[Continuing on with the discussion of the sufficiency of Scripture from the previous post here]
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I would here like to tackle one canard which I have heard some people mentioned before:
Christ is sufficient, but the Scriptures are not. Christ (or Christianity) is bigger than the Scriptures. You can't contain Christ inside a book.
I would like to at least assume that people who make these assertions do at least think that Christianity is about Christ (If not, why call it 'Christianity' in the first place?) I would also like to assume that these people at least hold to the necessity of Scripture, though I would acknowledge that they think that Scripture is just one of many sources and that "you can't put God into a box (in this case a book)". With this, I would like to tackle this canard and then furnish a few more proofs for the sufficiency of Scripture.
First of all, I have shown (in the previous post) that if a person holds to the necessity of Scripture, then it logically follows that the person must therefore hold that the Scriptures are sufficient. The only exception to this rule, which I will discuss later, is that if you hold the Scriptures not to be inerrant; they are errors in the Bible. There are problems with that view also, but I disgress. Anyway, it still stands that anyone who believes in an inerrant Bible and regards Scripture as necessary must logically hold to the sufficiency of Scripture.
Secondly, such a false dichotomy between Christ and/or Christianity and the Bible is totally illogical and contradicts Scripture itself. The reason why this is so is because epistemologically, how does one know who Christ is except through the Scriptures? Having proven the necessity of Scripture, definitely at least one of the sources of information about Christ must be the Scripture themselves, with Christ Himself saying that the Scriptures testify about Him (Jn. 5:39). Furthermore, how does one know whether the "Christ" who is suposedly speaking in other works is the true Christ or one of the many false antichrists? The Scriptures warn us about the many antichrists who have come and are coming into this world (1 Jn. 2:18, 2 Jn. 1:7). In the Olivet discourse, Jesus warned about many who would come in the last days and claim to be the Christ and lead many astray (Mt. 24:4-5, 23). Furthermore, these false christ and false prophets will perform great signs and wonders so as to lead people astray. (Mt. 24:24-26). Therefore, how can one discern between the true Christ and the false christs? Miracles, signs and wonders mean nothing at all, since the false christs can do these things as well. The only way to do so is by going to the Scriptures, whereby since Scripture is necessary, it is the only source which is not itself questionable, if you accept the authority of Scripture, that is.
Now, some people may say that they can accept the fact that Jesus revealed Himself in the Scriptures, and that only through the Scriptures can you discern between the true Christ and the false one. However, they maintain that Christ is still not confined within a book, as Christ is infinite whereas the Bible is finite. To that statement per se, I can agree. However, the question is not whether Christ is confined to a book, but what the Scriptures say about what is revealed in it. To this, let us consider Deut. 29:29, where it is written:
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the works of this law. (Deut. 29:29 -ESV)
From this verse, we can see that God has told us in His Word that the things revealed belong to us that we may do the works He has told us to do (which in the OT means obeying the laws given by God). The purposes of the revealed things as stated in Scripture is to make us profitable for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). More importantly for this situation, Deut 29:29 says that the secret things belong to the LORD. So, even though Christ is not limited to a book as He is infinite, what is not known about Christ — being not revealed in Scripture, are the secret things of God which belong to Him and Him alone and which we DO NOT NEED TO KNOW. Their absence would not in any sense make us deficient in whatever way here on earth, be it in doctrine or in applied doctrine in good works, since God has promised us that what is revealed is sufficient. Therefore, the above canard is totally useless against the case for the sufficiency of Scripture.
To further prove the sufficiency of Scripture, let us look at Col. 2:3. In this verse, Paul wrote that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. Since Christ is revealed to us in Scripture (Jn. 1:14; Jn 5:39), all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Scripture also. Not some, but all. Therefore, Scripture is sufficient for us.
In conclusion of this section, I would like to quote Ps. 19:7-11 where it tells us about the perfection of Scripture and extolls its benefits in the lives of the saints:
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Ps. 19:7-11 -ESV)
Amen.
In the next blog post of this series, I would go into the authority of Scripture.
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