Calvary Road Baptist Church
(Message preached at Kakarvitta, Nepal)
“THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE”
Psalm 119.105
Please look at your handout, which is a portion of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, the forerunner of the Philadelphia Baptist Confession and the New Hampshire Baptist Confession adopted in my country, which summarizes and condenses into brief form what is generally believed about the Bible by Baptists. Follow along while chapter one of the declaration is read.
THE 1689 CONFESSION
CHAPTER I
THE HOLY SCRIPTURE
1 THE Holy Scripture is the all-sufficient, certain and infallible rule or standard of the knowledge, faith and obedience that constitute salvation. Although the light of nature, and God’s works of creation and providence, give such clear testimony to His goodness, wisdom and power that men who spurn them are left inexcusable, yet they are not sufficient of themselves to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary for salvation. In consequence the merciful Lord from time to time and in a variety of ways has revealed Himself, and made known His will to His church. And furthermore, in order to ensure the preservation and propagation of the truth, and the establishment and comfort of the church against the corrupt nature of man and the malice of Satan and the world, He caused this revelation of Himself and His will to be written down in all its fulness. And as the manner in which God formerly revealed His will has long ceased, the Holy Scripture becomes absolutely essential to men.
Ps. 19:1-3; Prov. 22:19-21; Isa. 8:20; Luke 16:29, 31; Rom. 1:19-21; 2:14, 15; 15:4; Eph. 2:20; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Heb. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:19, 20.[1]
Without in any way seeking to diminish the significance of the entire first paragraph, since our position on the Word of God is obviously foundational to everything else we believe, let me nevertheless focus your attention exclusively on the first phrase that we read and the last phrase that we read.
“THE Holy Scripture is the all-sufficient ... the Holy Scripture becomes absolutely essential to men.” Thus, particular Baptists in London in 1689, and particular Baptists in Philadelphia in 1707, and then particular Baptists in New Hampshire a bit more than a century later,[2] and also subsequently have subscribed to the notion that the Bible, God’s Word, this Book comprised of sixty-six books, is not only sufficient to the Christian’s well-being but that this Book is also essential to the Christian’s well-being. That position is fully embraced by everyone associated with Samuel Rai’s ministry and the speakers at this conference.
It is to that end that we turn to Psalm 119.105 to read. When you find that verse, please stand for the reading of God’s Word:
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
This verse declares the Word of God to be indispensable to the child of God on our journey from where we are along the dark pathways of life to where we are destined by God to arrive. That’s the reason we read it. That’s the reason we study it. That’s the reason we memorize it. And then, through a process of meditation, reflection, and contemplation, we hide what we have memorized in our hearts so that we might not sin against God.
Notice, if you will, that God’s Word is not a lamp unto my eyes, as though it brightly illuminates everything I want to see, for that is not the case at all for those who walk by faith rather than by sight. Neither does the Bible shine so brightly that we can clearly see every place where we may choose to step. However, Scripture truth does shine brightly enough to show me where I am, and where I ought to place my next step to take me along the way in my journey.
Thus, the child of God, who has accumulated some wisdom since his conversion, knows full well that the variables are too many, the surprises come upon us too suddenly, the dangers are too well hidden, the enemies are too numerous to keep track of, too clever to defeat without guidance, and the route to travel through life is far too complex, for even the most seasoned of Christians to safely pass without a reliable guide.
What might that reliable guide be? There is the rub with many people professing to be Christians. Who would be so foolish and place so little value on his life that he trusts in his own wisdom to make such crucial decisions? Tragically, so many who recognize their own deficiencies claim that guidance should be obtained through the Spirit’s leading in response to prayer. That may sound good at first hearing.
You may frequently hear those of Pentecostal or Charismatic persuasion, and even many untaught or ill-advised evangelicals and Arminian Baptists, speak of God telling them to do this or to do that, by means (they believe) of the Spirit’s leading. Oh, really? I would never discount the benefit of praying to God for wisdom. However, those who lean on their misunderstanding of Romans 8.14, where Paul declared,
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,”
assume without proof that the Spirit of God for the most part leads His people by means of supernatural nudges and direct communiqués from heaven. I strongly dispute that mysticism.[3]
This same Apostle Paul wrote, in Second Corinthians 11.14, that
“Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
Thus, our enemy’s capacity for deception is so remarkable as to leave us utterly defenseless in the face of various so-called ‘leadings’ and influences.
This is why the Apostle John encouraged sanctified suspicion about spirits, in First John 4.1, where he wrote,
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.”
