Worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth

John 4:19-24 is a passage of Scripture that speaks about worship in the middle of a larger story. Jesus is speaking with a Samaritan woman by Jacob's well near the city of Sychar in Samaria, while His disciples are in town buying food. Their conversation soon turns to worship when the woman said, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship" (vs. 19-20).

Jesus responded, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (vs. 21-24).

There are two parts to Jesus' answer: First, He tellls this woman that she can worship the Father any where and at any time, even right there while sitting on the side of the well. We talked about that aspect last week. The second part of His answer has to do with how we worship. We are to "worship the Father in spirit and truth" (v. 23). Let's explore that thought today.

What is true worship? Jesus said, "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews" (v. 22). Because they rejected most of the Old Testament, the Samaritans lacked the full revelation that it contained. There is a two-fold sense in which "salvation is from the Jews:" first, the revelation of salvation came to them first and then to the rest of the world; and second, the source of salvation—namely, the Messiah, Jesus Christ—was Himself a Jew.

The point is that under the new covenant, the place of worship will not be an issue, but rather the nature of worship. "An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" (v. 23a). "Spirit" does not refer to the Holy Spirit, but to the human spirit. Worship must be internal, not external conformity to ceremonies and rituals. It must be from the heart. "Truth" calls for this heart worship to be consistent with what Scripture teaches and to be centered on Christ.

The worship of neither the Samaritans nor the Jews could be characterized as being "in spirit and truth," even though the Jews had a more complete understanding of the truth. Both groups focused on external factors. They conformed outwardly to regulations, observed rituals, and offered sacrifices. But the time had arrived, since the Messiah had come, when true worshipers would no longer be identified by where they worshiped. True worshipers are those who "worship the Father in spirit and truth" (v. 23a). Paul calls them "the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3, NASB). It is "such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers" (v. 23b, NASB).

The phrase, "'God is spirit" (v. 24a), is the classic biblical definition of the nature of God. Despite the heretical teaching of false cults, God is not an exalted man "for a spirit does not have flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39). He is "the invisible God” (Col. 1:15), who "dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see" (1 Tim. 6:16, NASB). Had He not revealed Himself in Scripture and in Jesus Christ, God would be utterly incomprehensible.

We have come to know God personally through Christ who indwells us. So He is the One we are to worship. When you know Christ you will know God and be able to worship Him properly, "in spirit and truth" (v. 24b). And that means being at liberty when you worship, not legalistic. Glorify God with all of your being.

To worship in spirit means to worship God as He is—to keep the focus on Him. Worship is something we raise up to God. To worship in spirit, means being open to looking to God and lifting up our songs of praise, our prayers, and our reading of Scripture to Him. God is the One who should be standing before us, and the only One who is in view as we worship. That is true spiritual worship.

The late Dr. Bruce Shelley of Denver Seminary said, "The question is not, 'What did I get out of it?' It is, 'What did God get out of it?'" (from seminary class notes)

Think of worship as if it were a theatrical play: The Pastor and worship leaders are not the actors and the congregation is not the audience (as some may think). Rather, it should be in worship that the Pastor and worship leaders are the prompters, the congregation is made up of the actors, and God is the audience and critic. (Dr. Bruce Shelley; from seminary class notes)

To worship God in truth means to glorify God,  who is True, and to praise Him. William Temple said, "To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God" (Robert J. Morgan, Nelson's Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, & Quotes, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 2000, 808). That is what it means to worship in truth.

It takes a prepared heart. If you are not prepared to meet God, worship will not take place. Be prepared when you come to worship. Take part and worship God. Glorify God and exalt only Him in your worship.

Take time to prepare your heart for worship each Sunday morning. Don’t come just to see what you can get out of it. Oh, you may well gain a great deal, but only when you come for all the right reasons, and only when you come prepared to meet God and to glorify Him.

This is the kind of worship that changes lives, because it is true worship in spirit and truth. It will change your life! You can count on it! So prepare your heart to meet God every day. Glorify the Lord every day. Praise the Lord every day, wherever you are, wherever you go. And when we come together to worship, you will surely meet God. Amen.

Worship the Lord: Anywhere—Any Time! Everywhere—All the Time!

