Most mature Bible believing Christians are familiar with 2 Timothy 3:16-
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (NIV).
But who can tell me the verse that comes immediately before this one? Don’t look in your bibles! Can you say it from memory? Here it is:
“and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 15).
In many ways verse 15 is the main idea of what Paul is saying: The purpose of Scriptures is to make us WISE FOR SALVATION. All of the teaching, rebuking, correcting and training is to help us have a clear idea of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. It is not enough to know the scriptures. There are many Bible scholars who miss the point of why the Bible was written. It is essential that the Bible be interpreted in the light that streams from the cross of Christ:
“The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross of Calvary. I present before you the great, grand monument of mercy and regeneration, salvation and redemption the Son of God uplifted on the cross. This is to be the foundation of every discourse given by our ministers” (Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, p. 315).
Each verse of the Bible is like a piece to a very large puzzle. Each verse has its proper place, and when all of the pieces come together we are left with a picture of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns, and with his nail pierced hand He points to the doorway of eternal life:
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life (Revelation 22:17).
~Stephen Beagles