By: Timothy A. Rowe
II Timothy 3:16.17 (Amplified):
Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
New Living Translation:
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
New Jerusalem Bible:
All scripture is inspired by God and useful for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be upright. This is how someone who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work.
God breathed His heart and His life into every word of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible is a perfect reflection of God’s heart and contains His purposes, His will, His designs, and His plans. The Bible contains the thoughts of God, the desires of God, the warnings of God, the righteousness of God, the love of God, the judgment of God, the wisdom of God, the salvation of God, and the light of God. The Bible is the very life of God and is a living book that will abide and live forever. The Bible is a perfect revelation of the goodness of God. The Bible is the words of the Living God and the perfect expression and communication of God in writing. The Bible is the truth of God that brings life, light, wisdom, discernment, peace, wholeness, guidance, and understanding. It is the master blueprint for life and contains every principal of truth that a person would ever need to live life in every category to its fullest. The Bible is the divine instruction book that teaches us how to live His way in power, joy, peace, and love.
The Bible is a complete revelation of our wonderful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ and sets forth the plan of redemption available for the entire human race. The Bible contains the only hope for mankind of the deliverance from sin and death-the promise of everlasting life, and the future hope of living with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ forever in paradise. The Bible is the voice of God to all peoples on the earth and is constantly knocking at the door of the human heart, imploring all to come back to Him and learn of His great heart, His great goodness, His great love, and His great faithfulness. The Bible is a revelation of the personality and characteristics of God and paints a true picture of His loving heart. The Bible is a wonderful divine book and guidepost of the truth that God gives to his children to be their training manual for life physically, mentally, morally, and spiritually. No other book in all the libraries of the world can make these claims, for God is the author of His Word and has breathed everything He is into every word of Scripture.
Psalm 19:7-12 (Message Bible):
The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road. The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes. God’s reputation is twenty-four carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree. God’s Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries. There’s more: God’s Word warns us danger and directs us to hidden treasure. Otherwise how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool?
God’s Word is the revelation of God, the signposts of God, the life-maps of God, the directions of God, the will of God, and the decisions of God. No material possession, no earthly experience, and no worldly philosophy can even compare to the greatness of the Word of God revealed in the Bible. Without the Word of God as a compass in life, we will lose our direction, become hopelessly lost, and fall into snares of danger, distraction, and disillusionment. People are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and the Bible is the written embodiment of the life and essence of God in words of power and spiritual life.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of God will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8). The Word of God cannot be broken, overcome, or defeated. God magnified His Word above all of His name (Psalm 138:2), and He has freely given us His Word so that we may know Him and learn and walk in His ways. God did not hide his Word in some mysterious cave or bury it in some underground grave, but has publicly heralded His Word to all generations.
Isaiah 45:18b,19 (New Living Translation):
“I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other. I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would have not told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord, speak only what is true and declare only what is right.
The Bible contains bold promises and declares what is right and true. God would not have given us His Word if we could not understand and believe it. I have heard so many people say that they don’t read or study the Bible because they do not understand it. God will enlighten your heart and give you more and more understanding of the Scriptures, but you must first open the book. The Creator of the heavens and earth has authored an amazing book of absolute truth that reveals His wonderful heart of goodness and His purposes for our lives. He has authored a book that shines as a brilliant light in the darkness of this world and shows us the proper path to live our lives. Shouldn’t we want to study it, read it, meditate upon it, think about it, and follow it?
God has given the Church amazing teachers of the Word and wonderful writers who expound and open our understanding to the truths of the Bible. God will open your heart and fill it with a great appreciation and understanding of His Word when you seek His Word, crave His Word, study His Word, read His Word, and earnestly desire to know His Word. God would not have given us the Bible if it would have remained a closed, mysterious, confusing, and misunderstood mumbo jumbo of words. I have given over 37 years of my life to study the Word of God, and my heart still thrills at the incredible depth and meaning of the Bible and its magnificent message of truth to the world. There are vast treasures of wisdom and knowledge contained in the Bible that are awaiting our seeking and digging them out like one who diligently searches the earth for hidden treasure. The Word of God changes and transforms lives when its truths live in the hearts of men and women. Jesus Christ promised that if we continue and abide in the Word, that we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free in mind, heart, and soul from every worry, fear, and obstacle that has ever held us back from giving our utmost to Him and living in the midst of His peace and joy.
