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

The true child of God must be equipped to do battle. He must have all that is needed to succeed. God told Joshua:

Joshua 1:8  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

God provided all that Joshua needed in one book. That book was not complete in Joshua’s day. However, nothing would be added that would change the power of that book. As we noted in II Timothy 3:16, “all scripture is given by inspiration of God”. That is the key. We need a book that comes straight from the mouth of God. There is only one such book and that is the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God.
When Joshua was defeated at Ai, he stated:

Joshua 7:7  And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!

Joshua understood that weakness would give the enemies of God occasion to assume that God was not all that strong. Joshua did not understand at that moment, that it was not God that was defeated. It was sin in the camp of Israel that caused them to be defeated. God rebuked Joshua and told him of the sin and told him to address that matter forthwith. Joshua did so and the nation was blessed for that right response.
Timothy was a soldier in the New Testament as was Paul. Every New Testament believer is a soldier in God’s army. As we have noted before our weapons are not guns and knives and swords and bombs. Our weapon is the Word of God. The Word of God enables the saint of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in his or her heart. It is when we draw on that source that we will have success.
As we see in our text, in verse 17, the man of God can be perfect. The word translated as “perfect” is found only in this verse. It means “fresh, (by implication) complete”. I John makes it abundantly clear that no Christian is without sin. Thus we know the word perfect in our text does not speak of being without sin. The child of God has all that is needed to be a faithful servant of the Lord in the Word of the Lord. Any time a true child of God sins, it is because they have ignored what the Word of God says. Anytime a child of God compromises (which is sin) it is because they have ignored what the Word of God says.
Timothy was living in a time when it was needful for him to stand against the onslaught of naysayers. We live in such a time as well. There is much religious activity today. We drove past a large religious building this week and my wife noticed that they had many vehicles in their parking lot and there was a large screen displaying something for those in the parking lot. There may have been people inside, but they were displaying something on that big screen. There are many places where people can get their particular flavour of religion.
The apostle Paul was not a part of the vast religious movement of his day. He was well known across that entire part of the world. He was directed by God to help establish several good churches. Yet we find that when the pressure was on, he was alone. Nothing has changed. Most of those who profess to be saved are fair-weather saints. When the going gets tough, they find some place to hide. It is only as we draw on the grace of God that we can stand strong when the going gets tough. We have all the equipment we need in the Word of God.
Paul stated that the man of God is “throughly furnished unto all good works”. The Greek word translated as throughly is found only 2x in the New Testament. It is found in Acts 21:5 where it is translated as “accomplished” and then in our text where it is translated as “throughly”. The Greek word means: “to equip fully”. As we have stated, any person who is saved and faithfully studying God’s Word according to God’s direction, will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil in their time. We can see that few are doing that today. That has been true in every generation.
Timothy had all he needed to stand strong in his day. He could remain strong in the Lord even after Paul’s death. His strength was not in Paul. His strength was in God. The same is true today. Our strength is not in man. Our strength is in God. God directs His men to teach and preach His Word faithfully. Sometimes we see men who start out strong in the Lord, fade away as they get older. That does not need to be the case, but sadly it will be the case if the man neglects the faithful study of God’s Word.
Taking a Biblical interest in the Word of God does not make a man a legalist. A legalist believes that doing certain things may save them. The Pharisees were legalists. Honouring God’s Word as He directs us to do is not legalism. It is simply honouring God’s Word. A person who does not care about Biblical accuracy reveals a bigger problem. He or she is certainly not in agreement with the God Who gave us His Word.
It is our desire both through these devotionals and our other ministries to help the reader and listener to know the truth and walk in the truth. Should the Lord tarry, we need some more Timothys. We need young men who are willing to be taught under older faithful men to heed the truth and help the next generation to have the same blessings that previous generations have had.
Pastor Bartel