The Integrity of the Word:
Doctrine, Reproof and Correction
Part II

Read Time: 8  Minutes

II Timothy 3
:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
    and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
    for instruction in righteousness:

The Word of God, all scripture, is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, reproof and correction which is instruction in righteousness. We have already studied The Power of Believing and Believing: Faith and Fear and know that believing is the key to receiving. God's word is doctrine, it is how to believe rightly. When we are believing wrongly the Word is reproof: to reprove us where we are believing wrongly and correction to get us back to the doctrine. 

Doctrine

The Word of God is given to as doctrine to teach us how to believe rightly.

You will hear people say that they don't believe the Bible; it is just a bunch of stories or it is full of contradictions and errors. The Bible was never written for the unbelievers. The Word of God was written for those who want to know Him and walk with Him and live a life that is more than abundant. The testimony of the Word is that it is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, how to believe rightly. The Bible wasn't written for the God rejecters and critics. The Bible was written for men and women who want to know the truth and have the truth make them free.

We cannot bring to God's Word our own ideologies and theories. We need to read the Word and study the Word to see what God has said. We cannot know the Word by studying other people's writings. The purpose of the "Living Abundantly According to God's Word" series is to teach you HOW to go to God's Word and know beyond a shadow of a doubt what God meant. It is to instruct you on HOW to tap the resources of the more-than-abundant life.

John 5
:39 Search the scriptures; 
    for in them ye think ye have eternal life: 
    and they are they which testify of me.

Jesus Christ said to search the scriptures. Search the scripture, find out about Jesus Christ and what he has done for you. The scripture tells us the truth about Jesus Christ. 

John 17
:8 For I [Jesus Christ] have given unto them the words which thou [God] gavest me; 
    and they have received them, 
    and have known surely that I came out from thee, 
    and they have believed that thou didst send me.

God gave Jesus Christ the Word and he delivered it unto us. We can believe the Word. We can believe that it came from God.

:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: 
    thy word is truth.

The Word is truth, it is the doctrine we need. Do you want to know the truth? Go to God's Word and search the scripture.. Search the scripture and find out what you have, find out what God has given you, learn how to believe rightly. Never come to God's Word with preconceived ideas, let the Word of God speak. We dare not bring the Word of God down to our level, we must bring ourselves up to the level of the Word. Man was not the author of the Bible, God was the author. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy spirit that God had given them. 

Romans and Ephesians are primarily doctrinal epistles. God teaches us in Romans that we are free from the law of sin and death. Ephesians teaches us how to walk spiritually.

Reproof

The Word of God is also profitable for reproof; it reproves us when we are not adhering to the doctrine set forth in the Word. In Corinth the Believers were divided depending on who taught them the Word. In the Doctrinal epistle of Romans they had been taught to be like-minded:

Romans 15
:5 Now the God of patience 
        and consolation 
    grant you to be likeminded one toward another 
    according to Christ Jesus:

I Corinthians 1
:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, 
        by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    that ye all speak the same thing, 
    and that there be no divisions among you; 
    but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind 
        and in the same judgment.
:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, 
        by them which are of the house of Chloe, 
    that there are contentions among you.
:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, 
        I am of Paul; 
        and I of Apollos; 
        and I of Cephas; 
        and I of Christ.
:13 Is Christ divided? 
    was Paul crucified for you? 
    or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

It is necessary that we all speak the same thing. We must speak the accuracy of God's Word. We need to be right-on with the Word of God. If a Believer is not doing something to your liking you line it up with the Word first. If they are just wearing the wrong type of shirt one day you line it up with the Word. If they are off according to the Word of God than the reproof of the Word will be effective. If the shirt just doesn't suit your fancy than you have no right to reprove them. Now, someone's shirt can be a petty thing but that little nit-picking can begin to fray the fabric of a fellowship. You cannot please everybody with your outward appearance. God looks at our hearts, not our outward appearance. We must learn the Word because we are free from the law and bask in God's Grace and Wisdom. When we learn the Word and do the Word we are well-pleasing in God's sight. 

I and II Corinthians and Philippians are primarily reproof epistles. They reprove us for not adhering to the doctrine that is set forth in Romans and Ephesians.

Correction

The Word of God is also profitable for correction. God's Word corrects us when we have erred so that we may get back to the doctrine, right believing.

Galatians 1
:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another  gospel:
        [another - heteros, another of a different kind]
:7 Which is not another; [allos, another of the same kind]
    but there be some that trouble you, 
    and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

:11 But I certify you, brethren, 
    that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
:12 For I neither received it of man, 
        neither was I taught it, 
    but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

God had told Paul to correct the leaders in the fellowships in Galatia. They were endeavoring to get the gentiles to live after the law. Peter himself would  fellowship with the Gentiles but when other Jews came to visit he would separate himself from them (Gal 2:11-13). Paul corrects them with the Word of God.

Galatians 2
:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, 
    I said unto Peter before them all, 
        If thou, being a Jew, 
        livest after the manner of Gentiles, 
            and not as do the Jews, 
        why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
:15   We who are Jews by nature, 
            and not sinners of the Gentiles,
:16   Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, 
            but by the faith of Jesus Christ, 
        even we have believed in Jesus Christ, 
        that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, 
        and not by the works of the law: 
        for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

The correction is to get back to the grace that God has given us and they we are no longer under law. We need not keep the law, we are freed from it. Jesus Christ already paid the price, we no longer need to be circumcised or only hang around the Jews. Jesus Christ was offered up for us all, there is nothing more we can do to obtain our justification; it is done for us. To remain under the law defeats the promises of God.

:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; 
            yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: 
        and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, 
        who loved me, and gave himself for me.
:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: 
        for if righteousness come by the law, 
        then Christ is dead in vain.

Galatians and Colossians are correctional epistles. They correct doctrinal error that has crept in the church.

All scripture is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, reproof and correction which is instruction in righteousness. Our righteousness did not come by the law it came by Jesus Christ. Our manner of living this new life is in the doctrine, reproof and correction that is given in the Word of God. God's Word is instruction in how to walk rightly.

II Timothy3
:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
      and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
      instruction in righteousness:
:17 that the man of God may be perfect,
      throughly furnished unto all good works.

We have just seen the function of the Word of God. In the next teaching we will learn about it's purpose (hint: vs. 17).

God bless you abundantly.