ANNOUNCER: In 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul is speaking to Timothy about the Scriptures, bringing wisdom about salvation. But what kind of salvation is he talking about? Is he saying that every verse in Scripture is evangelistic? Well, let’s talk about it. Hello, friend. This is Grace in Focus. Glad you’re with us today, as we embark on another episode, This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Find us at faithalone.org. Time is getting short, but we want to keep inviting you to come to our national annual conference. If you’re already registered, we look forward to seeing you there. And if not, come to our website, get some information, and get signed up. It is May 18th through the 21st, and it’s going to be a great conference. Get all the information you need at faithalone.org/events. 

And now with today’s question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates. 

KEN: Bob, we have a, I don’t know if we would call it a question or what we would call it, but you heard a podcast. And it deals with a verse that is right next to a really, really, really famous verse. And we ‘re talking about a verse in the book of 2 Timothy, and I think for most of us, we would say the most well-known verse in 2 Timothy is 2 Timothy 3:16. 

BOB: Right. All Scripture. 

KEN: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” and then verse 17, “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” But you heard a podcast on verse 15, which is a verse right before this. 

BOB: Well, the podcast wasn’t on that in particular, but the podcast was talking about some people who say that the gospel of John is the only evangelistic book in the Bible. And of course, we say that, right? We say that John 20:30-31 clearly establishes that its purposes evangelistic, and there’s no other book in the Bible that says that. Well, the speaker in the podcast cited 2 Timothy 3:15 to say that’s not true, that God can use all of the Scripture to lead us to faith in Christ. Now, I don’t think he was trying to say you could pick a book like, let’s say Esther that doesn’t even mention the name of God, and that he would suggest using that. But I think his point in citing 2 Timothy 3:15 was to say that this verse proves there’s lots and lots of the 66 books in the Bible that have evangelistic passages in them. Now, I think he misunderstood what 2 Timothy 3:15 is talking about. 

KEN: Yeah, let’s read it. Here’s 3:15 and, 

BOB: Read just 3:15 and then maybe we’ll go all the way back to verse 10. First, let’s just hear it the way I heard it on the podcast. 

KEN: Here it is, verse 15. Paul’s talking to Timothy and he says, “And that from childhood, you,” Timothy, “have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.” And so, I mean, I didn’t hear the podcast, but I can hear basically what they were saying. Well, “wise for salvation,” all the Scriptures can make you wise for salvation, so we can use all of the Scriptures to save a person from the lake of fire, something like that. 

BOB: But now one thing that wasn’t discussed is why does he say you, this is one of the letters in the New Testament that’s written to an individual. Like we have 1 and 2 Timothy, we have Titus. We have Philemon. I guess 2 John is to a lady and to a church and 3 John I guess is Gaius. So you do have a number of letters that are written to individuals. When he says you wise to salvation, I think there should have been some explanation on why Timothy who’s already born again and leading the church in Ephesus needs to be wise to salvation. 

KEN: If he’s talking about salvation from the lake of fire. 

BOB: Right. Because Timothy already has everlasting life. If I wanted to use this first that way, I’d probably say, well even though this is a singular and it’s talking to you, I would say that he’s speaking generally here. 

KEN: Any reader. 

BOB: Anybody. But there’s even a bigger problem than he’s talking directly to Timothy, about Timothy needing ongoing salvation from something. The context brings out that this isn’t talking about salvation from eternal condemnation. And before we read 10 through 14— 

KEN: The immediate context of the verse. 

BOB: Which we should do, right, but on the podcast as we often do. I mean, we’ll quote a verse and we don’t necessarily go into the whole context. So I’m cutting some slack here. But as I wrote about in my book, The 10 Most Misunderstood Words, I have a chapter on what the words save and salvation mean. And I point out that in the New Testament 7 times out of 10, they refer to deliverance from death, deliverance from disease, deliverance from calamity in this life, deliverance from all sorts of issues in this life, or gaining eternal rewards, the salvation of the psuche, sometimes refers to saving your physical life, sometimes it’s saving your inner life. That’s 7 out of 10. It’s pretty rare.

Only three out of 10 that sozo and soteria refer to deliverance from eternal condemnation. That’d be a verse like Ephesians 2:8, “By grace you have been saved through faith.” We know that’s everlasting life because of verse five, “He made you alive, by grace you’ve been saved.” Or a verse like John 3:17 after He talks about “whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” He says, “For the Son of Man did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” 

KEN: And in English, we use it that way too. I mean, most of the time, even as Christians, when we use the word saved, most of the time we’re not talking about salvation from hell. 

BOB: We say his house was saved and the fire department arrived. 

KEN: Man says the stock market improved and that really saved me. It’s talking about my retirement or it’s talking about what I want to leave for my children or something like that, you know. 

