The Sufficiency of the Bible

We live in a world given to rapid change, some good and some bad. Some things ought always to be changing; some things should never change. We have seen a radical change in our own country — from a God-centered Judeo-Christian worldview to one where man is now the center of the universe, if, in the minds of some, there even is such as thing as a “universe.” Instead of submitting to a Sovereign God who directs the course of history, many in our culture now believe that all of life can be reduced to a series of impersonal processes and dynamic events governed by time and chance. In our culture’s thinking the final destiny of man is death, not judgment before a holy God. Truth and good no longer are objective realities but rather they are culturally conditioned, i.e. they are ideals projected upon the world and history by man himself. Scripture no longer holds authority as the revelation of a talking God. Human reason and the individual interpreter reign supreme. In the post-modern world truth now resides in the reader, the observer – it is a matter of one’s perspective. There is no transcendent God who reveals his will in objective truth.

The ideas of our culture invade the church sometimes overtly and at other times surreptitiously. We still face theological liberalism that stands above Scripture, accepting only what it likes in Scripture. We also face evangelical pragmatism that stands alongside of Scripture, elevating marketing methodology, secular psychological theories, and corporate success formulas to a level of authority. We also face segments of fundamentalism that professes to stand on the Word but often emasculate the Word through careless handling of the Scripture and legalistic applications. Furthermore, we face a new mysticism that elevates personal experience, intuition, and personal revelation to a level equal with the Word of God.

The only acceptable posture toward Scripture is to read and study it, to stand beneath it, to submit to it, to accept it as it is indeed the Word of the Living God – our one and only authority for theology and life.

In many Christian lives there is evidence of an unfulfilled longing for intimacy with God. Much of that is due because modern theology has abandoned true religion in which the Word of God is identified with the Bible. The result is that we see all types of techniques developed to find intimacy with God, guidance from God, reassurance, and spiritual power. Humans futilely attempt to find intimacy with God by a return to traditions that emphasize experience through senses of sight, sound, smell of smoke, etc.; or the hunger for miracles, signs and wonders; or a pursuit of the mystics of the past and present; or a return to the archaic in architecture and liturgy. Though the living God may use many means to assist us in our pursuit of knowing Him, the plain fact is that when we no longer pursue knowing God through His Word we end up with empty substitutes.

Only the Word of God gives eternal life as we believe its message that Jesus died and rose again to redeem sinners (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 1 Peter 1:23). Only the Word of God is sufficient to continue and complete God’s transformation process in our lives.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

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On September 10, 1970 I came to understand the great love of God for me, a sinner and a rebel. That evening I received God’s forgiveness and a new life through Jesus Christ, who died in my place and rose again to offer forgiveness and new life. I have been senior pastor for over 30 years planting two churches in Buckingham, PA and Queens, NY and serving two other churches in Brooklyn, NY and Roslyn, PA. I am currently the lead pastor at Grace Church of Philly.

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