The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture

The Reformation 500 Conference Committee for the AUTHORITY and SUFFICIENCY of SCRIPTURE offers these recommendations for study and discussion:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” 2 Timothy 3:16

Authoritative implies that the Bible carries with it the authority of God. Scripture possess authority because it is the Word of God and God Himself has bestowed authority to His revealed Word. Thus we can see that Scripture comes from God Himself and as such it demands that we obey it.

The Sufficiency of Scripture is the adequate biblical revelation of God to His people at every stage of redemptive history. Right now, believers have the complete revelation which is sufficient for salvation, trust, obedience and righteousness (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Psalm 119:1).

In order to affirm and apply the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, we must understand and affirm the following:

Plenary means that the original manuscripts are inspired by God in their entirety.
Verbal means that every Word of Scripture was given by God even though He used the personalities of the human writers to convey His message.
Infallible means that the Bible is completely trustworthy in every claim that it makes, including the areas history and science.
Inerrancy means that the Bible is truthful and it contains no mistakes.

We affirm the following: “We are persuaded that to deny the inerrancy of Scripture is to set aside the witness of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit and to refuse that submission to the claims of God’s own Word which marks true Christian faith” (COR The Authority of Scripture)

Application:

Believers should be encouraged that we can know all that God wants us to know and that His Spirit will guide us through each problem by means of the Bible.
We are not required to believe anything outside of the Scriptures.
No new revelations are the same as Scripture.
Only the Bible can instruct believers as to what sin is and nothing is required of believers which God did not command in the Bible.
All teachings should only speak and be silent where the Scripture speaks or is silent.