But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Devotion based on 2 Timothy 3:14,15

Are you a pragmatic person? Pragmatists want to find effective solutions to life’s problems. They deal with challenges based on what works, not on what they wish worked. And that sounds great because if there’s one thing we want, it’s things that work.

Does that attitude apply to religion? There are thousands of religions, and all claim to have an effective solution to one of life’s great problems: How do people get right with God?

On the surface, all these religions seem incomprehensibly diverse, but all of them—except one—boil down to essentially the same solution: You need to do enough good in life to stand before the holy God.

But does that work? Can you have confidence that you and God are good because you’ve done enough good? Not if you’re honest with yourself. Your conscience is a constant reminder that the solution of doing enough good doesn’t work because no one can ever be sure they have done enough.

But there is another plan, the one in today’s Bible reading. In fact, what works is the Bible. Those Holy Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 15).

Other religions may be popular, but that doesn’t mean they’re successful. Unlike them, Christianity isn’t about trying to be good enough. It’s about God making you wise for salvation. His Word gives you wisdom that leads to salvation because it tells you all about Jesus.

Jesus is God’s plan to save you. You can’t do enough good for God, so Jesus came and did enough good for you. You can’t pay for your sins, so Jesus went to the cross to pay for them. You can’t conquer death, so Jesus rose from the dead to conquer it for you. That’s a different solution! Not trusting in yourself but trusting in Jesus. That works!

Prayer:

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.