A Word in Season: Wise for Salvation 2 Timothy 3:15

The Value and Purity of God’s Word

How much do you value the Word of God? When you read the Old Testament, you'll see that the believers in God loved the Word of God. Psalm 119 is full of rich expressions of the beauty and the value of the Word of God.

It's better to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver, for example. The Apostle Paul also valued the Word of God most highly, and he wanted others to value it as well. And he was never slow to insist upon its purity, its beauty, its excellence, its quality.

Timothy’s Childhood Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures

And to Timothy in chapter 3, he's insisting to Timothy, who knows these things but needs to be, as ever, reminded of them, of the privilege that he had growing up, as he did, in a Christian home. Timothy is reminded that from childhood he has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make him wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

Now, the fact that Timothy had that privilege from early years doesn't mean that those who lack that privilege cannot come to the same state and condition as Timothy did. Timothy had the advantage of knowing this from his youth, but all who come to the Scriptures find in them these same truths, which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

The Word of God as Breathed-Out Truth

Now, Paul will go on to say why that's so, because the Word of God is the breathed-out truth of the living God, and is able not only to bring us to Christ, but to advance us in the Christian life. And perhaps we'll look at that another time.

The Bible Reveals God, Sin, and the Remedy in Christ

But my emphasis today is on the fact that this book contains the truth which makes a sinner wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. The Bible tells you the truth about God, about his holiness, about his majesty, about his justice, about his righteousness, about his goodness, about his faithfulness, about his love.

It tells us about ourselves in relation to God, about the fact that we have sinned against him. It exposes our transgressions. It shows us as we really are. It diagnoses the disease that sin is in our souls.

But it also shows us a remedy. It tells us that God in his mercy has not left us to ourselves. God has not abandoned us. God has not simply swept us away as he was entitled to do. Rather, he has sent his son, Jesus Christ, to save us.

He has made provision for us. He's given a way whereby our sins can be blotted out, where the transgressions can be cleansed from us, where our record can be entirely made right, and our hearts can be changed.

Christ as the Great Theme of Scripture

How does God do this? It is through his son, Jesus Christ. And it is Christ who is the great theme, then, of the Word of God. The Old Testament points forward to him. The New Testament is all concerned with him.

He is, as we've seen, the brightness of the Father's glory in the express image of his person. In him is life. Christ is the one who saves. He delivers us from sin. He delivers us from death. He is the one who suffered hell on our behalf in order that we might go free.

And salvation is found through trusting this Jesus. It is not found in our own efforts. It's not found in any other guru. It's not found in any other religion. It's not found with any other so-called God.

Salvation is in Christ. And the Scriptures is the book that teaches us who he is, what he has done, and calls us to put our faith in him. Timothy had known from childhood the Holy Scriptures, which were able to make him wise for salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Coming to Scripture for Wisdom and Salvation

And if you, too, would be so wise, then you must have God's book. Come to it, read it, pray over it, plead with God to open your eyes to its truth and to guide you to his Son, that you, too, through faith in Jesus Christ, may know God's so great salvation.