Is the Bible Enough?

Have I done enough? 

It’s a question we often ask about many areas of our lives. Have I done enough studying to get the grade I want on this test? Have I done enough work on this project to please my boss? Have I done enough to prepare my child for adulthood? Have I done enough to communicate my love to my spouse? 

Have I done enough? 

It’s not a bad question. But, if you think about it, it is a very human question. God never asks, “Have I done enough?” He is all-wise, all-knowing, and all-powerful. He declares the end from the beginning and always accomplishes his purposes (Isa. 46:10). God always does enough.

And yet, as finite, sinful creatures, we’re prone to question whether he really has done enough. We do it in regard to salvation. It’s why we are tempted to look to our own good works for assurance, rather than looking to Christ. We do it in regard to our circumstances. Isn’t discontentment really just another way of saying, “God, you haven’t given me enough”? And, we do it in regard to God’s Word. It’s why we turn to other resources first when seeking spiritual growth. It’s why we so often run to the Bible last when wrestling with the realities of life in this fallen world. 

It’s not necessarily wrong to ask whether God has done enough, as long as our questioning serves to deepen our biblical convictions. At the end of the day, whether it comes to our salvation, our circumstances, or the gift of his Word, there’s only one right answer to the question, “Has God done enough?” God always does enough. 

As we continue on in this year of thinking about the Bible, I want to show you that this is true when it comes to God’s Word. And in the process, I hope not only to deepen your convictions on the matter, but also to grow your love and appreciation for the Bible. 

Let’s consider two truths about God’s Word that make this abundantly clear.

God’s Word Is Sufficient

When we say that the Word of God is sufficient, what we are saying is this: Scripture contains all that we need for life and godliness. A more thorough way to say it is: “Scripture contains all the words from God that we need in order to know him truly, trust him fully, obey him perfectly, and enjoy him abundantly.”¹

When we say God’s Word is sufficient, we aren’t saying that it contains everything that we could possibly want to know. What we are saying is that it contains everything that God, in his wisdom, has determined that we need to know. It doesn’t tell us everything. But what it does tell us is enough for us to know God truly, trust him fully, obey him perfectly, and enjoy him abundantly. 

The passage of Scripture that teaches this truth most clearly is 2 Timothy 3:14–17: 

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

In verse 15, Paul tells Timothy that the Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” That means they contain everything a person needs to know and understand in order to be saved. 

The Scriptures tell us who God is—the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, the holy and righteous judge of the universe, and the merciful, loving savior of his people. They tell us who we are—men and women made in the image of God who have rebelled against him and deserve his judgment and wrath for our sin. They tell us who Jesus is—Israel’s promised Messiah, the Son of God, sent from heaven, born of a virgin. They tell us that he lived a perfect life and died in the place of sinners like you and me, taking the wrath of God upon himself. They tell us he rose from the dead three days later, so that all who turn from their sins and trust in him can have eternal life. And they call us to repent and believe in that wonderful good news. The Scriptures tell us everything we need to know in order to be saved. They are able to make us wise for salvation. They’re sufficient for life—eternal life.

The Scriptures are also sufficient for godliness. In verses 16–17, Paul says that all Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” That’s an amazing statement! Notice the end product when the Scriptures are faithfully taught and used for reproof, correction, and training. They provide God’s people with everything that they need to do every good work that God calls them to do. Not some good works. Not most good works. But every good work. From working to worshiping, parenting to praying, giving to gathering, resting to rejoicing, and everything in between, the Scriptures equip us to be the godly people God intends us to be. 

The Scriptures contain everything we need for life and for godliness. God’s word is sufficient. This is such a wonderful truth because it means that God hasn’t left us in the dark. He’s told us exactly who he is, how we are to relate to him, and how he wants us to live. How incredibly kind of God to tell us all that!  

One of the things I selfishly loved the most about being a dad of little boys was getting to relive my childhood as I played with them. I especially loved building Lego creations with them. When Nate was 5 or 6, someone from church gave us a huge bag of Legos. Inside the bag were several instruction manuals for building different things. We worked through the manuals, building a racecar and several other vehicles. 

But when we got through all the manuals, there were still a bunch of pieces left over. They looked like they were for a big semi-truck of some sort. So, we scoured the manuals, and on the back of one of them, we found a picture of what appeared to be the truck. In my pride, I thought, “I can build this thing from the picture.” But boy was I wrong! I couldn’t even figure out how to get the sides of the truck to stick together, let alone build the rest of it. It was incredibly frustrating, a complete exercise in futility. And, the reason it was so frustrating was that we didn’t have sufficient instructions. 

