Is The Scripture A Reprimand

Chapter 7

Day 4

 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

        In today’s denominational churches we hear a lot about God’s punishment. Yes, in the Old Testament God punished His chosen people when they turned away from Him and He could not get them to come back on their own. To forgive you must forget. Their sins were only covered and were still there to remind even God what had happened. There was no forgiveness in the OT era. They were looking forward to the day the Messiah would come as was God. The day when sins could be forgiven through the ransom paid by His only begotten Son.

James tells us In James 1: 13 that no one should say God tested them. When God forgives our sins, they are gone. How can God punish us for something we haven’t done?

Now let’s talk about reprimand. In the last chapter we found the definition of reprimand is to rebuke. Rebuke and reproof are the same things. Paul tells us in the verse above that the scriptures are for reproof/rebuke and correction. David tells us in Psalms 23 that while he walked through the valley of death, God was with Him not punishing him.

James tells us in (1:14) that each of us is tempted when we bring it on ourselves. But God is there to help us through. God helps us through the Holy Spirit and the scriptures. When you feel guilty about something you are doing, stop, that’s the Holy Spirit warning you. When the bible is read and your toes feel as though someone stepped on them, that’s a reproof. When you are reading the scriptures and you heart becomes heavy because of something you have read, that’s a reproof.

Verse 16 also says the scriptures are good for correction. In the last lesson we talked about Paul teaching the churches when He rebuked them. That’s why God inspired Paul to write to them. The edification was a method of correction.

When you were in the third grade and misspelled a word. Did your teacher punish you? No! The teacher taught you the correct spelling. The teacher corrected your bad spelling.

God is correcting us the same way. God inspired the scriptures for us to use as a guideline on how to live our lives as Christians. If we accidentally falter  God has provided us the scriptures to use as a way to correct our lives.

Notice the ending statement in the 17th verse. “That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The man of God, that’s you. This scripture was not intended for use in telling the world what it is doing wrong, it was intended for the Christian who falters (John 3: 17-18).

Yes, the scriptures will sometimes reprimand us if we falter. They will correct us if we are wrong. But these are good things, not punishment, but the love of God toward His children. Because He cares for us He does chastise us (Hebrews 12: 1-11). The word chastise used there means discipline. Discipline comes from the Greek word “padeuo” which means to instruct, to correct, to reproof.

  The more we understand about the bible and God, the less we have to worry about reprimand.

Daily Bible Readings:

1. Read James 1