THE BIBLE IS NOT ENOUGH

By Curtis Pugh

            We hold the Bible in highest esteem. It is the Word of God. It tells us all that we need to know about salvation and how to live a life that is pleasing to God. But a mere head-knowledge of the Bible will not save. The Bible says that “knowledge puffeth up,” (1 Corinthians 8:1). We fear there are a great many professing Christians who have only the kind of head-knowledge that results in pride and confidence in their ability to obey the Bible.

            Other than the Bible, what is needed for a sinner to be saved? The Lord Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again,” (John 3:6, 7). While the Bible is the Word of God, the Bible is not the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that a birth brought about by the Spirit is necessary for salvation. That is why we say that the Bible is not enough. We note that the Greek word for “born again” found in the original language of the Bible is more often translated “from above.” The King James Bible – if you have a complete one –  bears this out. It has a note in the margin that says, “again – from above”.

            There is not a verse in the Bible that says do this or that and you will be born again.  Jesus said, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit,” (John 3:8). No man controls the wind. And no one controls whether or not he or she is born from above. Since a lost man – a natural man – cannot do anything to please God, no act of obedience can induce God to birth a sinner into God's family.

            “What? Someone cries out – a natural man cannot please God?” That is what the Bible says in Romans 8:8: “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” It is a mistaken idea that praying the sinner's prayer (whatever that is), going forward in a religious meeting, being baptized, making a decision for Christ, or doing any other thing will cause God to look favorably upon a lost sinner. How can a sinner please God? The next verse, Romans 8:9 tells us, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” The Holy Spirit of God must of His own will move into a lost person in the new birth before a person can please God. Lost person, you are entirely dependent upon God. Have no confidence in the flesh. “Ye must be born again.”