The Sufficiency & Necessity of Scripture

[00:00:00] Speaker A: So this is almost the end of September, which feels kind of crazy. I think this season has moved a little quicker than the spring. At least that's my perception. Maybe that's just life. You know, every season kind of moves quicker and quicker. But I think it's. We're going really quick. We're almost in October and then we get to November. November has one of the greatest holidays in at least the american tradition, Thanksgiving. Raise your hand if you like Thanksgiving. Raise your hand if you don't like Thanksgiving. One, two. That's okay. It's fair to have that opinion. I like Thanksgiving. I enjoy it a lot. I know holidays can be a mixed bag, but I love Thanksgiving and I loved it, especially when I was your age, because I loved to challenge myself to eat the most. I'm not saying this is what you should do. You shouldn't challenge yourself to be the most gluttonous, I guess. But that's what I did. I would eat a lot. And one time in high school, I ate so much that I. And I didn't know why this was happening at the time. But a day or two later, I woke up in the middle of the night and my stomach was hurting and I couldn't sleep. And I was so uncomfortable. I literally ate myself into such pain. And it lasted for days. I went to the doctor eventually, we didn't know what was happening. I couldn't stand up and it was awful. I literally ate myself into the hospital. It was probably one of the most embarrassing things I've ever done. So there you go. You have that. It was horrible. I've never eaten so much since. It scarred me. I should have listened to my mom after I had my second plate and she said, that's sufficient. That's enough. But I just kept going back. And then there's dessert. I mean, what, I mean, how do you. How can you have Thanksgiving there? So just to get a little bit of everything is too much. But nonetheless, that advice, that my second plate, or maybe even my first, would have been sufficient, it would have been all that I needed, is true. Now, when it comes to pie, that's necessary. So you have to do that. Now, today we are talking about sufficiency and necessity. And while thanksgiving and dessert can be sufficient and dessert is necessary, the Bible, in a serious way, is both. It is both. And so we are going to study why the scripture or God's word? The Bible is both sufficient. It has everything we need, and we do, in fact, need it. We can't do without scripture. So that's what we're doing. This is part of our new Sunday morning stuff where we've been studying theology. Can someone tell the group what is theology? Yeah, theology is the study of God, studying God, who he is. And it's a very big umbrella term, right. And underneath this big umbrella of theology, there are little we can call subcategories of theology. One of those subcategories is the doctrine or the teachings of scripture. And that's what we've been focusing on the last several weeks, the doctrines of scripture. So let's try to remember what are some of the topics we've studied so far. You can just shout it out if you remember one. Yeah, truthfulness of scripture. That's right. That's one of them. The authority of scripture. That's another. Trying to remember them all. Myself too. So it's okay any more that we can think of christology? Well, that was different things. That actually isn't one of them. It's about Christ. So what's another one we had? So truthfulness, authority, inspiration. Yeah, that was the first one. That was the longest ago. That's the hardest. I think that might be it. Is there one more inerrancy? That was truthfulness. It was the same, but you're right, inerrancy was another word for it. I think that's all of them. And now we're doing this one. We've only done a few. So good job, everybody. Thanks for helping me remember. So today, as we studied the sufficiency and the necessity of scripture, let's begin by hearing the main idea. So this is the summary of this lesson. And it is. I hope you can see it, but it is also on here. Scripture provides everything that people need to be saved. So it's the first blanken. Scripture provides everything that people need to be saved and everything that christians need to please God fully. So both salvation and how we please God are contained in scripture. Everything we need is there. And then second part of this sentence, scripture is essential. Necessary. It's needed. It's essential for knowing the way of salvation, for progressing in holiness, progressing in holiness, and for discerning God's will. So you see here, everything we need is contained therein. And we need everything in there to do, to know how to be saved, to progress in holiness, and to discern God's will for our lives and for others lives and for the world. So let's start with our first point, an overview of the doctrine. We'll do an overview. That's number one. Let me start with a question. Can we know everything about goddess? See a couple head shakes. See a nos. Anyone think yes. At least not in that admitted. That's okay. [00:06:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:45] Speaker A: We can't, right. We can't know everything about God. So when we're talking about sufficiency, what does sufficiency promise? Enough. Enough? Enough what? Enough knowledge. That's right. Enough knowledge for what? It's okay. Do you have something to add to be saved? [00:07:17] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right. [00:07:19] Speaker A: That's definitely a big part of it. So I want to ask this question. What do you guys think about this? Is it okay that we can't know everything about God? Is it okay? Or does that cause problems? You said yes. Does it cause any problems? [00:07:37] Speaker C: So I think it causes problems. [00:07:45] Speaker A: Yeah, it makes him awesome. You can't comprehend, right? Yeah, I think. And when we say problems, we probably