This aligns with the Bible principle of verification by two or three witnesses that is so prominent throughout God’s Word, from the Pentateuch all the way to John’s Revelation.[4]
How, then, are we to try the spirits whether they are of God? As well, what is it to be led of the Spirit? Keep in mind that the Spirit of God is the Author of this Book, Second Timothy 3.16:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
To be led of the Spirit of God is no more complicated than yielding to the dictates and directives of Scripture, to obediently bow to the authority of the Word, to do what the Bible says to do.
Therefore, if you say, “I felt led of the Spirit to stay home from Church,” I would say, “No you didn’t.” The Spirit of God does not lead in a manner contrary to God’s written Word, and Hebrews 10.25 directs us to gather for public worship, not stay home. A spirit may have led you to stay home, but it wasn’t the Holy Spirit. I know objections rise up to what I have said, and even honest questions. Some will ask, “What about the filling of the Holy Spirit?” “Does not the Apostle Paul write,
‘And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit,’
in Ephesians 5.18?” He most certainly does. The question, however, is what is meant by being filled with the Spirit?
Isn’t it interesting that so many people pray and ask God to do what God directed them to do, showing they have no idea what it means to be filled with the Spirit? If you ask God to fill you with His Spirit, you have just demonstrated you know absolutely nothing about the filling of the Spirit, because God commanded you to be filled. He did not suggest that you ask Him to fill you. Those, please, are contradictory.
Hold on to Ephesians 5.18 while turning to Colossians 3.16, where we read the first portion of the verse:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.”
Read from Ephesians 5.18 when you get home, and then read from Colossians 3.16, and you will notice two long lists of conduct following both verses.
Careful consideration of both lists will show you that the categories of behavior in the two passages are identical. Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, submission, love, obedience, honor, and a warning against provoking your son to wrath follow from being filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5.18, and also from letting the Word of Christ dwell richly in you with all wisdom, Colossians 3.16.
What does this reveal? Follow me: If being filled with the Spirit results in predictable behavior that is listed for us by Paul, and if letting the Word of Christ dwell richly in you in all wisdom results in the very same behavior, then to be filled with the Holy Spirit is the same thing (it’s the other side of the same coin) as letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. They are the same thing explained from different points of view.
The conclusion your inquiry will lead to is that someone is truly filled with the Holy Spirit of God when he is profoundly affected and influenced by the Word of Christ, the Bible, the Book authored by the Holy Spirit. Such influence is not likely to happen if you don’t read it. Is not likely to happen if you don’t study it. Is not likely to happen if you only listen to the Bible read out loud on smartphone apps while engaged in other activities.
Thus, God’s plan for believers to negotiate the tricky and sometimes winding path along the sometimes twisted and torturous journey called the Christian life is to wisely follow the Instruction Manual, to wisely stick closely to the Road Map, to wisely rely upon the only objective and unchangeable Source of Truth you have access to this side of heaven. That source of truth is the Bible, forever settled in heaven, Psalm 119.89.
Do you need wisdom for raising children? We all do. The Bible has the answers. Do you need guidance in your marriage? Look no further than the Bible. Do you find yourself in conflict with someone? God’s Word shows you how to deal with them.
Are you trying to gain insight about reacting to disappointment and the afflictions of life? Guess where the wise find authoritative and comforting insight? Are there injuries or illnesses you must deal with? Begin with James 5.14.
How about personal sins and shortcomings that frequently plague the child of God? The Bible speaks both to the problem of sins and the problems related to the state of mind, the guilt and discouragements that accompany sins. Is your wife seeking to lead you in the course and direction of your marriage? The Bible clearly shows it is not her role to lead, but to follow you. That’s what the Bible teaches.
I could go on and on, but I think I have at least begun to make the point I was aiming for, that the Bible is both sufficient and essential. Without the unchanging truth of God’s Word (what God says, not how you feel, not how I feel), you will find yourself wandering in the spiritual wilderness, perhaps listening to unscriptural advice from unspiritual people.
Maybe you will listen to someone who is mostly right but sometimes terribly misguided, and you will end up tossed to and fro by every new thing you hear and every supernatural nudge that Satan’s demons conjure up to trick you. Perhaps you are thinking, “They can’t take me down.” Be careful. “Ye that stand take heed lest ye fall.” The first step to falling is being convinced you will not fall. No wonder they are referred to as seducing spirits and what they advocate as being the doctrines of devils.[5]
Oh, Christian, why do you think God went to all the trouble to provide you with a Bible of your very own? More than forty men, over the span of 1600 years, in a half dozen different countries, on three continents, and in three languages. As well, why did so many godly men and women give their lives to provide us with the Bible in our own language?
