Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 3:10-17
Helpful thoughts:
- Suffering is part of being a Christian. Levels of suffering surely vary in different times and different cultures. But when a person lives for Jesus in this world, there will be some push back.
- When we remember that persecution comes from those who are deceived and being deceived, it helps us to faithfully continue on in what we have learned and believe.
- The Bible is God’s work, His word, His message to us.
- From the ESV Study Bible: “Equipped for every good work – In a broad sense this includes everything that God calls a believer to do. But, in a specific sense, this also supports the doctrine of the “sufficiency of Scripture,” that is, the idea that the truth contained in Scripture is sufficient in all matters pertaining to doctrine and moral behavior.”
Questions to consider:
- What role should the Bible have in the ministry of a pastor? In the life of any and every believer?
- What is the difference between the authority of God’s Word and the sufficiency of God’s Word? Why are both doctrines so important?
- How can these doctrines give us assurance and confidence to obey the Lord when we know persecution might be at hand? When the temptation to be quiet or to change our words comes in the face of rejection, how does the authority and the sufficiency of God’s Word spur us on to obedience?