The Sufficiency of Scripture
The goal is to help someone know why we trust the Bible and go to Scripture for/in Biblical Counseling.
To be sufficient simply means to be fully complete and lacking nothing, satisfying and meeting the need for which it was intended. Frame’s basic definition of the sufficiency of Scripture is “Scripture contains all the divine words needed for any aspect of human life.”1 We see that the Scriptures are sufficient in that they stand forever although everything else withers and fades (Isaiah 40:8), and that they are breathed out by God Himself and are profitable for teaching, correcting, training and equipping every believer to fulfill every good work intended (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Frame also makes the statement “Scripture is always clear enough for us to carry out our present responsibilities before the Lord.”2 Further, no prophecy of Scripture comes from man’s own interpretation or was produced by His will; rather, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). Through these various verses, we are able to see that the Word of God is not dependent upon anything else, is fully sufficient to complete all that God has intended according to His plans and purposes, and was inspired and breathed out by God Himself through the prophets He sovereignly chose. Due to these realities, it is evident that the Word of God is our ultimate authority because it has come from God Himself, which is why we can trust them and are to obey them.
Inerrancy means that something is free from error or untruths. Since we know that the Scriptures were inspired and breathed out by God Himself, we know that it is incapable of having untruths or making error, as God is trustworthy and without error. In Psalm 19:7-9, we see that the law of the Lord is perfect, the testimony of the Lord is sure, the precepts of the Lord are right, and the commandments of the Lord are pure, and the decrees of the Lord are true.
Because God is perfect, pure, and trustworthy, we can believe and trust that the Scriptures are perfect, pure, and trustworthy, as well.
Although the terms infallibility and inerrancy are oftentimes used interchangeably, there is slight difference in their definitions. Similar to inerrancy, infallibility assumes that the Scriptures are without error, but would actually further assume that Scripture is “incapable of erring”, based on Frame’s clear definition.3 Since we see in Scripture that God is incapable of lying (Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 6:18, and Titus 1:2), we can trust that there is no possibility of the Scriptures to lie or have error.
In regard to counseling, there are a couple of important and practical reasons why trusting that God’ Word is sufficient, inerrant, and infallible affects how we respond in the crises and obstacles of life.
As A.W. Tozer says, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”4 What we believe about the Bible reflects what we think about God Himself. If we do not believe that God is Lord of all and that “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16), then we will not be able to believe that Scripture is the ultimate authority, which will ultimately affect how we approach every situation in our life. Instead of believing that we were created through and for God, we will respond as if we were created for our own purpose and glory.
If we do not see the Bible as a gift from the Lord which was given to us by “His divine power which has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3), then we will not see them as good, holy, and worthy of us to meditate upon and live by. His Word is more desirable than gold, sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb, and by keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:10-11). By submitting our ways to Him and trusting that the Scriptures are sufficient, inerrant, and infallible, we are able to walk in the ways that bring about life and godliness. If we are not submitting to His ways, then we are submitting to ourselves and following our own ways, which ultimately lead to despair, destruction, and death (Proverbs 14:12).
Ultimately, if we do not believe that God is perfect and incapable of error and/or that Scripture is sufficient, then the Bible will not be understood and used as God intended. Acknowledging and believing that Scripture is the final authority in regard to any other belief, doctrine, or literature, can and will impact and affect every single aspect of our lives: our view and understanding in light of God’s character, our circumstances, and everything in between.
1 John Frame, Systematic Theology, p. 618
2 John Frame, Systematic Theology, p. 623
3 John Frame, Systematic Theology, p. 597
4 A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 1