Manuscript of my sermon at Brooks Avenue Church of Christ in Raleigh, NC for May 7, 2023.

The Scripture was 2 Timothy 3:15-17.

If you want to watch, the YouTube link is here. The message starts about 12:29. I think I have it set to start there when you click the link.

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Intro: How not to read the Bible

Our passage today, if you want to follow along in your Bible or on your devices, is 2 Timothy 3:15-17. Today we’re going to talk about reading Scripture, the way the Good Lord intended. There’s a right way for Christians to read the Bible, and the Bible actually tells us how to read it. 

Paul wrote these words to a young preacher named Timothy, who was his son in the faith and one of his dearest friends. This was near the end of Paul’s life, and he wanted once again to impress on his young protege the holiness and sufficiency of Scripture. But this passage also teaches us how to approach the Bible. Again, 2 Timothy 3:15-17 says:

From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, well equipped for every good work.

Evangelical Heritage Version

These words were good for Timothy, but they’re good for every Christian.

So last summer when we did the discipleship checkup, the good news is that many of you reported that you’re reading Scripture regularly—not just on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening. 

So that’s the good news. Now here’s the … fuzzy … news. I say fuzzy, because—I want to be careful here, because we promised confidentiality, so I won’t get specific. I’ll just put it like this—there’s a bit of a lack of clarity about what we’re supposed to be doing when we come to the Word. What we should expect to find there, and what to do with whatever it is we found.

Now understand, this isn’t meant to shame you, okay? I work out sometimes with Coach Chris. Yes … I … work … out. I promise. And there are times he has to correct my form, because if he didn’t I wouldn’t get the full benefit, and I might even hurt myself. 

That’s what we’re here today—to correct our form when it comes to reading the Bible, so we get the benefits from it, and don’t hurt ourselves with it. 

Let me just do it this way, okay? A couple of years back, Dane Ortlund posted a list of 9 Wrong Ways to Read the Bible. You don’t have to raise your hand or anything. But if you see yourself on this list … well, if you can’t say Amen, just say Ouch.

First, there’s the Warm fuzzies approach. Sometimes I call this one the thrill-seeker. This person goes to Scripture searching for a glowing feeling—an experience of God. Words that make them feel good, whether they actually understand them, or not. Someone who approaches Scripture like this could read, Be still and know that I am God, and their takeaway might be, Why yes—I guess I am God. Froth is fine when it’s on top of the cappuccino you’re drinking while you’re reading your Bible. But you don’t want your reading to be frothy.

Then, there’s the Grump. The grump reads the Bible because they have this vague, guilty feeling that they ought to read it. This can lead to resentful reading that feels more like a chore or obligation.

Third, there’s the Gold miner. The Gold Miner sees the Bible primarily as a deep, dark cave you go into and occasionally find a nugget of inspiration they can stick on a motivational poster with a picture of an eagle or a kitten or something. But when they come to Job or Leviticus—they’re just confused.

Then there’s the Hero Groupie. This person sees the Bible primarily as a moral Hall of Fame full of spiritual giants to emulate. They’re the Dare to be a Daniel! brigade. Eventually, reading Scripture through these lenses will lead to despair because they find themselves failing to measure up. They go out thinking they’re David until Goliath eats their lunch.

Next is the Rule-Finder. These are the ones who go looking for commands to obey—even turning things that aren’t commands into commands—so that they can feel morally superior to the rest of us. They’re often equally apt at finding loopholes to justify their own sins and shortcomings. What’s really tragic is that approaching the Bible this way means you picture God as a cosmic bureaucrat. This way of reading is how you get a Pharisee.

Sixth: The Indiana Jones. This kind of reader sees the Bible as an ancient relic, full of artifacts from the ancient Middle East, but largely irrelevant for today. If they read the Bible at all, they probably get bored pretty quick.

