Sermon for October 19, 2025 (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5) by Rev. David Domanski
Our Epistle today contains a passage which is extremely important, a passage which undergirds all of our theology and doctrine as Christians. St. Paul writes, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (3:16–17). This passage teaches us that the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God. It teaches us that the Scriptures, although written by the hands of human authors—men like Moses, David, Isaiah, Matthew, Paul, and John—and a product of their own minds and experiences, are also, at the same time, the product of God’s own hand and mind. All Scripture, Paul says here, has been breathed out from God’s own mouth and has come down to us, through human authors, from Him.
Thanks to this passage and others like it, we know and believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are reliable and trustworthy. They are not just the ideas of men but they are also the words of God. Thanks to this passage, we know and believe that every word of every verse in the Scriptures is true and contains no errors. Not only that but, thanks to this passage, we know and believe that the Scriptures aren’t even capable of making errors. And so we believe that the Scriptures give us a firm foundation—the only foundation!—on which to build our lives and faith. It would be almost impossible for us to overestimate the importance of this passage.
There is, however, another reason why this passage is so important. The other reason why this passage is so important is that it teaches us to see that … The God-Breathed Scriptures Breathe Life into Sinners, Equipping Us to Serve God and One Another in Love.
The fact is that sin knocks the breath of life out of us. And having the wind knocked out of you is a good analogy for what sin does to us. It leaves us breathless, paralyzed, afraid, and unable to do much of anything for anyone. We see this time and time again in the Scriptures. In Genesis 2, Adam and Eve had the breath of life breathed into them at creation and, as a result, they were able to love and serve God and each other perfectly. But falling into sin in chapter 3, they are left gasping for air both physically (they ran from God) and spiritually and are unable to love God or each other (Gen 2:7; 3:1–13). In Ezekiel 37, the people of Israel are shown to be like a valley of dry bones, cut off and breathless, because of their sins and the consequences of those sins (Ezek 37:1–2, 11). And in John, chapter 20, the disciples, having abandoned their Lord and fled in fear, are breathless, paralyzed, as they gather in the locked room on the evening of Easter (Jn 20:19).
But God continually breathes new life into sinners. In each of the examples just mentioned, God breathed new life into His people through His promises. It’s like divine CPR!
After Adam and Eve sinned, God breathed new life into them with the promise that a Savior would crush the serpent’s head (Gen 3:14–15). And God breathed new life into the dry bones of Israel with the promise of new life in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezek 37: 3–10, 12–14). And finally, God breathed new life into the disciples as Jesus literally breathed on them (Jn 20:20–22) when He came to them behind the locked doors of the upper room.
When Paul reminds us that the Scriptures are God-breathed, he’s teaching us that God does the same kind of divine CPR on us through the Scriptures. The breath of God is the spirit of God. Jesus says his words are “spirit and life” (Jn 6:63), and as He breathes His last on the cross, He breathes out the breath of life so that all people may live in His forgiveness. We were dead (without breath!) in our trespasses and sins, but God has made us alive with Christ through the Gospel (Eph 2:1–5). When we read or hear the Scriptures and meditate on them, the Holy Spirit breathes the breath of life back into us. We are resurrected and resuscitated—given new life!
And having this new life breathed into us through the Scriptures, we are able to serve God and one another in love. We don’t know much about what Adam and Eve did after God spoke His promise to them, but having new life breathed into them through that promise, they were able to stop hiding from God. Having had new life breathed into them through the hope of God’s promise through Ezekiel, the people of Israel were able to begin to serve God and one another (even their Babylonian captors) in love. And having new life breathed into them by Jesus, the disciples were equipped for their mission as witnesses of all Jesus had done and taught. They were empowered to forgive sins (Jn 20:23).
With the same breath of God restored to each of us through the Scriptures, we are enabled and empowered to serve God and one another in His love. We know that this love and service will always be hampered in this life by sin, but the God-breathed Scriptures are able to breathe this new life into us every day to do God’s good.
Paul reminds us that the God-breathed Scriptures equip us for every good work by: teaching us—showing us what good and God-pleasing works really are; reproving us—calling us to repentance over the sin that remains in our lives; correcting us—improving us or restoring us the way one might improve or restore a house or a vintage vehicle; and training us in righteousness—shaping or forming us as those who serve God and one another in love.
As Paul writes these important words to Timothy, he encourages Timothy to continue in the Scriptures and the faith that they have imparted to him. That encouragement is something we all need. In a world where there are many “teachers” vying for our attention and many voices speaking into our ears, let us continue in the Scriptures and the faith they teach us. Not only are these Scriptures truly and entirely reliable, but they are also the breath of God for us. They breathe new life into us and equip us to live as the people God would have us be. In Jesus’ name. Amen.