All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Scripture is foundational for life and godliness.
The importance God gives to His Word emphasizes the necessity of reading the Bible every day. Is this a priority in our lives? When we read what God reveals about His Word, the first truth we learn is that every word of Scripture proceeds out of the mouth of God. It is His word, His truth, and precisely what He wants us to know.
And the precision of God’s truth makes it profitable in our lives.
- It tells us the pathway of truth that God wants us to walk upon in all of life. It reveals the promises to believe, the principles to obey, and the dangers to avoid. It points out the way to know the Lord and live the Christian life. And, if we depart from the way,
- Scripture reproves us. It directly confronts our waywardness and rebukes our sin.
- This requires correction – which is also provided by God. He tells us how to get back on the pathway again.
- Once we have returned, Scripture disciplines us to stay on the pathway. All of this is a function of the Word – by the statements of God’s truth and the provision of His power. This is abundantly provided by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Scripture is revealed by God and is made profitable by God in order that the man of God may be complete – meaning to be sufficient to meet every possible demand.
The believer, with that sufficiency, is fully outfitted and prepared for every good work. The bold promises of Scripture require the provision of divine power in order to fulfilled. God is freely given by God. He could give us power for living in any number of ways, but His design is to draw us to His Word that we may depend upon His truth and power. The alternative is to live our Christian lives depending upon our own wisdom and resources.
This will always fail, but the truth and power of the LORD never fails.
He has given us His Word. He is always faithful. Our responsibility is to be hearers and doers of the Word, depending upon the Lord to enable us to live for Him. The Lord sets the pathway of the Christian life before us – let us be faithful in laying hold of the resources that God gives for us to live by Him and for Him.