mean more that it causes difficulties for us. There's some things that we can't understand. So though someone might have a question about something in who God is and how he operates, it might be difficult to then give the answer because we don't fully comprehend it all. But it is a good thing. It's an incredibly good thing if you can exhaustively. So that means completely know every in and out of God, then that means he is a being that you can examine. And if you can examine him, then he cannot be goddesse. Right? You don't even know. You can't even know the other people in this room completely or exhaustively. How can we know a God greater than us? Now, we can dissect and know everything about a frog, right? But you cannot dissect and know everything about God. And if you could, it would mean he's no greater than the frog. But if indeed he is, which we believe he is, then it is an incredibly good thing that we cannot comprehend him in his entirety. He has been pleased to reveal some things in his word, and indeed enough. A sufficient number of things in his word. But we cannot know it all because we are creatures. He is the creator. A creature cannot know his creator exhaustively. Okay, so here's another question, and this one is a little bit easier. What are some regular things that you all need in this life? Just normal things. What are things that you need, Levi? Oxygen. You need oxygen. That's right. Water. Water. Yes. Got another one. You're on fire. Food. Food. Water. Oxygen. Those are great. Are there any other things we need? [00:10:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:08] Speaker D: Family. [00:10:08] Speaker A: Family. I think family is so important. Yes. Life. Life. You need life to live. True. You guys have more? Either you take turns sleep. Sleep, yeah. Bones. You need bones. Yes. Shelter. Shelter. Yeah, I think we need shelter at least to live a comfortable life. You got another blood? Blood. Okay. Yeah. So we could keep going down more and more into the inner workings of how a human lives. Those are all great. We do need all those things, you know, food, water, and oxygen, especially. You need life before all of that. But all of these things, whether it is food or water, shelter, even our families, our life, our blood, our bones, all of them, eventually wither away. They go away. Our life ends, or even our houses, our shelters deteriorate, or we run out of water or food spoils in the fridge that we forgot to eat. All of those things go away. They go bad. They disappear. They are, we can say, temporary, temporal. They are not eternal. But the scripture, the word is different. It is something that we need, but is there. Now, your physical copy of the Bible might get torn up and you might need a new one, but the word itself is always there and always true. And so we need it, and we always can have access to it. Especially us here. We are privileged to live in a society where we do have such great access to God's word. Now, raise your hand if you know a missionary. A lot of you guys know missionaries. Yeah. Yeah. So. And if you don't, what is a missionary? Can someone tell the group what a missionary is, just so everyone is on the same page? [00:12:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:13] Speaker A: Hank, you go. So is someone who goes to a. [00:12:17] Speaker C: Different part of the world and teaches those people. [00:12:21] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great. Yeah. My friend at the IMB, he says it's someone who crosses cultures for the sake of the gospel. That's his fancy little imb way of saying it. So you said exactly that. That's great. Yeah. So that's a missionary. Why do missionaries exist? You kind of say it in the definition, but why do they exist? What's the need? [00:12:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:45] Speaker A: That'S what they do. But why do they need to spread the gospel? Why do they need to exist to do that? Do you have an answer? Yeah. Yeah. In some countries, some places, it's not taught to. There is an absence of the gospel, and because there's an absence of the gospel, an absence of worship, as John Piper would say, there must be missionaries to bring the gospel there so that people can know Christ and then worship him. But this raises a question for us that we should want to answer, and you may have heard it or thought it yourself, do people need to know Jesus to be saved? Do they need to know him specifically? [00:13:41] Speaker E: They need to know who he is. [00:13:43] Speaker A: Yeah, they need to know who he is. Okay. Any different answers or similar answers? Do people need to know the Jesus of the Bible to be saved? Yeah. You said yes because he's God. That's right. Yeah. They need to know who he is. So if you will flip with me to acts chapter four, we have a succinct answer here for us. Acts 412. Can I get a volunteer to read acts 412 when he or she gets there? Hank, you can do it. Yeah, read loud and proud. Acts 412. Exactly. The scripture tells us there is no other name under heaven. So we need missionaries to bring God's word to people because they need it. So they need the word. They need to know Christ. They need to know his name, who he is, so that they would be saved. So it's not arbitrary. It's not something that is just partially true or only true for us. It is true for everyone. And everyone needs it. That is why, again, missionaries exist. Now flip over a little further in the New Testament to one Peter two. That's towards the end of your Bible. One Peter, chapter two. And I'll read these verses, just the first three verses of one Peter two. He writes, so put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. We need the Bible. We need scripture. And if we are people who call ourselves christians, if you call yourself that, then you should long for the word of God because it's sufficient and necessary for your life. Like a baby longs for milk. That is the imagery Peter uses to help us understand how dependent, how much we need the word. As much as a baby needs milk. I got news. I have a baby. She needs milk. Especially when they are newborn. They need it. We need the word. Now, let's look more into other passages of scripture. We'll do. .2. Biblical support of the doctrine. Biblical support of the doctrine. And then we're going to flip to second Timothy. Yeah, second Timothy three. So that's not too far from one. Peter, just a little bit back to the left. Second Timothy three. And I'll need another volunteer to read a few verses. Ezra, can you read verses 14 to 17? 