Do you want to be spiritually mature? Then you must make diligent use of the means God has provided for your growth. Today, R.C. Sproul identifies the study of Scripture as the most essential means toward our maturity in Christ. Request Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow, R.C. Sproul’s companion book and digital teaching series, with your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3938/donate Meet Today’s Teacher: R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God’s Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. Meet the Host: Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
Chapter 1: Why is the Bible considered God's Word?
The supreme source for the content of Scripture is not some person who's spinning out yarns and myths from his own perspective, but the claim that the apostle is making here, the apostolic claim, is that the source of Scripture is God Himself, that God breathes it out.
It's not uncommon to hear Christians say that they are waiting for that still, small voice of God as they're looking for direction and guidance in life. But God has spoken, and He has spoken loudly and clearly in His Word. Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and welcome to the Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind. As Christians, we should want to grow in the grace and knowledge of God.
But how do we do that? Well, on Saturdays, you'll be hearing messages from R.C. Sproul's series, Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow, where he will lay out God's design for Christian growth and maturity.
you can jump ahead and request digital access to the entire series, plus the companion book also titled Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow when you give a donation of any amount before midnight tonight at renewingyourmind.org. One of the ways God grows us is through His Word. Have you read the Bible all the way through?
Perhaps, like me, when you first read it, you got stuck in Leviticus or Numbers. Well, today, R.C. Sproul will lay out an effective plan for reading the Bible to help us grow in our Bible study. Here's Dr. Sproul.
Today we're going to begin with the first of these five means of grace, and that is to do with how we study the Bible. And to start, I want to look first of all at what the Bible says about the importance of Bible study. So I'll direct your attention initially to Paul's second letter to Timothy. to the third chapter.
Now, it's important for us to understand the context in which the apostle writes the admonition that we're going to read in a few moments, that Paul is at the very end of his life. He stands accused by the Roman government. He is under a death sentence, and he is awaiting his imminent execution. And so, his final advice to his disciple Timothy is contained in this second letter to him.
And so, as we read it, we observe that what Paul is instructing his disciple Timothy to do, by extension, has enormous relevance for us. Now, he says in chapter 3 in verse 12, "'Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.'" But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
Now, that's the immediate context in which he gives the following exhortation. He's talking about how facing persecution is the lot of every Christian and the Christian community. And Paul, in the midst of this violent persecution under the emperor Nero, is saying to Timothy, hey, things are going to get worse.
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Chapter 2: How can Christians grow in knowledge of God?
And when we do that, we claim to be wise, when at that very time, we are acting in a foolish manner. And conversely, the opposite of foolishness, according to the Scripture, is that wisdom that is rooted and grounded in the fear of the Lord. Again, in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, we read that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
So, having a healthy sense of reverence for God is the necessary disposition of the heart for us to acquire that Word from Him. I mean, let me put it this way. There's a distinction between wisdom and knowledge. You can have knowledge without wisdom. But you cannot have wisdom without knowledge. Again, I'll say it.
You can have knowledge and not have wisdom, but you cannot have wisdom without knowledge. And the knowledge that gives us wisdom is that knowledge that is delivered to us from the Word of God. It is the Scripture, Paul says, that is able to make you wise. to make you wise unto salvation. And then in verse 16 he says, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
Now this is the Bible's claim to divine inspiration. Now, when we talk about the source, here is the key text. First of all, when Paul says all Scripture, he's saying here all the graphe. Now, the graphe is the word that was used in antiquity to refer to the Old Testament. So, at the very least, Paul is claiming that all of the writings of the Old Testament are inspired of God.
Now, elsewhere in the New Testament, we see the similar claim that would include the New Testament writings as well in this same category of Scripture. But what Paul is saying is that Scripture is inspired of God, all of it. Now, the word that is used here that is translated by the English word inspire is a word that has doctrinal ramifications and consequences, and it's a decent translation.
However, to be very precise and very technical, the word that is used here in the text is translated by the phrase God breathed. And it refers to God's breathing out rather than God's breathing in. When you use the term inspire, that means to breathe into something. But the text here has to do with God's breathing out. And we breathe out when we speak.
Our words are carried, as it were, on the waves of the air that we breathe out. And so what Paul is saying here is that the Bible, that the Scriptures, have been breathed out by God. That is, he's making a statement about the origin of the content of those things that are found in sacred writ.
that the source, the supreme source for the content of Scripture is not some late first century or second century redactor or editor or some person who's spinning out yarns and myths from his own perspective, but the claim that the apostle is making here, the apostolic claim, is that the source of Scripture is God Himself, that God breathes it out.
Now, the doctrine of inspiration speaks about how God, through the Holy Spirit, superintends the human authors in such a way that they are inspired by the power of the Holy Ghost to ensure that what is written is in fact what has its origin in the very mind of God.
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