God Speaks: Wisdom for Salvation - 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Can you hear me now?

Can you hear me now? I say that line and you immediately see “The Test Man” in your head. Verizon ran that campaign for years. When “Test Man” showed up more than 10 years later selling phones for Sprint, he didn’t even have to say the phrase and we were all plugging it in. Phone commercials haven’t changed much. The point is till this: you want our phone network because we have better phone coverage where you’ll never miss a call because you’re not getting a signal. Right.

But that’s it, right? We never want to be without a signal. We never want to be disconnected. We want to hear. We want to be heard. Can you hear me now? Imagine you wake up tomorrow and your phone has no signal. No bars. No Wi-Fi. You reset it. You toggle airplane mode. You restart the router. You do all those things we do these days when the signal seems to go missing. And there’s nothing. You try to find a device that works and then you’re trying to find your providers outage page… sure we have people working in the area.

At first it’s just annoying… until it starts to feel weird. Because you realize how much of your day assumes connection. Maps. Messages. News. Work. Family. Emergencies. Even just that quiet comfort that help is reachable. Now imagine it’s not just your phone. It’s everything. Radio is static. Internet is down everywhere. No one can reach you and you can’t reach anyone. You’re still alive—you can make coffee, go to work, do the motions—you can have conversations… you could read a book. Now there’s a thought. LOL But if that is the world… when you’re alone… your own thoughts are the loudest in the room… and if you are Bresson, I can only imagine what the thoughts are saying, what the thoughts are accusing. And what if that signal never comes back? You can speak all you want, but your words fall into a void. No reply. No confirmation. No voice on the other end. Just that dead, hollow feeling of being cut off.

We come to the big questions in life… and “can you hear me now” is no joke. It’s not just about signal. It’s about Who is speaking. What if God isn’t speaking? If God doesn’t speak, we don’t just get “less spiritual.” We don’t just become “a little confused.” We perish. We go to hell—because a silent God means there is no promise—no “FOR YOU”—no forgiveness spoken into the guilty, no peace spoken into the terrified, no life spoken into the dead, no Jesus delivered to sinners. And if the only word left in the universe is my word—my self-talk, my excuses, my accusations, my righteousness projects—then I am done. Our own voice does not absolve. It accuses. It bargains. It keeps score. It tells us to manage ourselves into righteousness. And it never ends. It’s static in the soul.

We really don’t grasp how absolute our dependence is on God speaking. Not merely for guidance, but for existence—literally. The Bible’s very first few pages show us this. The world is no days old and God is speaking. “Let there be…” and reality happens. There’s Light. There’s Order. There’s Life. All because God is speaking. And he continues to speak. He has to. If God stops speaking, we’re goners.

You belong here, so God speaks here

In 2026, The Table Church is speaking and we are telling the community around us: you belong here. You belong here because Jesus belongs you here. You belong here because Jesus keeps doing the same thing that he always does… providing forgiveness for sinners, and comforting the brokenhearted. You belong here because Jesus has promised to belong here Himself.

And that’s why we’re beginning this year with a 30-day Bible reading challenge. Not to run a program. Not to earn points. Not to prove anything. Not to turn Scripture into spiritual homework. We are doing this because the world is noisy. There are all sorts of voices that want your ear. And they want to fill your ear with things that are not true… they want to stoke your fear, your shame, your anger, your ambition, your exhaustion, your inner critic, your constant sense that you’ll never be enough.

This God Speaks series will run for 6 weeks. We have the study guides for you. You let me know if you want one. 30 days of a challenge to read our Bibles and in those 30 days, we’re going to get a sense of what the Bible is about.. all the main themes and topics… the Bible as the story of Jesus. We’ll also be providing, as much as possible, a daily Conversation at The Table throughout the 30 days… and this will get us to the season of Lent. The 30 days begins on January 19th a Monday. Today and next Sunday are a bit of setting the Table for what’s coming in our challenge.

Today we’re going to keep it really simple. During the six weeks, our main text is going to be from Paul’s second letter to his friend Timothy who is also a pastor. 2 Timothy 3. We read the passage a few minutes ago… but here’s where we are going to start our 30-day challenge:

God’s Word gives you Jesus.

When God speaks, he speaks through Jesus and he is giving you Jesus. It’s that simple. If you don’t remember anything else from today. Remember that. God’s Word gives you Jesus.

