¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

All of the Christian life—worldview, behavior, understanding, character—everything is rooted in the written Word of God, the Scripture. This truth is fundamental to genuine Christianity. Jesus compared hearing and acting on His teachings (or not) to building a house on a rock (or on the sand). It affects everything!

At the time of Paul’s writing this letter, some of God’s revelation was yet to be given and written down (e.g., the gospel according to John, the book of the Revelation, etc.). These, by apostolic authority, were to be included in the collective term “Scripture,” as were all of the apostles’ teaching (authorized by the Holy Spirit’s extension of the teaching of Jesus through them—see John 14:26, Acts 1:8). Peter, inspired in his writings, considered Paul’s letters to be in the same grouping of “scripture” (2 Peter 3:15–16). Together with the OT writings, which Jesus accepted as divinely authoritative (Matt. 5:17–18), we have all the Scripture in our hands, commonly called “The Bible.”

All Scripture, then, is inspired, “God-breathed.” And since it originates with God, it must be true and accurate, without any error. We take it as axiomatic that it cannot contain any error, for that would mean God Himself contains error. But that would be absurd, for what moral or ethical standard is higher than God’s by which one could judge error? If such were possible, then God would not be the ultimate Creator of the universe or Author of truth.

All Scripture is profitable. It is not just the object of academic or theological study. To be sure, we need to study the Bible, but that is not the end in itself. Did not Paul himself write in his earlier instructions, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart . . .” (1 Tim. 1:5)? The profitability of Scripture is to produce Christians (“[men] of God”) who are adequately equipped for every good work. We are not saved by works, that is clear (Eph. 2:8–9), but salvation returns us to the original purpose for which God created us: to do good in the world (see Eph. 2:10).

And the Word equips us in four ways: it teaches us, it rebukes us, it corrects us, and it trains us. Paul says elsewhere, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you . . .” (Col. 3:16). We need to inhale God’s breath. How better than to spend daily time reading, studying, and meditating on the Word of God, and engaging with others in the Word through preaching, teaching, and singing.

Lord, thank You for the living and written Word of God.