2nd Timothy 314 17. Yeah, whenever you're ready. [00:17:38] Speaker C: But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them. And that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation faith which is in Jesus Christ. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for recruit, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. [00:18:07] Speaker A: Thank you. What does this passage teach about scripture? [00:18:24] Speaker C: Is profitable. [00:18:25] Speaker A: Profitable? [00:18:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:27] Speaker A: Is it profitable for what? Yeah, Hank. Okay. Yeah. So teaching reproof and correction is like correcting people and how they live and then training and the way Levi did. You have a different answer? Okay. Is there anything else that this passage teaches us about the scripture? [00:19:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:02] Speaker A: It is breathed out by God. Yeah, we talked about this a few weeks ago. It is inspired by God. It is from his very breath. Anything else? Look at the text. He says, as for you, continue what you have learned. So they've learned something. And they have. Then what? Firmly believed it. So they have learned and firmly believed something. And going on, he says, how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings. What do we think the sacred writings is referring to? Scripture. And maybe in this context he's referring to the Old Testament in particular, but the sacred writings, which are what they're able to. What make you wise for salvation? So we got that. It is sufficient for teaching reproof, correction and training. It is breathed out by God, but it also makes us wise for salvation. That's such an important use of the scripture. And so we see this right here in the New Testament. Paul is telling us this. Now let's go to the Old Testament and see what we can learn there. To deuteronomy four. Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Bible. So you got to go pretty far over to the left. Deuteronomy four. And actually, while everyone goes there, can I get one volunteer to flip to another passage and read us that? It'll be proverbs. Can you go to proverbs 30? You're going to read verses five and six. And can somebody volunteer for deuteronomy four two. Yes, Liza. Okay, Liza, can you read deuteronomy four two. [00:20:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Now, Violet, can you read proverbs? Proverbs 35 and six. [00:21:14] Speaker D: Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. [00:21:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Great. So why do you think God commands us to not add to his word? It's his word. So I guess if we added it wouldn't be his word, right? Yeah, it'd be man made. [00:21:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:43] Speaker A: I'm sorry, can you say that again, it wouldn't be holy. Yeah. It wouldn't be holy. Yeah. It would detract value from it and make it inauthentic humanly. And I think that we've talked about this most weeks, the problem with it being humanly at all means it has errors. And if it has errors and we don't know where the errors are, then it becomes completely up to you to decide, and that is an issue. What are some ways that people add to his word? Can you think of some examples of ways people add to God's word today? [00:22:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:20] Speaker A: I'm sorry, you said the Book of Mormon. Yes. Somebody. A false prophet claiming to have heard things and writing a new book, starting a new religion. Yeah. It's a great example. [00:22:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:34] Speaker A: Take it out of context. How is that adding to his word? [00:22:37] Speaker E: It's like making it seem like it means something that it didn't say. [00:22:41] Speaker A: Yeah. So they're like adding a meaning to it. Yeah, that's a great example. Other examples, kind of similar along with that could be legalism requiring things that are not required by God's word. And some of that could be misinterpreting or just adding things that we have gathered traditionally and saying that these things that we believe traditionally are part of our religion, though they may not actually be in the Bible. Yeah. And there are numerous other ways that this can happen, but those are great examples. Yeah. And so we should not add. It creates so many issues. Now let's go to the New Testament again. So flip to Matthew four. Matthew, chapter four. Can somebody read Matthew four four? Chloe, can you read it? Do you have it open? Now, as she looks for this, I want us, as we hear this verse, to think about what this means for what we believe about the word. Do you need some help, Chloe? Here, I'll help you find it. Actually, how about you just read it from here? Can you read this? Loud and proud. Matthew four four. It starts right there. [00:24:28] Speaker D: Okay. Then Jesus was laid. [00:24:32] Speaker A: No, here. Start right there. [00:24:34] Speaker D: But he answered it writing. [00:24:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:39] Speaker A: And then that little paragraph right there. [00:24:41] Speaker D: Man shall not live but by