What Shapes Your Worldview?

2 Timothy Chapter 3 

Scripture: 

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 Tim. 3:16-17 NIV) 

Observation: 

This little bit of scripture, tiny as it is, should be one of the first things all Christians confront upon their conversion to the faith.  How we perceive this statement of Paul's, the veracity, acceptance, and acting upon it - shapes our world view.  Because if we believe this statement, then everything else in our paradigm MUST shift.  Why do I say that?  Because HE is God and until we stumble over this truth, we live out the belief that we are in charge - regardless of what we may say. 

There is a logic I want to connect in there: today's post modern world makes the assumption that truth isn't absolute, rather it's defined by the individual, and that the author's intent is arbitrary; it only matters what we choose to take from it. 

This needs to be clear and it's one of two reasons WHY new Christians should be brought here upon conversion:  The written word of God is truth.   

Truth is not subjective, open to our own spin or understanding of it - rather our understanding will shift and mature over time to conform to IT.  The word of God is true, because He is true.  We are not.  In fact, we will spend the rest of our natural lives picking out the lies we were steeped in and constantly submitting our wrong selves to His righteousness.   

Here's the other reason new Christians should be brought here: After you have confronted the authority of the scriptures you have to square with the authors.  It's fact that he used imperfect people to reveal His truth, and inspired them to write that truth, even as they also had to learn over time to obey it as well. (Rom. 7 is a good example of what I am talking about)  Can you trust that a perfect God can use imperfect people to perform His work even as they must battle their own sinful natures to conform to it too? 

It's one of the many reasons He sent his Son, so that he could testify to the truth (John 18:37).  Written scripture and prophesy confirmed the validity of who Jesus was.  The promises God made to human kind were recorded in scripture. Jesus constantly pointed the teachers of the law back to what was written in those promises so that he could keep his word.  And after he ascended into heaven, he sent the Spirit of Truth to help us know the difference between the truth and the lie, because the Spirit only speaks what he hears (John 16:13) - He is the Word that makes us true. 

Application: 

Are you studying what the word says?  It's our first avenue to understanding the heart of God.  Do you actively obey and use the scripture for it's intended purposes as stated in the scripture above?  Knowing scripture  isn't what gets you into heaven; as the verse states, it equips you for the work.  So the implied final question is... are you doing the work? 

Prayer: 

Daddy, help us be true like you are.  Help us understand the scripture so that we can know you better and be useful in the work.  Amen.