Doctrine of Sufficiency of Scripture

Session 1 The Doctrine of the Inherency and Sufficiency of Scripture

INTRODUCTION

Thank you to Dr. Smith and Dr. Hadaway my doctoral advisory committee.

Thank you to my beautiful bride Diana who has supported and pushed me to take on this endeavor.

And Thank you to each one of you for taking the time to participate in this Doctoral project.

This project is birthed out of 25+ years of ministry in the church and a deep passion to see better formed, conformed and transformed followers of Christ.

The term post-Christian has not universally accepted definition, though it is often associated with the modern Western cultures. In that use, a post-Christian society is historically based in Christian ideas and follows simplified Christian values. (don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, honor your father and mother). The Christian language and expression that once permeated Christian culture has become rare or somewhat superficial, and in some cases obsolete.

Story of Coming to Faith

NOTE: SHOW PICS OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH TODAY

The authority of Scripture, that it is to be believed and obeyed, does not depend on the testimony of any person, but completely on God, the author. It is to be joyfully received because it is the word of God.

Tripp, Paul David. Do You Believe?: 12 Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life (p. 31). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The doctrine of the authority and inerrancy of Scripture is rooted in the doctrine of God; as God is True and Trustworthy, so is his word recorded in the original autographs of Scriptures.

“The trustworthiness of the Scriptures lies at the foundation of trust in the Christian system of doctrine and is therefore fundamental to the Christian hope and life.” These words from Benjamin B. Warfield highlight how important the doctrine of inerrancy is for the church. Abandon it, and the entire Christian system of doctrine now rests on a shaky foundation.

Everything God made is designed to confront us with God’s existence and nature and, in so doing, confront our delusions of autonomy and self-sufficiency.

Every morning when we get up, we bump into God and come face-to-face with his existence. He is revealed in the wind and the rain, in the bird and the flower, in the rock and the tree, in the sun and the moon, in the grass and the clouds, in sights, smells, touches, and tastes.

Romans 1:20 ESV

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

The Canonization of Scripture

Narrative for Canonization

Narrative #1

A bunch of books were written by the followers of Jesus in the first century and they were fine and ok, much later people began to notice these books and even much later than that they began to read them and like them, eventually a group of people got together and said what if we call these scripture, hey that is a great idea. Then later a counsel was gathered somewhere that swept books together and voted, then they fought about which books to include, then eventually they agreed and this is how we got the Bible.

(top down approach, forced on people long after the fact.)

Narrative #2

If in fact Jesus said and did these things, then we know He commissioned the Bible to be written, which in fact He did, for people to tell His story. We call these apostles. They started telling their story originally by word of mouth, which is not surprising. Eventually they wrote down the things that Jesus said and did, because Jesus had told them to tell His story. The books we have in our cannon were authorized because they were produced by the very people who walked and talked with Jesus, that He had authorized to speak for Him. It did not take some committee later to make this decision it happened more organically, because a core was already in place during the first century.

Recognition by the Churches: The Early Church viewed these books as the very voice of the Lord.

Of course, there will be pockets of disagreement and dissension, but we can expect predominate or general agreement throughout the history of the church – which is exactly what we find.

Apostolic Origin: The link to the apostles and back to Jesus. (those commissioned to speak for Christ)

Divine Qualities: Divine qualities or indicators are consistent with all scripture.

(OT and NT one story) If God genuinely stands behind these books, then we would expect these books to share God’s qualities.

The Necessity of Gaining Higher Levels of Biblical Literacy

The authority of Scripture has fallen on hard times in the post-Christian culture we live in today. Unfortunately, many believers have external sources they listen to today that have more power than Scripture.

D.A. Carson contends that the slide from the authority of Scripture leads to an appeal to selective evidence. The health, wealth, and prosperity gospel are among the most egregious offenders.[1]According to Carson, such offenders quickly identify other, more subtle offenders who refuse to discuss disputed matters to sidestep controversy within the church. Such topics include poverty, racism, homosexuality, cohabitation, and gender roles, to mention a few.

What is the difference between Inherency and Inspiration of Scripture?

God is the author of Inspiration.

The God who has breathed out His word has done so truthfully; what else would we expect from the triune God who is truth Himself (John 1:18; 8:40; 14:6; 17:3, 17; 18:37: 1 John 4:6).

Our Doctrine of Scripture should be grounded in our Doctrine of God.

If God is the scripture author, then we should never divorce the character of the divine author from the character of His word.

Scripture has many human authors, but ultimately, it originates from one divine author.

“But wait, don’t human hands write scripture, and we all know human hands are flawed?”

The Spirit of God Inspires human authors to say what God says.

Apart from the Spirit we cannot understand the word of God.

Not only do we have the gift of God’s word, but we also have the gift of the Holy Spirit, who guides us, teaches us, and illumines the word for us so that we can know, understand, confess, and repent.

