The
Sufficiency
of scripture
By:
Marcus W.M. Osterhout
This
is dedicated to my mom, Katherine L.M. Osterhout, who is in heaven now. For all the years I walked by her room
before I went to sleep and saw her sitting on her bed reading her bible. She never really knew the lasting impression
that she made upon me of the importance of the bible. I thank God for blessing me with those memories.
contents
Introduction
The Word of God is Divinely Inspired
Part 1. Doctrine of Revelation & Inspiration
Part 2.
Theopneustos - God Breathed
The Word of God is Reliable
Part 3. The Canon
& the Critics
Part 4. Salvation:
Part 5.
Transformation:
Part 6. Proclamation:
Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
In our modern world, many people believe
in a God, but it seems as if there are only a few that truly believe in the God
they say they believe in. Our society
is saturated with philosophies, idealologies and gut feelings that ends up
defining a person’s entire being. Many
people today are stuck living in the temporal where the roller coaster of life
dictates who they are and why they are here.
In the Old Testament, David warned against this in Psalm 118:8 “It is better
to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” there was ever a time for us
to take the Bible seriously, trust in God and change the way in which we live,
the time would be now. It seems that we
are closer to the end times than ever before, not just in a linear progression,
but also in a state of heart of the people and the lack of faith in our
Almighty God.
In 2 Timothy, Paul talks about men wanting to listen
to teachers that only say what they want to hear. Sadly, what I see in churches today is convenience rather than
conviction. Meaning, in the effort to
fill the pews of unsuccessful churches, I see churches appealing to the wants
of the people much like a politician does with a voter. Where there was conviction in the messages,
there is now an up beat, positive, sort of self-help message as not to offend
anyone. Church now has become a place
where perks and special offers are now offered for attending on Sundays much
like signing up for a new cell phone service. In 1998 at the Preach the Word
Conference, Alistair Begg said this: “Not every performance behind the
pulpit is preaching. The average
congregation sits in a spirit of detached passivity. Observers are waiting to evaluate the performance, instead of
participants waiting on the word of God.”
What scares me the most is that rather than the church conforming the
world around us to the biblical principles that have not changed even in time,
we have allowed the world to conform the messages taught today to how the world
thinks, feel's, and sees things.
Now I have been accused of being overzealous with
statements like those. I usually
receive the line “That was then and this is now.” Now literally speaking, that is a correct statement, since we are
human and we live in a finite state of time.
However, God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow…He is the alpha
and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He, unlike us or our world…does not change.
God is outside of the realm of time and space.
I then have had people say “Well that’s God, not the Bible.” As we read scripture as the absolute Word of
God it says in John 1:1 “In the beginning
was the Word and Word was with God and the Word was God.” If God is the same and has not changed,
and the Word is God, then that would mean that His Word has not changed
either. This is vital for anyone to
understand, that we are not involved in a religion, in all reality, we are
involved in a personal relationship with the creator of the universe.
My prayer is that the church, not any particular denomination or church, but the Bride of Christ, the body, would experience a spiritual awakening and have a conviction that the Bible is sufficient for everything that we would ever go through. I also pray that we would proclaim this message to anyone that would listen, and if there be anyone that would teach anything else, I pray that we would be grounded enough in the Word to know the difference.
When you read your Bible do you hear God speaking to
you? Have you ever experienced that
stirring inside of you when you understand with clarity what you had read? You see, this book has something that no
other religion or ideology has ever had or ever will have. It has the one and only true God. His word is active, it’s alive and it is
able to minister directly to our immediate needs. Just as the writer said in Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is
living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as
the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge
the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
In this paper I will explain how and why
the bible is sufficient for everything in life. I have attended many churches and heard many sermons, I have
spoken with on fire Christians, luke warm Christians and even
non-Christians. Overall, I still see
people looking at the bible as an old book about God. It is an old book and it is about God, but we must remember that
no matter how old it is on this earth, God never changes and neither does His word.
God bless you all.
Marcus W.M. Osterhout
As we are to believe that the bible is the “Word of
God” we must understand that it was not composed by man, but through man. The doctrine of revelation and inspiration
has been under much criticism throughout history but still remains to be true
today. You see if God did not inspire
every word, then we cannot accept the truths that it proclaims.
