The Importance of God’s Word
Here are some passages to study about the importance of God’s Word.
- II Timothy 3:14-17
- Timothy had been taught the Old Testament by his grandmother and mother.
- He is told “to continue in it…” (v. 14)
- V. 15 He learned from the OT about Jesus. Jesus and the apostles preached from the OT, the Septuagint translation. It was translated in Alexandria, Egypt out of the Hebrew into the Greek 3 centuries before Christ.
- “ALL” Scripture is inspired by God—Profitable for:
- Teaching
- For Reproof
- For Correction
- For Training in Righteousness.
Why? “that the man/woman of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Tim 2:15 This passage tells us how to approach the Word of God— It compares Christians to “workers.” All of us would want to make sure we had the best person to do work on our home; we would want them trained properly; we would want them to be proud of their work ethic. It is same way with the Christian.
Turn to Acts 20:28-30 (NLT) 28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders. 29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.
1. Creepy Men (Slipped in by side door) These were prophesied (see above verse) John MacArthur writes, “These were infiltrating, false teachers pretending to be true, who on the surface looked like the real thing, but whose intentions were to lead God’s people astray (cf. Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:29; Gal. 2:4,5; I Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Pet. 2:1,20; I John 2:18-23). These apostates are Satan’s counterfeits…They were/are characterized by 3 features:
- They were ungodly.
- They perverted grace.
- They denied Christ.
2. Condemned Men (Were predicted, will be punished) ESV “designated for this condemnation.” The false teachers did not take God by surprise, for he predicted their coming and condemnation long before they existed.
3. Corrupt Men (Distorted grace, Denied God) ESV ‘Pervert the grace of our God into sensuality.” Pervert: that is to “twist and distort.”
