Lord’s Day, Vol. 7 No. 9

Read Your Bible – Making of a Matured Christian

 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.2 Tim 3:16-17 (KJV)

God has given us a perfect Saviour – Jesus Christ, a perfect Book – the Bible and a perfect sanctifying Spirit – the Holy Spirit. As such, the Scripture can rightly command us to be thoroughly furnished unto all good works, to go on toward spiritual maturity. Jesus said, “Be ye also perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Let us see what Scripture says concerning how we should strive toward the perfection that God wants from us.

(1) The Perfect Book (v16a)

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God”.

The phrase “given by inspiration of God” in our King James translation is one word in Greek – God-breathed. All Scripture is God-breathed.  It is from the very breath of God that these words are given. It describes the divine origin and source of Scripture. It is the voice of God speaking through Scripture. It carries with it the divine authority of God.

Paul did not write “all the scripture” but “all scripture”. The absence of the definite article emphasizes the quality and character of Scriptures. The Bible carries the credentials of the Almighty God. And the adjective used here is “all”. “All” means “nothing is left out”. Every book of it is given by God. There is no part of Scripture that is not the very voice of God. All 66 Books of it is God-breathed – inspired. The Bible is the only Book God has ever written. The word “Scripture” tells us that God has committed His revelation to mankind in writing. Words have meaning and sentences convey meaning by its syntax and grammar. We can therefore study and understand the divine message that is given to us.

(2) The Perfect Process (v16b)

“And is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for you. Scripture is profitable, beneficial, valuable, help to you, the pearl of great price. Just as when making a product,  the right input is needed, the right manufacturing process is also needed to give the right product. The resource is the Perfect Bible. The process is described in 4 words – doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.

Firstly, the doctrine is the spiritual principle derived from the Scripture. The people who go wrong in practice are always those who are not sure of their principles. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones made an insightful observation when he said, “We live in an age of specialist, and a specialist is almost invariably a man who is so lost in details that he often forgets principles. Most of the breakdown in life today is due to the fact that certain basic principles have been forgotten.”

Secondly, reproof speaks of the Scriptures showing to the reader by the power of the illuminating Holy Spirit where we have gone wrong in our lives, where we have fallen short of the glory of God. Scripture points out our sins. Raises a warning, seeking our repentance. The Apostle Paul began in 2 Timothy 3 by pointing out the imperfection, sin and depravity of man in the last days and here the remedy.

Thirdly, for the straying sinner, it is profitable for correction, to set him right, to set him on the right path again. Scripture teaches us how we must put away sin and put on holiness. It has the power to cleanse the heart of a corrupt and depraved man to make him holy. It has the power to deal with the evil of the human heart. It is Paul’s only secret of power to transform unholy men to make him holy.

Fourthly, it is profitable for practice, teaching me what is good and what is evil, Scripture instructs us fully, Paul therefore says, it instructs in righteousness. In the book of Galatians, Paul gave to us the Spirit’s fruit when we put sin to death and put on Christ – “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” (Galatians 5:22-24). Against such blessed fruit of righteousness there is no law to judge us, there is no condemnation but commendation from God.

(3) The Perfect Person (v17)

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

The word “perfect” means complete, of one able to meet all demands, qualified, fully ready, perfectly fit, mature. That the man of God, the man that is called a Christian, might be thoroughly furnished. It speaks of thorough spiritual and moral preparedness to be equipped completely, made adequate to show forth a godly life by all the good works that he does to bless the people around him. We should press toward that perfection. There is a future tense to the verb that tells us we must work at it. We must continue to struggle against sin in our lives. The word “perfect” does not mean sinless perfection but holiness. He is a man who walked with God just as the biblical character Job (Job 1:1), who made right with God by that close communion with God. He made right with God and he interceded for his children daily. God Himself pronounced him “perfect.”

This call to Christian sanctification is a call to read our Bible. Let it be the spiritual man’s life-long habit. This is the call to living a holy life, a life of godliness, characterized by good works. May we appropriate His Word daily for our spiritual nourishment and progress! Amen.

Yours lovingly,

Pastor Lek Aik Wee