When you enter church for worship, two questions come to mind. Who have you come to worship? And what is worship all about? These two questions have been dealt with for nearly 2000 years. The answers should be obvious—we have come to worship the Father. We have come to worship Christ Jesus our Lord. Worship involves giving praise and honor and glory to whom praise and honor and glory are due—our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Next time you are in church attending worship, look around you. How engaged are the people? What are they doing? Do they participate? Let me guess: no one moves, no one smiles, everyone whispers the hymns they know. If the pastor is good, they keep coming and listening, though they may not act upon what they hear. But if the pastor is not so good, they do not listen and soon forget to keep coming to church. Am I right? It happens like this in so many churches.

Have you ever heard anyone say, “Why should I keep coming to church? I don’t get anything out of it.” Perhaps you have been heard to say this. Well, the problem is the only question we ask ourselves is this: "What do I get out of it?" That is the wrong question. If we do not feel we get much out of it, we simply complain and soon quit coming so often.

The question we should be asking is this: "What does God get out of it?" Or, "Is God glorified by my worship?" Many different things happen when true worship takes place. When we come together and truly worship the Lord, God is pleased because He receives praise and honor and glory, and God moves in our hearts to bless us mightily.

Many things are called worship today: certain gatherings, such as those held every Sunday morning in churches all avross our land, are called worship; meetings with certain liturgies, regardless of when they are held, are also called worship. But are these truly worship? Don’t get me wrong, these can be worship. True worship can take place in just such places as those. But are the things we do in church necessarily worship?

What is true worship? What does it look like? Just what are the ingredients? That is what the woman of Samaria asked Jesus during their conversation in John 4:19-20.

Jesus had been speaking with the woman of Samaria at Jacob’s well. He brought her sin into the open and she was convicted, realizing her need for forgiveness. Having repented, she now wondered where she should go to meet God and seek His grace. Knowing that Jesus was obviously a prophet of God (v. 19), she reasoned that He would know, so she said, "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship" (v. 20).

Her comment highlighted one of the major points of contention between Jews and Samaritans. Both believed that under the old covenant God directed His people to worship Him in a specific location. "You shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come" (Deut. 12:5).

The Samaritans didn't worship on Mount Gerizim simply out of convenience or because they were not allowed in the Temple, not being fully Jewish. They had Scripture to support their tradition. Accepting only the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) as canonical, they chose Mount Gerizim. It was at nearby Shechem that Abraham first built an altar to God (Gen. 12:6-7), and it was from Mount Gerizim that the Israelites proclaimed the blessings of obedience to God's commandments (Deut. 11:29).

In Deuteronomy 27-28, Moses set up two mountains: one representing the curse, Mount Ebal, and the other representing the blessing, Mount Gerizim. In Joshua 8:30-35 the people had conquered the land as far as Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim and they did as commanded, building altars on both mountains and offering sacrifices on each to recognize both the curse, represented by Mount Ebal, and the blessing, represented by Mount Gerizim.

From this the Samaritans built a tradition of worship at Mount Gerizim, which was in Samaria. But all of this was only meant to remind them to worship, serve, and obey only the Lord God! As they passed by these mountains they were to remember the curse and the blessing, and they were to remember to obey God and to do His will. The people took it from there and built a tradition over the course of many years, all because of a misunderstanding of what Moses and Joshua had done.

The Jews, on the other hand, accepting the complete Old Testament canon, recognized that God had chosen Jerusalem as the place where He was to be worshiped. "But I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there" (2 Chronicles 6:6a). They built a tradition around this.

The woman of Samaria saw these two traditions, each with their own Old Testament backing. Which one is right? Where should we worship?

Jesus replied in a way she did not expect and that caught her completely off guard. He said the issue would soon be irrelevant. He said, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain (Gerizim) nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father" (v. 21). During the Jewish revolt against Rome a few decades later (A.D. 70), the temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed, and thousands of Samaritans would be slaughtered on Mount Gerizim. More importantly, the new covenant would make all external ceremonies and rituals, whether Jewish or Samaritan, obsolete. Instead, you are to worship the Father wherever you.

Jesus said, "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers" (v. 23). You should make a habit of worshiping God every day, even in the quiet of your own home. Such a habit of worship (sometimes referred to as a quiet time) enhances your walk with God. It is a core discipline of the faith that builds you up in your vertical relationship with Christ so that He can live through you.

Certain places or certain liturgies might tend to enhance our worship, but neither is absolutely necessary. Jesus told this woman that they could worship right there on the edge of that well, or wherever they might be at any time. Anywhere—any time! Everywhere—all the time!

