In John 17:17 Jesus is asking the Father to sanctify (set aside for holy use) His disciples through the Truth.  He then IDENTIFIES THE TRUTH AS GOD’S WORD–the Law from Genesis to Revelation which He condensed into the Ten Commandments.  God’s true saints are sanctified (made holy) for the purpose of showing the world His lLght–His Gospel of the Kingdom of God.  The kingdom Gospel was the subject of Christ’s preaching (Mk. 1:14).  Note that He did not preach about Himself, but rather about the kingdom which He would establish upon His Second Advent.  Christ’s Gospel today is the same Gospel He (“the Scripture”) preached to Abraham (Gal. 3:8) and to the New Testament Church through the apostles (Heb. 4:2).  “The Scripture” of Galatians 3:8 is the same Being called “the Word” in John 1:1-4,14.

God’s true saints (holy ones) are sanctified through obedience to His Word/Law/Truth/Gospel/Light.  The Holy Bible is God in written form; Jesus was God in human form.  Jesus was called the Son of God while on earth.  Christ’s disciples, then and now, were called “sons of God” (Gal. 4:6,7).  These are Christ’s spiritual brethren whom He identifies as “… they who do the will of My Father in heaven” (Mat. 12:46-50).  He also calls obedient believers His “friends” for whom He died.  When speaking to His disciples, He said: “You are My friends IF you do whatsoever I command you” (Jn. 15:13,14).  Three unchanging signs identify God’s true saints: 1) diligent study of His Word and 2) strict obedience to His Word.  The third sign–persecution from false Christians–is the subject in the series titled Persecution (also the key word).

In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul tells the young evangelist to “STUDY” to show himself approved of God and to be able to “rightly divide” the Scriptures.  Bear in mind that Timothy was already an established evangelist who was risking his life to take the Lord’s Gospel to the world.  He would later write two of the books of the Bible before he was martyred for his work in the Lord’s service.  And yet, here was Paul reminding him to study the Scriptures in order to remain in good stead with God.  Let us all take Paul’s advice to Timothy to heart and study God’s pure Word.

Isaiah helps those who seek God’s Truth by detailing the correct method of study: “To whom can He (God) teach the Truth?  To whom can He give understanding?  He who studies the Scriptures precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”  He then repeats the instructions for emphasis (Isa. 28:9-13).  Only those who follow God’s instructions will hear the “voice” (Spirit) of God relative to the printed Word.  To “rightly divide” the Scriptures means to discern what God means by the words He had written and preserved for His true saints.  The Almighty forbids the interpretation of His Word (2 Pet. 1:20).  The Bible interprets itself for those who study it according to God’s prescribed study method.  For every “headline” there are several “fine print” explanations that provide the full meaning of the headline.  I believe God deliberately designed His Word this way so that one must study all of it in order to understand His will.  This is why the Apostle Paul stated that he preached and taught “all of the counsel (Word) of God” (Acts 20:27).

Paul reminds Timothy (3:15,16) that salvation (including his own) requires obedience to the “Holy Scriptures.”  Such obedience produces righteousness and holiness, the END RESULT of which is eternal life (Rom. 5:21; 6:22).  These two verses constitute a mini-lesson on the attaining of eternal life in the presence of Father and Son.  In order to attain salvation, righteousness and holiness are absolutely necessary.  These virtues are attained ONLY by studying the Holy Scriptures, believing and obeying them.  In 1 Timothy 1:3 Paul warns Timothy about those who teach any doctrine not found in the Holy Scriptures.  As Paul warned then and I warn today, such men and women are false prophets who serve the god of this earth–Satan.  Some of the so-called “Bible truths” they proclaim are listed in the Introduction to this website.

In 2 Timothy 3:13-17 Paul exhorts Timothy to be on the look-out for “evil men and seducers who will grow worse and worse” as they seduce church people and are themselves seduced by Satan through his fallen angels.  Paul exhorts Timothy to continue in what he had been taught from childhood (the Old Testament–the New Testament would not exist for many years).  Paul calls the Old Testament teachings “Holy Scriptures” which were able to make one “wise unto salvation” through faith in and obedience to them.

Note that Timothy the evangelist was to study and obey the Scriptures “UNTO SALVATION.”  Timothy was not saved.  He, like everyone else, had to obey God’s Word (“THE” one and only DOCTRINE” of God) until death in order to inherit salvation upon Christ’s return.  Read Hope and Salvation.  Key word–Hope.  Paul reminded the young evangelist that, “ALL (Old Testament) Scripture was given (to the prophets) by inspiration (through the Holy Spirit) of God and is (present tense) good for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness” when dealing with those who did not (and do not) embrace God’s Truth.  Timothy had to obey those Scriptures in order to “be made perfect and ready to do all good works.”  Paul warned that to deviate from the Holy Scriptures was to blaspheme God and His Word.  Jesus told His disciples that those who doubted His word were proving that they despised Him and His Father (Lk. 10:16).  In Deuteronomy 5:1,9; 7:9,10 God stated that those who disobeyed His Word proved that they “… hate Me.”  Yes, the word God used is “HATE.”  We must view His Holy Scriptures as He views them.

The focus in Deuteronomy 5:9 was His command against the making of graven/molten images relative to worship of Him.  This includes crosses, fish, statues, pictures, tattoos, etc.–anything formed by the hand of man and used in the worship of the Lord.  He condemned such images in the second commandment (Exo. 20:4).  In verse 5 God explains He views such an image as a sign that the bearer belongs to another god.  As a result of churchwide rejection of the second commandment, the world recognizes the cross as the “sign” of Jesus Christ.  God sees the cross as a sign of the church’s idolatry.  One’s intent for using it is irrelevant.  Only God’s Word is relevant.  And He said: NO.  L.J.