We must first understand some things
about the character of God. In the book
“Lectures in Systematic Theology” Henry Thiessen writes, “The existence of
God is evident from the fact that He has revealed himself and it has been
established by means of various proofs for His existence.” God would not be a God of love, compassion,
mercy and grace if He didn’t reveal His plan for our salvation, it would go
against His very nature, which God cannot do.
Now, the two words that I want to
focus on are revelation and inspiration.
Thiessen said: “Revelation has to do with the communication of truth
that cannot be otherwise discovered; inspiration has to do with the recording
of revealed truth.”
First of all let us explain the term
“revelation.” In the book “All the
Doctrines of the Bible by Herbert Lockyer said: “Revelation: The word itself
means flinging or drawing back the veil, thus signifying the removal of a veil
or other obstruction to complete vision.”
Man, in his knowledge, experience or feelings could never comprehend who
God is or why he was here.
God
has revealed himself in nature, history and conscience. He has also revealed himself in His son and
His Word. God revealed Himself both
indirectly and directly. Take for
instance Luke, the historian, who searched out all his information and was an
eyewitness to much of the book of Acts.
Whereas John who wrote the book of Revelation, was given a direct
revelation on the island of Patmos.
Either
direct, or indirect, there had to be a communication between man and God. Throughout time God has used men to
communicate through, He used His very own Son to communicate and save man from
his sins and God uses men to communicate to us today, but it says in Matthew
24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”
This verse gives me such peace, because
it is an absolute, you can rest in that statement. God does not change, nor does His word.
The second term is “inspiration.” Revelation is the subject matter of the
message, which is different from inspiration.
Once again Herbert Lockyer defines inspiration as: “being the power or method by which man communicates his God given
message to others.” This is so important for us to
understand! If we do not grasp that the
writers of the bible were being used as mere vessels for God to breathe His
very word into existence, then we will loose all authority of the bible. Because today there are more and more
“intellectual” people that would rather believe that the bible is made up of
myths, folklore and wild stories that were a result of some type of some
ancient hallucinogenic drug. Therefore
we must show that the foundation for the authorship of the bible is directly
from God. Josh McDowell in “A Ready Defense” wrote this: the human
authors of scripture wrote spontaneously using their own minds and experiences,
yet their words were not merely the words of men but actually the words of
God. God’s control was always with them
in their writings with the result being the bible, the word of God in the words
of men.
Another reason it is
important to grasp this doctrine is because of the last days in which we live
in. As we sit under the teaching of any
man we need to make sure that their teaching is in alignment with what the bible
really says, again the bible tells us to be on alert, to be ready in season and
out of season, because there will be many false prophets in the last days.
Overall, is the whole
bible inspired and revealed by God?
Indisputably yes! In 2 Timothy
3:16 says, “All scripture is inspired by
God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good work.” I don’t mean to use circular reasoning; the
bible is a valid historical record and can be proven through many avenues,
which will be explained later in this paper.
In John 1:1 it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Many people look upon the bible as just an account for the biblical times, a journal for the authors to freely write whatever they may.
The Bible is not simply mans expression of God,
rather it is God’s expression through man.
In 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness.” The original Greek
word, for the underlined section above, is “theopneustos, (theh-op'-nyoo-stos)”
which means: divinely breathed. A commentator
by the name of A.R. Fausset once said, “it is breathed out by God.” God desires a close relationship with us
therefore He revealed Himself to us in many ways, yet the Bible will out last
them all. Jesus said, “that Heaven
and Earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away.” Nature will come and go, space will come and
go, time will come and go, man will come and go, but Gods inspired words will
always remain.
God wanted to disclose certain truths about Himself
that we wouldn’t otherwise have come to know on our own. One of the ways He chose to do this is
through the scriptures. His Word is
alive and it is able to speak to us and to minister to us by the power of the
Holy Spirit. Man did not just write
about God, nor did God just tell man to what to write, God breathed the very
words into existence through His faithful authors! Peter wrote in 2nd
Peter 1:20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is
a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act
of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” No other religion can offer that type of communication simply
because there is only one God and any worship of any other God is the communing
with Satan himself.
The bible always points the reader in the
direction of following Christ, which is the only way we have salvation. Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way the
truth and the life, no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” This is an absolute truth claim. There is only one way and any other way will
not bring anyone to eternal life with the Father. Many religions have very “good” roads of life to follow, they
have good theories, ideologies and philosophies, but they are all from man and
none of them have the power of the Holy Spirit fueling them.
