I have recently had an interaction with some conservative evangelicals regarding the topic of spiritual gifts, specifically those of a more miraculous nature. I was told that the scriptures are sufficient to equip Christians for mission, and insisting that we need the miraculous gifts of the Spirit denies the sufficiency of the scriptures as God’s infallible word. This interaction led me to consider the notion of the sufficiency of scripture.
No doubt these and other evangelicals think that by insisting on the sufficiency of scripture they are standing in the stead of the 16th-centuryReformers. I beg to differ. The first and primary reason why we should not insist on the sufficiency of scripture is that in doing so we have shifted the centre away from Christ. Jesus Christ is all sufficient. The Bible is not. The Reformers did not insist on sola scriptura (scripture alone) in isolation. The famous four solas (‘alones’) hinge on the first—Christ alone. Christ alone is sufficient. Nothing else, including the Bible, can be sufficient without him.
Jesus said, “You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-40). There is little doubt that the religious leaders at the time of Jesus believed in the infallibility of scripture. Yet they had missed the point of them altogether. Let’s not forget that the written word of God is a witness to the living Word of God. Jesus is to be exalted and glorified. The Bible is not. Don’t make the Bible an idol.
Not only is it wrong to insist that the Bible is sufficient, instead of centring on the sufficiency of Christ, the Bible itself tells us that it is insufficient. The scripture alone cannot lead us to Christ. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to enable people to grasp the point of the scripture.
“What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Cor 2:12-14).
Indeed, no one can even come close to grasping the point without the illumination of the Spirit. Insisting that the Bible is sufficient is a denial of the sovereign personhood of the Holy Spirit. Far from being a Reformed position, to insist that the scripture is sufficient is a human centred position far closer to Arminianism than it is to a Reformed thinking.
Secondly, the scripture alone is insufficient to bring Christians to maturity. When Jesus ascended to the heavens he gave gifts to humanity. These are sometimes called the fivefold ministry gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (Eph 4:7-11). Their purpose is “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (4:12). Even with the scripture, without these gifts of Jesus, the Church will not “attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (4:13). Jesus has given us gifts of Christian leadership in addition to the Bible in order to help mature his Church so that we might serve him. The scripture alone is insufficient to this task.
Thirdly, God has given the body of Christ gifts, some of which are miraculous and all of which are supernatural, in order to equip the Church. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7). Scripture is insufficient to the task which spiritual gifts are intended for. The gifts of the Spirit are manifestly diverse, just as body parts are diverse (12:14-20). Scripture is a part of the diverse range of good gifts which God has given to the Church, but it cannot stand alone. It is a misinterpretation of scripture to suggest that the Bible has done away with what the Holy Spirit is doing in distributing gifts.
Fourthly, scripture was insufficient for the early Church to know completely what God was saying about Jesus. The early Church had the OT scripture and the words of Jesus and yet they did not do what God desired based on the scripture alone. Although Jesus told the first believers that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), they did not proclaim the gospel to Gentiles. It was not until God brought Peter a vision about unclean animals and summons him by sending men visited by angels (Acts 10:9-23) that he went to proclaim the gospel to a Gentile. The scripture was insufficient to get Peter to do that. We must not discount what God does through supernatural means apart from the scriptures: dreams, visions, prophetic words and visits by angels. If the scripture was insufficient for the apostles of Christ, it is insufficient for us.
Fifthly, scripture is insufficient for Christians to determine the will of God. It is true that reading the scripture will tell us how to behave ethically. However, scripture cannot tell a Christian to move to a different country or start a church or to write a book or to stop a particular job. The individual will of God for a believer is simply not found in the Bible. However, we have not been left as orphans (John 14:18). The Holy Spirit has been poured out on the Church. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Rom 8:14). Scripture is insufficient since it is not a relationship, but a book. Relationship with God in Christ, through the Spirit, is the means by which Christians know the will of God. Scripture is insufficient for this.
Sixthly, scripture is insufficient to meet the needs of the Christian. For this God has graciously given us prayer. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil 4:6). Jesus was well versed in the scripture and he prayed. Prayer is not an optional extra to the Christian life, but a vital part of our relationship with God. Scripture is not sufficient to the task of communion with God. For this we need prayer. Prayer enables us to deepen relationship, to have our physical needs met, to help us to overcome sin and to present the needs of others before the throne of God. Scripture is insufficient for all these tasks.
It is incorrect to insist that scripture is sufficient. Sufficiency is found in Christ alone. He is the one who gives us eternal life. He is the one who gives us the Holy Spirit. He is the one who provides access to the Father. The Bible has a place in the Christian life, but we must not exalt it or treat it as sufficient, because these lead to idolatry. The Bible is a witness to the one in whom is all sufficiency. It is not sufficient in itself.