All Scripture
Devotional for November 9 · 2 Timothy 3:16 · 13-minute read
1But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, 4traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! 6They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, 7who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith. 9But they will not advance much further. For just like Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to everyone. 10You, however, have observed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance, 11my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them. 15From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.
Context
2 Timothy is probably Paul's last letter. He is imprisoned in Rome, around AD 64 to 67, and knows the end is near (2 Tim 4:6). He writes to Timothy, his son in the faith, who was leading the church in Ephesus. It is a personal letter, full of longing and urgency. Timothy was young, seems to have been timid, and was facing false teachers inside the church.
Chapter 3 opens by describing the last days as terrible times, marked by people who love themselves and money, who have a form of godliness but deny its power (v. 1-5). For the New Testament, the last days already began with the coming of Christ. Faced with this scene, Paul does not offer a new strategy. He tells Timothy to continue in what he has learned (v. 14), and points him to the Scriptures he had known since childhood.
What the text says
- v. 7: Paul describes people who are “always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” The contrast in the chapter is not between those who study and those who do not, but between piling up information and being transformed by the truth.
- v. 15: The Scriptures are able to make a person wise “for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Their goal is not to satisfy curiosity, but to lead to Christ.
- v. 16-17: Scripture is “God-breathed” and has a practical purpose: instruction, conviction, correction and training in righteousness, so that a person may be “fully equipped for every good work.”
Reflection
The expression “God-breathed” is the literal translation of a single Greek word that Paul probably coined or made known. It recalls the moment when God breathed the breath of life into the first human being (Gen 2:7). Just as God's breath gave life to the dust, God's breath stands behind the words of Scripture. Paul is not saying that the Bible is inspiring in the sense of beautiful or moving. He is saying that its ultimate origin is God.
When Paul wrote this, the Scripture Timothy had known since childhood was mainly what we call the Old Testament, taught to him by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice (2 Tim 1:5). Over the centuries, the church recognized that the writings of the apostles belong to this same category. The central point, however, is that Paul, facing death and surrounded by deceivers, does not point to a new experience or to a charismatic teacher. He points to an ancient book, read at home by a grandmother and a mother.
Notice also the four uses in verse 16. Instruction is showing the way. Conviction is showing where we have left it. Correction is helping us return. Training in righteousness is learning to walk again, day after day. The Bible is not only there to confirm what we already think. If it never convicts us or corrects us, perhaps we are reading only the parts we like.
And there is a goal: that the person of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (v. 17). Scripture was not given to produce collectors of verses, but people who love and serve. Verse 7 shows the risk: it is possible to be always learning and never reach the truth. Jesus said something similar to the religious leaders of His day, who studied the Scriptures but refused to come to Him to have life (John 5:39-40). The center of the Bible is a person.
Maybe you find the Bible difficult, long or distant. That is common, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. The Word does not usually light up the whole horizon at once, but the next step. Start small, with one Gospel, one chapter a day. Read slowly, ask what the text says before asking what it says to you, and ask God for courage to obey whatever becomes clear. That is how God's breath begins to shape someone from the inside.
Connections
- 2 Peter 1:20-21 (cross-reference): Peter states that the prophecy of Scripture did not come from human will, but from men carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- John 5:39-40 (cross-reference): Jesus shows that it is possible to study the Scriptures without coming to Him, the same risk as learning without reaching the truth (v. 7).
- Psalms 119:105 (editorial reading): The Word as a lamp to our feet: enough light for the next step of obedience.
To apply
- Heart: Have I been reading the Bible to be transformed or only to confirm what I already think?
- Relationships: Who taught me the faith, as Lois and Eunice taught Timothy, and to whom can I pass on this inheritance?
- Today: Read one chapter of the Gospel of Mark and write down one thing it teaches, one thing it corrects and one action you will put into practice.
Prayer
God, You have spoken, and Your Word is breathed out by You. I praise You because You did not leave us in the dark, but gave us the Scriptures that make us wise for salvation in Christ. I confess that I often read little, read in a hurry or read only what pleases me, and I run from what corrects me. Open my eyes and my heart. May Your Spirit teach me, convict me when I need it and equip me for the good works You have prepared. In Jesus' name, Amen.
To memorize: 2 Timothy 3:16
Today's step: In the next 24 hours, choose a fixed time and read one chapter of Mark, writing down one concrete action of obedience.
To go deeper: read 2 Timothy 1–4 and get to know Timothy.