We need to have an understanding of whom
it is we read about and say we believe in.
How many times have we gone into a church and sang a worship song and
never really processed the words we are singing? How many years have we sung Christmas carols and never
experienced the meaning of the words we sang in your own lives? Take for example, the song “Oh Holy Night”
Oh
holy night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long
lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine, oh night, oh night divine
If we would only “fall on our knees”
at the very thought of Christ’s glorious birth. If we would only “fall on our knees” when we come before
the Lord in prayer. If we would only “fall
on our knees” in our hearts as we read His word and live as He has taught
us. Our God is an awesome God and He
loves us more than we will ever comprehend.
Yet He wanted to communicate that to us through His written word, so He
breathed into His writers and created it.
Praise the Lord!
I keep using the word “breathed”, what
does the breath of God mean to us? For
one thing it is the very breath that gave Adam life. In Genesis 2:7 “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living being.” So it is fair to
state that God’s breath brings forth life.
In the like manner, as God breathed into Adam, God breathed the words
into his writers. Which in turn
breathes into us the truth, and as it says in John 8:32 “and you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Knowing that the bible is not only inspired and revealed by
God…but also breathed into existence by God is a step in deepening our
relationship with Him. So when you say
“the word of God” you now know that it is literally just that…the very
words of God!
The question that is so commonly asked
by Christians and non-Christians alike is “How did the Bible come to be what it
is today?” This is a very, very good
question, although I believe many Christians today don’t know where the Bible
came from and for some, really don’t care.
Our faith in Christ as the Son of God is solely dependent upon the words
in this book, so if we don’t know or don’t care where this book came from then
we might as well join the rest of the world in believing whatever philosophy is
trendy at that time.
The general understanding of the bible
is like that of any other old book or belief that it was passed down from
generation to generation. Now that in
and of itself is an accomplishment of being the oldest book still used today,
but with the Bible a miracle took place.
“A miracle?!” you might say, Yes a miracle.
There were 40 different authors that
composed the 66 books of the Bible we have today. As I said earlier, these authors didn’t just write something
about God, nor did they all get together, share ideas and write the greatest
story ever. You would think that the
Holy Bible would be written by the high priests or prophets of the time, no, as
it has been said before: God is in the business of doing extraordinary
things through ordinary people. The bible was written by an eclectic group
of people, there were kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets and
scholars, just to name a few.
Another thing to marvel at are the
locations that the authors wrote. There
were some that were written from a wilderness, a dungeon, a palace, a prison,
while traveling, even stranded on an island.
These locations were spread out over 3 continents, Asia, Africa and
Europe, not exactly your next-door neighbor.
The other ingredient to the miracle is the language that was used during
that time. The original writings were
written in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. To summarize, the authors were spread out
with hundreds of miles in between them, in completely different environments,
with three totally separate languages and yet the same message came through in
the end, pointing people in the direction of Christ. If you tried to duplicate the progression of that many different
pieces to the puzzle, it would be 100% impossible without God.
The last point I want to make about
this miracle is the time frame. The
bible as we know it today, was written over 1500 yrs. So now, not only do you have everything we just talked about but
you have the problem of trying to preserve the writings for over 1500
years. Now, I’ve heard people say,
“There are writings that are just as old as the bible.” If you hear someone say something like that
you know that they have not done their homework. Read this statement by Josh McDowell in his book: A Ready Defense
“There are now more than 5,300 known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Add over 10,000 Latin Vulgate and at least 9,300 other early versions and we have more than 24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament in existence. No other document of antiquity even begins to approach such numbers. In comparison, the Iliad by Homer is second with only 643 manuscripts that still survive.”
You
see, over 1500 years, with more than 40 authors in different stages of life and
in different environments, it covered 3 continents and was written in 3
different languages and the message of Christ was predicted, proclaimed and proven!
Here is the next question, how did they decide what
stayed in the bible and what did not…and who was “they?” The word canon comes from the root word reed,
which in Hebrew is ganeh and in the Greek is Kanon. The reed was used as a measuring rod for the
reason, obviously, to measure different things. When you apply the word canon to the Bible it is as Josh McDowell pointed
out “an officially accepted list
of books.”
