All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness.
Bible Rank: 9
Some people say they don't like the Old Testament. "It is bloody and messy." And it is ... but mainly because humans are bloody and messy!
We lie, cheat, steal, murder, and war. Why would a good God want to have anything to do with us rebellious souls?
Why? Because of love.
When the Apostle wrote today's verse (approximately 30 years after Jesus' death), Scripture was only the Old Testament. What was God-breathed, according to Paul, was the part that many of us don't like!
Jesus surely viewed the Old Testament this way too. He constantly cited the Law. He continually talked about himself and Israel in the lineage of Abraham, Moses, and David. He repeatedly revealed how he personally fulfilled the prophecies. (For example, I would have loved to have been there on the road to Emmaus – Luke 24 – when he showed his disciples where he himself been throughout the pages of Scripture.) To reject the Old Testament, therefore, is to reject Jesus!
We surely don't have to like the blood and mess. But it's there -- in part -- to help us recognize our need for a Savior! On our own we're bloody and messy. (Read the headlines.) Therefore, God doesn’t just breathe life through his Holy Spirit, He breathes out his Word.
And it is life!
Why? Because it connects us to the Savior! The Old Testament reveals our need for a Savior. The New Testament introduces us to this Savior. And it’s useful for all kinds of things in life – for teaching, for training, for encouraging and inspiring. Scripture is part of how God breathes life into your life!
In Christ's Love,
a guy who believes
that if God is big enough
to create, then he's
big enough to communicate
(to speak creation into being
and to breathe his word to life)
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