The Sufficiency of Scripture

Good evening church. It’s a pleasure to see you all here. Part of my undergrad education was spent at Baptist Bible College, where I took one semester in Pastoral Studies. As part of the degree program, I was enrolled in Theology I. The first thing that we discussed in this class was the inspiration of Scripture and we broke down and looked at each individual word in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which of course is the go-to passage for the inspiration of Scripture, considering it literally says that all Scripture is inspired by God. This made an impact on me because it was one of the first times I was able to defend something that was central to the Christian belief. Through the understanding of the Inspiration of Scripture, over time, God showed me the sufficiency of Scripture and why it matters and how it affects how we live. My goal isn’t to bring a novel idea to you all. I hope to simply continue the echo that has carried the truth of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 from the past into the present. Much of what I say tonight, you have probably heard. But we need to keep hearing it. We need to keep being reminded because we so easily forget. We get caught up in life and we sometimes need a refresher on these things. My hope is to simply refresh. I hope you leave here seeing how the inspiration of Scripture gives us confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture, and why that matters.

First, to set up the context, Paul just explained to Timothy that perilous times are coming (v. 1). He contrasts this with Timothy’s conduct and commends Timothy for how he has followed Paul (v. 11). Paul then gives this interesting warning that I want to highlight before we dive into our text. He says in 2 Timothy 3:13 “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” There is this degradation of man that will happen. Men will grow worse and worse. Yet, what does Paul tell Timothy to do? He points him to the Scriptures and caps this section off with the famous 2 Timothy 3:16-17 passage. All Scripture is given by inspiration. Paul, away from his son in the faith, perhaps may not see him again until they are both in heaven, brings his attention to the Scriptures and I think to emphasize the importance of the Scriptures, Paul highlights that they are inspired by God. Let us look now at what this idea of inspiration means in this passage and how it can help us with understanding the sufficiency of Scripture.

Inspiration

Look with me at 2 Timothy 3:16-17

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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Definition: The inspiration of Scripture can be defined as the “breathing out” of God in reference to Scripture. Jay Adams gives this thought towards this concept and this passage: “If God were to speak audibly what He wants us to know, He would say nothing more, nothing less and nothing different than what He has written in It. It is identical with anything He might have spoken by breath.” [Jay E. Adams, I Timothy, II Timothy, and Titus, The Christian Counselor’s Commentary (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 77]. I found this fascinating. If this is the idea that Paul was trying to convey, then when we read our Bibles, we have the very words of God that he wanted us to know.

Another aspect of the inspiration of Scripture is the work of the Holy Spirit. This can be seen in 2 Peter 1:20-21

2 Peter 1:20–21 NKJV

knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Illustration: Imagine, if you will, a boat just floating on the water. It is just being moved at the whim of the waves. But, now imagine that same boat and it has a sail. A sailor runs to the mast and releases the sail and the wind catches it. What will happen to the boat? It will move in the direction that the wind “desires”. This is what I think Paul and Peter are saying. Scripture is inspired by the Spirit moving through the authors to write what God wanted to be said.

One important note about this: since God is the Author (with a capital “a”) the text that you have before you is also a reflection of who God is. This means that you can trust that Scripture will communicate things about God and man and the world that are true because God is true.

Profitable

Before we move to the sufficiency, I want to highlight Scripture being profitable. This is the idea of it being beneficial or useful. Our Bibles aren’t relics that we pull out of our closets to give us access to church. They aren’t tokens we keep to earn points with God. Our Bibles are the words that God wanted to share with us, not only because they give us information about history or about God, but because they are also useful. We can benefit from our Bibles. Friends, if we take the inspiration of Scripture and the profitability of Scripture and tie them together, we have Scripture that is sufficient to teach us, reprove us, correct us, and to train us so that we can be complete and equipped.

Sufficiency

Which that brings us to the topic of our focus tonight. The Scripture we have before us is sufficient. This is Scripture being “enough.” Now, if something is “enough” anything more isn’t better. It’s unnecessary. One commentator pointed out that this was true for the people when this was written. It’s not as though Paul wrote this to Timothy, and then wrote a “P.S. You’ll be at a disadvantage to do this until we get to the twenty-first century when they have advanced technology.” The sufficiency was true then, and it is true now. It was true for Paul and it is true for us. We are going to look at a few points of application, but I want to make sure to pointedly say that the Bible you have before you is beneficial and useful to help you in whatever situation you’re going through. Look with me at the different areas that the sufficiency of Scripture is beneficial to us.