I not only need the content of God’s word, but I also need the help of the Holy Spirit to enable me to understand it, to assist me to apply it, to empower me to live it, and to equip me to take its message to others. God rescues me from my foolishness not just by handing me a book, but also by giving me himself to open the wisdom of that book to me.

1 Corinthians 2:10–16 ESV

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Indeed, this is not beyond God’s omnipotent ability to pull off. If we believe that the Son of God can become incarnate and take on human flesh yet be without sin to share a saving word with sinful humanity (John 1:1, 14). Then, carrying along Biblical authors to speak the truth should be a small thing in comparison.

The Doctrinal Foundation of Scriptures Existence, Inspiration, Authority, and Trustworthiness.

First, we must qualify what inherency does not mean. When all facts are known, it must be concluded that the scriptures in their original autographs and correctly interpreted will be shown to be entirely true in everything that they affirm.

Inherency applies to the Original Autographs.

Sometimes, critics see mistakes in copies and assume the Bible is full of errors. When we say that scripture is inherent, we have in mind that God breathed out the original text through the human authors (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). (It should be noted that we have copies today that are very accurate. This is why translations of scripture does matter.)

Kevin Vanhoozer concludes:

“To say that Scripture is Inherent is to confess the faith that the authors speak the truth in all things they affirm. To say that it is “wholly” true means we should not limit inherency to the scriptures' main doctrinal message. We never see the Biblical authors place such limitations on their writings. Instead, they believe God speaks truth through them in whatever they affirm. So, inherency applies to all areas, including its ethical instructions for everyday living.”

Scriptures Inherency and Authority

Affirming the inherency of scripture today can be tricky. Some assert the scriptures' inspiration but reject its inherency.

However, this position on further investigation denies that scripture is true in all it asserts. They would say yes, it is true in its gospel message, but beyond that, it has errors in its specifics. It is puzzling that those holding this view still claim Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) as if Scripture is still the final authority.

Full Inherency view says: All Scripture is our inherent Truth.

The Limited Inherency view says: Only when scripture addresses a matter of Doctrine is it our inherent authority.

Note: This was how Martin Luther protested Rome and took his stand on the authority of Scripture. Luther boldly claimed that while popes and counsels were in error, Scripture would never be in error.

SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE IN EVERYDAY LIFE

What does it look like to live in light of the inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the word of God? Well, if you really believe that the Bible is the word of God, preserved by God for you, wouldn’t it be the most valuable, esteemed, treasured, and well-used possession in your life? Would you not love the moments when you could sit with it, read it carefully, study it’s content and meditate on it day and night.

2 Corinthians 5:15 ESV

15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

SCRIPTURE POINTS

Paul is saying that the very DNA of sin is selfishness.

But one of the most important things God’s word does is to confront us with another story. In this story we are not at center stage. In this story we were given life and breath to serve the purposes of another, and for the sake of the glory of another.

The biblical story starts with God at the center. It chronicles the great glory war, with the great captain, Christ, gaining victory through his death. The war begins in Genesis 3 and will continue until the war is finally won and everything that exists serves God’s glory in the new heavens and new earth.

SCRIPTURE TEACHES

Christians should never stop learning.

God’s word teaches in ways unlike anything else. It teaches you things that you will learn nowhere else. It doesn’t just impart knowledge to you, but it also forms wisdom in you. It reveals to you the deepest, most profound spiritual mysteries that could ever be considered. Like a good teacher, God’s word undoes you and then rebuilds you again. It deconstructs the thoughts and motives of your heart and then reconstructs them.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Terms to Know

Authority: The Bible’s power originates from God, for which it “ought to be believed and obeyed.”

Autgraphs: The original texts of the biblical books as they find themselves passed down from the hands of the human authors

Canon: The authoritative list of inspired biblical books. Shortly after Jesus’ death, the New Testament canon was affirmed by evaluating the books’ Apostolicity, reception, and teachings. Still, ultimately, the canon is self-authenticating, as the voice of Christ is heard in it John 10:21

John 10:21 ESV

21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Inerrancy: The position that the Bible affirms no falsehood of any sort; that is, “it is without fault or error in all that it teaches” in matters of history, science, and faith.

Infallibility: The position that the Bible cannot err or make mistakes and that it “is completely trustworthy as a guide to salvation and the life of faith and will not fail to accomplish its purpose.”

Inspiration: The process by which God worked through the human authors of the Bible to communicate His revelation.

Organic inspiration: The process by which God guided the human authors of Scripture, working in and through their styles and life experiences so that what they produced was precisely what He wanted them to have.

Special revelation: The things God makes known about Himself apart from nature and conscience (general revelation; cf. Rom. 1:19-21). These things, having to do with Christ and the plan of salvation, are found only in the Bible.

Sufficiency: All that is needed to know and believe regarding salvation and what pleases God is in the Bible.[2]