When God inspired and authorized the writers of Scripture, he had a particular goal in mind. Specifically, he wanted to give his people clear revelation concerning his will and his character. Consequently, a number of Scripture’s attributes stem from the fact that God inspired Scripture for his people. We’ll consider three attributes that Scripture possesses because it was written for a human audience: its clarity, its necessity, and its sufficiency.

When we say that Scripture is “clear,” we don’t mean that everything in the Bible is easy to understand, or that everything in the Bible is stated plainly and directly. Instead, we mean that the Bible is not obscure. It’s not filled with hidden meanings that can only be discovered through mysterious means, or through special spiritual gifting, or by those who hold special offices in the church. The Westminster Confession of Faith offers a good introductory summary of the nature of the clarity of Scripture. In Chapter 1, section 7, it states:

All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.

Simply put, Scripture speaks so plainly about the gospel that nearly everyone should be able to figure out that salvation comes through repentance and faith in Christ.

When we speak of the necessity of Scripture, we have in mind that Scripture is necessary for people to find the way of salvation. Paul touched on this in Romans 10:13-17:

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? … So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Paul made the point that the gospel message is the normal means by which God delivers faith to individuals. Human beings, by and large, receive knowledge of the gospel from the Scriptures. And in this way, they come to faith and salvation, either through their own reading of the Bible or through preaching based on the Bible. Of course, only Scripture is absolutely, unfailingly, unquestionably reliable. Therefore, Scripture is necessary, both as a record of the gospel, and a basis and criterion for the preaching of the gospel.

We’re now in a position to explore the sufficiency of Scripture. Most basically, we could say that the sufficiency of Scripture is the ability to fulfill the purpose for which Scripture was written. For instance, In 2 Timothy 3:15, Paul explicitly taught the sufficiency of Scripture for salvation when he wrote these words:

The Holy Scriptures … are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

When Paul said that Scripture is “able” to make us “wise for salvation,” he meant that by studying the Bible, we can learn the things that are necessary for us to know if we are to be saved.

What do we mean when we say Scripture is “sufficient”? We mean it is sufficient in two areas. We have everything in Scripture that we need to believe. We have everything in Scripture we need to live to the glory of God. God has revealed all that we need in Scripture for faith and life, for salvation. And that is how we come to be saved, and that is how we live as saved people. [Dr. Guy Waters]