Theological Term of the Week

 

sufficiency of scripture

The principle that the words of scripture contain everything we need to know from God in order for us to be saved and to be perfectly obedient to him.

• From scripture:

  …from childhood you have 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 competent, equipped for every good work. ( 2 Timothy 3:15-17 ESV)

• From The London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 1, Section 6:

  The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture, to which nothing is to be added at any time, either by new revelation of the Spirit, or by the traditions of men.

•  From Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem:

  The sufficiency of Scripture also tells us that nothing is required of us by God that is not commanded in Scripture either explicitly or by implication. This reminds us that the focus of our search for God’s will ought to be on Scripture, rather than on seeking guidance through prayer for changed circumstances or altered feelings or direct guidance from the Holy Spirit apart from Scripture….
  
  The discovery of this great truth could bring tremendous joy and peace to the lives of thousands of Christians who, spending countless hours seeking God’s will outside of Scripture, are often uncertain about whether they have found it. In fact, many Christians today have very little confidence in their ability to discover God’s will with any degree of certainty. Thus there is little striving to do God’s will (for who can know it?) and little growth in holiness before God.
  
  The opposite ought to be true. Christians who are convinced of the sufficiency of Scripture should begin eagerly to seek and find God’s will in Scripture. They should be eagerly and regularly growing in obedience to God, knowing great freedom and peace in the Christian life.

 Learn more

1. GotQuestions.org: “What is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture? What does it mean that the Bible is sufficient?”
2. Scott McClare: The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture 
3. Tim Challies: The Bible’s Sufficiency
4. Mark Thompson: The Sufficiency of Scripture
5. David G. Peterson: The Sufficiency of Scripture
6. Mark Dever: “God Told Me” and the Sufficiency of Scripture
7. John MacArthur: The Sufficiency of Scripture, Part 1 (mp3); The Sufficiency of Scripture, Part 2 (mp3)

Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• canon of scripture
• inerrancy of scripture
• infallibility of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• perspicuity of scripture
• sola scriptura

Filed under Scripture. 

Have you come across a theological term that you don’t understand and you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.