In his letter to his friend Timothy, Paul says this:

“From infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

Paul here is saying that the Word gives you Jesus. Oh… we don’t read it that way. In fact, this verse was hammered into me as a kid. But the way it was read is the same way you’ll see people talking about it on social media. The verse is flattened to mean: “The Bible tells you how to be saved.” It doesn’t. Don’t walk out of here and claim, yeah Bresson said the Bible won’t tell you how to be saved. That’s not what I’m saying.

What I’m saying is that Paul is saying so much more than that here. He’s not saying the Bible merely contains correct information about salvation. He is saying the Scriptures are able—powerful—effective—to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Meaning: the Word doesn’t just describe salvation. The Word delivers it. The Word does what it says.

A few weeks ago Oscar and Juan built a brand new cabinet for the communion room. The old one was all rusty. So… the cabinet arrived from Amazon… with zero instructions included. Yeah… before packing it back up to send back, they found a YouTube video and there was enough info from the manual there… they got it done. It helps to have an instruction manual if you’re going to build something. But here’s where the similarities end. People approach the Bible as if it is an instruction manual. Like what we need to live good lives. What we need to know in order to be saved. What if that cabinet not only came with the instructions on how to build it, what if the instructions actually built it? That the manual with all the parts actually does all the work and puts it together for you? The Word doesn’t simply tell you how to be saved. The Word saves you.

“Wise for salvation”: not a self-management tool to be “used”

I can’t stress this enough. So many of us—especially if we’ve been formed in Bible-believing circles—were trained to “use” the Bible in a particular way: memorize more verses so you’ll sin less; learn the right passages so you can manage temptation; build a system so you can keep yourself in line. Sometimes it’s said nicely in tones of encouragement. Too many times it comes off as a threat. But way too often using the Bible to sin less is couched in terms of Promise. In fact, one of the pet slogans you’ll see everywhere comes from one of the most popular British preachers ever:

“The Bible will keep you from sin; sin will keep you from the Bible.”

We can’t begin to unpack all of the problems with this pet phrase. It comes off as being super biblical and super insightful. But it’s not. The problem is in the word “will”. That slogan is presented as a promise. And the Bible doesn’t promise that anywhere. I grew up wondering is it just me? Why am I stilling sinning even though I have devotions and read my Bible every day?

The danger is precisely the danger in misreading Paul here. That kind of promise that more Bible means less sin turns the Scriptures into a technology of self-control. It makes the Bible a tool for getting the old Adam under management. And if that’s what “wisdom” means—I’m going to become the kind of person who can manage sin and eradicate sin—then wisdom becomes a spiritual ladder and salvation becomes the prize at the top.

But Paul does not say: “Scripture makes you wise to manage your sin.” He says: “Scripture makes you wise for salvation.” That’s not “how to be a better you.” That’s how God rescues sinners.

“Wise for salvation”: not a tool to control people

And here’s where it gets uncomfortable—because it hits right in the heart of a lot of evangelical and apologetic instincts: when the Bible is a tool to be “used,” people will jockey to control it. The Bible becomes something to manage, to deploy, to win arguments, to slay dragons “out there,” anywhere but in the mirror. And then whoever controls the Bible gets to make the rules. In fact, the person who controls the Bible, gets to control Jesus. If you are managing the Word, it is no longer “wise for salvation.” It has been reduced to raw material for your will.

But the performative Word—the living Word—does the opposite of what we want. It refuses to be managed. It manages us. It speaks to us without permission. It addresses us. It kills us and makes us new. We don’t read the Scriptures, we don’t preach the Scriptures mainly to get control over sin; we read because God uses the Scriptures to get control over us—by killing and raising us through Christ.

Jesus as the Word: The Scriptures save because they deliver Him

And Jesus is the key to all of this. The Scriptures make us wise for salvation because the Scriptures are not only all about Jesus, but they give Jesus to the sinner. You see the Word is not only a thing; the Word is a Person.

St. John said it best in a verse we quote at Christmastime:

“In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1)

The Word became flesh. The Word got a body. The Word became Human. The Word has a name. Jesus is not merely the topic of the Bible; Jesus is the living Word of God that is given to sinners through the Bible.

So that we can say this and believe this over and over and over at The Table:

The Word saves because the Word is Christ.