every word coming from the mouth of God. [00:24:52] Speaker A: Thank you. Here, I'll take that back. Yeah, so if you guys notice, Jesus is answering, being tempted. And he's saying it is written when he says it is written. He's referring to what the scriptures say. And he says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. So here he is quoting from deuteronomy eight. What are some ways that the word nourishes christians like bread. How does the word nourish us? Yeah, it satisfies questions. That's great. I'm sorry. The question is, how does or what are some ways that the word of God nourishes christians like bread for hunger. How does it satisfy our hunger? [00:26:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:12] Speaker A: Yeah. It teaches us things to apply to our life that makes us stronger christians, helps us to grow in maturity. And bread, you know, is kind of symbolic just for food and nourishment helps us to grow. Kaden. I'm sorry. Light. Light or life? Life. [00:26:33] Speaker B: Yeah, both. [00:26:34] Speaker A: You're right. But, you know, life fits with the bread illustration. Jesus is quoting that we need it to live. Right. We talked earlier. Levi said we need food. That's one of the things we need. We need bread, so to speak, to live. And if we are to have true life, eternal life, we must have the bread of heaven, bread from God. Right. Are there any other answers to this? I think that's great. So that's just a few passages. We can't get into everything. But we'll go on to our third point. We'll talk about deniers of the doctrine, people that deny deniers of the doctrine of this teaching, that the word is sufficient and necessary. So when we're talking about deniers, some people make these denials on purpose, explicitly they declare these denials, and other people, sometimes we are mistaken. We have an error we haven't learned yet. So if you have found yourself making this error, just listen to the word. I'm not calling you a heretic necessarily, but if we accept these errors and teach them, we are being troublesome. The first error is this an emphasis on the spirit of God, to the neglect or dismissal of the word of God. So if you're trying to keep that down, I'll say it again. An emphasis on the spirit of God, which neglects or dismisses the word of God. So this would be an overemphasis on the Holy Spirit. So this is something that some charismatics often believe, that the spirit's influence in our life is elevated to such a level that if you have an idea from the spirit, then it would be, it can trump the Bible, so to speak. That's kind of the teaching. Now I want to ask, why do you think this is dangerous? Why is this an error I'm bringing up? The spirit of God is God. So why is it dangerous to overemphasize that over the written word? I. Mm hmm. [00:29:03] Speaker E: Like sometimes, like in a pentecostal church, like, people will speak in tongues. [00:29:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:13] Speaker E: Almost like on a pedestal, being able to be able to speak in tongues over the scripture itself. [00:29:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Someone speaking in a tongue that nobody understands would be elevated above preaching of the Bible, which everyone understands. [00:29:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:32] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [00:29:34] Speaker D: I think also, like the spirit of God, it's very real, but it's also not tangible. So people, like, misinterpret it or like people can say that they feel something that they think is from God. [00:29:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely right. We would be in danger. Oh, do you have something to add? Yeah, you can add. [00:30:01] Speaker C: Yeah, kinda. And kind of as what you were saying, if you misinterpret it, then if we differ from the scripture, can contradict the scripture, and it'd be like God contradicting himself. [00:30:12] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And if he did contradict himself, which is the correct revelation, you know, we don't know, and I think those were both really great answers. That this error causes us to trust feelings. So since the Holy Spirit is not as tangible to us as a written book, we in our sin can misunderstand God's leadings. When God is trying to teach us something or lead us in a direction, it's easy for us to misunderstand. So we should not trust our feelings. After all, people feel that a lot of things are true. Have you ever talked, we talked about the Book of Mormon a while ago. If you've ever spoken to a Mormon, they will all claim to have felt that it is true, been given a feeling from the spirit. That's their claim as to why they think it's true. So we can't trust that a feeling can tell you all sorts of things, but something written is objective, it's clear, and it's right there in front of us. And it has been given to us by the spirit of God. God's spirit wrote it. And so we should always test those things to see if they contradict. And if they do, then the newer revelation is wrong. If it contradicts the older. Now here's the second error. Is the opposite, emphasizing the word to the neglect or dismissal of the spirit. Why is this an issue? I think this one's a little harder. Oh yeah, you're right. You cannot interpret the word without the spirit. We need God's spirit to illuminate, light up, help us to understand what is written. And who better to help us understand than the author? We need the spirit, and so the spirit leads us, helps us to understand as you grow. If you are a Christian, if you've believed in Christ by faith and you have started to read the Bible, you might find some places are harder to understand than others. But as you learn and grow and grow, you gradually are able to understand more, you learn more. Spirit helps you to read the Bible. And this is especially