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Doctrine of Scripture

October 20, 2003

The Bible is God’s complete and correct written word. We can classify the Bibles teachings into our characteristics: the authority of Scripture; the clarity of Scripture; the necessity of Scripture; and the sufficiency of Scripture. We should continually be aware of the characteristics of the bible as we study its teachings. The characteristics of the bible help to understand the Scripture more as we study, and it helps us to see what the whole bible says about itself.
The authority of Scripture means, “all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.” The Bible itself claims that all the words of Scripture are God’s words, and furthermore God is said to speak through the prophets, thus what the prophet says in God’s name, God says.

It is one thing to say that the Bible claims to be the words of God, but it is another thing to be convinced that it is true. One thing we must realize is that without the work of the spirit we will in no way understand or accept the truths of the Bible. Because of sin we think incorrectly about God and creation, and therefore we must fully depend on the Holy Spirit overcoming the effects of sin, enabling us to see the Bible and this world for what it is.

In order to consider the authority of scripture we must also consider the truthfulness of scripture and it’s inerrancy. The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not contain anything that is contrary to fact. Therefore since the words of the Bible are God’s words, it is correct to conclude that all of the words in scripture are completely true without error in any part. We can also say that God’s word is the Ultimate Standard of Truth, it is not simply true, but it is truth itself. We can be assured with complete confidence that no fact will ever be discovered that will contradict the Bible, and we can see in history that nothing has been able to contradict it or prove it false for two thousand years. If the inerrancy of Scripture is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible’s own, the authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired. If we cease to maintain the total inerrancy of the Bible, then great and grave confusion results. The Bible loses its authority and purpose. If Scripture is to remain authoritative in our lives, as God has made it to be, then we cannot deny that the Bible is completely inerrant.

Another characteristic of the bible is the clarity of Scripture. Clarity of Scripture means, “the Bible is written in such a way that its teachings can be understood by all who will read it seeking God’s help and being willing to follow it.” It is a mistake to think that scripture is impossible to understand, in fact the Old and New Testaments affirm that scripture is written in such a way that its teaching are able to be understood by ordinary believers. God’s word is said to be such that even the “simple” understand it rightly and are made wise by it (Ps. 19:7). Grudem makes a point of saying that “God’s Word is so understandable, so clear, that even this kind of person (the simple person) is made wise by it.” Failure to understand what the scriptures say falls on the person that is reading and never on the scriptures themselves. The New Testament frequently states that the ability to understand the Scriptures rightly is a moral and spiritual issue, rather than an intellectual ability (1 Cor 2:14).

The necessity of Scripture is another characteristic. The necessity of Scripture is the fact that “the Bible is necessary for knowing the gospel, for maintaining spiritual life, and for knowing God’s will.”

The Bible is necessary for knowledge of the Gospel, (Romans 10:13-17) Paul’s says “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved, but how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him who they have never heard?… So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by preaching of Christ.” One must either read the gospel message in the Bible, or hear it from another but that fact is that the message comes from the scriptures, and if no one could ever read it or hear it, then no one would ever be saved.

The Bible is necessary for maintaining Spiritual Life, (Deut 8:3) “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. Our spiritual life is maintained by daily nourishment with the Word of God, just as our physical lives are maintained by daily nourishment with physical food.
Sin corrupts our thinking processes, and distorts our perception of right and wrong, making us unable to see God, or know God without scripture, and therefore the Bible is necessary for certain knowledge of God’s will.
The sufficiency of Scripture means that “Scripture contained all the words of God he intended His people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly.” God has told us what he wants us to know in his word, nothing more, and nothing less, so we should rejoice in that and be content. The Bible is also sufficient to equip us for living the Christian life. Anything that God wants us to do; we should be well equipped to do it through His sufficient words. The sufficiency of Scripture should remind us that no modern day revelation should be placed on a level equal to Scripture.
In conclusion, we can see and understand that there is nothing else in this world that can take the place of Scripture. It is God’s inerrant word, and every word can be used to further bring us wisdom, and benefit our lives. There has never been anything and there never will be anything that compromises the truth found in the word, and everything mentioned has and will come to pass. It is completely legitimate for us to say that Scripture is sufficient, clear, inerrant, necessary, and it is the ultimate authority for our lives.

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