Bible’s Reliability Research Paper
Introduction
2 Timothy 3: 14 – 17 reveals that the Bible provides every insight that one requires to lead a decent, fulfilling, and productive lifestyle. The verse regards the Bible as God-inspired guidebook for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and educating people about the value of being righteous. In doing so, individuals become servants of God that are committed to propagating the gospel globally with the help of the attained knowledge. The readings are a fountain of hope and a source of inspiration to undertake noble activities for the service of others and the glory of the lord. Reading the scriptures is integral to one’s spiritual life and should begin in infancy for them to understand God’s message and its purpose (The Bible, 2 Timothy 3.14 – 17). In short, the Bible provides valuable wisdom that enables Christians to distinguish good and evil, holy and unrighteous, and right and wrong, so that their aim on earth is fulfilled through service to God and humanity.
Analogy Perspective
A proper understanding of the passage requires one to reflect on different analogies of real life. A visit into a bookstore allows one to witness numerous books on display that claim to bear the secret to investing prudently and getting rich. A reasonable client quickly discovers that authors are the first beneficiary in the money-book-purchase equation. Avid readers first establish whether the material is reliable based on different factors that include the author’s profile and text reviews. The consumer also judges the amount of trust the book commands depending on multiple variables. Finally, the booklover internally interrogates the significance of the article regarding social, political, economic, or entertainment spheres of life. The majority of authors imagine that investment guidebooks are the only missing components for people to prosper financially and in sociopolitical realms. Clearly, these financial books contrast the bible substantially since the latter recognizes a person’s current position and provides an unbiased opinion for holistically transforming one’s life (The Bible, 2 Timothy 3.14 – 17). In other words, the Holy Scripture is a reliable and suitable guidebook for Christians to achieve life goals in a righteous manner.
The sermon’s passage reiterates that individuals should continue learning and implementing the teachings of the Holy Scriptures based on the understanding that the source of the knowledge is well-known. Back to the analogy, the investment book always promises maximum profits if the readers follow the strategies discussed. However, sensible readers probe whether the ideas have been proven useful and reliable. In this reflection, caring individuals realize that no persons have applied these policies to the latter and that their arguments often lack merit. Usually, the assessor is often left uncertain and disappointed about the life-investment plan due to the missing verifiable proof that the proposed method is effective. In this light, the Bible clears any doubt that individuals may have since its content is God-inspired, and many testimonies are presented to prove that scriptures offer the right advice (The Bible, 2 Timothy 3.14 – 17). In other terms, the Bible is an authentic roadmap for individuals that desire successful and righteous life on earth and in heaven.
Reliability of the Bible
The verse underscores that the bible is totally reliable and essential for every Christian and unconverted individuals across the world. It enlightens people about different life situations regardless of one’s background, faith, and spirituality. Open-minded readers of the Holy Scriptures gain priceless insight pertaining to the afterlife and the requirements for eternal life. The passage reckons that millions of people have lived the Bible’s way for centuries, and their lives are characterized by true happiness, success, and righteousness. The scripture’s life-strategy has been proven effective, and it fully fulfills one’s needs irrespective of the prevailing trials and challenges. The verse recognizes the Bible as the sole secrete for solving seemingly insurmountable problems in life. This assertion means that a truly faithful person should acquire a copy of the Bible, and read it to achieve the desired benefits (The Bible, 2 Timothy 3.14 – 17). Like any academic research, the Holy Scriptures will profit a person through careful study, accurate interpretation, and daily implementation in life.
The Purpose of Holy Scriptures
The bible is vital in one’s journey for multiple reasons, but mostly due to its complete authenticity and helpfulness in all spheres of life. Sometimes, people’s expectations are unrealized due to their theoretical subscription to the Bible’s role in life. The scriptures categorically suggest that believers should be fully convinced that the bible is the ultimate masterpiece of living a prosperous professional, spiritual, financial, and social lives (The Bible, 2 Timothy 3.14 – 17). In this way, one should always read, revise, remember, and reflect on the Holy Scriptures without failing to implement its teaching on daily practices.