Now don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean we don’t need to worship together at church. We do. The writer of Hebrews said, "Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near" (Heb. 10:24-25). Gathering at church to worship together is how we stimulate one another in our spiritual walk with Christ. So do not forsake the assembly. Do, however, worship at home or wherever you are each day as well.

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (v. 24). He is spirit. He is everywhere present with us. So you can worship at home—family altar. You can worship at work—as you work. You can worship daily alone—quiet time or devotions. And of course, you can worship together corporately at church. Just remember to worship God daily wherever you are. Amen.

Pray with Power

As many of you know, during the summer of 1979 I served as youth pastor of a church in the Applewood area of Golden, Colorado. Three boys from the high school youth group and I went canoeing and camping on the boundary waters of Minnesota and Canada. On the last night, a bolt of lightning shot through the tent and hit me on the side, knocking me unconscious. I want to zero in on just one aspect of what took place after I regained consciousness and my legs recovered from paralysis.

With the storm still raging and lightning still flashing all around our tent and campsite, the four of us joined hands and prayed. Doug, the youngest of the group at age 15, prayed first, asking God to calm the storm. Immediately the lightning ceased, with just sheet lightning remaining a great distance away, and the rain let up to a sprinkle. Doug prayed a short, simple prayer, and God's answer was immediate. No delays, no waiting.

How did that happen? It is very simple. Doug prayed with power. But what made his prayer so powerful, when our prayers seem so feeble at times? Way too often, our prayers seem quite unproductive. What made the difference?

First, Doug’s prayer came from a humble heart. He recognized his own inability to do anything. He had to rely on God. Second, his prayer was sincere. He knew in his heart that only God could handle the situation, so with a sincere heart he turned it all over to Him. Third, he prayed with purpose. He recognized the need and his prayer was specific, "Lord, calm the storm." He prayed with purpose, yet left wide parameters for God to act according to the real need, which only He knew. Fourth, he prayed with boldness, with total confidence that God would meet the need and watch over our safety. The result was power in prayer. God's answer was immediate, and in very dramatic fashion.

When you seek to live the faith, you must trust the Lord implicitly. You must trust Jesus in all things and at all times. That takes time to learn. It takes a great deal of spiritual growth; growth that comes through the practice of the core disciplines of the faith—Bible study, prayer, worship, fellowship, service, and evangelistic outreach.

Living the faith, requires learning to worship the Lord daily at home, both alone and with your family. It also involves learning to worship, silently perhaps, at work or wherever you are—anywhere, any time.

Living the faith, requires practicing the discipline of prayer. We are commanded to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). That means learning how to pray with power. Such prayer must become a part of us, who we are in Christ.

"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full" (Matt. 6:5). Anything but humble! When your main thought in prayer is to be noticed by others so that they might give you praise—"Oh look at how spiritual he is"—that is all the reward you will get, because your prayer will go unheard by the One who needs to hear it most—God our Father.

Note the context: "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full" (Matt. 6:1-2). The context is a discussion by Jesus concerning the practice of righteousness. Jesus is talking about how to live the faith; how to live in such a way that honors God.

The audience you are to seek is God. Live your righteousness before Him, with no thought of what others may see or think. "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (Matt. 6:3-4). The hypocrites put on a great show when they give to the poor. A good cause, but they give for all the wrong reasons. They make a great show, because all they really care about is what others think and say about them. That is all the reward they will get. When it counts most, when Jesus returns, they may very well find themselves on the outside looking in. Their actions prove a lack of faith.

Instead, you are to give to the poor in secret. Your Father in heaven, the One who counts most, will see and reward you accordingly. Your prayers will be heard and God will answer in ways you could have never imagined; in amazing and even miraculous ways. That is the power of prayer. When you pray with humility, your faith will be made evident to God and He will not only answer your prayers in power, He will give you both abundant life now and eternal life in heaven with Jesus. What more is there?

So, when Jesus turns to the discipline of prayer, the message is the same. Don’t "be like the hypocrites" who "love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men" (Matt. 6:5). Instead, "when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (v. 6). When you pray, pray to your Father in heaven, not to men. Pray with humility. Let your approach to the throne of God be from a humble heart. Then you will begin to experience the power that prayer is intended to have. "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16b, NASB).

David said, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee" (Psalm 63:1a, KJV). Jesus did the same. Mark 1:35 says, "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." The important thing is not the time of day that you set aside for prayer, but the fact that you do set aside a time each day to spend in prayer; heart-felt, humble, sincere prayer.

