Tag Archives: Bible

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Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

In last week’s passage, Paul reminds Timothy of his upbringing, and how he had been taught the Scriptures since childhood. In that passage, he states again the relationship between the Scriptures and salvation. From there, he state just how critical the words of God are for ministry, giving Timothy a brief explanation of their origin.

You can see this week’s passage in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

2 Timothy 3:16-17

In this passage, Paul gives what has become one of the most often quoted sections of Scripture concerning Scripture itself. The point Paul is making here is that Timothy should continue in the Word, just as he was raised in the Word. The main reason for this is that Scripture is of divine origin; it is from God himself!

Some understand Paul to be referring only to Old Testament Scripture here, since that is what he knew, and the New Testament wasn’t fully written yet (and much of it was written by Paul himself, anyway). However, in 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul refers to Luke’s gospel as Scripture, and in 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter includes Paul’s writing in the category of Scripture. So a strong argument can be made that this passage to Timothy includes both Old and New Testament writings.

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Book Review – Titus For You by Tim Chester

Titus For YouThe Pastoral Epistles, which include 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus, are by far some of the most practical letters in the New Testament when it come to ministry. In these short epistles, Paul writes to two young men who are leading churches: Timothy, in Ephesus, and Titus, in Crete.

These letters are full of incredible advice and spiritual insights for growth, both as a Christian and as a leader and minister. One of my personal goals over the past year and a half has been to study and memorize both of the letters to Timothy, and Titus is next on the list for this fall.

I think these are pretty important letters for us to examine in detail.

I’ve read several other books from The Good Book Company in this series, covering Galatians, Romans 1-7, and Judges. I’ve enjoyed each one of them immensely. So, when I saw an opportunity to read this one on Titus, I was pretty excited. At first, I wasn’t sure how it would compare with the others, since all of the ones I have read were written by Timothy Keller, and this one is by Tim Chester.

My fears were ungrounded. Chester hit a home run with this look at Titus. I feel like he did a great job dividing the letter up into sections to examine in detail. The chapters he writes here follow the natural breaks in the text itself, lending itself well to easy reading, or even to fit a preaching schedule.

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Book Review – 1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Translation

1 Enoch: A Hermeneia TranslationI’ve long had a fascination with the early chapters of Genesis, and the early earth history that they contain. Almost everything I’ve ever read centered around these chapters is centered upon the text themselves.

However, early Judaism has several traditions concerning those early centuries that are not found in the book of Genesis. Although these documents date much later than early Genesis, they point back to those times and contain some very interesting information. One such document is 1 Enoch.

This document plays an important role in early Judaism, and several scrolls containing this document were discovered at Qumran. Most of the document is dated to the last three or four centuries before Christ. Because of the distance from the time of Genesis, and the life of Enoch, their authorship is suspect enough to deny them entrance into the canon of the Old Testament.

However, the traditions and stories that they contain shed a lot of light on ancient Jewish thought on Genesis and the lives that formed the first few centuries of human history after creation.

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Book Review – 1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Commentary, Volume 1

1 Enoch: A Hermeneia CommentaryI recently received a translation of 1 Enoch, along with the first volume of a new commentary from Fortress Press. I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with the level of scholarship evident in these volumes. I’ve never had the opportunity to use anything from Fortress Press before this, and I found this commentary to be pretty exhaustive.

As in my review of the translation itself, I discovered a lot of information in this ancient Jewish text that shed some light on how Judaism has viewed and handled some of the early history from the book of Genesis. While I disagree in some of the interpretations that the book of 1 Enoch draws, the translation and commentary seem to be spot on.

Based on the life of Enoch, from the fifth chapter of Genesis, but written during the intertestemental period, 1 Enoch gives some good insights into Jewish thought and theology. And this is only the first volume of the commentary. From what I have on hand, and when you add the second volume into the mix, this creates a very exhaustive and well-researched study tool for the ancient document of 1 Enoch.

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Understanding The Purpose Of Man

Philosophers have wrestled for centuries with the question, “What is man?” It’s not a new question. And it’s a topic that has been on my mind a lot recently, with a new role in life as a lead minister, the size of my family growing, and the fact that I’ve reached the mid-point of my life.

What Is Man?

A few weeks ago, I took my son to Oklahoma and we went fossil hunting. We stayed with a friend of the family, and went with him to teach an astronomy lesson to a group of people that Friday night. My son and I were able to view several planets, various stars and star formations, a binary system, and even the Ring Nebula!

It was pretty cool. But my son made a comment in passing, that he felt small and insignificant because of the vast grandeur of the universe.

I know how he feels. It’s slightly overwhelming. Several years ago, I met a man who severely struggled with his faith because of the same reasons. He had watched one of Louie Giglio’s videos that examined God’s creation of the stars. This man’s question was, if God could create such a colossal universe and fill it with so many incredible things, then who was he to think that he held any significance at all in God’s mind?

It’s a common question. And it’s been asked for centuries.

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Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:14-15

Paul draws a sharp contrast between Timothy and the false teachers that have been rampant in Ephesus. With the beginning of this week’s passage, he emphatically states that Timothy must be different.

Take a look at it for yourself in 2 Timothy 3:14-15:

2 Timothy 3:14-15

Paul sees an obvious distinction between Timothy and the evil men and impostors listed in the previous verse. While they may spiral down in their unrighteousness, Timothy is to maintain a steady faithfulness to his ministry and to the gospel message.

Paul encourages Timothy to hold steadfast, and to continue in what he has learned. This certainly refers back to verse 10, where Paul reminds Timothy that he knows a significant amount about Paul’s teaching and lifestyle. But we must also remember that Timothy was raised by a godly mother and grandmother, both of whom taught him the Scriptures from a very early age (2 Timothy 1:5). Timothy’s education in the Scriptures is what led to the faith of his family, and ultimately to his own. These examples are the first reason he must hold onto his convictions.

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Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:12-13

Paul is well known for presenting a dichotomy in his writings, comparing two things that are opposites to highlight the differences. He does exactly that in this week’s passage.

You can see it for yourself in 2 Timothy 3:12-13:

2 Timothy 3:12-13

In the previous verses, Paul gave Timothy some very positive encouragement, giving some personal examples of his own sufferings. The point of this was to strengthen Timothy to face the trials and persecutions that would come.

What Paul was encouraging obliquely in those verses, he now states unequivocally. Persecution was not limited to people like Paul, who traveled the world, presenting the gospel message to all who would hear it. Rather, if anyone desires to live a godly life, he will be persecuted.