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.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (New Living Translation)
The first question that comes to mind whenever I read this passage is: All Scripture? Because I’ll be honest, there are some passages in the Bible that make me feel deeply uncomfortable. But maybe this is an invitation for us to have an honest examination of what the Scripture is actually saying as the inspired Word of God. Perhaps the reason why some of the Bible makes us uncomfortable is because, if we examine it honestly, we’re not only examining the Scripture, but we are also examining our own hearts.
The Bible is a compilation of different books by different authors written in different genres. History, Law, Poetry, Prophecy, Genealogies, Parables, Songs, Letters…it makes sense that in order to truly understand these writings we need to read and interpret them in the manner in which they were written.
All that to say, reading the Bible and trying to understand it is both difficult and important because it guides our beliefs and helps us understand God’s heart. I can’t mention the number of times I’ve heard people ascribe something to the Bible that isn’t actually in there in order to support one of their core beliefs. One of the most common is: “God helps those who help themselves.”
Sounds about right, doesn’t it? Until we realize that that phrase isn’t from the Bible, but from ancient Greek thought. It started as “the gods help those who help themselves.” It’s a belief that’s not God inspired, but man-inspired. And because it seems to make sense to our desire for self-reliance and independence, we assume that it’s true. When in reality that idea is mostly completely opposite what the Bible seems to say - that God helps us because He loves us, and because we can’t help ourselves.
We really need to learn our Scriptures. Dive into them, drown in them, let them transform our thinking and teach us what is true, correct us when we are wrong and teach us to do what is right.
