I heard a podcaster say that 2 Timothy 3:15—“the Holy Scriptures… are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”—means that the entire Bible is designed to lead us to be born again through faith in Christ.
He based this conclusion on the fact that verses 16-17 say that “all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable…” In his view, all Scripture is in some sense evangelistic.
I wondered if the speaker really meant that every book in the Bible is profitable for leading someone to faith in Christ for everlasting life. The Song of Solomon is about marital love. There is nothing evangelistic about that book. Esther does not mention the Messiah or God. A person could not be born again by reading Esther. The same would be true of most books in the OT and some of the books in the NT (e.g., Matthew, Mark, Luke, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, Jude).
However, there is another reason that this understanding of 2 Tim 3:15 is flawed. In that verse, the word salvation does not refer to regeneration. It refers to deliverance from false teachers and their false teachings and practices.
Here is what I wrote in The Grace New Testament Commentary concerning 2 Tim 3:15:
The word salvation in v 15 is better translated deliverance. In context it concerns being successfully delivered through persecution. Timothy would be victorious in this life and its persecutions if he continued to live by faith in Christ.
Note that the Holy Scriptures are able to make Timothy wise for salvation. Paul doesn’t say he already was wise for salvation, but that he might become wise for salvation. This is an ongoing issue. Timothy needed the Word of God daily to handle persecution from the wicked. (Compare 4:18 where the verb form is used to refer to God delivering Paul from his persecutions. The only other use of the noun form is in 2:10, and there it refers to the deliverance of Israel from her enemies and ultimately to her glorification) (p. 1006).
Compare 2 Tim 3:15 with 1 Tim 4:16, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” Timothy could save himself from false teachers and their false teachings and practices if he took heed to himself and to the doctrine. He could also save the believers in Ephesus from those false teachings and practices by teaching sound doctrine and remaining an example for the flock.
The entire Bible can indeed help us to be saved from false teachers and their false teachings and practices. But not every book in the Bible answers the question of what we must do to have everlasting life.i
Keep grace in focus and you will not fall prey to false teachers and their false doctrines and practices.
i Some might object that 2 Tim 3:15 says that this salvation is “through faith in Christ.” Doesn’t that mean this is speaking of regeneration? No. While salvation from eternal condemnation is through faith in Christ (Eph 2:8-9), so is salvation from false teachers. The Christian life is lived through faith in Christ (Gal 2:20). Deliverance from false teachings is certainly through faith in Christ. If we take our eyes off Christ, we become easy prey for false teachers.
