Articles

2 Timothy / Chapter 3 / V16-17

 ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ ~2Ti 3:16-17

There was a ruler who came to Jesus in the night to enquire about eternal life. Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” The ruler was puzzled and asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!”

A mystery which the ruler was unable to comprehend, all Christians today have personally experienced! When the Lord spoke about being “born again,” He was not referring to a person being born again from his mother’s womb, because it is simply impossible. What the Lord meant was this, when we receive salvation, we will also inherit the Holy Spirit - the holy and perfect life of God. The life that God newly bestows upon us is like the birth of a new born. From that moment onwards, we have become the spiritual children of God and we call upon God as our Heavenly Father. The Lord Jesus wanted the ruler to understand this: unless the ruler embraced this new life, he could not enter the kingdom of God.

After we are born again, the next step we should take is to pursue spiritual growth. Just like a new born baby craves for milk, we ought to crave for pure spiritual milk – the word of God – the bible. The bible was written by over forty writers with different backgrounds and social statuses, of which includes an academically acclaimed king and also an uneducated fisherman. From the quoted text of discussion, we know that the ultimate author of the bible is actually one person – God – who works behind the scene inspiring all the bible writers. Since the creation of this world, throughout different generations God has chosen suitable people to write and complete the bible. Therefore, the bible we have today is not written according to the will of man but God, its teachings are spiritual and reveal the infinite wisdom of God. 

Just as a mother’s milk provides the necessary sustenance for a new born baby to grow healthily, similarly, the bible contains all the spiritual food necessary for our new spiritual life to grow. God’s new life in us can only grow by feeding on spiritual food provided by God Himself, which are the teachings in the bible. There are no other sources of spiritual food to be found outside the bible. We should never allow our ears to itch, to yearn and lust after worldly wisdom and philosophies. For the wisdom of this world is not only unbeneficial for the believers, on the contrary it harms our spiritual health. Believers who fall into this trap will inevitably end up with stunted or perverted growth.

The teachings in the bible can be divided into two major categories: things that we ought to do, and things that we are not supposed to do. “Teaching”, “rebuking” and “correcting” are scriptures used to warn us against the things that we are not supposed to do – things that are wrong and regarded as sins in the sight of God. Some of them are our old sinful habits before we receive the Lord, and others we pick up as we continue to live in this sinful world. 

The bible contains clear and specific guidelines on how to deal with different kinds of sins, including those that the bible did not mention. For example, gambling is not found in the bible. However, gambling originates from the greed of man – when a person wants to make a quick fortune with very little money and effort. Against greed the bible teaches believers not to pursue after things that are temporal which have no eternal value, such as the wealth of this world. Instead, we should pursue after the things that last forever such as the treasures in heaven. 

“Training in righteousness” is referring to scriptures on things we ought to do - things that are righteous and what God sees as good. Doing things such as loving your neighbour as yourself, sacrificing your life for a friend, helping someone in need, are examples of righteous deeds. The teachings found in the bible are good and beneficial for us; we will not find any teachings that are wrong or less than perfect in the bible. Therefore, we can follow them whole-heartedly without reservations.

Let us then persist in the study of God’s word, to be a hearer and doer of His word, and we shall grow to become a mature Christian – one who has the spiritual discernment of what God wants us to do and what not to do. We will gain the wisdom to deal with all problems and trials in life according to the will of God.

One who does not study the word of God, will never grow up but will remain a spiritual baby. He could be in the faith for many years and yet remains immature and naive, he continues to require constant care from other brothers and sisters in the Lord. He is like an infant incapable of taking care of himself and of no use in the kingdom of God. They end up creating conflicts and problems in the church and becoming a burden and stumbling block to other Christians.   

A child who feeds on his mother’s milk will grow up looking like his parents. What about Christians who feed on spiritual milk, who will they resemble as they grow? It is none other than the most glorious Lord Jesus Christ the King of Heaven! As a Christian matures spiritually, he manifests the full attributes of Christ in his life – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and holiness. But if we find ourselves lacking in all these things even after many years of pursuing the Lord, then perhaps we have been feeding on carnal milk and not spiritual milk all this while.