“More! More! More!”
We live in this noise. We always want more money, more pleasure, more youth, more everything! There never seems to be enough when it comes to what we want.
Fortunately, we have all we need.
What we mean is, we have all we need when it comes to matters of salvation—how to be rescued from our biggest problem and how to have true security and peace even when facing death.
The Bible tells us exactly what we need to know and believe regarding sin (our problem), God’s forgiveness (the solution), repentance (how to change), faith (what to believe), and eternity (what happens when we die). The other matters addressed or not addressed in the Bible are secondary issues.
We have all we need to know about primary matters in the Bible.
We Need to Know What Life Is All About
The most important matter of life is woven as the central theme throughout all through Scripture. From the beginning of Genesis (Genesis 3:15) to the last chapter of Revelation, the Bible teaches that we need a restored relationship with God. It also teaches us how God made this possible through Jesus, the Christ (or “promised one”). The entirety of Scripture points to Jesus and culminates in his death and resurrection. Everything that Jesus accomplished by living a perfect life, dying on the cross, and rising from the dead God has sufficiently recorded for us in Scripture.
We need the Bible to tell us about God’s plan of rescue for humanity. We also need it to tell us about God. There isn’t a single story in the Bible that doesn’t tell us about who God is. We discover the ways we were made like him and the ways he is infinitely greater than us. Yet, we can’t know everything there is to know about God—only what he intends for us to know. What God has made known to us in the Bible about himself sufficiently helps us know, love, and trust him.
We Need to Know How to Live Life
In matters of secondary importance, we still have enough information in the Bible to help us live in a way that glorifies God—in obedience to him and love for him and others. We can find answers to our questions in God’s Word through careful reading and application even if the answers aren’t as plain as “You shall not murder” (Matthew 5:21 ESV).
For example, commands like, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44 ESV) have a wide scope of application for daily living.
Questions like, “Can I pop my enemy’s tires to make them late for work?” are not directly addressed in Scripture. Tires weren’t invented when the Bible was written. We can deduce, however, that to pop someone’s tires is not loving them. This is a silly example, but the point is clear. We can deduce what is right and wrong based on the clear commands given to us in the Bible.
In other words, while Scripture doesn’t address every single question we may have, it provides us with a framework to think through all the questions we do have.
The Bible was written during a different day and age. We may think that our problems are more difficult to handle than the people who would have first heard the Scriptures. But the Bible was revealed for all people in all generations. This means it was sufficient for the first century believers, for us, and for future Christians.
We Don’t Need More Than What’s in the Bible
Because Scripture is sufficient, we are commanded not to add or remove anything from it—commanded. This is not a suggestion. We find this command at both ends of the Bible.
Toward the beginning of the Bible, Deuteronomy 4:2 and Deuteronomy 12:32 say not to add or to take away from what God commands us. Then again at the end of the Bible, in Revelation 22:18-19, God gives the same warning, but this time it includes consequences for breaking his command.
If we are told not to add or subtract from what Scripture says, then it must be sufficient for our needs.
We often have a problem with this idea. We would like to think the Bible is insufficient to carry us through life. Our natural sinful desire is always more, more, more. We want to know more about God than he reveals, or more about our future, because we think that understanding will give us more control and release us from having to trust God for what we don’t know. We have no need for further special revelation.
Carefully consider this statement when you hear of people proclaiming to have divine revelation other than Scripture.
Do You Recognize Your Need for the Bible?
We believe you need the Bible, just like us.
We have come to believe the Bible’s message—that we are all at odds with God by default, each day incurring more of his just wrath for our rebellion (Romans 2:5). But God made a way for the punishment for your sins not to fall on us, but to fall on Jesus instead, so that we could be restored to a right relationship with God (Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 3:18).
God wants you to turn from your sin, asking Jesus to apply his gift of forgiveness to you, and to believe that Jesus has done everything necessary to bring you into a loving relationship with God. God wants you to know the joy of living with him and for him, according to his design for you, and to find purpose as you understand your life as part of his story.
He wants you to know him, love him, and trust him, for he is what you most need.
His promise to those who trust him is this: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8 ESV).
We encourage you to take an action step after reading this, if you want to know that the Bible is truly what you need.
Open the Bible to the book of Romans. It will take you an hour to read or listen to. It tells us clearly about God’s plan of salvation—our problem and God’s solution.
As you read, ask God to prove to you that his Word is what you most need.