# 10 - The 8 - 3:16 's

Listening:
The Word of God and Prayer

10. 2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness.
 —2 Timothy 3:16

The Bible is chock-full of verses attesting to its inspiration, authority, infallibility, and usefulness. Perhaps the best New Testament texts on this subject are 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:21. The latter says, in effect, that no passage in the Bible came about by a prophet’s own origination, but the writers of Scripture spoke as they were moved (borne along) by the Holy Spirit. The former verse tells us that all Scripture is inspired (breathed out) by God and therefore of immense usefulness in our lives.

Notice the chapter/verse location 2 Timothy 3:16. There’s a remarkable correspondence between John 3:16 and 2 Timothy 3:16. The two verses have more in common than their “street address” of 316.

• John 3:16 talks about the Savior, and 2 Timothy 3:16 talks about the Scriptures. These two entities comprise the two greatest gifts ever bestowed on humanity.
• Both are called “The Word.”
• One is the living Word, and the other is the written Word.
• Both are utterly unique. Jesus is like no other person the world has ever seen, and the Bible is like no other book the world has ever read.
• Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. He came down from heaven yet made His appearance through the instrumentality of a human being who was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are both fully human and fully divine. They came down from heaven yet were given through the instrumentality of human beings who were borne along by the Holy Spirit.
• Just as the Savior was without sin, the Scriptures are without error.
• Just as the Savior has a dual nature, the Scriptures have a double nature.
• The Savior is the God-Man, and the Scriptures are from both God and man.
• The Savior came to save us, and the Scriptures were given to tell us how to be saved.
• The Bible is Jesus in print, and Jesus is the personification and fulfillment of the Scriptures. And so these 3:16s are twin verses about the Savior and the Scriptures.

The Great “3:16s” of the New Testament

• Luke 3:16—The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
• 1 Corinthians 3:16—The Holy Spirit’s Indwelling
• Ephesians 3:16—The Holy Spirit’s Strengthening
• Colossians 3:16—The Imbedded Word
• 2 Thessalonians 3:16—The All-Encompassing Peace of God
• 1 Timothy 3:16—The Uniqueness of Christ
• 1 John 3:16—The Power of Love
• Revelation 3:16—The Danger of Lukewarm Love

Inspiration... is the determining influence exercised by the Holy Spirit on the writers of the Old and New Testament in order that they might proclaim and set down in an exact and authentic way the message as received from God. —René Pache