Is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 a basis for cessationism?

I want to revisit the cessationist/continuationist debate as it relates to 2 Timothy 3:16-17. To begin, here is the New American Bible (1991) version of 2 Timothy: 10-17, which is a very close literal word for word translation of the original Greek.

10 You followed my teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,

11 persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, persecutions that I endured. Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me.

12 In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

13 But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived.

14 But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it,

15 and that from infancy you have known (the) sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

17 so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

To begin to examine this passage, I want to first deal with the question, what are the "scriptures”? Specifically, in verse 15, which says “…and that from infancy you have known the sacred scriptures…”, Paul is referring to the training in the Torah and Prophets that Timothy would have received as a Jewish boy. As for verse 16, which says “all scripture”, “scripture” here would have the central meaning of being the Old Testament Torah and Prophets, though the Old Testament Torah and Prophets would not be the exclusive meaning. For the purpose of discussing and applying verses 16 and 17, the “scriptures” in this passage in Timothy can be safely amplified to include Old and New Testament Scriptures.

Cessationists who use this passage as an argument for cessationism interpret verses 16 and 17 to mean that the Scriptures, and not the ongoing leading/guidance of the Holy Spirit is to be the sole source of guiding a believer. To the cessationist, relying on anything other than the chapter-verse of Scripture challenges the self-sufficiency of Scripture, which cessationists interpret from this passage. For a cessationist, if Scripture is capable of being used to teach, correct and rebuke to make one competent, equipped for every good work, why would one need any ongoing guidance of the Holy Spirit?

To confront this cessationist interpretation of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, in the verses that precede it going back to verse 10, Paul lists his teaching, way of life , purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance. These things all comprise “what you [Timothy] have learned and believed” in verse 14. After Paul admonishes Timothy to remain faithful to what he has learned and followed, Paul adds, “and that from infancy you have known the Scriptures”, thereby establishing the Scriptures as something that is complementary to all that Timothy has learned, believed and followed.

In regard to Paul’s list in verse 10, Paul refers to his “way of life”. Paul clearly intends his “way of life” to be a “way” that extends to others beyond Paul and not merely to be Paul’s life as a unique specimen in history. Paul’s way of life is inseparable from Paul’s “teaching” and, therefore, any aspect of Paul’s teaching is intended to be complementary to Timothy’s understanding of Scripture, along with Paul’s way of life. Timothy would have been exposed to Paul’s teaching as it is represented throughout the NT epistles, which include Paul’s teachings on the gifts and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, Paul’s experience of the Holy Spirit would have been inseparable from Paul’s “faith” in the broader understanding of Paul’s way of life as a temporal endeavor of relating to God.

A cessationist could try to argue that the “you” in verses 10 and in verses 14 and 15 were exclusive only to Timothy . A cessationist could argue that only Timothy would have directly known and followed Paul and only Timothy would know Paul personally to have learned directly from him (verse 14). From this point of interpretation, a cessationist could argue that the substance of verses 10 and 14 were only for Timothy, and were not intended to be time-transcendent teachings for all believers.

To begin to confront the problem with this line of interpretation, In 2 Timothy, Paul cannot have been guiding Timothy to hold to the Scriptures apart from the ongoing experience of the Holy Spirit, which was clearly part of Paul’s way of life and woven into his teaching. The “but” in verse 14 that Paul uses to distinguish Timothy from the “wicked people and charlatans” in verse 13 is a contrast that Paul also intends to refer back to “all who want to live religiously for Christ Jesus” (verse 12), whom Paul has also contrasted with “wicked people and charlatans”. It is "all who want to live religiously [or 'live a Godly life' as some translations have it] for Christ Jesus" who must distinguish themselves from the “wicked people and charlatans” by following Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance as must Timothy, as it is Timothy’s charge to pass on Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance to others.

