PEXELS Two men reading Bibles

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.” — 2 Peter 3:16-4:2a (NKJV)

The most important part of this passage is the very first phrase: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” This says to the Christian and heathen alike that we have no authority to pick and choose which parts of the Bible are applicable to our lives, and that we are all bound by and accountable to every “jot” and “title” contained within its pages.

In this day of buffet dining and fast food menus as a way of life; the attitude toward obedience to scripture has come to mean that we can be obedient only to those verses we like and God will be okay with our choices.

What a foolish and damnable attitude! Not only have we lost the desire to be obedient, we seem to have lost the ability to comprehend the simple wording of this passage. “All scripture” means exactly that — all scripture is given in response to the human condition that is naturally lost and in dire need of correction. There are no short cuts to the “instruction in righteousness” that only God’s word supplies. We shortchange ourselves when we pick and choose scriptures to obey according to our personal lifestyle. The verse that offends us is of far greater value than those that we see as “feel good” passages.

Unless we accept being offended by the difficult (for us) verses, we will never see the need for change (conviction). No conviction equals no repentance, and no repentance equals no forgiveness, no matter how strongly we cling to our personal preference of scripture.

To say that God doesn’t require me to obey all scripture says that we are wiser that God, and that we can do this according to our own personal preferences. If we believe that it is within our own human ability to pursue righteousness without obedience to all of God’s word, we have elevated ourselves above God and have made His word of no effect (Mark 7:13).

Rev. Bobby Thornhill is a retired pastor.