E.W. Bullinger, in How to Enjoy the Bible, states:
Attention to diet is becoming more and more recognized as essential to nutrition and growth. A low condition of bodily health is produced by inattention to the laws of nature as to suitable diet….A low condition of spiritual health is produced by improper feeding or neglect of necessary food, which is the Word of God…The root of all evils which abound in the spiritual sphere at the present day lies in the fact that the Word and the words of God are not fed upon, digested or assimilated, as they ought to be…Thus the way of discovery still lies open to us in Divine things if we have only the moral courage to go to the fountain-head of truth…It is not at all incredible that a book that has been so long in the possession of mankind should contain many truths as yet undiscovered…Like Ezra of old, our desire is to “Open the Book” and let it speak for itself, with the full conviction if this can be done it can speak more loudly and more effectively for itself, than any man can speak on its behalf.
We live in a diet crazy society, where every conceivable diet is available to help people lose weight and be healthy. Our physical diet is important, but what about our spiritual diet? How much of the Word of God are we feeding upon, digesting, and assimilating into our heart and soul? If we ever want to be spiritually strong and excel in our gifting before the Lord, we cannot neglect the spiritual food of the Bible. If we want to be strong in our service for the Lord and abound in good works for His glory, we must spend time in the Word. We don’t have to be a biblical scholar or go to seminary school, but it must be a top priority in our lives to read, study, and think about the Bible and its words in our daily living.
I promise you that if you set sometime aside every day to read and meditate upon the Scriptures, your life will be energized and transformed by the mighty power of His Word. There is life in the Word, and it will change the heart to become more like Him. There is light in the Word, and it will extinguish the darkness of everything that may hold us in bondage. There is comfort in the Word, and it will overcome the worries and fears of this age. There is wisdom in the Word, and it will guide our paths into the right way and help us avoid the obstacles set up to distract us and make us fall. There is healing in the Word, and it will restore our mind and body in complete wholeness. We need to open the book and let it speak to our heart. Pray that God enlightens your understanding and directs you to the words that you need to hear and believe. Just be faithful with being in the Word, as you will begin to realize that the more time you spend in the Word, you will begin to crave, desire, and cherish the time that it is just you and God in the Word. We cannot stand effectively for God without it. If we spend two minutes a week in the Word and twenty hours in front of the television, our spiritual lives will be out of balance. We will be anaemic and weak spiritually, as our hearts will be receiving little nourishment from the words of God. It is like trying to put your life together without the training manual of life provided by your Heavenly Father.
I remember buying a propane grill and, in my excitement, to use it, I ignored the manual of instructions and just tried to put it together myself. “I don’t need these instructions,” I thought. Well, when I was done, there were a few pieces left over, and the grill did not work. We cannot ignore the Bible, our heavenly instruction book, as our lives will not work in the glorious and wonderful way that God intended. We cannot leave the Bible on our bookshelf at home as just another dust covered book, as its wisdom, its life, its correction, its enlightenment, and its power are too great to ignore and neglect. We can never accomplish our destiny for God unless we become strong in the Word. We cannot fully accomplish the good works He has called us to, unless this Word of God dwells in us richly. The Scriptures are to become a part of us, a testimony of who we are and what lives in our hearts. The book of James tells us that the Word of God is to become engrafted into our very beings where it is closer than our breath, and a living reality in our lives.
People go through the journey of life looking for something that is useful, profitable, or advantageous for their life. They diligently search for principles of life that will help them accomplish their goals and make their life worth living. Nothing they could ever find is more useful, beneficial, and profitable for life than the God-breathed Scriptures. This Word of God boldly proclaims that every word contain in Scripture is profitable, and in the Greek this word means: useful, profitable, serviceable, helpful, beneficial, and refers to that which yields advantageous returns or results. It provides something that someone needs to attain a certain goal. God has set a wonderful purpose for us in our generation, and the Word of God is the vital tool that equips us to accomplish it. The benefit and usefulness of the Bible is fathomless and is so great that it cannot even be measured by human means. It is the purpose of the Bible to make the Christian, who is dedicated to live and speak for God, complete, proficient, well-fitted, and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
There are two interesting words used in II Timothy 3:17 that describe the relationship between the Word of God and good works for the Christian believer. The first word in the Greek is artios, which means: “complete in all parts or proportions; qualified for a function; complete to where all the parts work together to accomplish their destined purpose; completely qualified and proficient to the end they can meet all demands and perform all functions, and special aptitude for given uses and equipped for a delegated task. In Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament artios is said to mean “complete…but the idea is rather that of a mutual, symmetrical adjustment of all that goes to make the man: harmonious combination of different qualities and powers.”