God did what He did, and so many believers did what they did, because the Bible is sufficient and because the Bible is essential. I will never forget Brother Ibrahim ag Mohamed’s words (who some of you know), when he said, “The Bible is enough.” That was his way of declaring to us the sufficiency of God’s Word. No wonder the enemy attacks the credibility of the Bible, challenging its authorship, being blind to its unity, and failing to grasp its genius.
There was a man in my country who cautioned, “Never protect people from the Bible.” It is sad, indeed, that so many pastors in my country do precisely that. I well remember being told as a young Christian pointing out the Bible truth of the perseverance of the saints to someone, and being told, “You can’t tell people that. They will go off and do whatever they want if you teach them that.”
To this point, I have spoken only about the Bible being sufficient and essential for the Christian, the child of God, the believer in Jesus Christ. God’s Word is the only essential and the completely sufficient source of truth for the Christian to negotiate the challenging and sometimes treacherous path we call the Christian life.
However, what is to be said about the person who is not a Christian, who is not a believer, who is not a child of God? What about that fellow who does not walk the path of life because he is presently dead in trespasses and sins?[6] What is our understanding of that person’s situation?
The Bible is as important for those who are not Christians as it is for those of us who are Christians, but for different reasons and in a different way. I just wish the Christian community in the USA did a better job of acting like it is important to us, so the unsaved in our country would see how important God’s Word is to them. Let me begin this part of our conversation with a short history lesson.
Though there have always been pockets of lively and orthodox Christianity down through history since the time of Christ’s apostles, and many of them identifiable as embracing Baptist principles, the dominant religious entity in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and West Asia, and North Africa, has been some form of Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy, or the Coptic Church. These three groups early on strayed from Christian orthodoxy on such important matters as sin, salvation, and also Scripture.
When God worked in the life of a Roman Catholic monk named Martin Luther (who founded the Lutheran movement), to kick off what history records as the Protestant Reformation, a serious back-to-the-Bible movement began more than five hundred years ago that resulted in a series of Latin phrases coming down to us that very nicely summed up the Reformer’s positions on the main issues of their day.
In opposition to what these three dominant groups taught, the Reformers embraced Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, and Soli Deo Gloria. In brief, these Solas refer to salvation by Scripture alone, by Christ alone, by grace alone, by faith alone, and for God’s glory alone. The reason I bring these five Solas up is because they effectively and efficiently summarize what the Bible teaches in connection with the salvation of a sinner from his sins.
Let me work backward from Soli Deo Gloria, salvation is solely for God’s glory. The unsaved need to understand that life and existence and meaning is not about you sir, ma’am. It’s about God. In other words, God does not need to save any sinner but does so for His Own glory. Though we have not the time now, John’s Gospel, chapters 12-17, shows us God the Father is glorified when sinners are converted to Christ. John 15.8, the Lord Jesus, speaking to His apostles, said,
“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.”
Sola Fide is the declaration that justification is by faith alone, apart from works of righteousness. Romans 5.1,
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Sola Gratia recognizes that salvation is by grace alone, that is, salvation from the penalty of sins is a free gift from God that is neither worked for or in any way deserved by any sort of effort. Romans 6.23,
“... the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Ephesians 2.5:
“By grace ye are saved.”
Solus Christus asserts that Jesus, the Messiah, is the only Savior of sinful men’s souls. In John 14.6, the Lord Jesus declared,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Such a claim has never been made by anyone who has ever walked the earth. Not the Buddha, or Mohammed, or Confucius, of Karl Marx, or V. I. Lenin, or Chairman Mao, or anyone else! In Acts 4.12, the Apostle Peter proclaimed this about his master, our Lord Jesus Christ:
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Sola Scriptura is really the bedrock foundation of the other Solas, since the Bible is our source of objective truth as opposed to changing opinions or the subjective feelings of mystics. Sola Scriptura means our rule of faith and practice is the Bible and only the Bible, using God’s Word to interpret and understand our experiences as opposed to using our experiences to interpret and understand God’s Word.
This does not mean we do not read books or listen to the opinions of others, though it does mean the ultimate authority by which we judge and evaluate God’s will for our lives and everyone else’s life is this Book. We declare what we believe, and we do not apologize for it to anyone. That said, what does the Bible teach us about the place the Bible has in the salvation of a sinner?
Allow me to quickly summarize for the unsaved this shallow survey of the sufficiency of Scripture. Four things:
First, please turn to James 1.18:
“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.”
Remember, in John 3.7, the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus,
“Ye must be born again.”
That is what the word “begat” refers to in James 1.18, being born again. James 1.18 informs us that when a sinner is born again, his new birth comes about by means of the Word of God, through the instrumentality of the Word of Truth.
