Sufficiency of Scripture
Why is Scripture essential for believers?
The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture is fundamental for us as followers of Christ.
The Bible can equip us for faith and service to God. God wants to restore the relationship that was broken in Genesis.
Jesus Christ is our Savior. It is through the Word we can learn of this gift. No other writings are necessary for this good news to be understood or any other writings required to equip us for a life of faith.
The Word of God is enough for us. “The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contains all the words of God we need for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly.” (Grudem, 2020)
During the Reformation, reformers formulated the Protestant principle sola Scriptura Scripture and Scripture alone, which means that Scripture is enough to equip people to know God and fully do God’s will.
“..and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15–17 ESV
Because God is all-wise, sovereign, merciful, and has many other attributes, God has given us all that is necessary for the proper understanding of who He is, who we are, how He has acted in the past, and what He expects from us.
The Bible is the record of all of the things that God wanted us to know about Him. In other words, Scripture is complete and sufficient for belief and behavior. Nothing needs to be added to them.
Yet, there are instances where we think that we need to add to the Bible. We don’t. God warns us about doing this in His Word.
We should not add to the Bible or consider making other writings equal to Scripture. We can see this in Mormonism, where they claim to believe in the Bible but also hold the Book of Mormons on the same level as Scripture. Likewise, Christian Scientists also claim to believe in the Bible, but their founder Mary Baker Eddie wrote Science and Health with a Key to the Scriptures, which they hold above Scripture.
Let’s look at what the Bible says about this,
Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV says, “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”
Proverbs 30: 5-6 ESV “Every Word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”
Revelation 22: 18-19 ESV “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
The Bible is enough for us as followers of Christ. We should not add or ignore certain parts we don’t like. It has everything we need to know about God and His will for us.
“To affirm the sufficiency of Scripture is not to suggest that the Bible tells us everything we want to know about everything, but it does tell us everything we need to know about what matters most.” Kevin DeYoung
Bibliography
Grudem, W (2020) Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine 2nd Edition
