THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD

Part 4: It instructs us in righteousness

Pastor Maselo Mosomane

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

The word of God instructs us in righteousness. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines righteousness as “holy and upright living, in accordance with God’s standard. The word “righteousness” comes from a root word that means “straightness.” It refers to a state that conforms to an authoritative standard. Righteousness is a moral concept. God’s character is the definition and source of all righteousness (Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; Rom. 9:14). Therefore, the righteousness of human beings is defined in terms of God’s.”

The opposite of righteousness is wickedness. When God created man, He did not create him wicked – He created him upright. “God made men and women true and upright; we're the ones who've made a mess of things.” Ecclesiastes 9:29 The Message. Man was created upright until Satan deceived Eve. Eve ate the forbidden fruit and gave some to her husband who was there with her and he also ate. Because of that disobedient act man became wicked in the eyes of God. Realizing the consequences of their act, they hid themselves among the trees. Wickedness is not only sinful; it is also stupidity. When you get entangled with evil you also loose your rational thinking capacity. Can anyone hide from God? Man, God is ever-present everywhere at the same time. Only fools will try to hide from God.

Man knows that his position with God had not been what God had intended it to be – he knows it has shifted. He tries everything humanly possible to cover his wickedness, hoping that once his wickedness is covered, his position with God will be restored. Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves. Today man is covering himself with all sorts of things. He tries power with which he sought to conquer and rule over everyone around him. He tries money to control and manipulate systems and people but his nakedness remains bare. All these and others not mentioned here can do their work but are incapable of restoring man’s position with God. All can be good but cannot restore man’s righteousness with God. We are not able to get right with God unless He helps us. All our effort can be good but not good enough to restore our souls. David later wrote; “He restores my soul” Psalms 23:2. Restoration is God’s business, not man’s business. Man’s business is obedience.

In time past God spoke to people through angels. As time developed He sent Moses and the prophets to speak and write as they were inspired by God. Later; in the fullness of time He sent His Son to walk the earth and spoke to people. His apostles wrote about Him as they were inspired. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit in these men that we have our bible today.

One of these apostles was Paul of Tarsus. The piece of Scripture we’ve borrowed for this teaching is part of the Holy Spirit’s inspirational work given to us through Paul. We pick this from his second epistle addressed to Timothy; “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

We have seen through our studies that, without God man does not know what to worship – hence he worships anything his mind leads him to. He worships the sun; he worships the moon, the stars, the ocean, trees animals and ancestors. He is so indulged; he cannot differentiate between the Creator and creation. This is a terrible error but he can’t even realize. Man is in error but he is not even aware. If by chance he realizes his error; he is still not capable of correcting it. Man cannot help himself. The sooner he realizes this; the better.

No one can translate us from our wicked state and transfer us into a state of righteousness except God. He does this through His word. When we read or study the word; the word points us to Jesus. The word instructs us to rely on Jesus for our salvation. The word instructs us in righteousness.

God sent His Son to live a holy and righteous life among the people. This is the holy and righteous life that qualified Him to be a sacrificial lamb for our sins. He died on the cross to settle our guilt problem once and for all. Through His righteous life He fulfilled the law; through His sacrificial death He paid the price for our wickedness (sins). This happened more than two thousand years ago. We were not there. But thank be to God who He never stopped inspiring His holy servants to write as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They were inspired and wrote. We read and get inspired. AS we read what they were inspired to write and we too get inspired – we get moved. Friend; this inspiration they wrote “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”