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2 Timothy 3:16-17
Scripture's Authority
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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Why it is worth knowing
- “God-breathed” (theopneustos): Scripture originates from God himself
- The Bible is not just spiritually inspiring: it is practically profitable
- Four purposes: teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness
- The goal is completeness and equipping: full readiness for God’s work
Where it sits: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Hear the passage it sits in, sung word for word, on BibleDo's 2 Timothy page.
Background
Paul wrote 2 Timothy from prison, facing execution, to his young protégé Timothy who was leading the church in Ephesus. The letter is Paul’s final preserved letter: a charge to hold fast to the gospel. His confidence in Scripture’s divine origin was not abstract theology; it was the foundation on which Timothy could stand when Paul was gone. The word “God-breathed” pictures Scripture as having God’s own breath in it: alive with divine authority.