The All(Most) Sufficient Bible

I have stated several times in the Sunday morning Bible class that “the Bible only, makes Christians only, and the only Christians.” I believe that Thomas Warren was the one who coined the phrase, and a good one it is. Although not found word for word in the Bible, it is nevertheless a Biblical principle. It amazes me how many Christians will dedicate their lives to studying and teaching God’s word, only to leave out or add to according to what they like. If we hold the Bible up as the word of God, which it is, and use it as our guide for following His will, which we should, then why in the world would we pick and choose what we want to obey? If one part is true, should not the whole thing be true? If one part is false, then what keeps the rest from falsity? Commentaries are not bad things when they follow the Bible and do not interject opinion, but extra-biblical writings (those outside the Bible) deviate from the truth when thoughts and practices cannot be found in the Scriptures. When this occurs, there is a problem.

The Lunenburg Letter

In the 1837 issue of the Millennial Harbinger, Alexander Campbell answered a letter from a sister in Lunenburg, Virginia, in which he answered her question on whether or not he believed that there were Christians among all Protestant sects. His reply was:

“But who is a Christian? I answer, Every one that believes in his heart that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God; repents of his sins, and obeys him is all things according to his measure of knowledge of his will....I cannot, therefore, make anyone duty the standard of Christian state or character, not even immersion into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and in my own heart regard all that have been sprinkled in infancy without their knowledge and consent, as aliens from Christ and the well-grounded hope of heaven....There is no occasion, then, for making immersion, on a profession of the faith, absolutely essential to a Christian though it may be greatly essential to his sanctification and conduct...But then that thence infers that none are Christians but the immersed, as greatly as he who affirms that none are alive but those with clear vision.”

To all those who are members of the Church of Christ that came about during the restoration movement in the 1800's, this is your founder, follow him! For all those that belong to the body of Christ that was founded on the first Pentecost after Christ’s resurrection follow Him!

Core Doctrine

A man by the name of Bill Love wrote the book, The Core Gospel, in 1992. The subtitle of the book was On Restoring the Crux of the Matter. In this book, Mr. Love suggests that the “core doctrine” of the Bible is “the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,” and that this is the most important and in fact, the only thing that is binding in the Bible. There are many that have prescribed to this philosophy. In fact, a group of professors at ACU wrote a book that said, “At the heart of the Bible is the story of God’s mercy towards his undeserving people, culmination in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.” They go on to say that “interpretations connected to the core Gospel that heal relationships and enable the church to work and worship well,” are good and helpful, but those that “damage the core, blocking the church’s mission or disrupting its priorities, must be considered flawed, no matter what method produced them or how logical they seem.” The only reason for a “core doctrine” is so that we can follow after Christ. However, at a distance, in this way when we don’t like the path that He is going down we can change ours. If we follow right after Christ, we cannot help but follow in His footsteps.

The____Confession of Faith

Have you ever had someone knock on your door and hand you some religious literature that shows you how to become a member of their denomination/sect/cult? They say, “If you read this and believe it, you will be saved.” It is amazing how many ways there are to be saved. We can do almost anything or nothing, depending on the amount of saving that we want. Do you want “Christian light”? We’ve got it for you. Do you want secret handshakes and burning incense? no problem. “You must look to God,” just don’t look too closely. Whether it is a manual, creed, confession of faith, or a new New Testament, we can become whatever we want to become except a Christian. What about “but even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8-9)? Maybe?

Conclusion

Is the Bible good enough? Is it all we need? Can we look elsewhere and still be pleasing to God? “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 Tim. 3:16-17). This is either true or it is not. We can either accept it and follow it or reject it and look somewhere else. “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18-19). I only used three Bible verses in this entire article, and anyone of them will defeat how ever many volumes of literature that we might be able to produce on “what the Bible neglects to say.”