Written by Dr. Rob Rienow
The following post is an excerpt from “Reclaiming the Sufficiency of Scripture“
The sufficiency of Scripture is an essential foundation for the advance of the Gospel through our families and our churches.
There are many places in God’s Word where He teaches us that the Bible is not only true, but sufficient. One of these texts is found in 2 Timothy 3:14-17. Paul writes this to Timothy, who was a young pastor:
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Paul’s first challenge to Timothy is for him to continue in what he has learned and has firmly believed. The more a believer studies God’s book, the more one becomes intellectually convinced of its supernatural origin. Paul reminds Timothy that it was his mother and grandmother who first taught him God’s Word.
I can relate to Timothy in this. My mother became a Christian three months after I was born. My father was a secularist, and I praise God for a mother who filled my heart and mind with prayer and Scripture.
As a side note here, parents, it is never too early to be reading the Bible to your children! Timothy’s mom and grandma were reading Scripture to him “from infancy.” My wife, Amy, has done this with our little ones as well. She puts the baby on a blanket, sets down some toys, and reads the Bible out loud. She calls it the “Bible spa,” as the room is filled with the Words of God, and the Holy Spirit is working on a little heart.
God then, through Paul, teaches us truth about His Word. …the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15
The Bible has supernatural power. It is able to make us wise for salvation. The Bible has the ability through the Holy Spirit to bring us to repentance, transform us, change us, and renew our minds.
God teaches us this in many places in His Word: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to dividing soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
The Bible is, in a spiritual sense, alive. The words of the Bible, because they are God’s words, can penetrate the human heart, convict us of sin, and bring us face to face with the truth and love of God.
