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There are quite a few places in the Bible which are difficult. When I say difficult, I don't mean 'difficult to understand'. I mean difficult as in, when you read it all you can hear is a sharp intake of breath which means 'does the Bible really say that?'

This week we head out on a series entitled Difficult Bible Bits. Each week we're going to take a new difficult Bible passage and see if we can discern what its true meaning is. To give you a hint of what we'll be looking at here are a couple of the bits we'll be looking at:

• the command to Abraham to sacrifice his only son
• the command that women should remain quiet
• the command that women should wear hats

Notice that all three of those have 'the command' in them - that's why they're difficult, because they all appear to be God commanding something which we don't think he should command. For this week, however, let's get our foundation right, and see why we ought to look at these bits.

'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 competent, equipped for every good work.' (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Have a read, then a re-read, then another read of this passage. This claim is a little ridiculous, but it's entirely true. Let's break this up a bit.

All Scripture (so that's every word from Genesis to Revelation) is breathed out by God (that's the same God who created you and me, sustains the universe, has saved us through Jesus' death and resurrection, and is always right) and profitable (notice that it's all useful - there aren't useful bits with extra bits added around to give context, it's all useful).

It's profitable for teaching (so we can learn about who God is through the Bible), for reproof (our lives can be shaped by the Bible), for correction (the Bible points out when we're wrong...and it is always right), and for training in righteousness (the more we read and apply the Bible, the more conformed into the image of Christ we become).

And the purpose of Scripture being like this is so that the man of God (i.e. all Christians who read the Bible - the original Greek word translated 'man' can also be translated 'person') may be competent (enabled by the Holy Spirit), equipped (given the necessary gifts) for every good work (to act in an unsinful manner by not committing sins, and by performing good works).

Conclusion

It's important that we wrestle with these difficult bits of the Bible! They're written by God too, and they're useful too. There are only good effects of studying these passages, so will you join me as we encounter some of the most challenging bits of the Bible?

"Point of Reference" from Fred Price

A Broken Spirit And Contrite Heart