Do We Treat the Bible as Sufficient?
“For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13, AMP)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5, ESV)
You’re probably tired of hearing from me at this point, but it’s a concept we need to constantly be reminded of: The Bible is the only thing we need in order to understand God.
Are commentaries helpful? Yes. Are there teachers out there that are helpful in taking scripture, unpacking it, and explaining it to us? Yes. What’s the problem with that? You can’t always trust people to be right in exegeting scripture, and you certainly can’t depend on a person to reveal the heart of God.
Why? Because we’re imperfect. And you’re probably saying, “Duh, Cortney, we all know that. Teach something new.” I get it. But the fact is, we know it and yet we don’t live in a way that observes it. What I mean is that we say we know the Bible is sufficient, and yet we rely on other books, sermons, and people to interpret it for us. We say we trust that scripture is God-breathed and the full counsel of the Lord, and yet we pick and choose parts that support our own theology that makes us comfortable.
The truth is, if we believed that the Bible was sufficient, we would treat those words as superior to the words of others. If we believed the Bible was God-breathed and intentional, we would consume the whole thing and allow the parts that challenge our own constructed theology to pierce us to the core and change us. And if you’ve read your whole Bible, you’ll know that scripture confirms itself time and again. There is no one verse that stands in opposition to the rest, and if you think there is, then you should go back and read that verse in the context of the rest of the chapter.
The fact is that for a lot of things, we take God’s word out of context. That’s why it’s so important to read the whole thing and hone in not on just one verse, one chapter, or one book. Knowing scripture is integral to being able to stand firm when false gospels and counterfeit wisdom is being preached, sold, taught, or discussed. Because if I know my Bible, I will know when something is way off and either call it out, close the book, or change the channel.
Yes, just like Hebrews 4 says, God’s word IS living and active and full of power. What does that mean? It means the Bible is current and alive and still at work in the here and now. It means the full thing from beginning to end is just as intentional and convicting as it was when it was first dictated from God to man to tablet. Even the parts that make us uncomfortable and challenge our modern worldview.
The Bible is infallible because it is straight from God. God is the author, the translator, the interpreter, and the teacher. And yes, we have great resources like commentaries, books, and teachers we can lean on and be inspired from, but at the end of the day, if we depend on those 3rd parties more than we depend on the Bible, what we’re saying is that God is not enough. His word is not enough.
God gave us the Bible and the Holy Spirit. He gave us His words and the Helper that would make those words come alive and be understood in our hearts. It’s time that we start putting down some of our reading material and turning off our podcasts and Youtube and start picking up our own Bibles. It’s time we stop relying on flashy titles and sermons series as an adequate substitute for asking God to show us through His Holy Spirit to give us the wisdom and understanding to read scripture, be inspired by it, and be convicted of the areas we have it wrong in our hearts if need be. And yes, I realize that I might be writing myself out of a following, but if it makes you pick up your Bible, then so be it because my devotions can’t save you and I hope my words would never be a substitute for the actual experience of reading your Bible.
Because if you know God’s word, and allow it to convict you so that you can live according to it, then you won’t be swayed when someone looks to sell you a cheap knock off. You won’t fall prey to a gospel that doesn’t actually save, and you’ll be convicted to let Jesus change your heart and your mind about those things that offend your flesh.
God and the word are inseparable concepts. God is the Word, and the Word is God. That’s why it’s so valuable and has stood the test of time– because God is unshakable and inimitable. His words have the ability to pierce us to the core, penetrating even the unfathomably fine line between soul and spirit. Only He has the ability to do that, and only He has the ability to reveal the heart and intentions we have that don’t align with Him.
Do you think you could ever, in your own strength, give up those principles you hold so tightly to? Do you think you could come to terms with your own sin by yourself and choose to let it go? You could never. Only God can know those ideas in you that are so deep in your heart, you’ve mistaken it as identity. Only God can diagnose and cut away something so deeply rooted in you. And the way for Him to do that is by giving you the Bible.
We can only be saved by God and His word. No pastor, commentary, or 3rd party resource can substitute or replace that. Only God alone can save, and only scripture alone can show us the way.
