Paul serves as a mentor to a man named Timothy as a Church leader. He eventually writes two letters encouraging him as a Christian and in his role with the Church. Within this message, he gives one of his most significant statements to believers.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 – NIV 2011)

A follower of Jesus needs to handle the Bible correctly, especially Church leaders. This means several things:

1. You have an overall knowledge of the Bible. You need to understand the difference between the Old Covenant of law made with Abraham and Moses. Then be able to compare that to the New Covenant of grace made through the blood of Jesus. This knowledge will enable people to use the Old Testament correctly in applying it to their lives.
2. You build all theology based on the Bible. Public opinion doesn’t matter, and personal experience does not matter; a historical figure’s idea doesn’t matter, and not even the current scientific stance should sway you. This is often called “allowing scripture to interpret scripture.” Paul refers to “the whole counsel of God.” A student of Jesus needs to know all the Bible and how it all connects.
3. You will accept the plain reading of the Bible as best. It is always good to dig deep into the Greek words, historical background, and context of the passage. The goal is always to reach the “Author’s Intended Meaning.” If someone must explain some possible obscure meaning from an ancient word that does not align with the plain reading, it is usually wrong.
4. Know the Bible can be handled wrongly. Just because a college gave someone a degree does not mean they can correctly handle the scriptures. Just because they are a preacher, pastor, priest, or Church leader, stand up to speak, have a YouTube channel, or say they are 100 percent convinced does not make them correct. Read your Bible yourself. Study. Ask logical questions. And reject anything contrary to sound interpretation.

The Bible is the primary tool for a believer. Therefore, we need to ensure we are correctly handling it, along with those who speak from it. It is easy for people to deceive others because they cannot make the proper interpretation. So Paul tells Timothy to make this one of his primary goals, and so should you.