2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

As I’ve touched on recently, the Bible is the foundation for all true training of disciples. When Jesus was walking the earth, He Himself was the Word of God, (John 1) but He is not physically visible or audible at this point. Collecting the canon of Scripture was one of the most important tasks of the early Church, and I believe they fulfilled it beautifully. Today we have it in unprecedented abundance and convenience, but the question is whether we apply it in the ways Paul lists here. Different traditions and different individuals relate to it very differently. If it is indeed as Paul describes it here, then we need to take it very seriously and let it work fully in our hearts and minds. The devil works constantly to try to discredit the Bible in countless ways, so we are to be on our guard. It is true that the physical Bible we have today is the product of many, many generations of people hand-copying what they had available, but God was in charge of the process. One of the strongest counters to the “copying errors” objection to the Bible is the intact scroll of Isaiah that was found in a cave close to the Dead Sea around the time I was born. It was 2000 years old, but identical to what we have today! There are certainly difficulties in translation, both from a linguistic standpoint and a cultural standpoint, but we currently have an abundance of translations to compare. When it comes to the New Testament, there is absolutely no other document of comparable antiquity that has even a small fraction of the number of manuscripts currently surviving. The reason people put up so many objections to the Bible is that they don’t want any authority that is above their own judgement – which simply proves their pride and stupidity. The Bible is indeed everything Paul claims for it here.

As I am continuously reminded and grateful, I was raised in a home that was steeped in the Bible, with full linguistic and academic qualifications. I am most grateful that, with all that background, it was treated with deep faith, acknowledged and valued as everything Paul says here. My younger daughter, who is in music ministry in a non-denominational church, says that people from different denominational backgrounds treat the Bible very differently, with some valuing feelings over the recorded Word. She says that the faith of such people tends to be very shallow, and almost simple to be abandoned. I don’t want to be that way, and I don’t want to raise believers in this church to be that way. I want every Christian to have a very personal relationship with their Creator and Savior by His Spirit, and I want them to confirm and base that relationship on the Bible. There are plenty of lying spirits out there, and our emotions are hardly reliable. I strive to encourage everyone in this church to take in the Word regularly and digest it fully, applying it in every area of their life, so that God’s plans may be fulfilled for their blessing and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder of the heritage You have given me. May I be a good steward of it in every respect. Thank You for the believer who went through major surgery this week, and who is resting in Your peace because she knows that Your plans for her are good. May all the believers in this body grow as she is growing, so that together we may be all that You want us to be, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!