| Christian Life and Doctrine | July 1977 |
The Profitable Word
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” —II Timothy 3:16,17
THE Diaglott translation of our text reads, “all scripture, divinely inspired.” Such is the Old Testament part of the Bible to which our Lord referred, saying, “Thy Word is truth”; and of which the Apostle Peter spoke, saying, “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Such also are the messages of Jesus and the apostles as we have them in the New Testament.—John 17:17; II Peter 1:21
It is not necessary to prove to God’s people that these records are the Word of God. We have the witness in ourselves that this is so. And as the Apostle Paul says, quoting from Moses, “The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart.” (Rom. 10:8; Deut. 30:14) We realize the power of the truth in our hearts; that it is “the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth.”—Rom. 1:16
The Indestructible Word
The Bible is the oldest Book in existence. It has outlived the storms of the last two thousand years. Concerted efforts have been made to do away with it. In some countries for centuries it was a crime to possess a copy; yet today the world is filled with copies of this Book. In A.D. 1800 there were between four and six million Bibles in circulation in thirty languages. Eighty years later, in A.D. 1880, there were roughly 165 million in 250 languages. Since then, millions every year have gone into the hands of the people, and the Book has been translated into more than five hundred different languages. It is therefore quite evident that its divine Author has also been its divine Preserver.
Most people are ready to admit that there is an all-wise Creator back of all things, there being such wisdom and design in all we see around us, in the realm of earth and in the heavens. The Bible reveals that there is equal wisdom and design in the moral and spiritual realm; that God has an equally wise purpose in connection with the moral government of the world; and that in his Word he has satisfied our reason and our desire to know something of himself and his plan—something of whence we came, why we are here, and whither we go. The Bible tells of man’s original perfection, of his fall into sin and the penalty of death that passed upon all men, of the coming of the Redeemer, of the call of the church, and of the restitution of all things, to follow the selection of this “firstfruits” unto God of his creatures.—Jas. 1:18; Rev. 14:4
Just as there are many wonders in nature that are not seen by the natural eye unaided but need the telescope or the microscope for their discernment, so it is with the Word of God and the things of the spiritual realm with which it deals. Many of these beauties are not discerned by the eye of the natural man but need the illuminating influence of the Holy Spirit to see them and to be blessed by them. (John 16:13; I Cor. 2:9,10,14) Concerning the natural Israelites Paul said (paraphrasing his words): “When the majority hear the Word of God read, there is a veil upon the heart, so that its real significance in not discerned. But when the heart turns to the Lord in full consecration, the veil is taken away and one sees out of obscurity and out of darkness, and beholds as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.”—II Cor. 3:14-18
Now, the Apostle Paul says, the Scriptures are not only divinely inspired, but they are profitable. They are our daily bread, the light that shows us the path of life, the revelation that tells us about our Father in heaven and our Redeemer, “whom having not seen, ye love.” (I Pet. 1:8) If obedient to their teachings we shall be sanctified thereby and thus will be prepared for an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (Acts 20:32) Hence the Word of God is indeed profitable, yea, indispensable—an “unspeakable gift” to the children of God from their Heavenly Father.—II Cor. 9:15
Profitable in Four Ways
In his message to Timothy, Paul speaks of the profitableness of the Word of God under four heads: doctrine, reproof (“proof,” Diaglott), correction, and instruction in righteousness. Doctrine means teaching—especially the fundamental truths of the divine plan. “If any man will do his [God’s] will, he shall know of the doctrine.” (John 7:17) That doctrine is important is shown by the following scriptures: I Timothy 4:16; 6:3; II Timothy 3:10; 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1,7; II John 9. As bones are to the human body, giving it form and stability, so doctrine is to the organization of the church, the body of Christ. Without doctrine we would be spiritual counterparts of some boneless creatures that float about in the ocean.