Instructions are a gift! It’s true for Legos, and it’s especially true for building the kind of life that glorifies God. Can you imagine what it would be like if God’s Word simply told us he was holy and that we were sinners who deserved judgment, but didn’t tell us anything about how we could be saved from that judgment? Or if it told us everything we needed to know to be saved, but gave us no instruction on how to live lives that glorified God? It’d be like someone giving you a massive bag of Legos and a picture of the Statue of Liberty and telling you to build it. There’d be no hope. But praise God, he hasn’t just given us part of what we need to know for life and godliness. In his Word, he’s given us everything we need to know in order to live lives that glorify him. What an incredibly kind God!

I could easily stop here and say, “God has given us enough in his Word.” But that’s not all he’s given us. 

God’s Word Is Powerful

God’s Word doesn’t just contain everything we need for life and godliness. It actually has the power to give us life and make us godly. This is the second truth I want us to consider. 

It Has the Power to Give Us Life

The Word of God is life-giving. Literally. Consider Genesis 1, where God creates life simply by speaking. Or John 11, where Jesus, God in the flesh, speaks and Lazarus comes out of the tomb. That’s the spoken word of God, God himself speaking. But what about the written Word of God? Does Scripture have the same power? 

Two passages in the New Testament show us the life-giving power of the Scriptures. The first is James 1:16–18:

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

The passage begins with James reminding his readers that every good and perfect gift comes from God. And, what is the first gift he points them to in what follows? The greatest gift that they have received—the gift of new life in Christ. That’s what he’s talking about when he says that God brought them forth that they might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. But notice how these Christians were given new life. They brought forth by the word of truth. God gave them life through the powerful working of his Word. That Word was the life-giving good news of the gospel found in the Scriptures. 

Peter makes a similar point in 1 Peter 1:23-25, when he reminds the Christians he’s writing to that they “have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God . . . And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” The gospel, the good news contained in the Scriptures and proclaimed by faithful Christians, was the means by which these Christians were born again. God’s Word gave them life.  

God’s word is life-giving. It creates life, restores life, and gives new life. It is also the means by which God nourishes us and sustains our lives as believers. This is why preachers, teachers, and disciplers consistently encourage you to read your Bible. Our words and the words of others may be helpful, but only God’s Word alone is life-giving. Only God’s word has the power to give life to sinners who are dead in their trespasses and sins. Only God’s word has the power to change us, and that brings us to a second thing that the Word of God does.

It Has the Power to Make Us Godly

The word of God convicts and sanctifies. It makes us godly. God’s Word continues to give life to believers as it convicts them of sin and sanctifies them. The author of Hebrews is speaking to believers in Hebrews 4:12 when he says to them, “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” What he says here is that the Word of God brings conviction. It powerfully and precisely works like a surgeon’s scalpel to expose our sinful thoughts and the sinful intentions and motivations of our hearts.  

But it does more than that. The Word of God actually has the power to change the intentions and motivations of our hearts. In John 17, Jesus prays for his disciples (and for us). He prays that the Father would preserve them. He prays that the Father would fill them with joy. He prays that the Father would protect them from the evil one. And then in verse 17, he prays: “Sanctify (or make them holy) them in the truth.” And, what is the truth he wants the Father to sanctify them in? He says, “Your word is truth.” Jesus is saying that the Word of God is the means God uses to sanctify his people. 

The Word of God is powerful. And it’s not just the Scriptures that testify to their own life-giving, convicting, and sanctifying power. Every single Christian is proof that the Word of God is powerful. Each one of us has been born again through hearing or reading the Word of God. Every single one of us can testify to the ways the Word of God has convicted us of sin. We can all recount ways we’ve been sanctified and grown in godliness through hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on the Word of God.  

In light of that, I want to encourage you to do something: Find some time this week to sit, reflect, and write down some of the ways you’ve seen the power of God’s Word at work in your life. Write down some of the particular passages he’s used to change you. Praise him for the work he’s done. I think you’ll be encouraged, and I trust you’ll be motivated to keep digging into the Word. But don’t just keep that list to yourself. Find someone to share it with. Maybe another believer. Maybe a non-Christian friend. If you are a Christian, your life is a testimony to the fact that the Word of God is powerful.   

God’s Word Is Enough

So, is the Bible enough? The answer is an emphatic, “Yes!” God’s word is sufficient. It contains everything we need for life and godliness. It’s also powerful. It actually has the power to give us life and make us godly. When we consider these two truths together, we can’t help but agree with the words of the old hymn:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can he say than to you He hath said,

to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

What more can he say than to you he hath said? According to the Bible, there is no more. Our gracious God has said enough in his sufficient, powerful Word. And for that we praise and glorify his name!

By Dustin Butts

Recommended Resources

1. Matt Smethurst, “What the Bible Says About the Bible,” https://exploregod.com/articles/what-the-bible-says-about-the-bible. ↩︎