Seventh: The Magic 8-Ball reader. This person goes to Scripture to get answers to problems or decisions that are stressing them out. They are apt to open their Bible, drop a finger in, and try to figure out what the random verse they selected is trying to tell them about who they should marry, or what car they should buy, or if they should take that new job. This kind of reader probably walks away more anxious than they were to begin with.

Then there’s the one who reads the Bible like it’s Aesop’s Fables. This person has never outgrown their children’s Bible. So they see the Bible as a random collection of stories that have a nice, tidy moral at the end. This person will be a disconnected reader—never appreciating the redemptive drama of Scripture.

Finally, ninth—there’s the Doctrine Dude. They’re almost always dudes. They mostly read the Bible find ammunition to win theology debates on Twitter. The outcome of this is that Scripture neither convicts them of their sin, nor comforts them in their distress. You can’t humble yourself before the Word of the Lord when you think it’s there to prove that you’re right.

And I thought of a couple of other types, too. There’s Bible Bowler, who primarily sees Scripture as a treasure trove of trivia. There’s the Renovator, who’s mostly interested in revising the Bible’s teachings to be more palatable to the world. 

2 Timothy 3:15-17: How the Good Lord intends the Bible to be read

But I think we can all agree that none of these are how the Good Lord intended us to read the Bible. So then the question we need to answer is: How does the Good Lord intend us to read His Word?

There is a way that God intends us to read Scripture, and you can find it in Scripture itself. It’s actually in our passage today, 2 Timothy 3:15-17. There’s really three aspects to it—one for your faith; one for your learning; and one for your living. They all go together, but they do different things.

First, Scripture leads us to salvation through faith in Christ. Second, Scripture teaches us how to reason as Christians—how to think about God, and pursue godly living. And third—having kindled faith in our hearts, and having renewed our minds—Scripture equips us for every good work.

So let’s jump into our passage and learn how to read Scripture the way the Good Lord intended.

Look for Jesus in every text (2 Timothy 3:15)

First, foremost, primarily, and repeatedly—Scripture leads us to Christ. Here’s v15: from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Earlier, in 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul says that sincere faith first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it also lives in you. Timothy’s mother and grandmother had taught him Scripture from the time he was a baby, and their teaching had helped kindle faith in his young heart. 

What we don’t often think about is that Lois and Eunice, and later Paul, had led young Timothy to faith in Christ with the Old Testament. I mean—that’s really what they had. The New Testament was still being written.

So the very first thing Paul says Scripture does is make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. And that’s both Testaments—Old and New. 

Jesus even says this Himself. in John 5:39, He told the leaders of the Jews: You search the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them. They testify about me! 

The normal way Christians read all of Scripture until a couple hundred years ago, was to ask—first: How does this passage reveal Christ? Because the most essential thing the written Word does is to bring us to the Word of God made flesh, Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven (Nicene Creed, Article 4).

That used to be the first instinct of any preacher—really of every Christian—whenever they read the Bible. Sadly in the modern world we have been discipled away from looking for Jesus everywhere in the Bible.

The great British preacher Charles Spurgeon once said: From every little town and village and tiny hamlet in England there is a road leading to London […] Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, “There is a road from here to Jesus Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.” 

A younger preacher asked him, But suppose you are preaching from a text that says nothing about Christ?

And the seasoned preacher said: Then I will go over hedge and ditch but what I will get at Him. [1]

You will become more effective at preaching the Gospel to your neighbor—not to mention yourself, because we need to be reminded of it daily—when you learn to see Christ on every page. 

In Genesis 3:15, we read that the Christ will be a man, the seed of a woman—that is, born of a virgin—who will crush the head of the Old Serpent, Satan. 

Genesis 9:27 says: May God enlarge Japheth. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. God would come to dwell in the tents of Shem, through the Israelite Tabernacle. But more perfectly, Jesus would be God dwelling in a tabernacle of Semitic flesh—the eternal Son dwelling in a Jewish body.

I’m just letting you know—He really is on every page.

I could go on and on and on. Christ was the ladder Jacob saw, which connected heaven and earth. Christ was the voice that spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and He dwelt in the glory cloud that went with Israel through the wilderness. He is Job’s Redeemer, who resurrects those who trust in Him to eternal life.

