Commentary
by Walter Albritton
God uses the
Holy Scriptures to protect us from evil
and equip us for holy living and fruitful service
2
Timothy 3:1-4:8
Key Verse: But
you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an
evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
– 2 Timothy 4:5
Wickedness
thrives in modern society. Christian values are ridiculed by
people who champion abortion and homosexuality. God is
mocked by secularists who laugh at the church. The institution of
marriage is under attack. Evil is so
invasive in our culture that many believe these are “the last days” before the
return of Christ.
Today, as in
Timothy’s world, evil men surround the followers of Christ. Satan prowls around
us, forever tempting us to turn our backs on Christ and become lovers of
pleasure ourselves. The hardships of life often push us toward cynicism and
weaken our faith in the goodness of God. In our most sober moments, we realize
that except for the grace of God we are
evil people ourselves.
If we are
honest, we cringe as we read Paul’s long list of vices that evil people
possess. Too many of them describe how we once lived, or perhaps how we still
live. Unless Christ is Lord of our lives, and we are led daily by the Spirit,
we are “lovers of ourselves,” as well as “covetous, boasters, and proud.” The
heroes of our society are our glamorous, wealthy
Our society is
entertainment crazy. We crave entertainment, and that craving causes people to
expect the church to entertain them, not confront them with the call of God to
holy living. Many Christians want the benefits of both worlds. They want to
enjoy the world’s entertainment along with the spiritual fruit of a holy life.
We do well, however, to follow Paul’s advice about evil people: “Have
nothing to do with them.” Paul understood that people cannot
“abide” in evil and grace at the same time. We must choose between wickedness
and life in Christ!
Paul insists
that Christians need not cave in to evil. He offers his own example as proof.
Yes, he admits, you will
be persecuted for seeking to live a godly life in Christ, “while
evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being
deceived.” In these verses, Paul offers solid encouragement to Timothy as he
contends with evil. Look to God for help, Paul says. “He rescued me,” Paul
declares, implying that God will rescue other believers as well, provided they
“continue,” or endure, in the faith.
Since evil is
so entrenched in our culture, how can Christians overcome it and live in
obedience to God? Paul’s answer is clear: continue faithfully to remember, practice,
and teach what you have learned from the
Holy Scriptures! Too many Christians in our generation have an apathetic
attitude toward the Bible. “Higher criticism” has persuaded many intellectuals
to fear being labeled biblical fanatics. Accepting the
so-called “flaws” of the Bible, they are less likely to view the Scriptures as
divinely inspired. However, in so doing, these people part company with Paul!
One sad reality
is that many Christians ignore the Old Testament and discount its value to “New
Testament” Christians. Yet it was the Old Testament that Paul
described as “holy” and “inspired.” For us the phrase “all Scripture” includes the
entire Bible.
The word
“inspired” means literally “God-breathed.” This is a powerful view of
Scripture. God breathed life into
men formed from the dust of the earth. God breathed life into Ezekiel’s dry bones. God breathed life into the Scriptures, making it the living Book of God. I like the idea given us by J. B. Phillips,
who when paraphrasing the New Testament said it was like working with “live
wires.”
Martin Luther
was willing to endure suffering for convictions that sprang from his study of
the Scriptures. He confessed, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.” We
should all be wise to have such regard for the Scriptures. Our appreciation for
the Bible must stop short of idolatry of course; we worship God, not the Bible.
Yet it blesses us to believe and celebrate that the Holy Scriptures make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
When I answered
the call to preach, my grandmother, Neva Carmichael Johnson, gave me a Bible.
In it she penned the words of Dwight L. Moody: “Sin
will keep you from this Book, or this Book will keep you from sin.” When I get
to heaven, I plan to thank her again, and to tell her that she was right about
the Book and sin!
The Bible has not been given to us so that we can judge it. God gives
it to us because we need what it can do for us. When we embrace the Scriptures
as God-breathed, the Spirit uses them to help us become mature believers. They
are, as Paul explains so beautifully, “useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the man [and woman] of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Paul knew that
Timothy’s faithfulness in evangelism, and in his larger ministry, would be
possible only if he had a high and holy view of the Scriptures. Momentary
hardship can be endured if we remember that in our
ministry we are planting and watering seeds of the eternal Word of God. God
promises that, if we will plant the seed of the gospel, He will make them grow!
Christians who
take the Bible seriously find the confidence and strength to overcome evil and
live holy lives that bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ! May God
give us a high and holy view of the Holy Scriptures so that God can use them to
keep us from evil, and make us fruitful servants of the King!
+ + + + (Contact Walter at walbritton@elmore.rr.com)