Unto All Good Works

2 Timothy 3:17

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The power of the Scriptures in a believer’s life is tremendous, but that power is often wasted because of the believer’s lack of work. When you read through 2 Timothy 3, you see there are several things that God’s Word does for the believer.

First, God’s Word gives you doctrine to stand on. The perfect, infallible, fully preserved, and inspired King James Bible will give you doctrine, whereas perversions give false doctrine. You will never know what to believe if you don't spend time studying God’s Word to glean God’s doctrine by which He wants you to live.

Second, God’s Word reproves you of areas you need to correct. You will never be the believer you are supposed to be without reading God’s Word. God’s Word shines a light on the areas of life you need to correct; therefore, you will never live the holy life God demands for you to live without God’s Word.

Third, God’s Word corrects the areas of your life that sin has destroyed. Only God’s Word can rectify what sin has made wrong in your life. God’s Word is the healing balm that corrects the broken marriage, the broken life, the straying life, and the life cluttered by sin’s mess. You cannot correct any problem in your life without God’s Word.

Fourth, God’s Word is your instruction manual for righteous living. We cannot know how to live a righteous life without God’s Word, for His Word reveals God’s righteousness to us, and His righteousness is the standard by which every believer should live.

Fifth, God’s Word perfects or matures the believer. There is no such thing as a mature believer who does not spend time in God’s Word daily. There are certainly many immature believers who do God’s work, but they are the ones who cause problems in the church. God’s Word has a way of helping any believer to live a mature Christian life.

Sixth, God’s Word furnishes the believer. In other words, God’s Word equips you so you can serve Him. Many go into spiritual warfare unequipped because they never read God’s Word that furnishes them for the battle. You will fail and likely fall if you try to fight the spiritual battles without God’s Word. You need God’s Word daily so that it can furnish you for what you face every day.

However, the key to God’s Word doing all these things in your life comes down to one phrase, unto all good works. In other words, the purpose of God’s Word is to do good works. As you do good works, God’s Word gives you doctrine, reproves you of what is hindering you, corrects what you are doing wrong, instructs you on how to do those works, perfects you so you can better fight the battle, and furnishes you to do the most for God. A believer who never or rarely does God’s good works will never see God’s Word do for them the whole purpose of what His Word can do in their life.

Are you underutilizing the power of God’s Word? Certainly, God’s Word always does a work through you, but its complete power of what it can do in your life will only be realized when you use His Word to do good works.