Called to Preach

In 2 Timothy 4:2, the Apostle Paul makes an urgent plea to his protege’ Timothy, to maintain a sense of urgency about preaching. Paul explained that preaching needed to do three things: reprove (correct), rebuke (strongly criticize), and exhort (strongly urge change).

In vs. 3, Paul explained why this was so important. He said, if Christians were not consistently confronted with biblical doctrine, over time they would shift away from biblical truth, and eventually desire preaching that made them feel good as opposed to correcting them. This shift would open them to false doctrine (2 Timothy 4:4).

Jesus said in the gospel of John 32:8, that those who continued in his w0rd would be his true disciples, and would know the truth that would make them free. The question is, how does knowing truth make believers free?

According to Hebrews 4:12, biblical truth is so powerful that it can pierce or convict the listener on the inside, The Word can reveal to us wrong intents of our heart. In other words, when the word is preached as Paul directs — to reprove, rebuke, and exhort, it has the ability to change or soften our heart. When that hard heart softens enough, the believer has the ability to repent, and godly sorrow brings repentance which is necessary for deliverance (2 Corinthians 7:10).

The essence of what the Apostle Paul was saying is that it isn’t enough for preaching to be positive; it must be corrective, instructive, and presented in a way that causes listeners to change, which enables them to stay on the godly path.