Sunday Devotional: 2 Timothy 3:16a

Every Scripture is God-breathed…

Friday’s discussion of writers who inspire me led me to consider this passage as a good one for Sunday devotion. Over the next few weeks, I want to break apart 2 Timothy 3:16-17, dealing with the passage in bite-sized chunks each week, so we can savor every word, and really think about what’s being said.

First, some context. Paul is in prison, and he’s writing to the young Presbyter (Elder) Timothy, encouraging him to be firm in his faith, and to faithfully pass on the teaching that had been entrusted to him. Timothy and his co-laborers need to handle the word of truth accurately (2:15), and beware of false teachers who will come to deceive the unwary (3:1-13). The surest protection against such men for Timothy and the leadership in his church is to continue in the truths from the Scriptures that he had heard from childhood (3:14-15).

Paul reminds Timothy that these “sacred writings” that can make him wise to salvation are “God-breathed,” and goes on to tell him how he might use these God-breathed writings in his life and the life of the church. For today, though, we are concerned with the first few words of this verse.

“Every Scripture”: the Greek is pasa graphê. Some translations prefer to say “all Scripture,” but since the phrase is actually singular, I prefer “every Scripture.” Graphê refers to anything written, not necessarily a sacred book, however, in the New Testament it often refers to those books that were considered Scripture and authoritative. The context also indicates that the books Paul refers to are those “sacred writings” of the previous verse. For Paul and his readers, at this point, Scripture would have been the Old Testament. However, there is evidence within the New Testament that Paul’s own writing was gaining a similar status (see 2 Peter 3:15-16). For us, certainly, “every Scripture” would include both Testaments. For a discussion on the history and scope of the New Testament canon, see James White’s book Scripture Alone.

“God-breathed”: the Greek word here is theopneustos. This is commonly translated “inspired by God.” However, “inspire” implies something that is breathed in, whereas the implication of the word is more along the lines of something that is breathed out by God. In other words, Scripture is not the recipient of God’s seal of approval; it comes with God’s seal of approval because it came from God. It was God whose breath of wisdom and insight on the minds of its writers caused them to write with authority and accuracy exactly what God wanted them to say, but preserving each writer’s voice, and using the life experiences He gave them to author these works in the way He wanted.

In this way, the Bible is a work of human hands, but human hands that had been trained under God’s Providence, and moved by His Spirit to write the books and letters He wanted them to compose. As such, every one of those works of Scripture is a work of God’s breath.

As we read the Bible, how aware are we of it as being given to us from God himself? Do we treat it casually, as the work of men? Or do we look at it as a unique work from the Creator of all things, the Author of our salvation? Some Bible scholars tell us we shouldn’t take this view because we can never assess what it says objectively. However, God doesn’t give us that option. He says Himself that Scripture is God-breathed. It cannot be assessed objectively: you either believe that it is and treat it accordingly, or you don’t, and treat it accordingly. There is no middle ground.