a number of times, but in these three verses Paul gets zeroed in on the Bible and its value in hard times.

I want you to notice three things Paul says about the Holy Scriptures:

They,

*I. ARE ABLE TO SAVE

2 Timothy 3:15 (KJV)

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

I am reminded of Romans 1:16 (KJV)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Notice what the Bible says.

The gospel message is the power of God unto salvation.

The power of salvation

·   Is not in the preacher of the message and it

·   Is not in the faith of the hearer

The power to save is in the good news.

I know some people who were led to the Lord by a person who turned out to be a real scoundrel.

They can rest comfortably because their salvation doesn’t rest in that person.

I know some people who struggle with doubt about their salvation because

·   They wonder if they believed just right

·   They wonder if they had faith enough

·   They wonder if they were sincere enough

Truth is salvation is not based upon how right their doctrines were when they got saved.

The Great commission is to:

·   First win people to Christ

·   Then baptize them into church membership and

·   Then teach them all things whatsoever Christ commanded

*There are some very basic things that a person must believe in order to be saved:

·   They must believe they are a sinner

·   They must believe there is a consequence for their sin and

·   They must believe that Christ came to pay their sin debt

He did that when he became flesh, dwelt among us, lived a righteous life and died a sacrificial death.

He did that when, after three days in the grave He rose again in victory over sin. Now He lives in heaven making intercession for us.

Once a person understands those basic truths, salvation is as simple as Romans 10:13 (KJV)

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Now – I just gave you the gospel.

Tell people that message and it will save them that believe it.

It is the power of salvation.

It has, built in it, the faith they need to be saved.

It’s true that some people ask the Lord to save them for impure reasons:

·   Maybe the person who witnessed to them pressured them into it

·   Maybe they did it because they thought someone they cared about would think less of them if they didn’t

·   Maybe they are just weak that way and give in whenever anyone tries to “sell them on something.”

But the fact is there are far fewer of those than we think.

Trust the Scriptures.

They are able to make one wise unto salvation

The Scriptures,

*II. ARE GIVEN BY GOD

2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The word inspiration means God breathed.

There are approximately 40 different men who were involved in writing the Bible over a period of about 1400 years.[1]

These men did write in their own style and with their own particular circumstances in view. But the Bible says,

2 Peter 1:21 (KJV)

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The Bible is not purely dictation but it is supernaturally given so that God spoke through each man’s:

·   Personality

·   Background, and

·   Circumstances

To give us a complete Bible, full of

·   life and

·   color and

·   vibrancy

while still presenting a unified message.

It is God breathed.

Notice the word, “All”

All Scripture is given by God

A person might ask, “How do we know what is Scripture and what is not?”

Some people think the Catholics are the ones who chose out the sixty-six books of the Bible we have today.

That’s not true.

The fact was that these sixty-six books already existed and were already being copied, preached from, memorized and cited as Scripture long before the Catholics even existed.

*We can be assured that these sixty-six books are the whole Bible:

·   Because they have been preserved for these thousands of years

·   Because believers of all time, in many different parts of the world and from various backgrounds have all accepted them as Scripture

·   Because other books the early Christians referenced either were not preserved or were not considered God breathed

·   Because these sixty-six books of the Bible have changed the course of the world.[2]

All the holy scriptures

*III. ARE PROFITABLE FOR PERFECTION

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Every word of it is profitable

·   For doctrine – the truths that we believe

·   For reproof-the condemnation of sin

·   For correction-the means to be reconciled from sin

·   For instruction in righteousness-the plan to remain free from that sin

All of those things finally make the man of God perfect.

*And then, in a stroke of genius that we all need to pay attention to, we are given a definition of perfect, “throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Sinless perfection doesn’t happen until we get to heaven.

But the Bible perfectly equips the man of God to do what he is called to do while we are still on earth.

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[1] I say approximately because there are a few books where the penman is questionable. If Paul, for instance, did not write the book of Hebrews (I believe he did) that would allow for one more.

[2] To the great distress of the lost and liberal world.