“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
God’s word is profitable for four things:
- Right teaching
- Rebuking
- Correcting
- Training in Righteousness
God’s word is profitable for training in righteousness.
What does this mean?
Great question.
Righteousness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, etc. are not normal to sinners.
When we become a Christ-follower we are to learn by training and practice how to take on these characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. God’s word shows us what we are to become and how to get there. But it takes training. It takes practice.
You see, when sinners try our righteousness, it will feel unfamiliar, awkward, uncomfortable because righteousness was never our norm. But we have to keep practicing it. We have to keep working at it. The more we try out righteousness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, etc. the more it will become a part of us.
Can you remember the first time you tried to ride a bike? ski? get up on water skis? roller skate?
Every time it felt unfamiliar, awkward, and uncomfortable. But the more we practice, the better we get. In fact, with each of these skills there comes a point when riding a bike, getting up on water skis becomes second nature to us.
So it is with the fruit of the Spirit. The more we practice, the better we get.
God’s word is indispensable to shaping the character of the Christ-follower. God’s word shows us who and what we are to become, and shows us through right teaching, rebuking, and correcting how we become who God saves us to be.
This is the life of the disciple. This is the life of the follower of Jesus Christ.
