Who would have the nerve to speak for God?

“Equipped for Good Work”

(2 Timothy 3:17)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

that the man of God

The title, “man of God,” refers to the prophet as the appointed spokesman for the Lord. How could it be that a man could be in that position to actually speak for the Almighty King of the universe? The Spirit of God, at work in the Old Testament prophets, has been poured out upon the church. Not only the minister, but the whole church, has this Spirit of the living God. They are to be filled more and more with that Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in their hearts to the Lord, and hearing the word of God from the mouths of one another in the body of Christ.

may be competent,

Yet not many within the body of Christ should be official teachers. This is what God says in James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

Not everyone is ready now to have the responsibility to be a teacher of the Word of God. The competency that is referred to hear is not primarily academic, though the learning of the Word is such a precious gift to the whole church. The word translated “competent” has to do with the word “now.” The man of God must be at the ready. Through the whole of the Scriptures, read, meditated upon, studied, prayed, and spoken of, the Spirit of God makes a man ready to be the man of God in a time and place as a shepherd of the flock.

equipped for every good work

Such a man, the man at the ready with an ear that hears, and with the Word that the Lord has for that moment, is equipped by Spirit and Word, for every good work that God calls us to in the ministry of the Word. He is not alone. He is a part of the school of the prophets. The spirits of prophets test the prophets (1 John 4:1).

The word equipped confirms that the idea of “competent” has to do with timing or stage of readiness. This “equipped” is about being ready to move out, like a vessel finished for sailing. It is not only built, but it has the supplies necessary for the journey.

Is the man filled with the Holy Spirit? See Ephesians 5:18-21. How is His life in the Word? Can he listen to and submit to others? Is He able to hear and receive the full range of what the Spirit does with the Word? Having the firm foundation of the full counsel of biblical teaching, can he move from a kind identification of a problem, to pointing the way of life through correction, and then coming alongside in the art of training in righteousness?

Who is sufficient for these things? But we have the Word of God in us who died for our sins. We have the power of His death and resurrection working not only in us but in our hearers. Not only is He saving them; He is saving us. Our hope is in Him, and He has given us the whole of the Scriptures.