Now to produce this canon there were many councils that were held to discuss and pray
the adoption of certain writings.
William Evans at The Bible Institute Colportage Association said, “The answer in brief is that the selection
was made by the spiritual consciousness of godly people.” It
started out with Moses putting the sacred writings in the Ark of the Covenant,
thus preserving them. Later under David
and Solomon’s rule there were other books that were added to the collection,
which we read about in 2 Kings 22:8.
William Evans also said: “The
canon of the Old Testament in the form we now have it, was the work of Ezra and
the Great Synagogue. This fact is borne witness to in the most ancient Jewish
writings.” Ezra and the Great Synagogue compiled all
the sacred writings and they were used in the making of the New Testament canon.
In order to judge which books were let in and which
were not, there needed to be a set of standards. There were, certain specific
standards set up such as authorship, time of writing, language used, and the
like. But the main fact to bear in mind is that as a result of the operation of
the spiritual judgments of godly people there emerged out of the mass of
writings certain books which by common agreement were regarded as divinely
inspired. The same set of standards were used in completing the New Testament Canon
which was mainly completed at the council of Carthage in 387 A.D.
In addition to the councils and the cannons, the
dedication of the authors and the messengers that brought the writings to
different churches gives great support to the authenticity of the Bible. These writings were not merely pieces of
literature but the words of God that were worth dying for.
According to Fox’s Book of Martyrs, Matthew was
slain with a halberd, James was 94 years old when he was stoned to death and
his brains were bashed out with a club, Mark was dragged to pieces, Paul was
beheaded with a sword, Jude was crucified, Luke was hanged on an olive tree and
John was sentenced to die on a deserted island called Patmos, and that is just
a few in the New Testament.
Now when you put this all together you see the
impossibility that arises of doing all of this without the supernatural help
from God Himself. I have heard some
people say that the bible is the biggest hoax in history. If that were true, then it would be a magic
trick preformed by a force outside of this world that has more knowledge,
wisdom and power than we could ever know.
There is not one man that could come up with all of this and then have
it all connect and have the same meaning through out all the regions,
languages, lives and cultures; the Bible is truly a miracle!
The word of God is sufficient for
salvation. What an awesome statement
that is. There is an old hymn that
Charles Wesley wrote in the 18th century, Depth of Mercy.
Depth of mercy! Can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear? Me, the chief of sinners, spare? I have long
withstood His grace, Long provoked Him to His face, Would not hearken to His
calls, Grieved Him by a thousand falls.
Now incline me to repent;
Let me now my sins lament;
Now my foul revolt deplore,
Weep, believe, and sin no more.
There for me the Savior
stands, Shows His wounds and spreads His hands;
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps, and loves me still.
Ever since we were born we
have been in need of God’s saving grace.
It says in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fallen short of the
glory of God.” Therefore no matter
what good things we do on earth, we are still falling short of God’s
righteousness and therefore we need a savior because of our sin.
Paul said in 2 Timothy
3:14-15 it says “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and
become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from
childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the
wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Paul was reminding Timothy to remember that
his parents gave him the truth and he grew up reading the sacred writings. Then Paul goes on to say that through the
sacred writings, the scriptures, it is able to give wisdom that leads to
salvation. Wisdom is not equivalent to
being smart. There are many people that
are smart that are not wise. Through
reading God’s Word we will receive wisdom that will bring us to the
understanding that “we cannot do it on our own” which brings forth the decision
of accepting Christ into our lives as our Lord and Savior.
You see if we preach the
bible, through the power of the Holy Spirit, people will be cut to the heart as
it says in Hebrews 4:12 “…able to divide joint and marrow…” Then, when
someone who is cut to the heart asks, “what do I do?” We share the scriptures, tell them to repent, pray and ask Christ
to come into and take ownership of their life.
Faith comes by hearing and
hearing comes from the word of God. The
gospel was preached for no other reason but to save people from eternal
death. Therefore having faith in Christ
as Lord and Savior comes from the words in the Bible which would solidify the
statement: the Word of God is sufficient for salvation.
PART FIVE
Transformation
In 2 Timothy 3:17 it starts out by saying “…so
that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” There is a transformation, a change that
takes place when the scriptures are applied to one’s life.
