All Scripture is Profitable

I wonder if we have become selective in what we are willing to hear from Scripture. We gladly receive its promises, its comfort, and its encouragement. But what happens when it confronts something we believe, challenges how we live, or calls us to change?

I ask this knowing that I have always been more inclined toward writing and teaching that encourages people. I want to offer hope, comfort, and reassurance, particularly to those struggling with life's difficulties. Scripture gives us good reason to do so. But it also has much to say about correction, rebuke, and training in righteousness. Are we giving those things the same attention?

An editor friend once told me, "Clear is kind." She was speaking about writing for public consumption, but I think the principle applies equally to Christian teaching and leadership. Sometimes kindness requires us to say something difficult, and genuine care means being willing to tell someone what they may not want to hear.

Many of us have experienced preaching that emphasized sin, judgment, and condemnation, sometimes leaving people burdened with guilt rather than strengthened in their understanding of God's grace. It was right to question that approach and recover a fuller appreciation of God's love, mercy, and forgiveness.

But I wonder whether, in trying to correct one imbalance, we have sometimes created another.

Writing to Timothy, Paul reminded him of the Scriptures he had known since childhood, which were able to give him wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. He then wrote:

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16–17, CSB)

Paul begins with Scripture's origin. It is inspired by God. Its authority does not come from the preacher, the congregation, or our willingness to accept what it says. It comes from God himself.

But Paul also tells us what Scripture is intended to accomplish.

It teaches us what is true. It exposes what is wrong. It corrects us when we have gone astray and trains us to live rightly before God.

These purposes belong together. And notice the intended outcome. Scripture is given so that God's servant may be complete and equipped for every good work.

Paul is writing directly to Timothy about his responsibility in ministry. Yet Scripture's usefulness is not limited to preachers and teachers. Throughout the New Testament, we see God's desire to form a people who know him, trust him, and live according to his Word.

That doesn't mean every sermon must include correction or rebuke. Some passages bring wonderful assurance, while others call us to repentance. Many do both. What matters is that we allow Scripture to say what it says and accomplish what God intends.

The Responsibility of Preaching and Hearing

Paul's next words to Timothy are particularly solemn. He charges him before God and Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, to preach the Word. He must be ready in season and out of season, correcting, rebuking, and encouraging with great patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:1–2).

Paul goes on to warn that a time will come when people will no longer tolerate sound doctrine. Instead, they will seek out teachers who tell them what they want to hear.

I wonder how much this shapes our preaching today.

A preacher may hesitate to address a difficult passage for fear of offending people or driving them away. And those of us listening may prefer messages that reassure rather than challenge us. Perhaps, over time, both begin to expect something from preaching that is different from what Scripture itself requires.

Of course, this is not true of every church or preacher. And resistance to a sermon does not necessarily mean someone is resisting God. Sometimes the difficulty is that Scripture has been misunderstood or poorly communicated.

That is why Paul also told Timothy to be diligent in presenting himself to God as an approved worker, correctly teaching the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

The preacher must take care to understand Scripture before attempting to explain and apply it. Personal convictions, cultural preferences, and sincere religious enthusiasm cannot replace faithful interpretation.

The Anglican Church's Book of Common Prayer (1962) reflects this seriousness in its service for the ordination of priests (pp. 648–653). Those preparing for ministry are reminded of the weight of their calling and asked to affirm the sufficiency of Scripture for salvation, commit themselves to its diligent study, and teach nothing as necessary for salvation that cannot be established from God's Word. This is a worthwhile exhortation for anyone preparing to become a minister, pastor, or priest. It is a good reminder for those already serving in ministry as well.

James also warns that not many should become teachers because those who teach will receive a stricter judgment (James 3:1).

Those entrusted with proclaiming God's Word must first submit themselves to it. And Paul's instruction includes an important reminder: correction, rebuke, and encouragement must be given with great patience and careful teaching. Faithfulness is not permission to be harsh, impatient, or domineering.

But what about those of us who hear?

Paul's warning about people seeking teachers who suit their own desires should cause us to examine ourselves. Are we willing to receive Scripture when it confronts our assumptions, behaviour, or understanding of what it means to follow Christ? Or do we dismiss what challenges us while welcoming what confirms what we already believe?

That doesn't mean accepting everything a preacher says without question.

In Acts 17:11, Luke commends the people of Berea because they welcomed Paul's message eagerly while examining the Scriptures daily to determine whether what he taught was true.

They were willing to listen, but they also took responsibility for examining what they heard. We should do the same.

The preacher is accountable for faithfully handling Scripture. The hearer is responsible for examining what is taught and responding faithfully to what God's Word actually says.

Neither has the authority to make Scripture say what we want it to say, nor the freedom to disregard what it does say.

Correction Is Part of God's Care

Perhaps part of our reluctance to receive correction comes from how we understand God's love.

We rightly take comfort in knowing that God loves us, forgives us, and receives us through Christ. But his love does not mean he leaves us unchanged.

In Hebrews 12, the writer describes God's discipline of his children. Like a loving father, God trains his children for their good. His purpose is that we may share his holiness and produce what Scripture calls the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

The passage is about God's fatherly care, not a preacher's authority to discipline people. Nor does it suggest that every hardship is punishment for wrongdoing.

But it does remind us that God's love and his discipline belong together.

Sometimes we must confront cherished attitudes, abandon familiar behaviours, or acknowledge that we have misunderstood something we believed for years. That can be uncomfortable. Yet God's purpose is good. He is forming us into people who increasingly reflect the character of Christ.

We should also remember that the Gospel is not simply a call to improve our behaviour. Paul reminds Timothy that Scripture makes us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The transformation we need is not accomplished by determination alone, but through God's grace and the work of his Spirit.

Correction has its place within that greater work of salvation and renewal.

Growing Together Toward Maturity

There is another part of this that I think we sometimes overlook.

We have made Christian faith so individual and private that we can forget our shared responsibility for the life and health of the Church.

In Ephesians 4:11–16, Paul explains that Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip God's people for ministry and to build up the body of Christ.

The goal is maturity in Christ.

Paul speaks of believers growing in their knowledge of God's Son, becoming stable in their faith, resisting false teaching, and speaking the truth in love.

But this is not simply about each of us becoming a better Christian on our own. It is about the whole Church growing together under Christ, its head, with every member contributing to its life and work.

Surely the purpose of preaching is more than giving people something encouraging to take home on Sunday. We are to grow in our knowledge of Christ, become more like him, and learn to live faithfully together as his Church.

That includes caring for people who are suffering, meeting practical needs, bearing one another's burdens, and encouraging one another in the faith. It also includes being willing to speak the truth, confront wrongdoing, and help one another grow.

We must not choose between compassion and correction as though one excludes the other. Both have their place in the life of the Church.

Will We Submit to the Word?

I began by acknowledging that I naturally prefer to encourage rather than correct. I still believe the Church should be a place where people encounter the mercy, kindness, and hope found in Jesus Christ. But it must also be a place where we are willing to hear all that God has to say to us.

We need preachers who will faithfully study, understand, and proclaim Scripture, even when its message is difficult. And we need hearers who will carefully examine what is taught, receive what is true, and allow God's Word to shape their lives.

Paul gave Timothy his charge in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead. That is a sobering reminder that we are accountable to God for how we handle and respond to his Word. One day, each of us will give an account to him (Romans 14:12).

So the question is not whether we prefer preaching that encourages us or preaching that corrects us. It is whether we are willing to submit ourselves to the Word of God, accepting its authority over what we believe, how we live, and even what we would prefer to hear.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for our good. Are we willing to receive it as such?