2 Timothy 3:10-17: Breathe In, Breathe Out

Theological Proposition/Focus: God has provided us special revelation through which he reveals details about himself and his plan.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: Even though we live in a fallen world marked by deception we can have confidence because God has breathed out truth which is efficacious for our thorough equipping. Therefore, we must know and apply that truth.

Introduction:

A fundamental doctrine of our church is that of the inspiration of Scripture. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 Article 1 states

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

Setting the Stage:

The book of 2 Timothy is a rich letter written by the Apostle Paul as he faced imminent death. In many ways, 2 Timothy is a collection of last-minute need-to-know information for Timothy the pastor of a local church. The book begins with a standard greeting, moves to a note of encouragement, and then begins to dig deep covering the essentials of the Gospel the coming of false teachers and persecutions, and an exhortation for Timothy to remain rooted in the faith.

In the book, Paul speaks of the last-days, a term he uses to refer to the period of time between the apostles and the second coming of Christ. Within these last days Paul notes that false teachers will arise, persecution will come, and the faithful ministers of Christ will need to firmly plan themselves in the Scriptures and teaching which was passed onto them.

Today we are going to pick up in the middle of this letter beginning with Chapter 3 verse ten.

Body

The problem: we live in a fallen world marked by deception and a lack of truth (10-13).

Paul begins this passage with a strong contrast. There are people who utterly reject Jesus. People who want nothing to do with truth. There are those who stand in opposition to the truth. But Timothy knows better. Timothy knew Paul's life and Timothy knew what it looked like to live in light of the truth. Even if the whole world had gone nuts, Timothy had seen Paul's life and hence Timothy knew what it looked like to rely on the real truth.

The characteristics of a Christ follower (faith, patience, love, endurance) are at odds with the fallen world (10-11).

In Paul, Timothy had seen that the one who follows Christ is marked by a particular teaching, a way of life that focuses on

endurance - ability to continue regardless of the circumstances.

In Paul, Timothy had also seen that these characteristics are at odds with the world. Paul had faced rejection

Image: Meakness is Weakness mentality

We live in a world that equated meekness with weakness. A world that advocates climbing to the top no matter who you must walk over. The characteristics of a Christian stand in opposition to this world and the result is often that

The one who follows Christ will face persecution (12).

Persecution “may vary in degree and take different forms in different countries and in different ages, but the basic hostility of the world to the godly man remains unchanged.”

We live in a fallen world, a world that embraces deception and lies, when we stand with Christ we should expect the world to stand against us.

The deception of the world breeds more deception (13).

A key principle of our fallen world is the principle that the evil we see is growing in intensity. We live in a world where the only absolute is the absence of absolutes. The only truth is the non-existence of truth. Pragmatism rules the day and deception is dismissed as a minor problem. Remember, we are setting out to understand how the doctrine of Scripture applies to us today. Well, before we do that we must first.

MTR: Recognize the situation that we are in as Christ followers.

We live in a world where deception runs rampant. A world where the Christian way of life is under attack. We live in a world that is at odds with the way we are called to live.

The Solution: God-breathed truth is available for our thorough equipping (14-17).

In a world that seems to misunderstand truth, the solution is for the Christian to turn to that which is truth.

Paul begins by calling on Timothy to continue in what he had been taught. To continue (μενε) which means more than just merely keep on doing bur rather to hold to to dwell within a particular realm. Before discussing Scripture Paul reminds Timothy that the Gospel was something that he knew and was convinced was true. "Those from whom you learned it" is notably plural. Timothy had learned not just from Paul but from other faithful ministers. These likely included his mother Eunice, and grandmother Lois as indicated in 2 Timothy 1:5. In verse 15 Paul begins one of the most important statements. Even if everything you see around you is crazy you can rely on scripture as your solid rock, you can know that

Scripture is truth.

The Holy Scriptures at the time of the writing of 2 Timothy would have been a reference to the Old Testament. The writings which were set apart (Holy) and taught to Jews. Paul remarks that Timothy would have been taught the Scriptures from his infancy. Jewish parents would have taught their children Scripture starting at age five. These Scriptures prepared the reader to place their complete faith in Jesus Christ. The Scriptures show an individual that they are a sinner in need of redemption. God through Scripture promised to provide a Savior. Scripture is the source of the ultimate truth. The truth is that each of us is a sinner destined for Hell, eternal separation from God. However, God so loved the world that he sent his only Son to die for each of our sins so that whosoever believes in him might be saved.

Scripture is God-breathed.

Two basic texts on the inspiration of Scripture are worth consideration. The word θεοπνεθτος is a literal conjunction of the word God and the word breathed. The presence of the article τος θεοπνεθτος suggests that the meaning is not that Scripture inspires others but rather that Scripture has the trait of being breathed out from God. Paul argues that All Scripture has this property.

In order to better understand inspiration let's look at

2 Peter 1:20-21 where the process of inspiration is described a little more.

What we see is that Scripture has Divine origin through human agency.

Inspiration is the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit, who through the different personalities and literary styles of the chosen human authors invested the very words of the original books of Holy Scripture, alone and in their entirety, as the very Word of God without error in all that they teach or imply (including history and science), and the Bible is thereby the infallible rule and final authority for faith and practice of all believers.

So what does that mean? Paul argues that

Scripture thoroughly equips.

That is, Scripture not only gives the tools needed but gives all the tools needed.

Teaching - Scripture is the source of our teaching.

We must be careful that what we teach is rooted in truth and hence what we teach must be rooted in Scripture.

Rebuking - identifying errors, both personal and doctrinal

Scripture can be used to identify errors. These errors may be doctrinal errors or they may be personal errors in an individual life.

Correcting - don't just identify a problem, identify the solution

Anyone who has ever managed a team has experienced the individual who can point out all the problems but none of the solutions. Scripture does point out problems but also provides solutions.

Training in Righteousness - our ultimate aim

Our aim is righteousness and Scripture provides a way to accomplish our aim.