He is the perfect fulfillment of all Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, we find that we have broken all of them—in word or in thought, if not in deed. And so the Law and the Prophets convict us of our sins, and show us our great need for Christ. So He is Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, who was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).

He’s the Passover Lamb whose blood saves us from judgment. He’s the crimson cord Rahab hung from her window, so that she and her household were spared.

Every false prophet; and every corrupt priest; and every failed King we meet in the Old Testament testifies to God’s plan to send us Christ to be our true and perfect Prophet, Priest, and King, who will never fail us.

This is the first and greatest use of the Bible—to make people wise for salvation through faith in Christ. What is it Paul said? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

You’re not just limited to the Four Gospels, or to some quotes here and there from Acts or the Letters. The whole Word of God—all of Scripture—is saturated with Christ, from Genesis to Revelation.

And if you don’t have a sincere, living faith in Him living in you, none of the rest of what Scripture does—doctrine, reproof, correction, training in righteousness so we can be prepared to do every good work—none of that matters, because none of those will save you. Only Christ will.

So the very first thing you should wonder about any passage you read is, How does this get me to Christ? And if you can’t figure it out, ask another Christian to look at it with you. Then you can learn together.

So that’s the first and most important thing to know about reading Scripture the way the Good Lord intended: Find a road to Christ in whatever you’re reading. Get to Christ, and get to the Gospel. Because the Word about Christ in Scripture may create faith in an unbelieving heart; and it will sustain and grow and mature your faith, my dear brothers and sisters.

Every passage God-breathed and relevant (2 Timothy 3:16)

Now, the second thing you’ll want to pursue if you want to read Scripture the way the Good Lord intended is knowledge and learning. Scripture teaches us how to reason as believers, as Christians. And that’s what we find in v16. 

All Scripture is God breathed. Let’s pause and unpack what it means that the Bible is inspired or—more literally, God-breathed. The verb is saying something more, and actually something somewhat different, than God simply inspired the words, or the authors. It’s saying the words of Scripture were breathed out by God Himself, through His Holy Spirit. So in Acts 1:16, Peter talks about the Scripture … which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David.

Any time you sit down with your Bible, you need to remember that these are the very words of God. And God does not lie (Hebrews 6:18), neither does He change (Malachi 3:6). Simply remembering that the words of Scripture are the words of God Himself is enough to make them come to life and burn like fire; to grab your attention, and draw you near to God. The Scriptures have their own power to convict to convert, to comfort and to counsel. To all who read in faith, the Scriptures are a living word. 

Scripture is God-breathed, first of all; and is useful. There’s not an irrelevant word in it. If something in Scripture doesn’t seem relevant or useful to you right now—well, either it will later; or you haven’t understood it and you need to dig deeper. 

It’s all useful, it’s all relevant. Even all those directions for building the Tabernacle? Yes—they teach us the geography of redemption. [2] Even all those endless genealogies in Chronicles? Yes, because they remind us that the Lord knows His people by name. 

When God speaks, we had better listen. So yes—all Scripture is useful, and it is all-sufficient for us—as long as we keep in mind what it’s useful and sufficient for. It’s not useful for diagnosing and treating illness—not even mental or emotional illness. It’s not useful for telling you where to go to college. 

The Bible tells us what the Good Lord meant it to be useful—and sufficient—for. It’s useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness.

Scripture is useful for teaching.Teaching is also translated as doctrine. And the idea here is that this is teaching for those who are already believers. This is teaching about the Trinity; the two natures of Christ—divine and human; doctrines like justification by faith and the bodily resurrection of the saints. It’s also teaching how we should worship God, and guidance for how we ought to live. 

And the authority of it—again—is that these are God-breathed words. If someone is teaching based off a feeling they have, or their own personal opinion, or a vision they had yesterday morning in the shower—you can and should dismiss that. But we must heed the words of Scripture.

