Sufficiency of scripture is an important topic for me as a woman, because so many of the books aimed at women loading the shelves at Christian bookstores, and so many women's ministries telling us we should be hearing from God or are touting some author's experience from having heard from God.
I listened to Phil Johnson and Justin Peters at the Truth Matters Conference last night. The topic this year is sufficiency of Scripture and by contrast, that we are not hearing personally from God in these days. If one is hearing from God outside of scripture it means the canon is not closed, and it means the scripture we have is not enough, or, isn't sufficient. But scripture itself declares that it is.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)
It is a daily grief to me to see so many women 'Bible teachers' casually telling auditoriums full of eager female listeners of their wonderful conversations with God. It hurts my heart to see the devotional "Jesus Calling" on friends' shelves with bookmarks in them. It makes me mourn to hear friends sigh and say they wish they could hear from God like ___________fill-in-the-blank teacher.
For example, the founder of the wildly popular IF:Gathering Jennie Allen heard a directive from allegedly God audibly telling her to equip this generation. Gee, even Paul didn't receive such an impressive mandate. He was told he must suffer for the name. (Acts 9:16).
In another example, the wildly popular HGTV mogul and lauded Christian celeb Joanna Gaines allegedly heard directly from God specific promises of coming fame and success in her chosen career.
Sarah Young of Jesus Calling regularly hears whispers and voices from the other side, so much so she filled a book with His exact words, allegedly. Or two. Or three. If she is hearing from Jesus and writing His words down in quotes, she is writing scripture. Do you believe Jesus Calling is scripture?
Queen of the audible silent whispers in her ears and voices on heart Beth Moore hears from God in such casual terms so frequently you wonder if He has taken up residence in her living room.
Ladies, God is not speaking personally now, to anyone on earth. He is in heaven, interceding, preparing a place for us, and sustaining the universe by the power of His word. (Romans 8:34, John 14:3, Colossians 1:17). Making such a claim strikes directly at the sufficiency of scripture. We have Jesus, the second person of the trinity, and the Spirit, the third person of the trinity, speaking to us through the written word and illuminating it to our minds and conscience. If that is not enough for you, please ask yourselves why.
Meanwhile, here is the short blog essay by Jeremiah Johnson and Justin Peter's short response to the title question:
If Scripture Is Sufficient, Why Are So Many Professing Believers Looking for Something More?