Of course it is true that all believers throughout the ages beyond Timothy would not have the benefit of having followed Paul in person or having known Paul in a personal way. This does not mean that the principle of the text does not apply to all believers to the extent that believers are capable of knowing about Paul, or the other apostles, from Scripture and church tradition. To the extent that Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance can be known, all believers are to remain faithful to what they have learned and believed about it.

In the context of the passage taken as a whole, Scripture is complementary to Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance for the benefit of Timothy and any other believer. It is this understanding – that Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance is complementary to Scripture– that explains how the application of Scripture --as it is used for teaching, correcting and rebuking –is useful for making a believer “competent”. It is the one who, like Timothy, follows Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance who is capable of applying the Scripture correctly in the act of teaching, rebuking and correcting.

The cessationist who uses this passage as an argument for cessationism, however, does not emphasize the complementary relationship between Scripture and Paul’s teaching, way of life , purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance to interpret this passage. Rather, the aforementioned cessationist emphasizes the slight change of tone that happens when Paul stops directly addressing Tim directly and begins a new sentence in verse 16 that speaks directly of a principle regarding Scripture. It is this slight change of tone, beginning a new sentence that is part of the basis for a cessationist interpretation of the passage that verses 16 and 17 are more time-transcendent than the verses 10 and 14 that were addressed specifically to Timothy.

Here, the aforementioned cessationist works backward from the idea of being equipped for every good work and reads 2 Tim 3:16 and 17 to mean that the Scripture is “exclusively useful” for being used for teaching rebuking and correcting. It is this cessationist understanding that the application of Scripture for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training will preclude the need for a believer to be guided and/or illumined by the Holy Spirit beyond the canonized chapter-verse of Scripture. This cessationist idea from 2 Tim 3:16 that the Scripture is “exclusively useful” is another way of saying that the Scripture is “self-sufficient” as a cessationist understands that term.

I examined some different translations of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 with the help of my friend Steve Blackwelder, who is knowledgeable in New Testament Greek. For these verses, the NAB (as featured at the top of this post) is very close to the original Greek:

16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

New English Bible (1970), also close to the original Greek says,

16 Every inspired Scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, or for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, 17 so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for good work of every kind.

New American Standard Bible (1977) also very close the original Greek says,

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

There are other translations of the Bible which amplify the word “competent” with the idea of being “thoroughly competent” or some other equivalent. Here is the King James Bible:

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Regarding the word “perfect” in verse 17 here in the KJV, according a footnote in the Nestle-Alande Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th edition (1993) of the Greek text, the Greek artios, which modern translations translate as “adequate” or “competent”, is in most of the ancient manuscripts that have this verse. Some later ancient manuscripts have the word teleios, which means "perfect", instead of artios. However, only one later Greek manuscript is cited for this, and the rest are early Latin translations.

Here is the NIV (1973) which is genetically linked to the King James:

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Here is the RSV (1971) which is also genetically linked to the King James:

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

These translations make the idea of “adequate”, “competent” or “proficient” as it appears in the original Greek into something stronger in English. These translations make it easier for cessationists to work backward from the idea of a believer being “thoroughly equipped”— via his receiving rebuking, correcting and teaching from Scripture— to interpret that the Scriptures are to be “exclusively useful” for his instruction toward sanctification as believer.

The problem with interpreting the Scripture as being “exclusively useful” in verse 16 and 17 in this way is that Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance includes the guiding experience of the Holy Spirit. A cessationist cannot interpret 2 Timothy to mean that Scripture that is useful for teaching, rebuking and correcting is complementary to Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance for present day believers in the full and robust way that Paul experienced the guidance and deliverance of the Holy Spirit. Rather, a cessationist must interpret this passage in such a way that present day believers are to follow only a partial understanding of Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance as an ongoing practice: those aspects of Paul’s teaching, way of life , purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance that do not involve any teaching or practice regarding the instruction, illumination or guidance from the Holy Spirit.

