Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

 

 

Several years ago, one of my teachers pointed to the verse above, and especially the phrase “…rightly dividing the word of truth.”  Finding clarification in the meaning of those few words totally changed my approach to understanding the Scripture. 

As he was nearing the end of his Apostleship and life, Paul had written to his young protégé` Timothy.  Paul sought to encourage him and give him instructions related to their newly established churches among the Gentiles. One key to Timothy’s success would be his being mindful of this admonition to rightly divide the word of truth.  

My earlier focus in Bible study had been on two key scripture verses from the same second letter from Paul to Timothy. In the next chapter Paul had advised: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Those two verses set a foundation for understanding that there are no insignificant portions of the Scripture.  At that time, I looked at the Old and New Testaments as a single scriptural document, to be taken as a “whole truth”. The call to “rightly divide” this truth brought this new perspective.

Early in my study as a Christian, and in my limited appreciation of the need to consider the Bible as a whole, I had regarded the Old Testament as only somewhat relevant.  It had been essentially focused on the Nation of Israel, but included some stories familiar even to Christians, such as Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, and others.  But there was no mention of Jesus.  It seemed rather easy to think of the “dividing” of the word to be separating the Old Testament from the New Testament, where our Lord Jesus was introduced…but that might not have been the division the Apostle Paul wanted Timothy to address.

After further study of the life of our Lord Jesus, other factors became manifest. It was clear that during His Earthly ministry, the Lord was adamant that His Ministry was to be restricted to only the people of the Nation of Israel (Matthew 10: 1-6).  His rationale for excluding the Gentiles at that time would be revealed later.  His 12 Disciples and others who followed Him during those three-plus years were all members of the Nation of Israel.  From the heralding of John the Baptist who announced Him, until the Lord’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and Ascension, only Jews comprised what we now call the Jerusalem Church. 

That early group of the Lord’s followers must be distinguished from the group of predominantly (but not solely) Gentile Christians (us) who learned of salvation to eternal life through the Ascended Lord’s revelations to the Apostle Paul (beginning Acts Chapter Nine).  In the next section of this blog, I’ll explain why the “rightly dividing of the word of truth” likely relates to these two groups of followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Or maybe not that alone.

Dr. W. A. Robinson