2 Timothy 3:14-17

NASB	NLT	VOICE
14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,	14 But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.	14 So surely you ought to stick to what you know is certain. All you have learned comes from people you know and trust
15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.	15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.	15 because since childhood you have known the holy Scriptures, which enable you to be wise and lead to salvation through faith in Jesus the Anointed.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness;	16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.	16 All of Scripture is God-breathed; in its inspired voice, we hear useful teaching, rebuke, correction, instruction, and training for a life that is right.
17 so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.	17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.	17 so that God’s people may be up to the task ahead and have all they need to accomplish every good work.

Paul wants Timothy to continue to fight through and for the teachings that he receives. This continues the ancient Jewish tradition of passing down the teachings through the generations. Today, we are called and encouraged to hold tight to the faith we have in Christ. In the ancient Jewish tradition, children were taught the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) from a young age. They were taught how important scripture was for daily life. Scripture has the ability to give us wisdom and rescue us from our bondage to sin. The impact of it in our lives is not just intellectual, but also spiritual. It leads to an overall place of understanding how God is going to rescue us from the evil forces of the world. This rescue is found through Jesus – who was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies and the human embodiment of God’s plan. Having faith in Christ is how we can bring the Scriptures to our life and reflect the teachings and commands of God to the world.

Scripture is God-breathed. How this is understood by most theologians is that the Old and New Testament are the authoritative word of God. Scripture serves as a comprehensive guide for teaching and sharing God’s knowledge, will, and ways. Scripture has the power to convict us of our sins. It reveals areas of our life that are not aligned with God’s standards. Scripture guides believers back on the right path that God has created when we stray away from it. Scripture serves as a tool to train us in how to be righteous, giving us tools to live in a way that reflects God’s character.

In the New Testament context, “Man of God” includes everyone, particularly though in ministry who are representatives of God’s will. Completeness is not about being perfect. It’s about being fully developed with character and faith. We are equipped to handle life’s challenges and fulfills God’s purpose. Scripture shows us all the tools needed for spiritual growth and proper ministry.

Why would this passage be connected to the clobber passages? Because people understand scripture to be 100% truth as it is written. The truth is – there’s truth in it. However, it’s not for our world. What I mean by this is better said from Pastor Danny Lybarger of The Well church, “The Bible was for us, but it wasn’t written to us.” The historical context, the purpose for their community, and the implications of their culture are shown for them, but we are not in that time, in that period of history, or connected to their community. With that being said, we must look to scripture for the wisdom taught during that time and see how we can apply it to the world we are in today. The Bible is a source of wisdom and should not be used as a weapon.

It truly took some time for me to truly recognize this treatment of Scripture. There was a lot of times where I was teaching from the Bible without truly recognizing what these scripture were about, even while doing this blog. I had to learn what does it means to read scripture, understand the story, understand the lesson, and see how we can apply it to the world today. It’s learning how to understand the original Hebrew and Greek, making sure we understand how the wording is used and defined as, and how we can understand this in our world today. It’s a difficult and timely process, but it’s helpful for when we want to truly understand God’s teachings of love and compassion.

Especially when I learned about the Clobber Passages. If you’re unfamiliar with the terms, there are about six passages that are used that Christians tend to quote when they are condemning people of being homosexual. They tend to clobber those people with them. I was definitely never one to clobber someone with it, or really judge anyone with it, but I was one that believed that the words told were true. However, once I started learning how to study the Bible, I recognized there was more to it than the words written on the page. It’s about why these words were said and how we can live those words out. That will be the goal for this series. We will learn how to look deeper than the words penned and see what they truly mean and how we can apply them to the world.

Next part: The True Sin of Sodom || The Church Clobber || Part 2