The Sufficiency of Scripture and Christian Ministry
by Joel Stephen Williams
A young man really likes a young lady he has taken out on a date, but he is unsure if she is the right one for him. He desires a good Christian marriage, so he prays to God for guidance. He decides to call the young lady three nights in a row at 7:00 p.m. to ask her for another date. If she accepts, he will take that as a sign from God that she is the one. If she does not answer, if the phone is busy, or if she declines, it will be God’s answer that he should keep looking. Another man is having doubts about the love of God, even wondering if God really exists. As he is walking out of his house, he notices a hawk descend onto a bush in his front yard. A small cardinal frantically flees from the bush and flies straight toward the young man as if it is looking for help, brushing against his chest, only to fly away to safety in a nearby tree.
Sufficiency of Scripture?
What do we mean by the sufficiency of Scripture, and how does it relate to the two imaginary stories I just told? As Wayne Grudem explains in his Systematic Theology, the sufficiency of Scripture means that the Bible contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation and for trusting and obeying Him perfectly (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994; 127). Timothy Ward describes this as the “material aspect of the sufficiency of Scripture,” which “declares that Scripture contains everything necessary to be known for salvation” (“Reconstructing the Doctrine of the Sufficiency of Scripture,” Tyndale Bulletin 52 [2001]: 157). Dennis W. Jowers contends that the sufficiency of Scripture satisfies four conditions (“The Sufficiency of Scripture and the Biblical Canon,” Trinity Journal 30, no. 1 [Spring 2009]: 49).
- It contains all of the articles one must believe to attain salvation.
- It contains all precepts one must obey in order to live piously before God.
- It is sufficiently perspicuous [easy to understand, JSW] to convey this information to an attentive reader.
- It is self-authenticating.
Paul reminded Timothy that from childhood he had “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; cf. Psalm 19:7–14). “Sacred writings,” which probably referred to the OT with their prophecies of the Messiah, were able to instruct Timothy “for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” “All Scripture” is useful for “training in righteousness.” William D. Mounce in his Pastoral Epistles explains that the “ultimate purpose of Scripture’s inspiration” is expressed with a play on words in Greek in this text by the apostle Paul (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000; 570–71). By means of Scripture, everyone could be “complete” (artios) and “equipped for every good work” (exsartizō). According to Frederick William Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon, the Greek word artios is defined as to be “well fitted for some function” or “able to meet all demands,” while exsartizō means “to make ready for service” (3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000; 136, 347). Scripture is sufficient to instruct us in every way for salvation and righteous living.
of Scripture for Christian Ministry?
What are some implications and consequences of the sufficiency of Scripture? First, the sufficiency of Scripture, along with related truths—the inspiration, authority, clarity, and infallibility of Scripture—means that in our doctrinal and ethical teaching, we should turn first and last to the Bible. Peter wrote, “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20–21). When we read Scripture, we are not reading mere opinions of human beings, but God’s viewpoint, God’s will on the most important matters of life.
Second, the sufficiency of Scripture does not suggest that we should abandon the use of reason or sound methods of interpretation in studying the Bible. Some ways of using the Bible, some methods of biblical interpretation, and some resulting interpretations are better than others. We would be wise to consider carefully what others have said or written about the biblical text, taking advantage of good Bible study tools to check our thinking against that of others.
Third, although Scripture is sufficient to instruct us regarding salvation and righteous living, proper application of biblical teaching will need to be made to circumstances of life that are continually changing. The foundational principles that we use in our analysis of problems—such as love, justice, holiness, righteousness, purity, and honesty—will continue to be the same, because God’s character does not change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8), and human nature is no different than it was in the days of Adam and Eve. For example, we must answer dilemmas in medical ethics that were unknown to earlier generations, but the teaching of the Bible is sufficient for us to construct a medical-ethics theology for making appropriate decisions.
Fourth, the sufficiency of Scripture provides us with an objective standard for what we need to know to be saved and how to live morally, spiritually, and religiously to be pleasing to God. We do not need to look to random events of life or inner feelings in hopes of finding additional guidance or signs from God. It is inconsistent to claim that the Scriptures are one’s sole authority for faith and practice, when in reality supplementary guidance is constantly being sought by various subjective means.
Finally, what does the sufficiency of the Scripture have to do with the two fictional stories with which this article began? Did the young lady answer the phone when the young man called to ask her out for another date? No. She did not answer the phone three nights in a row, so he believed God had given him a sign to look for someone else. Later, the young lady saw the young man and asked him why he never called her for another date. He explained what had transpired. She told him she was attending a gospel meeting every night that week. He suddenly realized that she was a good Christian lady like he wanted to date. He thought, “Why did God guide me away from her?” Then he wondered, “Maybe God is leading me to her now?” This young man’s extra-biblical method of seeking God’s will was thoroughly subjective and contradictory.
In the second story, as the young man watched the bird fly to safety, he had a sense of calm come over him. He thought to himself, “God is giving me a sign that He exists and that He loves me. God saved that little bird. Surely God must love me even more than He loves that bird.” A few days later, though, the young man saw the feathers of a mockingbird in his back yard. Likely the hawk had caught it and eaten it on the spot. He wondered, “Is God giving me a different sign now?” The second young man’s approach to seeking guidance from God was just as subjective and contradictory as the first young man. Neither approach was capable of producing assuring results.
The problem with both of these young men was that they were looking in the wrong place and in the wrong manner for guidance from God. Instead of looking to chance occurrences or searching their inner feelings, subjectively guessing at what God might be saying, hoping for an answer to a prayer, both of them needed to open their Bibles to study the Scriptures. The first young man should have searched his Bible for principles of a happy marriage relationship, behaved accordingly, and then looked patiently for a good Christian mate, but not through reading spiritual tea leaves or praying for signs from heaven. The second young man needed to look no further than the clear teachings of the Bible to know whether or not the God who exists loves mankind. What more could God say or do to prove His love for us than what He has already done through the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Both of these stories could be rewritten with numerous conflicting endings. I know of several real-life stories similar to these and have read many others (e.g., see Garry Friesen, with J. Robin Maxson, Decision Making and the Will of God, rev. ed. [Portland: Multnomah, 2004]). We are not inspired prophets or apostles like Isaiah or Paul. Searching for divine guidance from what are likely random, chance events or nothing more than fleeting feelings in our hearts is a rejection of Scripture’s sufficiency and an embracing of a contradictory, subjective standard for truth. In ministry, let us point people to the Scriptures as we teach them sound methods of Bible interpretation. Let us try to be as objective as we can, always listening to the advice of wise counselors. There are many excellent tools available for all who are involved in ministry, but when it comes to knowing what we must do to be saved and to live a life that is pleasing to God, we should always rely on the objective standard found in the inspired, authoritative, and infallible Scriptures, which are sufficient to instruct us for salvation and for righteous living.
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