Trench, in Synonyms of the New Testament, says,
If we ask ourselves under what special aspects completeness is contemplated in artios, it would be safe to answer that it is not in the presence only of all the parts which are necessary for that completeness, but involves further the adaptation and aptitude of these parts for the ends they were designed to serve. The man (or woman) of God, St. Paul would say…should be furnished and accomplished with all that is necessary for the carrying out of the work to which he is appointed.
Bullinger, in Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, explains:
The adjective artios is from the Ancient Aryan root AR, which means to fit. In the Greek it implies perfect adaptation and suitability. The Greeks used it of time, as denoting the exact or right moment: and of numbers as denoting a perfect or even number as opposed to an odd number.
God has prepared an awesome purpose and work for us as Christians that is unique to each individual born again believer. The Bible allows the one who speaks for God and is dedicated to God to be perfectly adapted and suited to meet all the demands of our calling in Christ. The Word of God gives us all the necessary parts that perfectly work together to qualify us and equip us to accomplish our God-given destiny. We have a perfect rule and guide for life in the Bible, and it gives us the knowledge, the reproof, the correction, and the instruction we need to fully complete all the good works that are to make up our way of life as Christians. With the Word of God, we are ready for every emergency, equipped for every contingency, prepared for every difficulty, and provided for in every hardship. The wisdom from the Bible is never late, and it will provide exactly what we need at the right moment in any circumstance, in any problem, and in any crisis.
The Bible is the fundamental rulebook and instruction manual for the Christian to perform and successfully accomplish all the delegated tasks, special uses, and divine gifting that God has given each of us as a special member of the Body of Christ. Without the Bible, we cannot completely accomplish the wonderful, good purpose that God has called us to do. The Word of God brings together in harmony with the will of God a person’s thoughts, desires, passions, and heart and gives them the knowledge that enables them to pour their heart and soul into the service of Christ. In our ministry of good works, the Bible will motivate, inspire, comfort, direct, warn, settle, instruct, correct, train, enlighten, and empower. The Word of God living in our heart brings us closer to our Heavenly Father in word, thought, and action and gives us the understanding to enjoy our relationship with Him and appreciate all of His magnificent works. The Word of God gives us hope in the midst of a hopeless world and a purpose and passion for living. The Word of God is our divine food that nourishes us and helps us grow spiritually strong and mature. The Word of God gives us a marvellous picture of the heart of God and shows us how to serve Him with all our heart. The Bible contains everything we need to know about life and godliness and shows us the right path to live and the principles for a holy life while living upon the earth. The Word of God has the answer for every challenge we will ever face, for it is breathed from the very mouth of God Almighty.
If we ever want to be victorious in the spiritual contest that we are engaged in with the god of this world and his forces of evil, then we must take up the sword of the Spirit and use it on a daily basis. The Word of God allows us to stand against the onslaughts of our spiritual enemy as Jesus Christ knew all too well as he stood against the devil by saying, “It is written,” and holding the living Word of God in his heart. No one is wiser than God, no one is smarter than God, no one sees more than God, no one knows good like God, no one sees the spiritual battle that is raging like God, and no one understands like God. Don’t you think it behoves us to read, study, and hide in our hearts His words that He has so lovingly given us as the guide to live our lives in righteousness?
Artios was also used in early Greek writing to describe how a ball and socket joint in the human body is fitted together. A joint is where the bones of your body fit together and allow for a very specific type of movement. It allows precision, accuracy, and freedom of movement so the human body can perform certain tasks. There is greater freedom of movement in a ball and socket joint than in any other joint in the human body. The ball and socket joint allows for movement in any direction. The ball and socket joint is a perfect fit in the human body, allowing the bones to adapt to the desired task or movement.
The Bible is perfectly fitted for our lives and gives us the ability to move freely with spiritual precision and accuracy in carrying out God’s plan for our lives. The Word of God gives us the strength to move freely without fear, worry, or any other type of bondage and travel in the direction where God is leading us. The Word of God allows us to adapt to any mental, physical, or spiritual challenge that we may face and shows us how to remain steadfast to the will of God.
The second word used in II Timothy 3:17 to describe the relationship of the Word of God to the good works that God has called us to do is the Greek word exartizo. This Greek word is from the same root as artios and means “to completely outfit, to be put in perfect readiness, to fully furnish, and to fully equip or supply.”
