The Clarity, Necessity, and

Sufficiency of the Bible

December 29, 2009
Questions we would like to answer

1. Do we need the Bible to know that God exists?

2. Or that we are in need of salvation.
3. Are we to look for word's from God outside the Bible?
4. Is the Bible enough to know what God wants?
The Clarity of Scripture

These words which I command you this day shall be upon your
heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and
shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you
walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise
(Deut 6)

What are the two things the people are expected to do?
Carity Continued

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The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple . (Ps 19)

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Your statutes are wonderful;
therefore I obey them.
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The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple . (Ps 119)
Could we say that the OT is unclear?
Jesus says: "you fool!!!"

Jesus also said:

1. Haven't you read...

2. Or haven't you read in the Law that...
3. Have you never read in the Scriptures...
4. You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or
the power of God...
Moral and Spiritual Qualities are
Needed for Understanding
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that
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come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him,
and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually
discerned. (1 Cor 2)

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are

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perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written:
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"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
...
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom (1
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Cor 1)
Why is there so much disagreement
about scripture?
Sometimes the disciples didn't understand
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Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."
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"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. (Matt 15)

They were completely amazed, for they had not

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understood (Mark 6)

Lack of agreement
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Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the
Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised
and required to obey the law of Moses."
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The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After
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much discussion... (Acts 15)

Reasons for Misunderstanding

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after
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Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been
written about him and that they had done these things to him.
(John 12)

He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart
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to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (Luke 24)

Clarity says the Scritpure is able to be understood, not that all

understand it equally well.
The Role of Scholars

1. They can teach.

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles,
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second prophets, third teachers (1 Cor 12)

2. Explore new areas of understanding.

3. Defend teachings
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He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been
taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and
refute those who oppose it. (Titus 1)

4. Supplement material with history.

Necessity of Scripture

The necessity of Scripture means that the bible is necessary for

1) the knowledge of the gospel, for 2) maintaining spiritual life,
and for 3) certain knowledge of God's will, but is not necessary
for knowing that God exists or for knowing something about
God's character and moral laws.
Bible Need to Know the Gospel

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [f]

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
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And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not
heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to
them?... Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
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and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Rom 10)

1. One must call on the name of the Lord to be saved.

2. _______________
3. _______________
4. They cannot hear Christ unless there is someone to tell them

Conclusion: The Gospel must be preached!

Can eternal salvation be achieved
without Christ?
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does
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not believe stands condemned already because he has not

believed in the name of God's one and only Son. (John 3)

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No
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one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14)

How are people from the OT saved?

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They
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did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and
welcomed them from a distance. (Heb 11)

Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day;

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he saw it and was glad." (John 8)

The Bible is necessary for Spiritual Life
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After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The
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tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell
these stones to become bread."
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread
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alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of

God.' " (Matt 4)
[a]

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Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the
desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order
to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep
his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and
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then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your
fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on
bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of
the LORD. (Deut 8)
How could we know about God if we
didn't have the Bible?
Ways we could know God's Will

1. Advice from others

2. Internal witness of the Holy spirit
3. changed circumstances
4. use of sanctified reasoning
5. common sense
Knowing God's Will

We can't just rely on ourselves:

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The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it? (Jer 17)

We have to rely on the Bible:

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things
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revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may

follow all the words of this law. (Deut 29)

for we know that his law is "perfect", "pure" and we are

"blessed" if we keep it. (Ps 119, 1)
Can we Know about God Without the
Bible?

1. What can we know about God without the Bible?

2. Can we see that God exists without the Bible?
Yes - General and Special Revelation

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The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Ps 19)

since what may be known about God is plain to them, because

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God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the
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world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine

nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what
has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God
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nor gave thanks to him, (Rom 1)

Is Scripture Sufficient - do we need
more?
and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,
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which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
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teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, (2

Tim)

1 [a]
Blessed are they whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the LORD. (Ps 119)
Practical Value of Sufficiency

1. An encouragement to search the Bible for answers

2. A warning not to add to Scripture.
No book of Moron or Qu'ran
3. Other guidance is not equal to Scripture
4. A warning not to add more sins or requirements
Only if it would cause others to stumble
5. Be content with Scripture.
Don't invent problems