2 Timothy 3:16
I thought I’d give you a few extra days to look for it. This verse outlines the four-step process of biblical change. This is how “progress in holiness” takes place. This is how we “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pt.3:18).
In 2 Timothy Paul is seeking to fortify Timothy’s courage and faith. Paul himself is on the way to glory and this, of course, gives Timothy cause for concern. The young minister had leaned heavily on the old apostle and would miss him greatly. What’s worse, the outlook on the horizon is not any brighter, and the battle for the church is heating up considerably. Younger Timothy feels some trepidation over the prospects. Paul senses this concern and writes to help his younger protégé buck up for the coming battles. One of his themes throughout this epistle is the sufficiency of the gospel and the Word of God for all Timothy has to face.
Paul reminded Timothy of the sacred writings he already knew in what we call the Old Testament. These Scriptures were used of God to make him “wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (3:15). [Note: the OT is about “salvation through faith in Christ {Messiah} Jesus.” It is not a catalog of examples and precepts for us to follow. More on that in another post.] Moreover, the apostle urges him to “continue in the things” he had learned from Paul. Paul lets him know several times in this epistle that the apostolic teaching of the gospel is as authoritative as the sacred writings of the OT. In other words, they are the NT of God’s Word. Both OT and NT were “breathed by God” to be authoritative and reliable communication to us of God’s saving work and will.
It is the same Word that was instrumental is Timothy’s faith in Christ that would be instrumental in both his work as a minister and his personal growth in grace as a believer. Christ our Prophet makes known to us by His Word and Spirit “what we must do to be saved” as well as “what we must do to be sanctified.” So, what must I do to be sanctified? Read 2 Timothy 3:16 and see what you can come up with before my next post, Lord willing.
John 17, 2 Corinthians 3, and Hebrews 4 I believe give us the most comprehensive revelation of the process of sanctification.
ReplyDeleteIn John 17 the Lord prays, "sanctify them in the truth, Your Word is truth" 2 Corinthians 3 tells us that when our hearts are turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away and we "behold and reflect and are being transformed unto the same image... even as from the Lord Spirit". And in Hebrews 4 we are told that both He who sanctifies and them that are being sanctified are all of One (one Source, the Father) therefore He is not ashamed to call them brothers.
As believers we have been regenerated, born of God (have His Life), become "partakers of the Divine Nature" (according to Peter) and it is this LIfe and nature of God in Christ communicated into us by the Spirit that we are sanctified, renewed, transformed, and conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God.
Sanctification is simply the process whereby the indwelling Christ becomes everything to us in our experience. Our holiness, our rightousness, our wisdom, our rich supply...
Pat Cooksey