v 16 – “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

  • All scripture
    • Paul here, speaking largely of the Tanakh, is speaking of that which is defined in the following text. Scripture is that which is inspired of God (not by God, as in, “in light of what I think God says, therefore I say this…” but “this is the Word of God, as given to us by God through His Holy Spirit”). That it is profitable for the believer and the unbeliever – the believer for training in righteousness, and the unbeliever for conviction of sin.
    • This can mean the whole of the old testament
      • The historical books which speak of God’s faithfulness despite human frailty and struggle to keep his law
      • The prophets who spoke directly to the people of God’s commands to repent lest the promises that he has given them (for destruction if they disobey) will come upon them all
      • The songs and spiritual writings that spoke of the worship of God and struggle that men had in light of the truth of God’s commands and message and the struggle that men have with trying to keep it on their own.
    • The facts of scripture point to the truth of God in how he defines himself, in who we are as creatures made by his hand for his purposes to his glory, and the promises of what is to come in the future through the words of his prophets and the promises found in his covenant words.
  • “inspired”
    • Lit “breathed into” – that God is the one causing these things to take place. He is the speaker who spoke through his prophets, the authors of the historical books, and his song writers who recorded their thoughts that were created for our instruction.
  • Profitable
    • Teaching
      • Instruction about that which pertains to God – that which covers the truthfulness of who God is and the facts about creation, sovereignty, the reasons for why things are as they are – the facts of what defines evil in the world, and how we can learn about purpose in this life.
    • Reproof
      • Reproof is the definition of that which is wrong and, specifically, that someone has violated that which is “right”. If truth is defined by scripture, then it is the standard by which we can evaluate everything else. If something is to be “wrong”, then it is that which scripture defines as wrong because it is in violation of that which scripture defines as “right”.
    • Correction
      • If reproof is the defining of something that’s wrong, correction is scripture speaking into the hearts of men to redirect their thoughts to their own failures so as to align them to that which is right.
    • Training in righteousness
      • The combination of teaching, reproof, and correction – when applied over time, result in “training in righteousness”. This “training” is the same as a soldier who “tests” his armor and his gear – to learn how to trust and rest in that trust of what he can and cannot do. Just as a football player will train to know the limits of what their pads can endure, and what the protection they are provided can accomplish for them so they become confident in their abilities in that armor. In the same way, a Christian, who is a student of scripture, learns to rest in the promises of Christ. We become, in a Romans 14 way, able to discern that which is and is not acceptable for those in Christ to endure – be it in the world, in our own lives, or in our interactions with others – both within the church and without. We also learn from the historical application of these things in the lives of those who have passed on before. This is the thrust of 1 Peter and Hebrews – that we, who are currently enduring hardship, can lean on the truthfulness of God as we endure these things, knowing that God is the one who sustains us, as he sustained those who came before and endured. All of this results in our training (testing applied) in righteousness.

v 17 – “so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

  • So that
    • The practical application of the results of vs 16 is…
  • the man of God
    • Those who are in Christ – the elect – who are empowered by the Holy Spirit to understand scripture, and who place ourselves under the tutelage of the text of scripture, knowing that it was written for us – first to those to whom it was originally intended to read it, but now to us who read it two millennia in the future, as we extract the truth of what was being said and apply it to our lives today.
  • adequate
    • Also translated as “prepared” or “complete” – That our training in the truth of God would properly prepare us for the struggles of this life.
  • equipped
    • God does not leave us to our own devices. He has provided scripture to us, and the Holy Spirit who lives with up, who teaches us the truth of God. Yes He will use our daily interactions in the world and with other Christians to provide object lessons to us, but the vast majority of our instruction comes from scripture alone. This equipping, given what we have learned from vs 16, is necessary for each Christian to not just review, but to bathe our very lives in. We should have such a firm grasp of that which God has provided to us that, if Christianity were outlawed tomorrow, we would have the word so indelibly catalogued in our hearts and minds that the loss of the text itself would mean very little to us because it would be the story and rest of our souls.
  • for every good work
    • Everything that a man does, in his Christian witness, should be inspired by, and in reaction to, the Word of God. We do not depend on our own lives, our own experience, or our own feelings (which can ebb and flow every day based on the whims of our sinful hearts), but on the steadfast and sure Word of God. Our lives, now redeemed, are meant to be performed to the purpose of the truth of God deployed – this is the definition of “good works”. Not works that grant us merit before the hearts and minds of men, nor those which grant us social approval, but only that which glorifies our God and King – the one who took our place in suffering so that we would use our lives to His glory.