...you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 3:15)
Salvation is more than just “going to heaven.” Salvation has to do with being delivered from a powerless existence enslaved to this world and sin, and brought into a relationship with Christ where we find meaning in our service to God and others.
Ephesians 2:10 says that God has prepared good works in advance for us to do. The question is, “How shall we know these works?” How will we gain wisdom to know, discern, and act in accordance with these good works?
I Timothy 3:15-16 tells us that the Scriptures that make us wise for salvation. Through the scripture we don't just know “about” salvation, we grow wise in it-we learn how to live. The passage goes on to say that, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient and equipped for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3:16-17).
From the scriptures of the Old Testament to the New Testament, God has provided for us means to grow wise not only to bring us to salvation but to mature us in salvation. We do not know how to live our new life in Christ on our own, we need the power of God's Word working in our lives. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, as we put into practice the scriptures we learn, our lives are transformed.
We are not only to be hearers of the Word, but doers as well (James 1:19-22). As we “hear and do” we grow in wisdom and discernment in the ways God would have us to live.