While many Christians affirm the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture and even agree on fundamental principles of interpretation, there remains a troubling tendency to compromise with respect to the sufficiency of Scripture. Some endorse the veracity of the Bible, but hesitate to acknowledge its authority over every matter of life, choosing to allow other voices and professionals outside of Scripture to shape their thinking and practice.
We are convinced that the Bible is sufficient for every discipline and situation. Dr. John MacArthur wisely observed that the first generation in any movement defends doctrine, the second enjoys it, and the third loses it. Our burden is that we would be that first generation: defending the truth of God’s Word and advocating for its sufficiency with passion, clarity, and conviction.
The Sufficiency of Scripture Conference has been designed for this very purpose. We intend to galvanize this generation to understand, embrace, and defend the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. Through preaching, seminars, resources, and fellowship, our goal is to provide clarity and instill courage in a cultural moment marked by confusion.
An excerpt from TMU’s doctrinal statement.
We teach that the Bible is God’s written revelation to man, and thus the 66 books of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the plenary (inspired equally in all parts) Word of God (1 Corinthians 2:7-14; 2 Peter 1:20-21). We teach that the Word of God is an objective, propositional revelation (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 2:13), verbally inspired in every word (2 Timothy 3:16), absolutely inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God-breathed.
We teach the literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture which affirms the belief that the opening chapters of Genesis present creation in six literal days (Genesis 1:31; Exodus 31:17), describe the special creation of man and woman (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:5-25), and define marriage as between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5). Scripture elsewhere dictates that any sexual activity outside of marriage is an abomination before the Lord (Exod. 20:14; Lev. 18:1-30; Matt. 5:27-32; 19:1-9; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; 6:9-10; 1 Thess. 4:1-7).
We teach that the Bible constitutes the only infallible rule of faith and practice (Matthew 5:18; 24:35; John 10:35; 16:12-13; 17:17; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
We teach that God spoke in His written Word by a process of dual authorship. The Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors that, through their individual personalities and different styles of writing, they composed and recorded God’s Word to man (2 Peter 1:20-21) without error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16).
We teach that, whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of Scripture, there is but one true interpretation. The meaning of Scripture is to be found as one diligently applies the literal grammatical-historical method of interpretation under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 7:17; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-15; 1 John 2:20). It is the responsibility of believers to ascertain carefully the true intent and meaning of Scripture, recognizing that proper application is binding on all generations. Yet the truth of Scripture stands in judgment of men; never do men stand in judgment of it.