For a cessationist, believers are to understand that the full understanding of Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance was intended as part of a dispensation that was only for Paul to operate as an apostle – and was only intended in diminishing degrees to characterize the lives of Timothy and the subsequent “pre-canon” believers. It is for this reason that a cessationist will emphasize the idea that verses 10 and 14 were intended more exclusively for Timothy and not for all believers.

Here, a cessationist could try to argue that the full understanding of Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance would include the word “purpose” which would include Paul’s purpose as an apostle and writer of the Bible canon. From this a cessationist could argue that all believers operate on a partial understanding of Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance and that the only debate is over the degree of partiality. A cessationist could further argue that “you know from whom you learned it” (verse 14) is Paul asserting his unique apostolic authority as the bearer of teaching.

It is true that Paul had a unique individual purpose in church history as an apostle and as a writer of the Bible canon. However, there is nothing in Paul’s teaching wherein Paul intended his experience of the Holy Spirit to be exclusive to him. The only exceptional experience of the Holy Spirit that Paul claims for himself as an apostle was the manner in which Jesus appeared to Paul after Jesus’ resurrection. In regard to Paul’s “way of life”, he taught, clarified and prayed for an ongoing experience of the guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit for others. As I will get into more in later blog posts on this topic, the only exclusivity that Paul claims for himself and for the other apostles is that they were laying down a foundation.

And this brings us to the final question regarding this passage: what is a “good work” (verse 17)? For a cessationist who interprets 2 Tim 3:16-17, discerning the ongoing guidance of the Holy Spirit cannot be counted as a “good work” that Scripture equips us for. For a continuationist, discerning the ongoing guidance of God via His Holy Spirit is precisely one of the many “good works” that Scripture equips us for. As I have elaborated on earlier posts, it is precisely to equip us for discernment that Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (this would fall under the umbrella of Paul’s “teaching” and as “scripture” in its amplified meaning) and that John writes in 1 John 2:20-4:6 (this would fall under the umbrella of “scripture” in its amplified meaning).

In conclusion: In regard to 2 Tim 10-17, To the extent that:

A) Paul has made using the Scriptures for rebuking and teaching complementary to his way of life and teaching
B) Paul’s instructions to Tim in verses 10 and 14 can be interpreted in a general way to be “time-transcendent” for all believers and were not merely exclusively for Timothy,
C) Paul’s teaching includes teaching about the guidance of the Holy Spirit that Paul intended for others to experience beyond him.
D) The “Scriptures” of verse 15 can be amplified to include all the NT, that include Paul’s teachings on the Holy Spirit,

2 Tim: 16-17 cannot be construed as Paul’s intention that the Scriptures are to be used to equip a believer in a way that precludes the ongoing guidance/illumination of the Holy Spirit. Rather, the Scriptures are intended to be useful along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to equip a believer for every good work, including the good work of discerning the ongoing guidance of the Holy Spirit. To interpret the passage as indicating that the Scriptures are “exclusively useful” for teaching, rebuking and correcting toward equipping believers—to the exclusion of the ongoing guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit— is to interpret a “dispensational divide” between the aspects of Paul’s teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance as they were meant to Timothy and those that were meant for modern believers.

Cessationists who support this idea by using the fact that Paul starts a new sentence in verse 16 are making too much of the new sentence. Verses 16 and 17 are merely a continuation of the teaching that was intended by Paul to be useful to Timothy in the context of the teaching that had just been given to Timothy, and in the context of the teaching to follow. Cessationists who support their “dispensational divide” by using the word “perfect”, “thoroughly equipped”, or some other similar translation in verse 17 to work backward toward the idea that Scriptures are “exclusively useful” are operating from an idea that has been made stronger in certain English translations than it is in the original Greek. On close examination, the “dispensational divide” that a cessationist interprets from the text separating what is relevant for Timothy and what is relevant for modern believers can only be construed from silence. It is in the force of that silence that cessationists apply their isogesis to 2 Tim 3:16-17 to have it mean something other than what Paul meant by it as a proof text for cessationism.