Queen's Road Cell

9. a. Paul lists 5 ways in which "God-breathed" Scripture is useful to us (3:15-16). Explain each in your own words. giving "wisdom that leads us to salvation" - this is to teach us truth about why we need to be saved and how were are to be saved. It leads us to faith in Christ to justify, sanctify and glorify us. teaching - to tell us positive spiritual truth/doctrine. It guides and educates us about the character and requirements of God. rebuking - to test or convict us of negative spiritual error (c.f. Heb 11:1 'conviction'). Scripture correcting - (found only here in the NT) to stop us from sin and to restore us to a right state. training in righteousness - to lead us to godly behaviour. This is also a summary statement of how we become Christlike. b. What is the ultimate goal of using Scripture for these purposes? (3:17) " that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." The phrase "man of God" has a technical me...

"and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (v.15). How does Scripture help us toward being saved?  Both OT and NT comprise 'special revelation'. They contain the truths about God's redemption that are used by the Holy Spirit to save an individual. "Special revelation is rooted in the redemptive plan of God, is addressed to man as sinner, can be properly understood and appropriated only by faith, and serves the purpose of securing the end for which man was created in spite of the disturbance wrought by sin.  In view of the eternal plan of redemption it should be said that this  special revelation did not come in as an after-thought, but was in the mind of God from the very beginning...It is a knowledge that is not rationally demonstrable but must be accepted by faith." (Berkhof) In contrast, 'general revelation' is a "revelation of t...

  7. On what has Timothy based his personal convictions? (3:15-17) " and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:15-17) Since he was a child, Timothy has based his personal convictions on the OT writings, which have prepared him for salvation in Christ Jesus. No one can be saved through the OT alone at this time. The Jews of the OT looked forward in faith to Christ’s work on the Cross, even though they would not have seen Him clearly. In contrast, the Jews of today have already rejected their true Messiah (Rom 9-11). There is the implication that it is an advantage to grow up in a Christian home (1 Cor 7:14, Mal 2:14-15) There is also the truth th...

We considered the idea of the authority of Scripture – by which we mean the right of Scripture to command us to obedience to its standards. Christians believe that Scripture faithfully conveys the words of God through the writings of men   (cf. 2 Ti 3:16, 2 Pe 1:21). As such, it is infallible, inerrant in the original writings and fully authoritative for all of our life.    But, I asked: is it not a circular argument to say, "The Bible is the Word of God" -> "So it is authoritative and infallible" -> "Based on that authority it claims to be the Word of God" -> "So the Bible is the Word of God"? There are a number of responses to this allegation: 1.        A circular argument is inevitable when one appeals to ultimate authority. If you say, “I believe only in the evidence of my senses from scientific experimentation as a measure of truth”, when asked “Why?” the only possible response would be, “Because I believe that ...