“Proof”
The term “proof,” (as shown in the Diaglott interlinear translation, not “reproof” as in the King James version), is the thought of the apostle. While journeying through the wilderness of “this present evil world” the Lord’s people need a sure, infallible guide or standard, and especially is this necessary today in view of the babel of conflicting tongues pervading the religious world. (Gal. 1:4) If we are told that a piece of cloth is eighteen inches wide, we can be sure of it only by using a measuring rod. Or if a wall is said to be perpendicular, our eye is not accurate enough to be certain that this is true, so we need to prove it by using a plumb line. In like manner, the divine measuring rod, the Bible, has been given us to measure or prove the correctness or falsity of whatever may be presented to us as truth. By it we can measure the temple of God and all that appertains thereto.—Rev. 11:1
As the Word of God deals with many things beyond the limits of man’s present experience as well as with things on the human plane with which few are familiar, our own judgment is inadequate as a guide in connection with these matters. We may come to one conclusion concerning an item of truth, but someone else may come to an exactly opposite conclusion. Therefore the Lord has provided an infallible guide for his children in his Word. By it we may “try the spirits”—the teachings that may be presented to us—searching the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are so. (I John 4:1) This was the course followed by the Bereans of old. (Acts 17:10,11) So far from finding fault with such an attitude, Paul always approved it. Of all the reformers God has raised up for the blessing of his people, surely none exorted his hearers to prove all things by the infallible Word more than that faithful and wise servant who departed from us within this century, but from whose ministry we are still deriving untold benefits. By thus realizing that the Word of God is profitable for proof, and using it to that end, our faith stands, not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.—I Cor. 2:5
Correction
The Word of God is profitable for correction. All need correction both as to faith and conduct. We therefore come to the Word for the correction of our faith; for our understanding of the divine purposes to be amplified; for our conduct, manners, and beliefs all to be ordered by his Word. It is possible for one to get into a condition where he will not receive correction but will take offense when it is kindly given. This is a dangerous condition. The scribes and Pharisees would not receive the correction given by Jesus and hence greatly increased their responsibility before God. Such an attitude indicates pride in the heart. The Lord cannot deal with us unless we are willing to receive correction, and we should use his Word to this end. Paul suggests that since we have received correction from our natural fathers, how much more willing should we be to be corrected by our Heavenly Father! (Heb. 12:5-11) “If we would judge ourselves [in the light of the Word], we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (I Cor. 11:31,32) “He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.”—Prov. 10:17; 15:31,32; 29:1; Ps. 141:5
Instruction in Righteousness
To what righteousness does the apostle refer? Some go about to establish their own righteousness. However, the Word of God is profitable to instruct us that this is not the kind of righteousness that has divine approval. When we speak of Christ’s righteousness we refer to the merit of his sacrifice imputed to us by faith, enabling us to be counted righteous, justified in the sight of God. Even this does not appear to be the righteousness to which the apostle makes reference.
Here Paul is speaking of the man of God whom he desires to be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Such are already enjoying the benefits of Christ’s righteousness. We would understand the reference to be to the great principles of God’s law and his divine government, the great principles that govern God’s dealings, the perfections of the divine character that we desire to copy.
The Word of God is represented as a mirror: we behold in this mirror the glory of the Lord—his wisdom, justice, love, and power, as they are revealed in the great plan of salvation; and as we seek to copy these glorious perfections, we are transformed into the same image, becoming in character more like our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus.
Character—Express Image
The word “character” has been brought into the English language from the Greek. The Greek word is charakter. At first it was the name of the sculptor’s tool; later the finished work of the sculptor came to be called a charakter, that is, the ideal toward which he had been working. The word is used but once in the New Testament; namely, in Hebrews 3:3, where it is translated “express image,” meaning an exact impress, and applies to our Lord since his resurrection, explaining that he is now the express image of the Father’s person. We are called to be “like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (I John 3:2) What a hope has been set before us! How profitable and all-important is the Word of God, that we might be instructed in righteousness—in the great principles that compose the divine character.
Thoroughly Furnished
With the present imperfect educational facilities, how many go out into the world who are not thoroughly furnished for a calling of life! How many enter the ministry of the nominal church, not merely poorly equipped for their work, but quite ignorant of the message they should preach as the ministers of Christ!
Before beginning the great work of the kingdom, the church is being thoroughly fitted and prepared for her part in that gracious work of blessing and restoring mankind. During the present life, the least the Lord’s servants can do is to seek to be thoroughly furnished for our work now and in the future. (I Cor. 4:1,2) We are exhorted to be “perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” The Word of God needs to be considered carefully in order to ascertain the kind of good works required of us. If we do this, we find that our present work is not one of reforming or converting the world, but, to use the words of another, “the present mission of the church is the perfection of the saints for the future work of service, to develop in herself every grace, to be God’s witness to the world, and to prepare to be kings and priests in the next age.”
God has provided his Word that we might be thoroughly furnished with all the information we need—light, guidance, strength, encouragement. Let us never allow anything to obscure or cause us to overlook the value and profitableness of the Word of God, given by inspiration of God, that “the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”