All things that pertain to life and godliness....

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence," 2 Peter 1:3

I've been chewing on this verse for several months now as it has been coming up in conversations and various books and articles I'm reading all over the place. I can't get over the implications... Christ is sufficient to meet ALL of our needs, in ALL things, at ALL times... Scripture is sufficient to counsel us on ALL the issues of life and ALL the issues of godliness...

You might be thinking, of course... AND??? The AND is the part I can't get over... Do we really live like this is true, that the Bible is really enough? Do we seek answers to life's problems in scripture first, or do we seek the latest book recommendation from a friend? When someone comes to us for counsel, do we speak from our experiences, or do we bring them to the Word? I've been challenged in this area over the past year...

Most recently, I read a transcript of a message from John MacArthur on "The Sufficiency of Scripture" that articulates my heart on this subject remarkably well...

Here is a related excerpt:

"And then Peter added this in his second epistle, 2 Peter 1:3, one of the great statements on this subject in all of Scripture, he says, "According as God's divine power has given unto us...listen to this...all things that pertain unto life and godliness." What a statement! God's divine power has given us, not some things, but all things that pertain to life and godliness.

Then he says, "Through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue." When we come to know Him and He is revealed through His Word, we are cashing in on the resources that allow us to be able to face anything. We have all things that pertain to life and godliness. Beloved, all we need for life, all we need for godliness, all we need in all of our Christian living is bound up in the Word of God.

And you ask yourself, why do you always teach the Bible? Why do we always study the Word of God? Because where else do we go for spiritual sufficiency? Everything else is superfluous. For the matter at hand through the knowledge of Him, through the knowledge of Him who called us and He reveals Himself in His Word, comes all we need for life and godliness. And I tell you, it grieves me no end when people come up with this idea that the Bible is not enough and we've got to study all this other stuff and gain all these other techniques in order to tap necessary resources. The Word of God energized by the Spirit of God is sufficient for life and godliness. "

Do we really believe that scripture is sufficient? In another message, MacArthur describes the Christ "Plus" mentality that many in the church fall into...

"We often think today that Christ is part of our lives. He's maybe an important part but not all. We need Christ plus philosophy...we need Christ plus psychology...we need Christ plus ritual...we need Christ plus ceremony...... But the Bible says it's all in Christ and it's all in knowing Christ."

As Gregg is leading us through Colossians, we know the warning that is still true today...

"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority." (Col 2:8-10)

I am overwhelmed with passion and a sense of urgent concern for the church on this topic right now... My prayer is for discernment that we might individually come to a point of biblical conviction of the authoritative role of Christ's Word in our lives, and that we as a church might be on guard against the enemy and wordly influences in our midst.

Let us be bold in His name for His glory and encourage one another to test our hearts in this matter! Christ is Sufficient!!