Wednesday, August 8: 2Timothy 4 - the battle for truth.

As I read the opening verse, I immediately heard it in the context of the life I live. Note my addition in parenthesis and I believe my readers will understand.

Verses 1-4: In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (political correctness and cultural norms).

The primary defense the church has in the battle for truth is God’s Word. What does the Bible say?  What is its plain meaning? If every Word is from God and is inspired (God breathed, verse 3:16), then it carries truth. Unfortunately, from the beginning, people have distorted its meaning to suit their desires. Timothy was warned of this and it still happens to this day.

My best defense against people distorting God’s Word is to sit with God’s Word myself and to allow it to speak. Here are a few keys I use to increase my hearing and attention to God’s Word….

1. As best as I am able, I need to turn off my presuppositions and listen to what it actually says. Calvin once astutely commented, "Moses wrote in a popular style, which without instruction, all ordinary persons endued with common sense are liable to understand."
2. Another key is to allow the whole of Scripture to speak on a subject. There are 66 books spanning 2⁺ millenia, listen to what the whole says. Often one verse in not the sum total of what God has said on a matter. Listen to the whole.
3. Another key is that I try to understand what it meant to the first hearers before I bring it into my life and times.
4. I read the verses I am studying in a couple of translations. Different translators use differing approaches on how they take words from one language and era and translate them into another. I have a number of translations in my study beyond the NIV. The New American Standard and the New Revised Standard are excellent more literal translations built on the best scholarship. The English Standard Version, like the NIV, is another fine translation for the modern reader. I sometimes consult more ‘free-less’ literal translations, like the Message or a simple English version called the International Children’s Version. When it comes to Psalms, I still love the beauty of the King James. Using multiple translations help me hear the text well.

These are four things I do to help me hear what God intended to say when He authored the Bible.

 

Happy Reading… and remember, the Bible is our best defense against error and the best tool we have for knowing what God wants us to know for life and faith and living.

Lord, thank You for Your Word, for giving me this gift. Help me to treasure it all my life long and so keep my life and thinking in line with Your Will and Way. Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.