Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19940102.htm

TEACHING FROM THE BIBLE
Part I: "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth", or Getting to the True Point
(2 Timothy 2:14-16)
  1. Introduction
    1. A number of Christians at Nepaug Church teach Sunday School, Vacation Bible School or Five Day Club lessons, and others present God's Word at special weekly Bible studies. Still others teach children at home, in Christian schools, etc .
    2. This fact is often coupled with the teacher's desire to make SURE he is handling God's Word correctly, or that he is presenting it effectively to the listeners.
    3. This series of lessons focuses on practical but Biblical guidelines for teaching the Word of God.
  2. "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth," 2 Timothy 2:14-16.
    1. It is a fact that teachers can fail their hearers by not properly using the Word of God, 2 Tim. 2:14,16.
    2. Opposite this, a godly teacher must "rightly divide" the Word of God as a skilled workman so that what he teaches is met with divine approval, 2 Tim. 2:15!
    3. We examine what "rightly divide" means in 2 Timothy 2:15 to know what God seeks in our teaching:
      1. The KJV term translated "rightly divide" actually means to "cut a straight course". It is used of masons (and others) who plumb out straight lines from points "a" to points "b" for cutting stones, Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 754.
      2. Applied to Timothy, opposite (a) striving to aimless ends (2 Tim. 2:14), Timothy was to get straight to the point! (b) Also, opposite erring doctrinally (2 Tim. 2:16ff), Timothy was to get to the right point.
    4. Christ Himself illustrates these facts in His discussion with the Sadducees in Mark 12 as follows:
      1. <+C>Jesus shows how to get straight to the point in teaching God's Word:
        1. <+C>In Mark 12, the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection since they thought the soul ceased to exist at death, Z.P.E.B., vol. 5, p. 214 (s.v. "Sadducees"). Jesus thus defined the need of the Sadducees to know that the soul existed after death so that they would have to change their beliefs!
        2. <+C>Accordingly, His points do not delve into all available truths found in Exodus 3:6. Rather, Jesus streamlined His approach only to prove that the deceased patriarchs still existed!
      2. <+C> Jesus models how to interpret Scripture accurately in making His point a true one , Mk. 12:26-27:
        1. <+C>In the historical context, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had already physically died, and they
        2. <+C>In the grammatical context, Jesus' argument rests on the present tense of the verb "am" as
        3. <+C>Jesus' argument rests on our taking the literal meaning of "am" in Ex. 3:6; only if we understand Jesus to mean God was then being the patriarch's God does He have a sensible point to make!
        4. <+C>Accordingly, since the patriarchs were physically dead at the TIME God claimed that He
        5. <+C>To interpret the Bible accurately, one must not allegorize the text, but take it at its normal
Lesson: To teach the Scripture with God's approval, the godly Bible teacher must go STRAIGHT to the TRUE point needed so that his hearers will learn GOD'S point, 2 Tim. 2:14-16. (1) This involves the teacher's labor to define a clear point when he prepares the lesson so that his hearers will relate to what he says!! (2) The teacher must interpret God's Word accurately for his point to be correct and blessed by God. This comes by using the normal, or "li tero-grammatico-historical" method of interpretation.