Will We Be Committed?
The church of every age is at risk. We’re at risk that we’ll stop insisting on the critical importance of this book. We’re at risk that we’ll slowly compromise, not only on what we believe Scripture says, but on what we believe Scripture is.

Notice in our text – Paul is speaking to one of the most faithful Christian ministers he knows – his close friend Timothy – and he’s pleading with him here: You, Timothy – continue in what you’ve learned. Hold on to the message I gave you. Hold on to the message that God himself has given you in the sacred writings of Scripture.

And this may seem strange to you! Paul, why are you so concerned about Timothy? He’s been doing great. He doesn’t need you jumping on his case like this.

But Paul knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s pleading with Timothy here because He knows that nobody is immune to the spiritual cancer called sin. If the anchor of our soul isn’t firmly grounded in the Holy Scriptures, we’ll be like a ship adrift at sea, vulnerable to shipwreck. We all need wake-up calls and reminders – we need to hear again what the Bible is, and why it’s so essential to the Christian life. So In our time tonight, I’d like to show from our text four truths about the Bible that should have a daily impact on how we live out our faith.
The Inspiration of Scripture
First, the Bible is Inspired by God. The Bible is Inspired.

When we say that the Bible is inspired by God, what we mean is that Scripture is the Word of God. The breath of God – the Spirit of God – has brought Scripture into being. Verse 16 declares, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.

Were the Scriptures written by human authors? Yes, of course. But 2 Peter 1 explains, “that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” In other words, the Spirit of God worked through the prophets and apostles who wrote the Scriptures to produce a text that was not just a human book, but rather a heavenly book. In these pages, we aren’t hearing a random collection of people’s opinions! We’re hearing the voice of God!

God didn’t have to do this for us! He didn’t have to reveal anything to us – he could have left us all in the dark, without a single spark or glimmer of supernatural insight – he had the right to do that! But God has shone a spotlight into our world, to chase away our ignorance. He has brought down his divine mysteries and vast wisdom from the heavenly places where we can now hold it in our hands.

Do you know anything of the excitement and gratitude that comes from hearing the voice of God in the Scriptures? Do you ever marvel – I, of all people, have access to God’s hidden wisdom! In my own home, in my own language, I can rightly understand myself, my purpose, the grievousness of my ungodliness, the greatness of my Creator in his grace and power! What a gift we have! What a God we have!
The Authority of Scripture
When we recognize that all Scripture is breathed out by God, it follows by necessity that Scripture carries the same authority that God does. This is the second truth about the Bible that shapes our daily life – the Bible is Authoritative.

Many of us have no problem acknowledging this idea in theory. We see the logical connection. Yes, if the Bible is God’s Word, it must have the same authority God has – great. But when it comes to real life, do you submit to God’s Word? Do you acknowledge that His Word has authority over you?

You’ll notice, here – Paul doesn’t need to give any explanation for why he expects Timothy to follow the teachings of these sacred writings. Paul simply insists that Timothy must continue in line with the gospel of Christ – Timothy must hold to the sacred writings – why? Because there’s no other voice higher or greater than God’s voice to tell us otherwise! Not your voice – not my voice – God’s voice is the voice we must listen to.

The Bible is not merely a book of good suggestions and nice ideas. The Supreme Ruler of the universe has spoken! He will hold us accountable for every word in this book! This is real stuff. He really expects us to pay attention to him. And you and I need to ask ourselves – will we take him seriously?
The Inerrancy of Scripture
But here’s a third truth about the Bible that shapes our life: the Bible we received from the prophets and apostles is also inerrant. It is without errors. When those holy men wrote out the Scriptures, they were overseen and guided by God’s own Spirit. And the Spirit of God isn’t dishonest. He isn’t prone to mistakes. God is without error, and so the words he breathed out for us are likewise without error.

This is why Paul can say, All Scripture is breathed out by God AND that All Scripture is also profitable – profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. If God inspired a Scripture that was contaminated with misinformation, could it really be said that all of it is profitable? If a bowl has even just one hole in the bottom, will it hold water? Of course not. All Scripture is profitable, because all Scripture is trustworthy and right in what it teaches.

In the Scriptures we have the word of a God who never lies. We have information that can’t be ignored. We have warnings that can’t be disregarded. We have promises that can’t be broken. In a world of suspicion and cynicism, there is only once voice that’s 100% safe and sure, and that’s the voice of God, speaking through the Bible.

Run to His Word when you’re tempted toward pride and self-confidence. Run to His Word when you feel lost, when you’re hurting, when you’re confused. It will not betray you. It will not fail you. It does not err.
The Sufficiency of Scripture
The Bible is Inspired, it’s Authoritative, it’s Inerrant, and fourth and finally, the Bible is sufficient. Our text specifically tells us that Scripture is sufficient for two things.

First, Scripture is Sufficient to Make Us Wise for Salvation

In the Bible, God reveals to us that we need to be saved. From what? From ourselves – from our own corrupt, sinful desires that lead to judgment and death. If we were to write the story of our own lives, most of us would cast ourselves as the good guy in the story. But the Bible reveals to us that we’ve got the story all wrong. We’re the villain. We’re the enemy. And for as long as we run from God and claim that his Word is a lie, we’re just making everything worse.

But God even while we were running – even when we were rejecting him, resisting him – God’s Son came to save us. He wrote himself into the storyline of Scripture so we could fall on our faces in worship and recognize Him as the hero instead of ourselves. Jesus came to wash us of our corruption. He came to overcome our villainy. He came to cancel our enmity, and to give us peace with God.

And he has given us a Scripture that bears witness to His Work. We have a Bible that is fully sufficient to make us wise for salvation. We have all we need – because we have the Word of God.

Scripture is Sufficient to Equip God’s People for Every Good Work

And the Bible isn’t just sufficient to lead us into salvation – it’s also by Scripture that the “man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Do you want to be mature and complete in your faith, equipped for every spiritual service – every good work? We see here in our text – the Scriptures are sufficient for these things.

The Scriptures sufficiently equip us to perform deeds of mercy. The Scriptures sufficiently equip us to subdue our selfish passions. The Scriptures sufficiently equip us to interpret Scripture. The Scriptures sufficiently equip us to persevere in the faith. The Scriptures sufficiently equip us for counseling those who are spiritually troubled, for evangelizing the lost, for planting new churches, for training up a new generation of godly children. As has been said before – the Word of God is sufficient for the work of God.

Sometimes you and I will be tempted to doubt that Scripture is sufficient. We’ll be tempted to think that the Bible isn’t actually enough – that we need Scripture PLUS SOMETHING ELSE to be the people God’s calling us to be. But we don’t need mystical experiences. We don’t need a seven-fold path. We don’t need personalized instructions from a spiritual voice or angel. We don’t need flashy church-growth strategies or modern marketing techniques to plant churches or to reach the lost. God, in his kindness and wisdom, has given us all we need. We just need the Bible.

I am not ashamed of the good news of Scripture – of the Christian gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes. The Bible is the very Word of God to us, and it is enough.