“and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation in Christ Jesus” (2Tim 3:15).
We’re a real fire in the fireplace kinda family. I’ve got nothing against folks who want the no-fuss and no-muss of gas logs. But a stack of ceramic logs that never moves with flames in the same place just doesn’t cut it at our house.
Real fires with real wood take time. You don’t just flip a switch. You don’t just flick your Bic on a big log and start the blaze. You need some paper, a little kindling, and smaller pieces of wood. It takes preparation before you light things up. But when all conditions are perfect, you stand a great chance of a great fire.
Did you know that raising your child to be a follower of Jesus is similar? Let me be straight up about this idea. It belongs to Matt Chandler. But I know a good line when I steal one. Matt says parents should stack all of the spiritual kindling around their kids in the hopes that when the Holy Spirit ignites them, they will burn hot and bright.
Flipping through the Spiritual Scrapbook
Paul says something very similar to Timothy in the very last letter of his life. On Death Row in a Roman prison, who could blame the apostle for reminiscing with one of his favorites? He looks back on Tim’s explosive growth as a follower of Jesus. The former Pharisee knows it goes way back before the young pastor came to place his faith in Christ. “And now from childhood you you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v15).
The man from Tarsus is flipping through the pages of Tim’s spiritual scrapbook. He recognizes how God used his protege’s family to expose him to Scripture from the time he was an infant. They stacked the kindling. They got the wood ready.
No parent can make their kid a follower of Christ. Only God can do that. But we can stack the kindling. We can make things flammable. That’s what the people did for Timothy as he was growing up. They stacked the kindling. And Once God lit the match in Tim’s life, look out!
Baby Talk
Just how old was Timothy when this began? Was it when he was big enough to go to Sunday School? Surely he had to be mature enough to understand the big ideas of the Bible, right? Would you believe it began when he was a baby? Dare I say, Tiny Tim? Okay, probably not.
Paul reminds him “how from childhood” (v15) the process began. He uses a Greek term we translate “childhood” (Gr. βρεφος/brephos) that describes baby, a very small child, infant, even an unborn child or fetus. It implies the time a child before they are finished nursing.
Check out the other uses of βρεφος/brephos in the NT. Dr. Luke purposely selects this word when telling the story of John the Dunker in utero (Lk 1:41, 44). The good doctor also describes the newborn Jesus when retelling the story of the angel’s instructions to the shepherds to look for a “Baby (Gr. βρεφος/brephos) wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12). Sure enough, the shepherds found the proud parents and their “Baby (Gr. βρεφος/brephos) lying in a manger” (Lk 2:16).
Paul’s buddy Peter uses the term when talking about immature followers of Jesus. “Like newborn infants (Gr. βρεφος/brephos), long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1Pet 2:2). Proper nutrition is critical for the early childhood development. That includes proper spiritual nutrition of God’s truth. And that’s exactly the kind of nourishment Tim received when he was still an itty bitty baby back in Lystra.
Mom and Memaw
This backs up what we read in the opening lines of this letter. Paul recalls Tim’s spiritual heritage when he writes about how the young pastor has “a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure dwells in you as well” (2Tim 1:5). He points out how both Mom and Memaw spiritually invested in Tim’s life. They started early. VERY early!
What a powerful reminder that it’s never to early to start stacking the spiritual kindling in the life of child. Can’t you just picture what it was like in his earliest days? His mom singing sweet worship songs to her newborn baby. Grandma Lois telling her grandson all about the goodness of his gracious Heavenly Dad. Growing up Jewish themselves, they were simply doing what God had commanded through Moses. When it comes to passing along God’s Word, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Dt 6:7).
Don’t get all freaked out and think you need to come up with some sort of formal Bible study or daily devotion for your kids. Just make it a regular part of your everyday life. While you’re sitting around. While you’re riding in your car. While you’re putting them to bed. While you’re at breakfast in the morning. You see, we can build the fire anytime and anywhere.
Thanks to both Eunice and Lois, Tim has “been acquainted with the sacred writings” (v15) since before he could walk. The language here in the original language points to something more than general awareness of Scripture. Tim and his Bible are much more than casual acquaintances. The Greek word οιδα/oida points to an intimate relationship with someone or something that leads to appreciation and respect. Let’s just say the Bible at Tim’s house didn’t spend much time on the bookshelf.