true if you are actively praying. That is the issue. And the issue would be to deny the third person of the Trinity, God himself, and to place something above God himself, though his word does reveal him. We should be balanced. We should rely on the spirit, but we should trust the written word third, and finally on the errors. We can error. By making some source other than scripture more authoritative than the scripture, we can look at something else. Classically, we would think of the Roman Church, the Roman Catholic Church, as trusting in their traditions and teachings as the word of God. They would say, this is the word, but also what the church has taught. Separate from this is also the word of God. Elevating it to the same level and in some cases, when they contradict, one has to go over the others and their teachings and tradition will pass over the Bible. So this is one big example. But anytime we use another source other than the Bible to stake our life and our doctrine on, we are doing this. And so we should be careful of that. Now let's go to the last point, appliers. So we got deniers, now we got appliers of the doctrines. So this is just us applying. Sorry, I wrote that really bad. Appliers, us applying what we've learned. Because as I prayed, we don't want to just make this an academic discipline. We want this to be something that transforms our lives. Theology is not complete. If it doesn't affect your life. You haven't, I'll say that again, you haven't truly studied God if he is not changing your life. So here's some ways that we can apply the word first, and you can write this down. If you're taking notes, nourish yourself with, with the word. You want to feed your soul, nourish your mind. We can do this practically by reading and meditating on it daily. Of course, it's recommended by me and most other people to do this daily. You won't find to me a clear verse that tells you exactly the frequency. But know this, if you believe that the word is necessary, if you need it, you should be reading it consistently, often daily, even twice daily if you can, which I believe we can. I believe we have more time than we give ourselves credit for. But read it and don't just read it. Think about it. A practice I enjoy is reading and having prayed before, searching for something that God sticks out to my eye and thinking and praying on it, asking the spirit to help me understand what I can do, what he is teaching me through that verse. Second, so we nourish yourself with the word. Second, you can obey only the word, obey only the word, don't obey unbiblical commands, and obey all scriptural commands. So in order to do this, we do need to study the word to know what the scripture actually commands us. So we need to be doing that first one. But as you encounter something, even if it sharply contradicts the way you're living your life, humbly accept what the word is teaching you and apply it to your life. This can be really hard. If you've read part of the Bible and found that it is convicting you of sin and telling you, you need to not do this, this thing you're doing, you must stop it. That is what we must do as we read. We must obey the word. And third, and finally, keep the word central in your life. Keep the word central so we can do this. Bye. Letting our conversations be filled with scripture. This is easier if you memorize verses and passages, but we want to keep our conversations full of scripture. One of the hardest parts of sharing the gospel, which, if you're a Christian, you know that this is a duty of yours. One of the hardest parts is feeling that really weird, awkward feeling of inserting talk about God into a conversation with friends in which you never talk about God. It feels awkward. It feels weird. I experienced that before. It feels like I can't bring it up. It would be weird. We never talk about serious things like that. But if we are always peppering our speech with the word of God, then it won't be weird, it'll be normal. And so we should practice this now. Work on talking about the word with your family and with your friends, and then also keep the Bible central when you're doing ministry or talking about faith. If you're actually having a gospel conversation, remember to turn it to the word as you can. Less of your advice, more of God's word. Again, this becomes easier as you study the word. But in all of this, we know that in order to understand the word and to be able to use it and to keep it on our hearts, we must have it written on our hearts by God. And for this to happen, we must believe by faith in Jesus Christ, God's son. And we know this Jesus because of the word, he is revealed to us. And so if you want to know Christ, if you want to know this word and keep it on your heart. You must turn from your sin and believe in Christ. You must believe in Christ and don't delay. You need him. You need him to understand how this is sufficient. This word, if you dive into it and you are devoted to Christ and you read it, will provide all that you need in life. And in fact, you do need it. You have no life unless you have the word. Now to close, I want to read from one. Peter. You don't have to flip there. And I want you all to remember these words as we go on. Think about if these words mark you, if this is a characteristic of your life. Put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Let's sing on that and pray. Father God, we thank you for your word. Lord, we trust that your word provides all that we need. It is all encompassing for our needs for salvation and godliness. Lord, we also understand that it is necessary. Lord, there are people in this room, in our friend groups, in our families, even God, that need the word. It is necessary to them. Lord, give us the faith to believe it, the boldness to proclaim it, and the perseverance to live it out. And lord, we pray all of this in Christ's name. Amen.