"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words" (Matt. 6:7). The phrase "use meaningless repetition" is a single word in the Greek. It refers to idle chatter or thoughtless words. It may be a reference to people who mimick the sounds of meaningless jabber.

The hypocritical prayers of the "Gentiles," referring to unbelievers, were not only given in the wrong spirit, but in meaningless words. They had no substance, no significant content. To be acceptable to God, prayers must be genuine expressions of worship and of heart-felt requests and petitions. They must come out of a sincere heart, a heart that truly trusts God to know what is best and to do whatever is necessary to meet the situation.

"So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him" (Matt. 6:8). When you understand this truth, you will pray with sincerity. Needless repetition comes from a lack of understanding, thinking that God will only hear if you keep repeating yourself. If you say it enough, maybe it will get through and be heard. That only shows the lack of a sincere heart.

Being aware that God already knows your need before you even ask, allows you to simply lay it all out clearly and in complete trust that God will take care of it. Being free to pray with a sincere heart, opens up your prayer to the power of God.

To pray with power, you also need to pray with purpose. Your prayer must come from both a humble and a sincere heart, but your prayer must also be filled with purpose. Know who you are praying to and what you are praying for, and then you can pray with purpose.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gave His disciples an example of such a prayer. This prayer is often referred to as "The Lord's Prayer." But it is not really His prayer (John 17 is His prayer). It is rather the model he gave his disciples to follow when they prayed. So it might better be referred to as "The Disciples' Prayer."

First, you must know who it is you are speaking with—the God of heaven, the God all-powerful who can move mountains, if need be, to meet the need at hand. So when you pray, begin by acknowledging God through praise and reverence in worship. Jesus said, "In this manner, therefore, pray: 'Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name'" (v. 9). Praise—reverence—worship.

Remember as you pray, whose will needs to be done—God’s will, not mine. "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (v. 10). Often times, Christians add the words, "Thy will be done," as a kind of mantra. It is as though they think that such a statement alone will get God’s attention. In that sense the words become nothing more than meaningless repetition. It is a matter of the heart. What does the heart say? Verse 10 uses those very words, but with a heart-felt, humble, and sincere purpose—that God’s will truly is all the matters, and from my heart, may His will and only His will be done!

When you pray for God's will to be done in that manner, you may find God saying to you, "Thy will be done." When you know God intimately and you pray with purpose that God meet the need as only He can, then He may say to you, "Absolutely. So be it. As you ask, so shall you receive. Thy will be done." That is what it means to pray with power.

When you know God and come to Him properly, you can bring your petitions before Him to seek His will in your life. "Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (vs. 11-13). Whatever the need—food, shelter, clothing, forgiveness of sin, deliverance from temptation—you can come to God with purpose and experience His power; His wonderful, miracle working power.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matt. 7:7-8). Well known, oft-quoted verses. These two verses underscore the overriding thought concerning prayer that Jesus wanted His followers to understand—the assurance that their prayers will be heard.

Note the progression: Ask—given; Seek—find; Knock—opened (v. 7). And to underscore this truth the progression is repeated: Asks—receives; Seeks—finds; Knocks—opened (v. 8). When you pray with power, when you pray with a humble and sincere heart, and you pray with purpose seeking only what God wants, it will be given to you, you will find it, there will be an open door before you. You will experience the power of God as He provides.

"You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2). Or, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures" (v. 3). Your prayers are not answered because everything is wrong—your motives are wrong; you simply are not trusting God.

When everything is right, however, and you ask from a humble and sincere heart, and you approach the throne of God with purpose, seeking His will and not your own, you can pray with boldness. You can be completely confident that He will answer your prayers and meet your needs. That is how God operates.

"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" (Matt. 21:22). "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him" (1 John 5:14-15).

The proof—our ability to give good gifts to our children, compared to who God is. "Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpant? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matt. 7:9-11).

Such confidence in who God is leads us to pray with boldness. The writer of Hebrews gives a command, saying, "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). Amen.

Know the Word, Part II

No passage in the New Testament speaks as clearly of the nature and work of the Word of God in salvation and sanctification, than 2 Timothy 3:15-17. In these verses, the spiritually transforming power of the Word of God is spelled out. Verse 15 introduces the fact that the Scriptures "are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Verses 16-17 then deal with the sanctifying power of the Scriptures.