Mad Skills
Tim’s mother and grandmother saw the incredible value in the Scriptures “which are able to make you wise” (v15). Paul uses a word here (Gr. σοφιζω/sophizo) which means a whole lot more than just stuffing your head full of facts, dates, and meaningless details. This is all about pursuing knowledge which can be applied. It’s becoming skilled.
God’s Word is not some dusty book full of weird fairy tales. It’s incredibly practical. First of all, it’s God’s written revelation of Himself. The more we learn about Him, the deeper our relationship grows with Him. The result is the realization of just how desperately we need Him. That’s the kind of wisdom it provides. These are the kind of mad skills we all need.
Sure there’s all sorts of very practical tips in places like Proverbs. But Jesus is so much more than an awesome life coach. He’s my Savior. He’s my Lord. He’s my God. Scripture provides the most practical wisdom I’ll ever find anywhere. My need for Jesus. My need for His grace. When I’m regularly exposed to God’s Word, there’s a really good chance that everything will eventually all click together.
When the Lightbulb Comes on
The lightbulb that eventually turns on is actually the Light of the World. That’s what Paul means when he says Scripture is just what Tim needed “for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v15). Jesus is the exclusive source of salvation (Acts 4:12). The one and only access to our Heavenly Dad is through His one and only Son (Jn 14:6). There may be a single point of spiritual rescue but it’s available to anyone and everyone. Because of God’s overflowing love for us, anyone who goes all in on Jesus gains immediate access to eternal life (Jn 3:16). He welcomes all comers.
We place our “faith in Christ Jesus” (15), not in ourselves. I can’t save myself. It’s just not possible. Don’t believe me? God invites us to take a shot at self-salvation by following His rules. You’ll find them listed in painful detail in what we call the Old Testament. It would have been the only Bible people like Lois, Eunice, Tim, and Paul had back in the day.
Saving Yourself by Following the Rules
The rules God gives in Leviticus alone are so complicated it will make your head hurt. I can barely read through the levitical laws much less obey them. So let’s just cut it back to what we call the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:3-17; Dt 5:7-21). I may think I’m a good person because I’ve never killed anyone or had an affair. But that’s only two out of ten. Give me a polygraph on the other eight and I’m in a world of hurt. I’m a train wreck when it comes to God’s Top Ten.
But hey, that’s the Old Testament. It’s all about a mean ol’ God full of judgment and wrath. Surely the God of the New Testament has softened up in His old age. Isn’t that where we find all that talk of love, mercy, and grace? Isn’t Jesus all warm and fuzzy? For Pete’s sake, you’ve seen the pictures of Him carrying a lamb on His shoulders, haven’t you?
Jesus Raises the Bar
There’s just one problem with that. It’s called the New Testament. In His most famous sermon of all time, Jesus doesn’t lower the bar but raises it so high that we could never dream of clearing it (Mt 5:1-7:29). In His Sermon on the Mount, our Savior tells the crowd to not make the mistake of thinking He’s tossing the OT in the trash can (Mt 5:17). Think the Law was impossible? Take a run at these new rules!
Suddenly getting angry is equal to murder (Mt 5:21-22). A wandering eye is equal to an affair (Mt 5:27-28). Get the idea? The good news is that Jesus also says that while He’s not rewriting the rulebook, He is going to obey all of them for us. “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). The Rule Maker becomes the Rule Keeper.
The CT Scan Can’t Cure
So what does all of this have to do with Paul’s words to Timothy about “salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v15)? The big idea is that God’s story that we read throughout the Bible is all about how desperately we need a Hero and God’s promise to send Him. Both the OT and the Sermon on the Mount are like spiritual CT scans that reveal my sin. No matter how often they’re used, they can’t heal. They only diagnose.
The Gospel is the cure. The grace of Jesus is the remedy. He does for us what we can never do for ourselves. He lives the perfect life of obedience to God’s Law that we fail to live. He dies the death for our sin on the cross that we should have died. He rises to the glorious resurrection life that we certainly don’t deserve. We also place our trust in His loving leadership as our Lord.
Caution: Flammable!
When we see Jesus as the Hero of God’s story in Scripture, the fire ignites in a big way. It takes time to stack the kindling in people’s lives. Instead of driving folks away with a long list of rules, begin carefully building spiritually flammable materials in their lives. Tell them about God’s incredible goodness. Point out how He loves us so much that He sent His Son for us.
Do this for your kids. For your grandkids. For your neighbors. For the weird guy in the next cubicle at work. For golf buddies. Will it seem weird and awkward at times? Probably. But take the time stack the kindling. Take the time to build the fire. Don’t be surprised when God lights them up! Watch out! Caution: Flammable!
