The sufficiency & application of Scripture
24. Scripture is the believer’s sufficient guide for all of faith and practice, and Christians must believe and obey whatever it teaches and commands. The Bible provides the Christian — through precept, pattern and principle — all that is necessary to make wise decisions concerning the many ethically complex issues of life. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3)
2 Tim. 3:16-17 – 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.
When Paul wrote this, he did not refer to the 66 books we now know as the Bible. Some of these 66 books were not even written yet. However, by faith this is believed about more books than what Paul referred to when writing this to Timothy.
2Pet. 1:3 – as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.
This passage does not refer to scripture. It teaches that knowing Him gives us all things. He is not the Bible. He is the one who want a relationship with us.
24a) Scripture is the believer’s sufficient guide for all of faith and practice
Scripture is called profitable in the Bible, but it is not called sufficient. It is through “knowledge of Him” that we get “all things pertain to life and Godliness” – not through Scripture. And the Spirit guides us in all truth (John 16:13), and should thus be called our guide. To call God sufficient is biblical, to call the Bible – without mentioning God’s help – sufficient, is not. The Bible is not God.
b) and Christians must believe and obey whatever it teaches and commands.
That is a biblical view, whether the words "Christians must obey the Bible" appear in the Bible or not. A high view of the Bible is the hinge on which a biblical world view hangs.
c) The Bible provides the Christian … all that is necessary to make wise decisions concerning the many ethically complex issues of life.
Not all. See 24a).
Here is a simple example: It would be ethical and wise for a judge to listen to both sides, and judge justly. (Prov. 24:23, among others) The Bible don't give the judge party A's words or party B's words, but their testimonies help a Christian judge to make a wise decision.
In that way, all kinds of knowledge, from outside and inside the Bible, help us make wise decisions concerning ethics. We should consider everything we know in light of biblical guidelines, in the power of the Spirit. The Spirit and the facts are necessary too, not just the Bible.
d) The Bible provides this through precept, pattern and principle.
Through precept and principle, the Bible provides a lot of what God will use to help the Christian make wise decisions. But not all. It gives the letter, but not the Spirit At times, God leads in other ways.
Making decisions through scriptural patterns is more controversial. There is, for example, a pattern in the Bible of people turning away from God, again and again. There are patterns of polygamy, adultery, lying, and misunderstanding God’s purposes. There is a pattern of church leaders (both in the Old and New Testament) being Jewish. Americans are not in any of the Bible’s patterns. But patterns in scripture are often examples of what the imperfect world of Bible times did again and again. They are not commands. We should not be like the sinful world – neither the sinful world of Abraham’s era, nor the sinful first century Roman world around Jesus, nor the sinful Victorian or current world.
Other ways Christians understand this:
Some Christians say that precisely because Christians should have a high regard of scripture, they disregard the way the Tenets of Biblical Patriarchy proof-texts to get to the conclusions they want.
Summing it up
How reliable is this tenet? I will use a color code:
The color code:
This is adequately Biblically defended
24. Scripture is the believer’s sufficient guide for all of faith and practice, and Christians must believe and obey whatever it teaches and commands. The Bible provides the Christian — through precept, pattern and principle — all that is necessary to make wise decisions concerning the many ethically complex issues of life.
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