Guidebook For Godly Living

And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle … and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.
1 Timothy 2:7

You can find support for almost anything in the Bible:

Stealing: “Anyone who has been stealing must steal” (Ephesians 4:28).

Atheism: “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1; 53:1).

Of course, none of these verses means what it appears to say when taken out of its context.

That’s why the task of a teacher and preacher is so important. They are charged with correctly handling “the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Charles Simeon expresses his high regard for God’s Word—and explains how it should be handled.

WALK WITH CHARLES SIMEON
“I love the simplicity of the Scriptures; and I wish to receive and communicate every truth precisely in the way, and to the extent, that it is set forth in the inspired volume.

“My endeavor is to bring out of Scripture what is there, and not to thrust in what I think might be there. I have a great conviction on this point; never to speak more or less than what I believe to be the mind of the Spirit in the passage I am expounding.

“It is an invariable rule with me to give to every portion of the Word of God its full and proper force. Where the inspired writers speak in unqualified terms, I think myself at liberty to do the same, judging that they need no instruction from me as to how to propagate the truth.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
In order to be a teacher of the Scripture, you must first be a learner.

The assignment will not always be simple. Even Peter admitted Paul’s letters contained some things that were weighty and “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). Yet Peter never used that excuse to twist Paul’s words into something more palatable—but false!

Whether you are called on to teach others or merely to teach yourself, the need is the same: to come to the Bible as God’s trustworthy guidebook for your life.

It’s always safe to say, “I will do nothing else.”