Even when—perhaps especially when—the Scriptures rebuke us. Which is the next thing the Good Lord intends it to do. Scripture rebukes both false and harmful ideas about God and words, actions, and attitudes that are out-of-sync with the Gospel of Christ. 

These days many people get offended when the word that is preached or the word that they read rebukes them. The Warm Fuzzies and the Gold Miners only want Scriptures that stroke them and affirm them. Meanwhile, the Magic 8-Ballers get impatient if you’re not just giving them advice and life-hacks. 

We have forgotten who God is, and who we are. We are frail children of dust who have dared to rebel against our Almighty, perfectly holy, wise, and just sovereign Creator. But when you come to know the depths of your own sin and depravity, and to feel your great weakness; and you understand that God is all-knowing, all-wise, and infinite in His justice and holiness—it should neither surprise nor offend you that He would need to rebuke us often. For we so often and so easily go astray. 

As much as the rebuke stings, remember what Scripture says: Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful (Proverbs 27:5-6). Likewise, Leviticus 19:17: thou shalt plainly rebuke thy neighbor, and suffer him not to sin. Jesus is our friend, so when He rebukes us, it is because He loves us. It’s one of he ways He’s faithful to us: He warns us away from sin.

Again, note—Scripture is useful for rebuking. Someone who rebukes you because you didn’t wear a tie to lead the opening prayer isn’t reasoning from Scripture, so their rebuke is useless. But if someone rebukes you for being a bully—that’s useful, because that rebuke is supported by Scripture. 

That’s one of the most comforting things about the sufficiency of Scripture: You don’t have to let anyone who’s making up rules that aren’t actually in the Bible lay a guilt trip on you.

Okay, I have to pick up the tempo here. The Good Lord also intended Scripture to be useful—and sufficient—for correcting and for training in righteousness.

Correcting is the other side of rebuking. Scripture doesn’t just tell us where we go wrong—God also shows us how to go right. 

A really good example of rebuking and correcting is Ephesians 4:28. First it says: Let the one who has been stealing steal no longer. Okay, that’s a rebuke. Now, the rest of the verse is the correction: Instead, let him work hard doing what is good with his own hands, so that he has something to share with a person who is in need. Stealing is unproductive, it’s selfish, and it diminishes both the victim and the thief. So what should you do instead? Do some productive work, so you can afford to be selfless. Now see, that uplifts both you and the person in need.

And this is training in righteousness. The verb for training or instruction here is the word you would use for educating children. Again, the assumption is that we already have a relationship with Christ, and now He is teaching us—like a father teaches his children. Through Scripture, God gives us everything we need to grow into godly living—to grow into who we are in Christ. 

You see, Scripture takes us all the way from the rudiments—the ABCs of the Ten Commandments, the Twenty-Third Psalm, and the Lord’s Prayer (parents: you need to be teaching those to your littles); to the unfathomable depths of the riches of the Gospel of Christ; into the ineffable mystery of the Trinity. 

Every passage is teaching us, rebuking us, or correcting us. We’re learning how to think as Christians; how to reason in light of who God is and who we are, and who we are becoming in Christ. And this translates into the practical application of how we should then live as Christ’s people.

Completely equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17)

And that brings us to v17, and our final point. First, Scripture has brought us to salvation through faith in Jesus; and then it constantly renews our minds by teaching us, rebuking us, correcting us—now here is the outcome:

So that the man of God may be complete, well equipped for every good work.

Here’s why I keep mentioning the sufficiency of Scripture. Christ, in His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). If you’re reading the Bible the way the Good Lord intended—you’ll find it all in there. It’s like those old Prego spaghetti sauce commercials: It’s in there!

Everything we need for life and godliness is in there. We have everything we need for life because the Scriptures lead us to Christ, who is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The Scriptures lead us to faith in Christ, and He imparts eternal life to us. 

And we find everything we need for godliness in them. The Lord teaches us through them; He rebukes us, and corrects us, and trains us in righteousness—through the Scriptures.