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KEN: It shouldn’t surprise us then that in the Bible, in Greek, it’s the same way. And you said a few minutes ago, Paul’s talking to Timothy. And he’s talking about, Timothy needs to be wise for salvation. Well, Timothy’s already a believer. So he’s already saved from the lake of fire. So why would Paul tell him, hey, you need to be wise for salvation if he’s talking about the lake of fire? Which he’s not. 

BOB: I think deliverance would be a better translation here, but it’s almost Christianese. Are you saved? 

KEN: Are you saved, brother? 

BOB: You know, Earl Radmacher used to give a talk and he would say, say, I’ve been saved three times already today. Three times before I gave this talk, talking about different things like I didn’t get hit by this car when I was walking across the street. Right. Or I didn’t die when I ate the breakfast, right? I was saved from death. 

KEN: Or I was going to do something stupid that my wife was going to be bad about, but I didn’t. So I was saved from her wrath. 

BOB: Right. And he called those sanctification salvation. That’s what’s going on in 10 through 15. Read 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. 

KEN: Yeah. I mean, Paul is talking to Timothy. He goes, “you,” Timothy, verse 10, “have carefully followed my doctrine. My manner of life, my purpose, my faith, my long suffering, my love, my perseverance, my persecution.” And then he says in verse 12, “all who desire to live godly,” 

BOB: There’s the issue, “in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 

KEN: And so in this context, Paul is saying that the Scriptures teach us how to do this.

BOB Yeah, and notice verse 13, “But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” You mean even Timothy might be deceived?

KEN: And even we can be deceived. 

BOB: Ken, you would never be deceived, would you? 

KEN: There’s a lot of false teaching out there. 

BOB: If we ever get to the point where we think I couldn’t possibly be deceived, we’re in grave danger. Don’t you think? I certainly think I could be deceived. And that’s why I need to be in the word and notice what he says in the verse after that, verse 14. 

KEN: “But you must continue in the things which you have learned, knowing from whom you have learned them.” And so obviously this whole context is how we are to live, or how Timothy, but by application us, and even that famous verse which occurs next, all Scriptures is inspired for what? 

BOB: “It’s profitable.” He’s not talking about everlasting life here, although that’s true. But here he says it’s profitable for all these sanctification issues. 

KEN: “For reproof, for correction.” So if Timothy or you, 

BOB: “In training in righteousness.” 

KEN: If I’m doing something that I need to be rebuked, corrected about, the Scripture does that. Either me reading the Scripture for myself or you using the Scripture to point it out in my life. Ken, you’re doing this, and the Scripture says you shouldn’t be doing this. 

BOB: Yeah. When we come to church on Sunday, we’re often convicted by what we hear, right? And the preacher doesn’t need to know anything about me, just needs to teach the Bible. And if we teach the whole council of God’s Word, then we are going to be helping people on all the things that Paul is talking Timothy about. 

The same idea occurs in 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy is all about false teachers who have crept into churches and that are coming to the church in Ephesus that Timothy is overseeing. And he’s telling Timothy that he needs to be careful to prepare his people, and even himself, to not be duped. 

KEN: A very relevant verse in 1 Timothy and the verses that we’re talking about is 1 Timothy 4:16. 

BOB: Amen. Would you read that one?

KEN: Paul says to Timothy, and you can hear this in the verse that we’re talking about in 2 Timothy 3:15, where Paul says in 1 Timothy 4.16, “Take heed to yourself,” Timothy, watch out. And again, we’re talking about a believer. “And to the doctrine. continue in them.” 

BOB: And by the way, doctrine was also in the passage we were just reading. 

KEN: Exactly. “For in doing this,” and continuing in the teaching and continuing in the doctrine, what’s going to happen? “You will save both yourself and those who hear you.”

BOB: Woah, wait a minute—Timothy could save himself. 

KEN: That’s exactly right. 

BOB: Timothy could save the people in the church of Ephesus and he was already born again and they were already born again. But they needed to be saved from false teachers or delivered from false teachers and the false practices that the false teachers taught. 

KEN: And Scripture will do that for us. Isn’t that what 16 to 17 says? 

KEN: That’s exactly. And so to look at 2 Timothy 3:15 and say, Well, this is telling us that all Scripture can be used to lead the unbeliever to faith in Jesus. No, that’s not what this verse is talking about at all, so,

BOB: Yeah, if you’re listening to our podcast and you hear something that strikes you as strange, check it out. Read the context. Pray about it. Study the word. Talk with your pastor. Talk with elders at your church. Don’t just assume that because you hear something, it’s correct. And I believe in this podcast we’re saying things which are true. But we say an awful lot of stuff. And my conviction is that the listeners are going to be Bereans. And they’re going to search the Scriptures on what they hear. 

KEN: Because the Scriptures will make you wise for salvation. And that’s talking to believers. All right. And always remember keep grace in focus. 

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On our next episode: to have the gift of everlasting life, do we have to continuously believe? Come back and join us again. And until then, let’s keep grace in focus.