equipped for every good work.” Peter makes the same claim
when he says that God “has given us everything we need for
life and godliness” (2 Pet 1:3). The key word in these verses
is the word “everything.” God has given us everything we
need to do what he has commanded us in the Bible.
The most urgent need for Christians today is to reclaim
the sufficiency of Scripture for all of life. James Montgomery
Boice makes a similar observation: “In Martin Luther’s
day, sola Scriptura had to do with the Bible being the sole
ultimate authority for Christians over against challenges
to it from the traditions of the medieval church, church
councils, and the Pope. The reformers wanted Scripture to
stand alone as the church’s true authority. Today, at least in
the evangelical church, that is not our chief problem—we
assert biblical authority—but rather, whether the Bible
is sufficient for the church’s life and work. We confess its
authority, but we discount its ability to do what is necessary
to draw unbelievers to Christ, enable us to grow in godliness,
provide direction for our lives, and transform and revitalize
society ... in other words, in the sixteenth century the battle
was against those who wanted to add church traditions to
Scripture, but in our day the battle is against those who
would have us use worldly means to do God’s work.”
“Using worldly means to do God’s work.” That is an unfor-
tunate statement but a common reality. Families look to
psychology to help them raise children instead of the Bible.
Pastors import business practices while pragmatism drives
decisions rather than the methodology of Scripture. Chris-
tian schools utilize secular textbooks instead of Bible-based
curriculum. Psychology, pragmatism, and secular textbooks
are symptoms of a deeper theological problem that results
from an under-developed grasp of the sufficiency of Scrip-
ture and leads to replacing the authority of the Bible with
another source. When it comes to parenting, grandparent-
ing, education, and the church, will we look to the Bible for
our instruction or to another source?
2. DEVELOPS THE FOUNDATION FOR LIFELONG
FAITH IN JESUS
Perhaps you’ve heard about the high number of young
people who are dropping out of the church, walking away
from their faith in Christ, and the low numbers of young
believers who have a biblical view of life. I’ve been a pastor
to families for nearly twenty years and have seen the follow-
ing patterns develop:
• Biblical illiteracy: Alarmingly high numbers of chil-
dren raised in Christian homes do not know what the
Bible teaches.
• Biblical confusion: High numbers of young Christians
do not know why they should believe the teachings of
the Bible instead of other views.
• Biblical immaturity: When young people encounter
a different belief system, many do not know how to
defend their faith or explain the basic truths of the Bible.
What leads to lifelong faith for children? According to the
apostle Paul, a Scripture-saturated, Bible-based upbring-
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