Before we continue, we must understand the nature of Scripture—what Scripture is. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (v. 16a) is the key phrase. The Greek word translated "inspiration of God" comes from a compound word that combines the word "God" with the word "breath, wind, or spirit." It means that Scripture was given by God's Spirit, or more directly by God's breath. Literally, it was "breathed out by God," or simply, "God-breathed." Scripture came directly from God when "holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit"(2 Peter 1:21).

At times God breathed His words into the human writers to be recorded much as dictation. He said to Jeremiah: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jer. 1:9). But, as clearly seen in Scripture itself, God's Word more often flowed through the hearts and minds of those He chose to accurately convey His truth without error. The bottom line is that all Scripture is “God-breathed.” It is God’s inspired Word, without error in the original autographs. It is intended to make us like Jesus.

In addition to leading us to salvation, the Word provides divine instruction or doctrine. The precise words are that it is "profitable for teaching" (v. 16a). "Profitable" means it is both beneficial and productive, as well as sufficient in meeting your needs.

God told Joshua, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success" (Joshua 1:8). This affirms the absolute sufficiency of Scripture to meet all the spiritual needs of God's people.

So, we are to adhere to the "teaching" of Scripture. This has to do with content. It has to do with divine instruction, or doctrine, given to believers through God's Word. We are to know that instruction, or doctrine, and live by it. Titus 1:9 tells the elders that they are to be "holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict." The instruction of Scripture, the doctrine, shows us the way in which we are to live.

Scripture is also "profitable…for reproof" (v. 16b). The "teaching" of Scripture, the instruction or doctrine, helps us walk the narrow way of righteousness. It heads us in the right direction of becoming like Jesus. But sometimes we walk away from that path like sheep that have gone astray. We fall back into our old sinful ways and quit living by the Word as we should. When this happens, the Scripture brings "reproof."

"Reproof" carries the idea of rebuking in order to convict of misbehavior or false doctrine. As with teaching, Scripture's work of reproof has to do with content, with equipping us with accurate knowledge and understanding of divine truth that exposes falsehood and sin.

The Word rebukes sin and false belief. As a doctor diagnoses a disease, so Scripture pin-points the problem of sin in our lives. When you know the Word, various Scriptures will come to mind and will confront your sin. It will rebuke the sin in your life and call you back to Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the Bible as a divine sword that cuts both ways and exposes sin in your life. "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:12-13).

Scripture penetrates our heart and soul, and both exposes and rebukes our sin. It leads us to repentance and turns us back toward God when we have gone astray. That is another reason why it is so important to know the Word; to read it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it.

Scripture is "profitable…for correction" (v. 16c). This is the only occurrence of this Greek word for "correction." It refers to restoring something to its original condition or its proper shape. It is the idea of restoring something to its right state. After exposing and condemning sin and false belief in believers, Scripture then builds them up through its divine "correction."

When you accept Scripture’s reproof and repent of your sin, "correction" is Scripture's positive provision. When you leave the narrow way and stray from living by the Word, "reproof" is how Scripture stops you from following the wrong path and "correction" is how Scripture sets your feet back on the right path. Through confession and repentance you are restored to a right and proper state, a life of righteousness. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Scripture is also "profitable…for training in righteousness" (v. 16d). "Training" originally referred to bringing up and training a child, but it came to be used of any sort of "training." It also is the idea of "correcting" and "discipline." In the context of verses 16-17, it clearly refers to "training" in the broader and more positive sense, since the negatives are covered by "reproof." It is directed at the ideas of instruction and building up. Until the Lord takes us to be with Himself, His Word is to continue "training" us "in righteousness."

As with teaching, reproof, and correction, those who are godly—especially leaders in the church—are instruments through which Scripture provides "training" for God's people. That is why gathering together at church to worship and pray and study God’s Word is so important. It is here that we fulfill God’s directive "to stimulate one another to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24)—to build each other up in Christ.

The teaching of the Word puts us on the path of righteousness. The reproof and the correction we receive from the Word stops us from wondering too far from that path and puts us back on that path of righteousness. Then the training of the Word keeps us on the straight and narrow path of righteousness. But in order for that to work, you must know the Word.

The purpose is "that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (v. 17). God’s Word makes you adequate. God’s Word equips you to live a life of righteousness like Christ, a life filled with the good works "which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).

Do you see how important it is to know the Word—to learn it well and to live by it every day? By way of application: read the Word, study the Word, meditate on the Word, and memorize the Word. Make it a part of you. Know it well. When you know the Word well, no matter what hardships or temptations arise, you will recall it when the time is right and you will be prepared to win the spiritual battle. Amen.