Daily Devotions
2 Timothy
"Profitable... for reproof..."
Text: 2 Timothy 3:16
THE PROBLEM OF FALSE TEACHERS
Right from the very beginning the church of the Lord was confronted with false teachings! They were relentless in their assault against the teachings of the Lord and of His apostles.
1. The apostle Peter wrote against them (2 Peter).
2. The apostle John wrote against them too (1 John).
3. The apostle Paul certainly defended his doctrines vigorously against the false teachers (Galatians, Colossians, and the Pastoral Epistles etc).
THE PLACE OF GOD’S WORD IN THE BATTLE WITH FALSE TEACHINGS
How may the church defend itself against false teachers and their erroneous teachings? The apostle Paul urged Timothy to know that the Word of God was
“Profitable… for reproof…”
2 Timothy 3:16
1. The word “reproof”
a) A number of nuances may be noted.
b) The most notable ones include the following:-
i) To convict those who contradict (Titus 1:9).
ii) To rebuke.
iii) To condemn.
2. The Word of God
a) It is compared to a sword.
b) In fact the Word of God is called “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17).
c) The Word of God is what must be used to defend the Church from false teachings!
LEARNING HOW TO WIELD THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
The apostle Paul urged Timothy to devote much time to studying the Word of God so that he could wield the sword of the Spirit effectively. Paul’s admonition to Timothy included the following:-
1. Timothy must seek to be “nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine.” (1 Timothy 4:6)
2. He must “give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”(1 Timothy 4:13)
3. He must “meditate on these things…” (1 Timothy 4:15)
4. He “must give (himself) entirely to them…”(1 Timothy 4:15)
5. He must seek to practise “rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Mastery of the Word of God is not an easy thing to accomplish. Yet, few things are as important as having a deep knowledge of the Scriptures!