I mentioned Brother Ibrahim a moment ago. He once testified that he was born a Muslim but was saved from his sins through faith in Jesus Christ through reading the Bible. Then there is my own conversion testimony, which is likely similar to so many of yours. I was saved fifty years ago through the reading of the Bible. As Ibrahim had never been to Church when he came to Christ, and I had not attended Church in many years, the importance of the Bible to every sinner can easily be seen by our experiences and this verse.
Next, turn to John 5.39:
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
Here our Lord corrected His adversaries, who thought their salvation was in God’s Word. That is a mistake. Salvation is not in the Bible! However, it is in the Bible that the Savior is identified and described. The only Savior is Jesus Christ, and when one reads the Bible with understanding he is pointed to Jesus Christ. As well, First Corinthians 1.21 declares that,
“it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
That’s why we Christians try to get every member of our family, every friend we have, every neighbor, and every acquaintance to Church whenever we can! It is the optimum means of evangelism. So you see, we who are God’s preachers are to proclaim and declare the truth of His Word in a persuasive and penetrating fashion, emphasizing the good news that Jesus Christ saves from sin and the penalty of God’s wrath.
Fourth, and finally, the Word of God is not only to be proclaimed to crowds and multitudes and smaller groups, it is also to be explained to individuals, as we see in Acts 8.31-35. Philip ran up to the chariot of a man reading the Bible and asked,
“Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him ... Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.”
So blinded are the lost to the truth, so difficult to persuade are those who are dead in trespasses and sins, that only a genuine miracle can bring about their conversion to Christ and salvation from their sins. What is required is the truth of the Word of God, the preaching of the Word of God, and the teaching of the Word of God, all pointing to the unique Savior of sinful men’s souls, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So you see, from this brief message about the sufficiency of Scripture, that the Bible, the Word of God, is absolutely indispensable to both the Christian and the unbeliever. There is no possible way the child of God can know the will of God for our life with any certainty apart from the Bible. The Bible alone is our unchanging source of truth, having in that respect the same character as its Author, the Holy Spirit of God, who uses the Bible to lead us and to guide us along the way. As well, the Bible is indispensable to the unbeliever. One of the tragic realities with the lost is their refusal to admit that a need that is not felt is truly a need.
However, just as every human body needs certain things in our food to properly digest what we eat and protect our bodies, even when we do not recognize by our feelings how much we depend upon those things, and would die without it, so every soul needs the salvation which only the Lord Jesus provides.
The only reliable and unchanging source of truth available today to inform you of your need of Christ and His salvation is the Bible. Only the Bible reveals God’s holiness and righteousness to us, and our sinfulness as a result of our ancestor’s fall. Only the Bible infallibly speaks the truth to us about our responsibility for our sins and the punishment that awaits those who die without Christ. And only the Bible tells of the Savior Who left heaven’s glory to become a man and suffer on our behalf, the Just for the unjust on Calvary’s cross, that we might be saved from our sins.
What are we to do with the Bible? Are we to read it and study it as though it is just another book? Or are we to read it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on it for what it declares itself to be, the very Word of God? And then we are to preach it and teach it!
As you reflect on what I have said, and reconfirm your position with respect to God’s Word, I urge you to keep Psalm 138.2 in mind, where the sweet psalmist of Israel said to his God,
“thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
__________
[1] A Faith To Confess: The Baptist Confession Of Faith Of 1689 - Rewritten in Modern English, (Leeds, UK: Carey Publications LTD, 1975), page 15.
[2] “The New Hampshire Baptist Confession was adopted in 1833. It was developed by the New Hampshire State Convention of Baptists and has been influential among many Baptist churches, particularly in the United States,” per https://x.com/i/grok.
[3] “mysticism. The belief and practice that seeks a personal, experiential (sometimes referred to as contemplative) knowledge of God by means of a direct, nonabstract and loving encounter or union with God. Although a psychophysical dimension (including visions, dreams or special revelation) may be part of the mystical experience, this dimension is not necessary. Instead, Christian mystics generally teach that the true test of the experience is the resulting fruit of the Spirit in the mystic’s life.” - Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), page 81.
[4] Numbers 35.30; Deuteronomy 17.6-7; Joshua 24.22; Ruth 4.9-11; Job 10.17; Isaiah 8.2; 43.9-12; 44.8-9; Jeremiah 32.10, 12, 25, 44; Matthew 18.15-20; Luke 24.46-48; John 5.31; Acts 1.8; 2.32; 3.15; 5.32; 10.39-40; 13.31; 2 Corinthians 13.1; 1 Thessalonians 2.10; 1 Timothy 5.19; 6.12; Hebrews 10.28; 1 John 4.1; 5.7-9; Revelation 1.1; 2.2
[5] 1 Timothy 4.1
[6] Ephesians 2.1
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