The scriptures are useful for teaching, reproof, correction
and training in righteousness. When
teaching the bible in any setting, we need do it in such a way that we would be
rebuking error. How would we know what
we are doing wrong if no one took the awkward place of telling us. This is not always the easiest role to play
because no one likes to be told that they are wrong. Yet, we must remind ourselves with the scriptures, as it says in
Galatians 4:16 “Have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Sometimes the truth hurts, but it must
always be proclaimed.
Teaching must not always be
in a state of rebuke, it has to have correction to go along with it. If you are telling someone they are going
the wrong way what do they say to you “Where’s the right way?” So we must point them in the right
direction, not just nagging saying you are always going in the wrong
direction. In otherwords, if we are
going to tell someone what they are believing is wrong, we must be ready to
show them the truth, which is found in Christ Jesus.
As we have done our part in
teaching, reproving and correcting we also need to train in righteousness, or
encourage. It says in 1 Thessalonians
5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another just as you
also are doing.” No coach has ever
gotten any success out of any player by just pointing the negative out while
not building that person up. Many of us
are great at being able to point out the negative side in someone’s life and we
forget the encouragement that must go along with it. Rebuking and correcting is good, God said in Revelation 3:19 “Those
whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore and repent.” This is vital for us to practice, and as we
do we must do it in a spirit of love.
We can take every example Jesus gave us when He spoke with His
disciples, He did every one of those and the disciples grew in spiritual
maturity. Jesus came to fulfill the law
and when He spoke with His disciples He explained the scriptures to them. As they listened, learned and applied the
teachings of God’s word through power of the Holy Spirit, there was a
transformation that occurred as a result.
Part Six
Proclamation
In 2 Timothy 4 Paul charges timothy to proclaim the Word of
God. We have to remember that this is
the last letter that Paul will write and he put everything that was laid heavy
on his heart by God, into it.
In vs. 1 Paul charges
Timothy with a very high calling “I solemnly charge you, in the presence of
God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His
appearing and His kingdom: PREACH THE WORD” We must remember that there
will be a day that we will stand before God Almighty and give an account for
every word and every action we have committed.
The way to stay right in God’s eyes is to stay grounded in the Truth,
which is the word of God and apply it so that we would become spirit filled
vessels for the Lord.
Now when we proclaim the
word of God, some people welcome the words and others reject it. There will be times when we know exactly
what to say and the person comes to know the Lord. Then there will be times when we will be baffled by intellectual
questions that are intended to confuse and stir up strife and we will be
persecuted because of the lack of the answers we have for them.
In August of 2000, I was
asked to start up and teach a home bible study. I initially freaked out and denied my ability to teach anything
saying “I have never taught anything before in my life.” but then God
put on my heart Exodus 4:10-12 “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I
[am] not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy
servant: but I [am] slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said
unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the
seeing, or the blind? Have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with
thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” Did you catch that last part, “and teach
thee what thou shalt say.” You see,
I was worrying about doing it on my own strength and thus I felt the inadequacy
that would surely follow if I continued in my own strength. But we are not to worry about what we are to
say; God is the author of our words when we give up trying to do everything on
our own.
When we read the Bible and
apply it to our lives the Holy Spirit moves inside of us and when it comes time
to proclaim the good news to someone we will be able to open our mouths and
allow God to speak right through us into the heart of the other person. God is faithful even when we are faithless
and He will give us the words, which come from the Bible. Therefore the Bible is sufficient for
proclamation.
CONCLUSION
The sufficiency of scripture is a very important part of
our relationship with God. To know that
designed His Word to speak right to our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit
is truly awesome to believe.
I pray for anyone that would contemplate
the sufficiency of God’s Word would study and learn that for everything that we
may go through in life the Bible is there to minister to our every need,
feeling, hope and desire.
Remember
these three things:
As
we said earlier the writers were mere vessels for God, as He breathed the very
words of the Bible into existence.
Time
and time again, the Bible proves itself.
Someone once asked C.H. Spurgen “How do we defend the Bible?” He answered “You don’t defend the bible, do
you defend a lion? No, you just let it
out of its cage.” In the same way
we must let the bible out of its cage which is made up of the wood of the shelf
and the dust of the air. We must pick
it up, dust it off, read it and stand on it!
These will always be evident
in a Christian’s walk with the Lord.
Because the only way for there to be a proclamation is if there is a
transformation which would only occur from salvation through Christ Jesus our
Lord.
May God Bless You All!