Reformed Theology: 3. Sufficiency of Scripture

Welcome back to the Basics of the Reformed Faith series. Today's topic is the sufficiency of Scripture.

The sufficiency of Scripture is closely related to the inspiration and authority of the Bible. When we speak of the inspiration of Scripture, we refer to the fact that the various books of the

Bible have their origin in the will of God. The books of the Bible have been breathed forth by God, the

Holy Spirit, through the agency of human writers, 2nd Timothy 3 .16, and we went over that in the last lesson if you want to review it.

However, when we speak of the authority of the Bible, we mean that since the Holy Spirit is

Scripture's divine author, the Holy Spirit is alone able to bear witness to the truthfulness and divine origin of God's Word.

The church does not give the Bible its authority. Rather, the church can only recognize that the authority which

Scripture already possesses because God has breathed it forth. A good illustration of this would be like a thermostat in a room.

You could set the temperature to whatever temperature you want, or the thermometer can read the temperature of the room.

The early church saw the Scriptures and recognized that it was

God breathed, recognized the Spirit's work in the midst of it. In other words, they looked at the temperature and recognized that it was accurate.

They didn't set the temperature or set their authority on God's Word and make it

God's Word. Only God can give authority to His Word. When we speak of Scripture as sufficient, we mean that the

Bible reveals everything God wants us to know about His will and how to be saved from His wrath.

The Bible was given for a very specific purpose. The Bible does not teach us everything that might be useful or practical to know, nor was it intended to do so.

The Bible was not given to satisfy sinful human curiosity, nor will we find answers to all the mysteries of life.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God. Deuteronomy 29 29. But the

Bible does reveal both law and the gospel, which is very important from a reformed perspective.

The law is that which God commands of us and is found in a passage such as Exodus 20, the

Ten Commandments. The law is binding upon us and we are going to be held responsible to it, whether we can keep it or not.

The gospel is what God gives us in Jesus Christ, which meets the demands of His law and is spelled out by Paul in 1

Corinthians 15, just as one example, as well as several other. Although the moral law is universal, it is written upon our hearts because we are created in God's image.

Only in the Bible do we find God's law in written form so that God's will is perfectly clear to all of us.

While the beauty and wonder of creation powerfully points us to the Creator, so much so that we cannot deny

God's existence, as per Romans chapter 1, the story of God's saving work to rescue sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ is not written in the beauty of mountain peaks, nor is it found in the awesome crashing of the seas.

This is known as natural revelation. The only place where we will find the gospel is in the

Word of the written God. This is also known as special or specific revelation.

When we speak of the sufficiency of the Holy Scripture, we mean that in the Bible we find the account of our redemption, which unfolds in the covenant of works made in Eden with Adam, and which is restated in the

Ten Commandments, as well as through the future promise of a future Redeemer and a new covenant of grace in which we will witness

Jesus save us from our sins in the types and shadows of the Old Testament, and in the promise and fulfillment of the new.

Since this story of redemption is the content of the Bible, what else could we possibly need to know about how to worship

God properly? What else do we need to know about how to be delivered from the guilt and power of sin that God has not already revealed to us in His Word?

Do we need church tradition to clarify the gospel? Do we need additional holy books or revelations to reveal those things supposedly missing from the

Bible? Of course not. God has spoken clearly and finally in His Word through His Son Jesus.

The Bible is sufficient for everything we need for life and godliness. We do not need additional revelations, we do not need additional holy books, nor do we need the church and holy tradition to tell us what is in those books.

In the Bible, we have all that we need to know God's will to be saved.

As justified sinners who are cleansed by the blood of Christ and clothed in His perfect righteousness, we are free to approach the

Holy God with thankful hearts and worship Him in the manner He prescribes. But we only know this because the

Bible reveals this to us. This is what we mean when we say Scripture is sufficient.

Let's do a quick review. Inspiration means the Bible has its origin in the will of God.

The Bible receives its authority from God, not from any church. The Bible is sufficient in that it reveals everything

God wants us to know about His will and salvation. It was not designed to be a science book or a book that contains all knowledge.

We get in the gospel what the law obligates us to keep. The gospel is found only and clearly in the

Bible. In the Bible, we have all that we need to know God's will and to be saved.