![\"flowers\"](\"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/flowers-125x96.jpg\")
In our day, no Christian\u00c2\u00a0doctrine\u00c2\u00a0has been more assaulted in the world and in the church than the truth that God’s written Word — the Bible — is altogether sufficient.<\/p>\nIn our day, no Christian\u00c2\u00a0doctrine\u00c2\u00a0has been more assaulted in the world and in the church than the truth that God’s written Word — the Bible — is altogether sufficient.<\/p>\n
Right now, many of the worst assaults on the Bible are coming from seemingly friendly sources\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 people who claim to follow Jesus and also from Christian book publishers.<\/p>\n
You see aspects of this assault in the modern charismatic movement with private personal revelations couched in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Lord told me\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d formulas\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 with special hidden revelations.<\/p>\n
And you can also see an\u00c2\u00a0undermining of the sufficiency of Scripture\u00c2\u00a0in best-selling devotional books, like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jesus Calling.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
And you see this same downward trend\u00c2\u00a0in personal experience books about heaven and the afterlife in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Heaven Is For Real\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and so forth.<\/p>\n
This trend is also\u00c2\u00a0found in private messages from God, so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwords of knowledge\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that are essentially an evangelical breed of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfortune-telling.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n
And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the growing cult of personal experience all of which is distracting Christians away from a reliance upon God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all-sufficient Word.<\/p>\n
Scripture itself has much to say about its own sufficiency.<\/p>\n
We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need private supernatural messages from God; we have Moses and the prophets \u00e2\u20ac\u201c moreover, we also have Jesus and His Apostles to give us everything God wants us to know about life and death; and about heaven and hell.<\/p>\n
Yet the Bible also requires us to think<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an increasingly unpopular activity.<\/p>\n So I want to briefly\u00c2\u00a0consider the sufficiency of Scripture in this blog.<\/p>\n The first six verses of Psalm 19 describe God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s general revelation<\/em> through nature. In particular, it reveals His self-disclosure through the skies and by the light of the sun.<\/p>\n Then in verses 7-14, we have a description of God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revelation through Scripture, here described as law<\/em>, testimony<\/em>, precepts<\/em>, commandments<\/em>, and rules<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which all emphasize its binding authority.<\/p>\n What does it mean to speak of the sufficiency of Scripture?\u00c2\u00a0It generally means that the Bible tells us everything we need to know about God and how to follow His will.<\/p>\n It means that we go to Scripture alone when we want to have\u00c2\u00a0God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s words for us.<\/p>\n It further means that private messages having nothing to do with the Bible that come from individuals who claim to speak on God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behalf are false. We are\u00c2\u00a0not to seek them.<\/p>\n God considers His written Word to be enough for us\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 all we need for life and godliness\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 all we need to please Him.<\/p>\n All that God requires of us is recorded in His written Word: to do everything the Bible commands of us is to be blameless in God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sight.<\/p>\n And since none of us can ever do all that God commands of us, Scripture alone reveals the way of salvation<\/em> through faith in Jesus Christ, as the Savior of all who believe.<\/p>\n In 2nd<\/sup> Timothy 3:16-17, we are told that\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17\u00c2\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d [ESV]<\/p>\n Verse 17 teaches us that if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s any \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good work\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that God wants a Christian to do, then God has made provision in His Word for training us to do it.<\/p>\n In other words, there is no \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good work\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that God wants us to do other than those that are taught somewhere in Scripture: the Bible\u00c2\u00a0equips us for every<\/em> good work.<\/p>\n In this equipping ministry, the Bible is both sufficient and supreme.<\/p>\n If you are a follower of Christ, be comforted by this thought: ‘God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called.” Have you been called to salvation? Have you been called to some blessed form of service in His kingdom? Then go with His equipping.<\/p>\n Scripture is what equips us for every good work in this life. It is altogether sufficient.<\/p>\n All for His glory, <\/p>\n <\/p>\n .<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In our day, no Christian\u00c2\u00a0doctrine\u00c2\u00a0has been more assaulted in the world and in the church than the truth that God’s written Word — the Bible — is altogether sufficient. Right now, many of the worst assaults on the Bible are coming from seemingly friendly sources\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 people who claim to follow Jesus and also from Christian … <\/p>\n
\nPastor Kevin<\/p>\n