Real fires with real wood take time. You don’t just flip a switch. You don’t just flick your Bic on a big log and start the blaze. You need some paper, a little kindling, and smaller pieces of wood. It takes preparation before you light things up. But when all conditions are perfect, you stand a great chance of a great fire.
Did you know that raising your child to be a follower of Jesus is similar? Let me be straight up about this idea. It belongs to Matt Chandler. But I know a good line when I steal one. Matt says parents should stack all of the spiritual kindling around their kids in the hopes that when the Holy Spirit ignites them, they will burn hot and bright.
Flipping through the Spiritual Scrapbook
Paul says something very similar to Timothy in the very last letter of his life. On Death Row in a Roman prison, who could blame the apostle for reminiscing with one of his favorites? He looks back on Tim’s explosive growth as a follower of Jesus. The former Pharisee knows it goes way back before the young pastor came to place his faith in Christ. “And now from childhood you you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v15).
The man from Tarsus is flipping through the pages of Tim’s spiritual scrapbook. He recognizes how God used his protege’s family to expose him to Scripture from the time he was an infant. They stacked the kindling. They got the wood ready.
No parent can make their kid a follower of Christ. Only God can do that. But we can stack the kindling. We can make things flammable. That’s what the people did for Timothy as he was growing up. They stacked the kindling. And Once God lit the match in Tim’s life, look out!
Baby Talk
Just how old was Timothy when this began? Was it when he was big enough to go to Sunday School? Surely he had to be mature enough to understand the big ideas of the Bible, right? Would you believe it began when he was a baby? Dare I say, Tiny Tim? Okay, probably not.
Paul reminds him “how from childhood” (v15) the process began. He uses a Greek term we translate “childhood” (Gr. βρεφος/brephos) that describes baby, a very small child, infant, even an unborn child or fetus. It implies the time a child before they are finished nursing.
Check out the other uses of βρεφος/brephos in the NT. Dr. Luke purposely selects this word when telling the story of John the Dunker in utero (Lk 1:41, 44). The good doctor also describes the newborn Jesus when retelling the story of the angel’s instructions to the shepherds to look for a “Baby (Gr. βρεφος/brephos) wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12). Sure enough, the shepherds found the proud parents and their “Baby (Gr. βρεφος/brephos) lying in a manger” (Lk 2:16).
Paul’s buddy Peter uses the term when talking about immature followers of Jesus. “Like newborn infants (Gr. βρεφος/brephos), long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1Pet 2:2). Proper nutrition is critical for the early childhood development. That includes proper spiritual nutrition of God’s truth. And that’s exactly the kind of nourishment Tim received when he was still an itty bitty baby back in Lystra.
Mom and Memaw
This backs up what we read in the opening lines of this letter. Paul recalls Tim’s spiritual heritage when he writes about how the young pastor has “a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure dwells in you as well” (2Tim 1:5). He points out how both Mom and Memaw spiritually invested in Tim’s life. They started early. VERY early!
What a powerful reminder that it’s never to early to start stacking the spiritual kindling in the life of child. Can’t you just picture what it was like in his earliest days? His mom singing sweet worship songs to her newborn baby. Grandma Lois telling her grandson all about the goodness of his gracious Heavenly Dad. Growing up Jewish themselves, they were simply doing what God had commanded through Moses. When it comes to passing along God’s Word, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Dt 6:7).
Don’t get all freaked out and think you need to come up with some sort of formal Bible study or daily devotion for your kids. Just make it a regular part of your everyday life. While you’re sitting around. While you’re riding in your car. While you’re putting them to bed. While you’re at breakfast in the morning. You see, we can build the fire anytime and anywhere.
Thanks to both Eunice and Lois, Tim has “been acquainted with the sacred writings” (v15) since before he could walk. The language here in the original language points to something more than general awareness of Scripture. Tim and his Bible are much more than casual acquaintances. The Greek word οιδα/oida points to an intimate relationship with someone or something that leads to appreciation and respect. Let’s just say the Bible at Tim’s house didn’t spend much time on the bookshelf.
Mad Skills
Tim’s mother and grandmother saw the incredible value in the Scriptures “which are able to make you wise” (v15). Paul uses a word here (Gr. σοφιζω/sophizo) which means a whole lot more than just stuffing your head full of facts, dates, and meaningless details. This is all about pursuing knowledge which can be applied. It’s becoming skilled.
