All Scripture inspired by God

II Timothy 3:16 (CEV)

Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word.  All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live.

There are several symbols used in Scripture to describe the Bible:

1.   Sword—Hebrews 4:12—it both hurts and heals (read also Ephesians 6:17)

2.   Hammer—Jeremiah 23:29—it reproves (read also II Corinthians 10:4-5)

3.   Seed—I Peter 1:23—it plants eternal truths (read also Luke 8:5-15)

4.   Mirror—James 1:23-25—it tells us who we really are (read also I Corinthians 13:12)

5.   Fire—Jeremiah 20:9—it can consume our lives (read also Luke 24:32)

6.   Lamp—Psalm 119:105—it is a guidebook, not a rulebook (read also Proverbs 6:23)

7.   Food—I Peter 2:2—it provides wisdom and knowledge for eternal life (read also I Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:14)

As the above verse states, the Bible is useful (the original Greek word means “profitable” or “advantageous”) to accomplish four goals—teaching, helping (actually convicting or reproving), correcting and showing us how to live.

Are you giving the Bible a chance to teach, reprove, correct, and train you to enable you to be adequate and equipped for every good work (II Timothy 3:16-17)? 

Too many Christians are spiritually anorexic.  Too many Christians are not spending time in the Word and, therefore, not receiving what the Bible claims it can give to enable Christians not only to serve others, but to make the best and right decisions in their own lives.  Too many decisions and beliefs based on our culture, the media, and our own feelings, not based on the Word of God.  Examples might include job and career decisions, how we use our resources, what we do with our time, and how we react to life’s challenges. 

“The need for knowledge of the Scriptures is obvious.  There are so many well-meaning Christians who are long on zeal, but short on facts……lots of enthusiasm and motivation, but foggy when it comes to scriptural truth.  They have a deep and genuine desire to be used by God, to reach the lost, serve in the church, invest their energies in the Kingdom of God, but their doctrinal foundation is shifting sand rather than solid rock.  They are at the mercy of their emotions, flying high one day, scraping the bottom the next.  To avoid being exposed to their vulnerability, most retreat into the background scenery of passivity because their ignorance of basic Scripture caused them embarrasssment”—Charles Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life, 1986, page 9.

How well do you know your Bible?  How well are you living what you know?