II Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is profitable but some Scripture we tend to overlook or maybe we neglect altogether. Usually these parts that we neglect altogether are in the Old Testament, and they are called "the begats." So-and-so begat this person and that person begat somebody else and that person begat somebody else. There are chapters like I Chronicles 1—8, or Ezra 2 and 10 or Nehemiah 7, 10, and 12 and I can almost guarantee you that if you will look at the chapters in your Bible they are in mint condition because you have hardly ever looked at them.

But this scripture says that the whole Bible is profitable. That means it is a practical and a useful tool, especially for the teacher. It is the standard for testing everything that claims to be true. It is our safeguard against false teaching, by giving warning when one turns aside. It is a source of guidance in the right path. It trains us how to understand how to live. It shows us how to do Christ's work in this world. And this scripture, II Timothy 3:16, is saying that we need all Scripture in order to function properly, even the begats. They are in there for some reason. Scripture combined with the Holy Spirit and experiences are the means by which a person is brought to maturity. We might change that and say it is the means by which we are brought to holiness.

II Timothy 3:16-17

But this scripture says that the whole Bible is profitable. That means it is a practical and a useful tool, especially for the teacher. It is the standard for testing everything that claims to be true. It is our safeguard against false teaching, by giving warning when one turns aside. It is a source of guidance in the right path. It trains us how to understand how to live. It shows us how to do Christ's work in this world. And this scripture, II Timothy 3:16, is saying that we need all Scripture in order to function properly, even the begats. They are in there for some reason. Scripture combined with the Holy Spirit and experiences are the means by which a person is brought to maturity. We might change that and say it is the means by which we are brought to holiness.

II Timothy 3:16-17

The Christian is going to delight to read the scriptures, because they tell us about the One that we love. They tell us about what He expects of us and it is no wearisome task for them to read. That person does not have to be reminded. He cannot really be very happy to be apart from what Christ has written for a very long period of time. A person who loves Christ begins to feel lonely and apart from—detached from—Christ if he is not reading what Christ has written to him for any period of time, and indeed the conscience will begin to be smitten.

II Timothy 3:16

In this scripture the Greek word for breathe is emphusao. It is Strong's 1720, meaning to puff or breathe on. And the word used here for spirit is pneuma, Strong's 4151, which means a current of air, a breeze, a blast of breath, and by implication, God's Holy Spirit. Now in II Timothy 3:16, where we learned that all Scripture is inspired by God, the word for inspired is theopneustos, Strong's 2315, which according to Albert Barnes communicates the idea of God breathing into the soul.

II Timothy 3:16

And it can easily be translated that all scripture is "God breathed," personifying God as a man, showing that it came directly out of Him.