And the outcome for us us that first, we are made complete. The word here means prepared and proficient; capable and competent. 

When we read Scripture the way the Good Lord intended—remember, seeking Christ in them above all; and then learning doctrine from them … that’s theology; and being rebuked and corrected by them—when we read Scripture like that we grow into men and women of God. We will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, when people use tricks and invent clever ways to lead us astray (Ephesians 4:14).

We’ll be complete. Again, that means competent and prepared … not for winning Bible Bowl tournaments or online theology debates … but well equipped for every good work. 

The Bible—again—is sufficient to give us whatever we need for both faith and practice. We don’t need private revelations from God; we don’t need unwritten traditions that others would impose on our consciences; we don’t need the latest best-seller that promises to tell us what Jesus or Paul really said; or that promise to reveal some long-hidden Bible secret from an obscure passage. Everything we need for faith in Christ, and to conduct [ourselves] in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27) is plainly stated in the Bible.

Everything that we must know and believe to be saved is clearly revealed in Scripture. Scripture alone is sufficient to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ.

Likewise, Scripture is sufficient to teach us how we should live as Christians, because it equips us for every good work. Again, the Puritans of Westminster tell us—and I want you to mark this well, beloved:

Good works are only those works identified as good by God and commanded by him in his holy word. They do not include other works, no matter how well-intentioned in design or zealously promoted by men.

Westminster Confession of Faith, 16.1

If you need to know what good works are, start with the Ten Commandments. Remember that they’re there as a starting point to tell you how to love God and your neighbor. What did our Lord say? The whole Law hangs on those two commands—love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. 

The Ten Commandments begin to flesh out what loving God and your neighbor looks like in practice. And every other instruction in Scripture—from the case laws of Deuteronomy; to the preaching of the Prophets; to the wisdom of Proverbs; to the Sermon on the Mount; to the Apostles teaching us how to live as Christians … they all flow directly from the Ten Commandments, and they sufficient to teach us to love the Lord and love our neighbor.

Because the Scriptures are God-breathed; and because they lead us to Christ; and because they renew our minds by teaching us, rebuking us, and correcting us—they are sufficient make us competent and fully equipped for every good work. 

Conclusion: Scribes trained for the kingdom of heaven

That’s why Jesus said: every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52). When you read Scripture the way the Good Lord intended, you are prepared to bring forth the Gospel from any passage—both the New Testament and the Old. And you are able to faithfully apply these ancient words to the work you are called to do as a Christian, and the challenges you face now. 

Our problem, beloved, is that too often we get this all out of order. We want to equip people for every good work—that is, we want to give life lessons and life hacks and feel-goods in the name of being “relevant”—without making sure we’ve made people wise for salvation through faith in Christ. If I’ve preached to you five simple ways to be a better parent, or three tips for creating a budget that honors God—but the Gospel is an afterthought I tack on at the end—I haven’t done my job.

Or we want to get to the doctrine, reproof, and correction without tying it closely to Christ; or salvation in Him; and how He dwells in us by His Holy Spirit to empower us. If I just tell you to do this and stop doing that, but I’m not feeding you Jesus consistently every … single … time—I’m not giving you the Gospel to comfort you and empower you—I have done nothing but give you an unfunded mandate. 

And so, beloved—when we read Scripture the way the Good Lord intended, we are wise for salvation, and thoroughly equipped to live the life Christ has called us to live. And two ways Scripture equips us is by giving us baptism and the Lord’s Supper. 

If today the Holy Spirit has brought faith in Christ to life in your heart, by the preaching of the Word, come now and put Him on in baptism. Now matter how lacking your good works have been, when you are baptized into Him, His perfect work will cover all of your sins. And believers—in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, He will feed your faith and strengthen your soul for every good work as you go out into another week.

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[1] Cited by Justin Taylor, “Spurgeon on Preaching Christ.” The Gospel Coalition, March 20, 2008.

[2] An excellent and thorough resource showing this and much more is G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, New Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004).