What Scripture is For

Read 2 Timothy 3:10-17.

I don't know much about home repair, but I do know this: if you don't use the tools in the right way, you probably won't get fixed what you want to get fixed. Brilliant, huh? I know a screwdriver won't cut anything, and a hammer isn't the best tool to use when trying to clean out a drain. The right tool for the right job used in the right way—that's the secret to home repair success.

No, this isn't a blog about home repair, but I got to thinking about that when I was reading Paul's reminder to Timothy on what Scripture is for. As I peruse social media, as I listen to sermons and read Christian books, I have come to the realization that we are really good at using Scripture...but not always using Scripture in the way it's intended. We often use it to promote a political agenda...or to beat up on someone else's viewpoint...we often use it out of context...or we twist a verse to mean something that it was never intended to mean. Twist it too far and it will break! We're good at using Scripture. We're not always so good at letting it do what it was supposed to do.


In this letter to his young pastor friend, a young man he calls his "true son in the faith" (1 Timothy 1:2), Paul gives four purposes for this God-breathed word...

(1) "Teaching" - The Bible contains everything we need to know in terms of doctrine, everything we need to learn about God. Or, as one scholar put it, everything we need to know for the purpose of salvation is contained in the Bible. There is no "secret knowledge" we have to hunt down elsewhere.

(2) "Rebuking" - Another way to translate this is "conviction." By the words of the Bible, we are able to see what we have done wrong, the ways we have failed to measure up—in the case of the Bible, the ways we have failed to measure up to God's standard. The words of this book show us where we come up short.

(3) "Correcting" - The word Paul uses here has the meaning of taking something crooked and making it straight again. Smoothing out rough spots. Pressing out the wrinkles. Flattening a wadded-up piece of paper. Making something the way it was supposed to be. In the case of our lives, it means pointing us back in the right direction, helping us go the way we ought to go.

(4) "Training" - This word means to educate, but it also means to chasten. Sometimes this process is not as pleasant as we think it ought to be. Sometimes training is hard. Sometimes it requires pain—and, as those of us who grew up in the 80's remember, "no pain, no gain." We often want discipleship to be a smooth, easy walk in the park when Jesus has in mind that we need a climb up a mountain to shape us into who we could be.

Here's the question: before we use the Bible to "straighten that other person out," have we allowed the words of this ancient book to "straighten us out first"? I often say that the things I preach are things I really needed to hear first. Paul has given us clear directions as to how we are to "use" the Bible. What way is it working in your life today?

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