God's Word Is Useful, 2 Timothy 3:16

God's Word Is Useful

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness

When the Bible talks about the Scripture, it is referring to the Old Testament. Today we equate the canonized New Testament to the Old, and believe it also is the Word of God. There were certain qualifiers placed on the books that would be included in what we call the Ne Testament. You can find other "lost" books out there, and they have many good teaching and truths, but they did not pass the test to be included. Just because they were claimed to be written by Godly first century followers of Christ, those books did not pass the test. There are a lot of godly books written by great men of the faith today, yet we certainly do not include them as God's Word.

That said, the Old and New Testament have been shown reliable, and we believe them to be inerrant in their original forms. We can trust them to make us wise for salvation. But we also use it to show us how live out our faith. In this verse, Paul was referring specifically to the Old Testament. What is the Old Testament good for?... For:

• Teaching us how to live our lives for Christ
• Rebuking us so we know we are doing wrong
• Correcting our ways so we change our actions and do right
• Training us so we avoid sin in the future

A and K, many people avoid the Old Testament. You would be foolish to do so. In there lies the heart of God. Christ did not come to earth to abolish the teachings of the Old Testament, he came to fulfil them! You must take the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. Remember that they are not opposing texts but complimentary ones. God did not wake up one day and say, I've changed my character. Throw all that old stuff out. I want to try something new. No, he uses the characters and situation of the past to teach us how to live. God does not change his mind like man. He continues to love mankind, reach out to us, desires to free us, provides a way for us, communes with us, and will one day will be with us forever. Sadly that is only true for some. I pray it is true for you. It will be, if you use all of the Bible to teach you how to walk in righteousness.

~Dad