God’s Word

In II Timothy Paul wrote a letter to Timothy about God’s word. Paul, who was chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus was sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus. (II Timothy 1:1)

He writes in II Timothy 3:16-17; “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. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

With that in mind, we cannot only embrace the Scriptures we like and discard the ones that go against the grain of human nature because they do not agree with our worldly views. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And My ways are far beyond anything you can imagine.” (Isaiah 55:9)

God sent disciples of Christ to share the Good News and save as many people as possible. The Lord is not really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent. II Peter 3:9

We can trust the reliability of these Scriptural Prophets because they were sent by God. (2 Peter 1:19-21) It is by Peter’s own eyewitness testimony. “Above all, you must realize that no prophesy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” It does, however, warn us against false teachers who will drag us into sin because of their lies.

So, when we read hard truths and instructions on how we should live in the Bible we tend to think it does not apply to us now. We should ask for wisdom and discernment as we read the word. Ask God how to apply and live it in our daily lives.

As for the old testament, Malachi 1:2 notes in my study bible explains: The touchstone for God’s activity in all of history is the event of Christ- the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. These events in history form the Good News. I believe we do have to understand the time and place of the circumstances, but we can still take away some valuable lessons and learn more about God’s love for His people.