2Ti 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, (17) so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Paul had just noted that the Scriptures are able to make one wise with regard to salvation, a lesson Timothy had learned long before. But now Paul wanted to reemphasize to Timothy the crucial role of God’s inscripturated revelation in his present ministry. Thus Paul reminded Timothy that all Scripture is God-breathed (“inspired”), that is, God’s words were given through men superintended by the Holy Spirit so that their writings are without error. This fact was virtually taken for granted by the Jews. Then Paul asserted the “usefulness” of the Word. For each aspect of Timothy’s ministry, whatever it might be – teaching (instructing believers in God’s truths), rebuking those in sin, correcting those in error, and training in righteousness (guiding new believers in God’s ways) – for all of these and more the written Word of God is profitable. With it the man of God (one who must provide spiritual leadership to others) is artios – “complete, capable, proficient in the sense of being able to meet all demands.” To drive home his point still more emphatically Paul added equipped for every good work. Paul placed heavy burdens of ministry on his young disciple in this letter, but he did not do so irresponsibly. He was confident of Timothy’s commitment to and dependence on the Scriptures, and he was even more confident of God’s ability to supply all Timothy’s needs through the Word.