E.W. Bullinger, in Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, further elaborates on the meaning of this Greek word:
The verb exartizo means to fit out; and is used of furnishing a house, making full preparation for war, or especially of fitting out a vessel at sea, in doing which every emergency must be provided for-heat and cold, calm and storm, peace and war, fire and accident. Hence, he who studies God’s word, will be a “man of God,” fitted out and provided for all the circumstances and emergencies of life.
Think of a huge, majestic ship that is perfectly outfitted with every single supply and resource it needs for a long voyage at sea. Nothing is spared in making the ship ready to face the long journey ahead. Think of a mighty army that is ready to go into a fierce battle over many days and is outfitted with ammunition, protective gear, equipment, weapons, and vehicles to wage war against the enemy. Each unit of soldiers is perfectly outfitted with everything they need to defeat the enemy. This includes the tough physical and mental conditioning that is necessary to engage in battle and come out victorious. It is absolutely critical that these brave men who are putting their lives on the line have everything they need to fight their enemies on the battlefield. Think of a beautiful mansion that is perfectly furnished in every room with the best furniture and a kitchen with every modern appliance and convenience, a recreation room with every type of equipment and games, a beautiful garden, with gorgeous flowers and all types of vegetables. Nothing is missing in the house, as it is perfectly furnished for its owners to live life in great comfort and enjoyment.
The Word of God perfectly equips us with everything we need to sail on the voyage of life. The Word of God perfectly outfits us with all things that are necessary to excel in every good work that God has called us to do with great love and compassion. We have everything we need on God’s ship to be victorious in life and help restore others to their God-given destiny. No matter how long the journey, no matter how rough the seas, and no matter how dark the night, the Word of God is our eternal compass and our guiding lighthouse for a successful voyage.
The Word of God also perfectly outfits us for the battlefield of life, giving us the weapons, strategies, and strength to wage war against our spiritual enemy and all his forces of evil. The Bible gives us a perfect battle plan and the wisdom to carry it out in victory. No one knows and understands the schemes of the devil more than God Almighty, and He has given us His Word to perfectly outfit us in His spiritual armour so that we can stand against any onslaught of the devil.
The Word of God perfectly furnishes our life so that no matter what room or part of life’s house we maybe in, we have everything we need to enjoy life and do His will in our words and actions. The Word of God is the equipment and furnishings the Christian believer needs to excel in every good work. The Word of God is flawless, perfect, faithful, and pure. The Word of God is God speaking straight from His heart to His people so they can obey Him, love Him, serve Him, and praise Him. We cannot neglect and push the Bible aside and ever expect that we will fulfil our purpose that God has called us to and His plan of good works that He has ordained for our lives as Christians.
II Samuel 22:31(a) (NIV):
As for God, his way is perfect, the Word of the Lord is flawless.
Psalm 119:7,9-16 (The Message Bible):
I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart, so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth; I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you have done it. I relish everything you have told me about life, I won’t forget a word of it. You are good, and the source of good; train me in your goodness. Your truth never goes out of fashion; its as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up. Your word and truth are as dependable as ever; that’s what you ordered-you set the earth going. If your revelation hadn’t delighted me so, I would have given up when the hard times came. But I never forget the advice you gave me; you saved my life with those wise words. I see the limits to everything human, but the horizons cannot contain your commands. Every word you give me is a miracle word-how can I help but obey? Break open your words, let the light shine out, let ordinary people see the meaning. Mouth open and panting, I want your commands more than anything. I cry rivers of tears because nobody’s living by your book! Your words all add up to the sum total: Truth. Your righteous decisions are eternal. My soul guards and keeps all your instructions-oh, how much I love them!
My, how we should love the Word of God as Christians! How magnificent is the Word of God! We love our physical food, and rightly so, and often get excited about the joy of eating our favourite foods. Shouldn’t we have even greater joy to eat our spiritual food? Shouldn’t we be just as excited to feast on the words of God contained in the Bible?
You don’t have to lock yourself in a room and study the Bible twenty hours a day to serve God. I am not saying to not watch television, or to not read other books. But let’s get some balance in our lives and open the book and begin reading it. Be faithful about your time in the Word; pray about your time in the Word; think about what you are reading; ask God for wisdom to understand His Word. Mediate upon His Word throughout the day. You can start out a little at a time, but try to increase your time in the Word more and more. Get up a half an hour earlier and read your Bible. You will be amazed at the comfort the Scriptures give you; the hope the Scriptures give you; the insight the Scriptures give you; the motivation the Scriptures give you; the passion the Scriptures give you, and the peace the Scriptures give you. Don’t you want to know God’s heart? Don’t you want to know God’s will? Don’t you want to know the truth? Don’t you want to be set free?