Study to show yourself approved

Study to show yourself approved

Paul tells Timothy that there's something required in a workman, and it’s not optional. It is a requirement of God. Look what he tells Timothy in 2 Timothy,

2Tim.2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

He said study to show thyself approved! This is a personal responsibility between an individual and God. It doesn't matter if you've got an ordination paper from whatever denominational church, and it doesn't matter if you've got a seven-year degree from a theological seminary or bible institute. This verse speaks of a personal, individual responsibility, between that man and God. He is showing himself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Rightly dividing the word of truth is not something you do as a hobby or secondary activity. It is the very skill required to approve yourself unto God. When God's looking at a workman, and He is judging whether that workman is approved unto Him or not, the very skill He is looking for is whether that man rightly divides the word of truth.

The Bible contains a lot of information about heaven and earth. There's information in the Bible about Israel, about the nations, and about various time periods. How much time came before you? How much time is coming after you? You cannot think that God, from the beginning of the world, was writing a book that centres around you, considering that you are just a vapor that appears for a short time and then vanishes away. There's a lot of information in the Bible, and the reason you have to rightly divide is not because one part of the Bible is more important than another or that one part of it is true and the other part isn't. The reason you have to rightly divide is because there is a lot of detail in the bible, and it is a necessity that you study the information and then organize that information into its proper divisions. If you do that you will have the skill required of God as a workman. If you don't do that, you're just going to keep adding to the godless confusion of this world's religious system, the bickering, the contending, the false doctrines, and the constant fighting about titles, like pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, pre-wrath, millennialism, amillennialism, etc.

All we need is the Bible. God has provided all the information in it that we need to know. Studying it diligently, with the skill of right division, will allow us to correctly arrange the pieces and form the picture God want us to see. Without diligence and skill, all that comes from it is man-made doctrines, vain imaginations, and forms of godliness that deviate from the truth and from the power of God.