Written for You

It’s important to recognize that while the Scriptures were not written to you, they were most certainly written for you.

“To all who are beloved of God in Rome,” wrote Paul; “to the church of God which is at Corinth,” wrote Paul again, not to twenty-first century you or me. It’s like this from Genesis to Revelation. Even in the Gospels, which have perhaps the broadest modern-day appeal of any of the books, Matthew wrote to the Jewish audience of his day and Luke to the Gentile one. The Law and the Prophets were written to the Israelites and Revelation to the seven churches in Asia.

To recognize Scripture’s original recipients is to better understand its context, and to better understand its context is to better apply its timeless truths to you.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,”—i.e., what Scripture is for—“so that the man of God”—i.e., who Scripture is for—“may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.”