God’s Word is not some dusty book full of weird fairy tales. It’s incredibly practical. First of all, it’s God’s written revelation of Himself. The more we learn about Him, the deeper our relationship grows with Him. The result is the realization of just how desperately we need Him. That’s the kind of wisdom it provides. These are the kind of mad skills we all need.
Sure there’s all sorts of very practical tips in places like Proverbs. But Jesus is so much more than an awesome life coach. He’s my Savior. He’s my Lord. He’s my God. Scripture provides the most practical wisdom I’ll ever find anywhere. My need for Jesus. My need for His grace. When I’m regularly exposed to God’s Word, there’s a really good chance that everything will eventually all click together.
When the Lightbulb Comes on
The lightbulb that eventually turns on is actually the Light of the World. That’s what Paul means when he says Scripture is just what Tim needed “for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v15). Jesus is the exclusive source of salvation (Acts 4:12). The one and only access to our Heavenly Dad is through His one and only Son (Jn 14:6). There may be a single point of spiritual rescue but it’s available to anyone and everyone. Because of God’s overflowing love for us, anyone who goes all in on Jesus gains immediate access to eternal life (Jn 3:16). He welcomes all comers.
We place our “faith in Christ Jesus” (15), not in ourselves. I can’t save myself. It’s just not possible. Don’t believe me? God invites us to take a shot at self-salvation by following His rules. You’ll find them listed in painful detail in what we call the Old Testament. It would have been the only Bible people like Lois, Eunice, Tim, and Paul had back in the day.
Saving Yourself by Following the Rules
The rules God gives in Leviticus alone are so complicated it will make your head hurt. I can barely read through the levitical laws much less obey them. So let’s just cut it back to what we call the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:3-17; Dt 5:7-21). I may think I’m a good person because I’ve never killed anyone or had an affair. But that’s only two out of ten. Give me a polygraph on the other eight and I’m in a world of hurt. I’m a train wreck when it comes to God’s Top Ten.
But hey, that’s the Old Testament. It’s all about a mean ol’ God full of judgment and wrath. Surely the God of the New Testament has softened up in His old age. Isn’t that where we find all that talk of love, mercy, and grace? Isn’t Jesus all warm and fuzzy? For Pete’s sake, you’ve seen the pictures of Him carrying a lamb on His shoulders, haven’t you?
Jesus Raises the Bar
There’s just one problem with that. It’s called the New Testament. In His most famous sermon of all time, Jesus doesn’t lower the bar but raises it so high that we could never dream of clearing it (Mt 5:1-7:29). In His Sermon on the Mount, our Savior tells the crowd to not make the mistake of thinking He’s tossing the OT in the trash can (Mt 5:17). Think the Law was impossible? Take a run at these new rules!
Suddenly getting angry is equal to murder (Mt 5:21-22). A wandering eye is equal to an affair (Mt 5:27-28). Get the idea? The good news is that Jesus also says that while He’s not rewriting the rulebook, He is going to obey all of them for us. “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). The Rule Maker becomes the Rule Keeper.
The CT Scan Can’t Cure
So what does all of this have to do with Paul’s words to Timothy about “salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v15)? The big idea is that God’s story that we read throughout the Bible is all about how desperately we need a Hero and God’s promise to send Him. Both the OT and the Sermon on the Mount are like spiritual CT scans that reveal my sin. No matter how often they’re used, they can’t heal. They only diagnose.
The Gospel is the cure. The grace of Jesus is the remedy. He does for us what we can never do for ourselves. He lives the perfect life of obedience to God’s Law that we fail to live. He dies the death for our sin on the cross that we should have died. He rises to the glorious resurrection life that we certainly don’t deserve. We also place our trust in His loving leadership as our Lord.
Caution: Flammable!
When we see Jesus as the Hero of God’s story in Scripture, the fire ignites in a big way. It takes time to stack the kindling in people’s lives. Instead of driving folks away with a long list of rules, begin carefully building spiritually flammable materials in their lives. Tell them about God’s incredible goodness. Point out how He loves us so much that He sent His Son for us.
Do this for your kids. For your grandkids. For your neighbors. For the weird guy in the next cubicle at work. For golf buddies. Will it seem weird and awkward at times? Probably. But take the time stack the kindling. Take the time to build the fire. Don’t be surprised when God lights them up! Watch out! Caution: Flammable!
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