TWO MORE 3:16's -- Devotional for June 23, from "Good Seeds"

By our common confession great is the mystery of godliness, for Jesus was revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the spirit, beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory (I Timothy 3:16). All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. (II Timothy 3:16).

The devotional for March 16 (3/16) listed some of the wonderful “3:16’s” of the Bible. Now here, in Paul’s two letters to his young pastor protégé, Timothy, we find two more. We know the verse and chapter divisions of the Bible are not part of the original, inspired record, but were inserted by “editors” hundreds of years later, to help casual readers of the Bible to become serious students of the Bible. But if that is true, then how could it be anything but a coincidence to find twelve particularly inspiring passages of Scripture which share the same “address”? I can’t answer that, but what I can do is read these verses and commit their truths to my heart. And the “3:16” can be a helpful memory device. We could put The Three-Sixteens on the list along with the Twenty-third Psalm, the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the Lord’s Prayer, as Scripture passages worth memorizing. In I Timothy 3:16 Paul describes the mystery of godliness in two ways: 1) The identity and character of our Savior, and 2) The job description of the saint. The second follows the first: once we realize just who Jesus is, how could men do anything else but worship Him as God, and how could those worshipers desire anything more than to share the claims of Christ with anyone who will listen! The very Son of God came to the earth to live as a man (“revealed in the flesh”); but His miraculous words and deeds proved He was more than a man (“vindicated by the Spirit”); If He was not acknowledged as God by men, there was no lack of such knowledge by heavenly beings – including Lucifer and his cronies (“beheld by angels”); and when He ascended to heaven before His open-mouthed friends (“taken up in glory”), all they could do was to go out and “proclaim Him among the nations.” A glorious result was promised: He would be “believed on in the world.” This verse gives the clear message of Jesus and a firm mandate of what we’re to do with it: PREACH IT! And II Timothy 3:16 explains in greater detail what makes up such preaching: “teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.” Ask any pastor worth his calling what is his greatest task and he will say – at least he’d better say – “preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.” “Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel” said Paul (I Cor. 9:16). What say you, pastor of today?