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. A time when Christians will need to be vigilant.

Within these last days Paul notes that false teachers will arise, persecution will come, and the faithful ministers of Christ will need to firmly plant 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 (τος θεοπνεθτος).

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.

The Action: Allow Scripture to work.

Allow God's Word to save.

God's Word takes us from general knowledge of God (Romans 1:20) to saving knowledge (2 Tim. 3:15)

In Romans 1:20 we are reminded that within each individual there is a God-sized hole. We go through life trying to fill that hole but are never able to do so. We are aware of the invisible qualities of the God of the universe but without special revelation we are unable to come to saving knowledge of God. That is, we know there is a God and if we are honest with ourselves we know that we are not God and fail to be anything like God. When we open Scripture we begin to understand more of who God is, more of how sinful we are, and more of our inability to solve our own sin problem. As we read further we learn that Jesus Christ, God Himself, came to earth as a man, lived a perfect life, died on the cross despite being sinless, and rose again three days later. We learn that our sin problem can be solved if we simply place our full trust in Jesus and his death on the cross. While nature itself proclaimed God, Scripture was required to have that saving knowledge.

God's Word takes us from saving knowledge to Christ-likeness (John 17:16-17)

One of the most important things about the salvation God's word offers is that it does not end with just overcoming the consequences for sin. God's Word take us further. God's word is efficacious for making us more like Christ. the term sanctification is used to refer to three things. Our being made right with God at the moment of salvation, our becoming more like Christ throughout our life, our final state of being made sinless when we see Christ face to face after we die. God's Word makes us more like Christ.

Allow God's Word to point.

We easily can fall into the trap of being self-centered. We place the focus on ourselves but God's Word directly attacks this tendency by constantly pointing us to God. God's Word reminds us that we are not the center of the universe. Self-glory, and self-centeredness will lead to disappointment. Pointing to God is where real satisfaction resides.

Allow God's Word to teach.

I cannot really say it any better so let us

read what David has to say in Psalm 119:97-100

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.

Allow God's Word to encourage.

The writer of Hebrews quotes Deut 31:6 in Heb. 13:5 telling us that God will never leave or forsake us.

This is significant. No matter what happens, the God of Scripture will never leave you. Please understand, no matter the size of the sin, God is still with you. He will never leave you. This should be a huge encouragement for us. The same God who was with our biblical heroes is with us!

Allow God's Word to confront and convict.

James has strong words for how we should use the Word of God in James 1:22-25.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

If we are in God's Word we will be confronted with our sin and convicted to change. This is a good thing. If we believe in the inspiration of Scripture then we should trust the convicting work of Scripture.

Allow God's Word to guide.

Psalm 119:105 says it all

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

If we truly believe that God's Word is the inspired Word of God then it is the light and lamp in all we do. Our true guide.

This then leads me to our final action step.