The written Word—Scripture—saves because it is the Spirit’s chosen instrument for giving you the living Word, Jesus. Christ is the saving Word, and the Scriptures are the saving Word because they hand Him to you. I can hear some of the snark now… that’s just superstition. No… that’s the only thing that can save us. I don’t know how many times I’ve been in conversations where the Bible is actually elevated to be more important than Jesus. Paul won’t let us go there. John won’t let us go there. The Bible is not a magic object. We do not worship paper and ink. But we also do not reduce Scripture to mere information. The Word is first and foremost a Person and He meets sinners in the Preached Word because the Scriptures are God’s living speech through His son Jesus.

“All Scripture is inspired by God…” (v. 16)

All Scripture is inspired by God. We confess that here at the Table and most Christians do. But has anyone stopped to think about what they are saying? The Word is God’s breath. That same Word tells us that the very breath of God is Jesus himself. He is the one who breathes forgiveness and life to sinners through His Words. When Jesus tells a lame man that he has just healed, “your sins are forgiven”, he’s not just making an informational statement. In that moment, he is breathing life and forgiveness into the sinner when he says the words.

Over the coming weeks we’re going to talk a lot about the Scripture teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training from Paul’s letter to Timothy. But we will always, always, always, have to come back to this: verse 15 is the control. The Scripture is teaching, rebuking, correcting and training only because it has first made us wise for salvation. Otherwise, all the teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training is an exercise in better behavior… moralism.

So when Paul says to Timothy that Scripture gives wisdom for salvation, he is not saying: “Scripture gives you a strategy for better living.” He is saying: “Scripture gives you Christ—and Christ is your Wisdom from God.” Which means: the “wise” person is not the one who has mastered the Bible. The “wise” person is the one who has been mastered by the promise—who has been reduced to receiving—who is finally willing to be saved by Another.

The Word that won’t be used kills and makes alive

Remember how we said The Word will not allow itself to be managed? We cannot manage the Scriptures and make them do what WE want them to. in fact, the opposite happens. The Word kills our self-justification. our ability to say, “NOTHING TO SEE HERE.” our NEED to make the Bible serve our agenda. AND AFTER THE KILLING, THE WORD makes alive: it gives forgiveness, it gives faith, it gives hope, it gives a new identity. IT GIVES US JESUS. That’s why “wise for salvation” can never mean “sin-management.” Because sin-management still keeps you at the center. It still keeps you in charge. It still keeps your project intact. The Word as Promise from Jesus himself means that we’re not in charge. We are rescued by Jesus.

So hear the wise Word for you:

Christ is wisdom FOR YOU. Christ is life FOR YOU. Christ is redemption FOR YOU.

And He comes to you now—through Word—through promise—through the Scriptures—wise for salvation.

Can you hear me now? There is never a moment when the signal is silent from God. God is never silent. The Word who made the world has entered His world. The Word who died for you is risen. And He still saves the way He always saves: by speaking. And when He speaks—“Your sins are forgiven”—that isn’t information. That is rescue. That is salvation spoken into existence for you. You can’t manage this Word. You can’t use it like a tool. Because it isn’t yours. It’s Christ’s. And Christ doesn’t come as a mascot for your cause. He comes as the Savior for your sin. He comes with a love that will not be controlled, a grace that will not be undermined, a forgiveness that will not be silenced. Jesus, The Word, comes speaking: FOR YOU. And that—right there—is why you belong here.

Let’s Pray

The Table

Right here at this Table, the Word doesn’t just come as sound to the ears, but as Promise joined to bread and wine—the same Christ speaking the same salvation in a way you can taste. Jesus says “This is My body… this is My blood… given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” And because His Word does what it says, this Table isn’t just a religious act whereby somehow we are doing something that will get God’s attention. This is God’s act coming down to us, delivering the crucified-and-risen Christ into our mouths. If we could manage Scripture into a tool, we’d turn it into law; and if we could manage Jesus, we’d turn Him into a personal genie or good luck charm. But here at this Table you can’t manage Him—you can only receive Him. The Living Word, who cannot be controlled, comes with a love you didn’t earn and a grace you can’t manufacture, and He speaks forgiveness so concretely that it becomes food: Christ for you, wisdom for you, salvation for you.

Benediction