You may have come across people talking about the sufficiency of scripture. The bible is said to be sufficient. But what, exactly, is it sufficient for?
For some, the answer is immediately obvious: everything. The bible is sufficient for all matters pertain to life, the universe and everything. Except, we don’t have to do much question-asking to discover it isn’t sufficient for a whole host of things.
The bible isn’t sufficient to tell me who the first king of England was nor can it tell me what a black hole is. Equally, it won’t give me philosophical answers to whether A or B theory of time is correct nor whether the number 0 actually exists in reality. I have to go to external sources to answer those kind of questions.
It is also evidently true that the bible isn’t sufficient to tell me all manner of things about my daily life. The bible doesn’t tell me what school I should send my children to (if any), what car to buy (if any), which newspaper to read (if any), and on and on and on. There are all manner of things about life for which, again, the bible is not sufficient. We need to go to external sources in order to attempt answers to these kind of questions.
Someone might protest at this point. Surely the bible does give us some principles that might guide us on these questions. That is certainly true. But guidance by itself is not sufficient, is it? Guidance presupposes that other sources may be consulted, other factors may be brought to bear and the scripture may not be our ultimate source when it comes to some of those questions. There are questions, even when there might be guidance involved that scripture may offer, that still makes it a subordinate source of authority.
Think of it this way. If I want to understand the inner workings of a car engine, there are certainly principles in scripture – like the idea that God is a God of order for example – that might make me inclined to assume certain natural laws will be at play and things tend to work in particular ways. But even so, am I likely to consult the bible as my first port of call to figure out how an engine works? Will I consider the bible alone to offer me the answer I seek? Will I assume, even if I have the Haynes manual to hand, the bible might be a higher source of authority on the question of why I might need spark plugs? How do I explain the fact that those who do not read the scriptures nevertheless seem to understand the inner workings of combustion engines and yet I, with my bible, still don’t know what is going on under a bonnet?
Clearly the bible is not sufficient for every question we might have. It does not profess to make that claim. It does not claim to be sufficient for every situation nor to be the highest authority in every matter that might ever be the cause of a question. The sufficiency of scripture only stretches as far as the things for which scripture itself claims to be sufficient. Which, for the avoidance of doubt, is not everything under the sun!
2 Timothy 3:15-17 makes clear just what the purpose of the scriptures is:
15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Scripture is given to make use wise for salvation and to equip godly people for every good work.
Similarly, Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us this:
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
This tells us that we were created for good works, which God has prepared for us to do.
Taken together, these verses from 2 Timothy and Ephesians tell us that we were created for good works and the scriptures are given so that we will be equipped for the good works we were created to do. This is what the scriptures are sufficient for. Every matter of faith and practice – every means of living a life that is wholly pleasing to God – is made known to us in the bible.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it this way:
The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
Scripture is entirely sufficient in these matters. Any question we may have about what God wants us to know about himself, how he wants us to respond to him or how he wants us to live in a godly and pleasing way; scripture is sufficient to answer all of these things. It is our highest and ultimate authority on such questions. In any matter of faith and practice, the bible is absolutely sufficient.