Application

Points of Application

1. Sufficient to Show Us Our Sin

Scripture is sufficient to show us our sin. We should be constantly getting deeper into the heart of our sin and this is only possible through the work of the Spirit and the application of Scripture. Romans 3:23 is a great passage to read to understand your standing before God.

Romans 3:23 NKJV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

You can also read Romans 1:18-32 to see the degradation of man. Just to highlight a few verses:

Romans 1:24 NKJV

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,

Romans 1:26 NKJV

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

Romans 1:28 NKJV

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

Or consider James 4:1-10. Passages like this help us see why we do what we do.

James 4:1 NKJV

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Scripture also gives us instruction with how to properly confess our sins and repent from them like what we read from David regarding his repentance that we see in Psalm 51:1, 3, 7, 10, 12, 14.

Psalm 51:1 NKJV

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:3 NKJV

For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.

Psalm 51:7 NKJV

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:10 NKJV

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51:12 NKJV

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Psalm 51:14 NKJV

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

Or even Psalm 25:6-7

Psalm 25:6–7 NKJV

Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

We tend to cover our sin, and Scripture can help reveal our sin so that we can properly deal with our sin. Scripture is sufficient to show us our sin.

2. Sufficient to Show Us Our Suffering

Scripture is also sufficient to show us our suffering. We don’t need to hop on the internet and ask Google why we are so depressed, or sad, or how to deal with our grief. Scripture is sufficient to do this. Have you ever been fearful? Have you ever been sad or depressed? Are you dealing with children who are wayward, or a spouse who doesn’t love you? Maybe you have an unbelieving spouse or you are widowed or single. Scripture is sufficient to express this for you and help you in these areas and gives you the words to say in order to express your grief. Just read through the book of Psalms and see how David laments over his own suffering, or how Job laments. If you’re going through suffering, read through Psalms of lament

Psalm 74:1–2 NKJV

O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed— This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.

Or read the book of Job. Scripture is sufficient to show us our suffering.

3. Sufficient to Show Us Our Strife

Scripture is also sufficient to show us our strife. When we are in a disagreement with a brother or sister in Christ, Scripture is sufficient to show us how to repent, or how to approach others biblically and deal with the strife. We have passages such as Ephesians 4:25-32 that give us the instruction on how to communicate clearly with others. We are told in other passages that we are to leave our offering at the alter if we have strife with a brother and go and deal with the strife such as Matthew 5:23-24.

4. Sufficient to Show Us Our Savior

Scripture is also sufficient to show us our Savior. This one seems like a no-brainer, especially with a Sunday Night crowd, but how often do we see a post on Facebook that says, “Jesus wouldn’t...” or “Jesus always...” This should not be our source of seeing our Savior. We must always come to Scripture to see our Savior, who is the image that we are being made into by God according to Romans 8:28-30. He is the object of our faith and so to increase our faith, we must increase our knowledge and understanding of who he is and we do this by reading God’s Word.

5. Sufficient to Show Us Our Sanctification

Scripture is also sufficient to show us our sanctification. This sort of captures the first three application points, but I think it is important to list it as its own category to end on. The reason is because we could sit here all night and go over each individual person’s problems that they are going through. The truth is, we all have certain problems in our own contexts that we desire to have answers for. Whatever your situation, regarding your sanctification, you can find it in the Bible. Scripture is sufficient to address your specific problem. I know that many of us love the Lord and love his Word, but I know that there are many things in this world that tries to grab our attention from depending on God’s Word. We need to keep our focus on Christ and we keep our focus on him through prayer and Scripture reading. 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us that we are being transformed from one degree of glory to the next and this happens as we behold our Savior. How do we, then, behold our Savior? By reading of Jesus Christ in the Bible.

Conclusion

Scripture is sufficient for us grow in godliness. If you’re one who runs to Google, or to Bing, or to Alexa, or to Siri for your issues, let me encourage you to open your Bible the next time you are dealing with something difficult in your life. It’ll often take time to grow in godliness as we expose ourselves to Scripture. If you stare at a pot of water, it’ll never start boiling, but if you walk away and take care of other tasks and come back to it, you’ll see it boiling. Don’t just stare at yourself, measuring every minute aspect of who you are. Stare at your Savior through the words of Scripture, and by beholding him you’ll see your infirmities and learn how be more like Christ. Your Bibles are enough. Trust the God who inspired it.