Broadly, 2 Timothy 3 describes the challenging times of the final days. Paul is addressing Timothy regarding ways to overcome the multiple obstacles that society faces in the last days. Specifically, Paul enlightens the Christians on the need to remain faithful during an extraordinary evil age. People are reminded that their effort to prosper and survive the rampant inequities will succeed by following the lessons of the Holy Scriptures. In 2 Timothy 3: 14-17, Paul emphasizes to Timothy the profitability and dependability of the Bible in the end times (The Bible, 2 Timothy 3.14 – 17). Timothy recognizes Paul’s concerns regarding the importance to read, understand, and apply biblical teachings when solving earthly problems and pursuing heavenly aspirations.
God’s Voice in the Holy Scriptures
2 Timothy 3: 16 reads in part “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (The Bible,). The first section of the passage, “All scripture is God-breathed” (The Bible, 2 Timothy 3.16), stresses that God is the Source of the Holy Scriptures. It acknowledges that the holy text is reliable since it originates from a dependable God. This fact means that the entire Bible is undeniably credible.
To advance this concept, Paul’s words that refer to “all scriptures” are repeated throughout the Old and New Testaments. In this instance, Paul was describing the entire Old Testament and parts of the New Testaments that were already published by that time. Paul had also written certain Scripture or letters that were studied in different churches. In 2 Timothy 3: 16 – 17, Paul claims that the Holy Scriptures are God-inspired since he had already experienced that spiritual intervention when he authored his scriptures. In total, Paul’s assertion about God-guided text precisely referred to 63 books since the only scriptures that were inscribed after 2 Timothy include 2 Peter, Jude, Hebrew, and John’s holy text. Since the fourth century, the supremacy of these books has been reflected in Christian’s reference to them as authoritative scriptures. These events are consistent with the sermon’s verse that the Holy Scriptures are a perfect witness of their own motivation (Cole n.p.). For many Christians, the Bible is the ultimate miracle the world has ever experienced since any other authorship theory is unaccountable and inexplicable to any sensible person.
Next, Paul’s meaning for “inspired” and “breathed out” is deep and non-superficial. Breathed out suggests that the origin of the scriptures depended on God’s influence and initiative. Biblical authors were mere agents of the Holy Spirit mandated to deliver God’s message. The verse hints that the term inspired refers to supernatural influence that filled the Biblical writers and supervised them to record the scriptures flawlessly and independently of personal deficiencies. Put differently, the sacred producers were restrained from stylistic peculiarities and errors (Williams 82). The Holy Spirit also guided each author to choose suitable words and consistently produce unique writing. Basically, the divine soul motivated certain appointed minds to render the infallible message to humanity regarding God’s will and his noble characteristics.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the Bible finds its origin in the Holy Spirit. These scriptures are also independent of human ingenuity and were only conceived by God. By definition, the divine text is God-imparted knowledge that was transmitted flawlessly through different authors. Accordingly, 2 Timothy 3: 16 – 17 explicitly posit that the Bible is as reliable as the Holy Spirit. Logically, if the divine power is the ultimate truth, and if God inspired the scriptures, then the Bible is conceivably error-free and non-contradictory.
Appeal
When a biblical text is carefully read, well-understood, and consistently used in daily life, people experience real satisfaction and acquire the competence to overcome serious challenges. Individuals should seek biblical wisdom and solutions since the scriptures accurately reveal God’s message. In this way, Christians and non-believers alike should recognize the authenticity of the Bible, and use the Holy Scriptures to communicate with God. In summary, individuals should keenly read, fully understand, and carefully use the Bible to achieve both worldly dreams and eternal life.
Works Cited
Cole, Steven J. “Lesson 17: Why You Need the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17).” Bible.Org, 2018, https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-17-why-you-need-bible-2-timothy-316-17. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.
The Bible. The New Oxford Annotated Version, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2001.
Williams, Hyveth. Nothing But the Best: A Guide to Preaching Powerful Sermons. Xlibris US, 2018.
