One of the things about my job, about being a pastor, is that I am able to see Scripture work in lives in a way that many others will never have the opportunity to see. With each passing day, and every new scenario that presents itself, I am continually amazed at the depth and the power of Scripture. It’s one thing to claim the “sufficiency of Scripture” in an academic setting. It’s an entirely different thing to live it.

Scripture is powerful on so many more levels than we realize. It truly is a lamp unto our feet (Psalm 119:105) and nourishment to our souls (Deuteronomy 8:3). We miss much of its power because we often see it so one-dimensionally, rather than understanding the many levels of life to which it speaks. We might turn to a text for a specific purpose, for example to comfort those who have lost a loved one, without realizing that that same text provides not only comfort in death, but also strength for living. I recently had the humbling opportunity to preach at the graveside service of a fellow minister and I was struck by this very reality. I preached from 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened–not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Paul here presents several ideas that in reality serve dual purposes. He presents several ideas that give the dying and those losing loved ones great comfort. He says that “this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” assuring both the dying and the bereaved that there is a better outcome. He also assures us that the dying exchange the “tent” of the body for “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Compare the warmth of a tent to a building, compare the protection of a tent to a building, compare the permanancy of a tent to a building. Paul assures his readers those dying in the Lord are being freed from affliction and being rewarded with glory.

But Paul’s words , when taken to heart, not only provide comfort in dying, they also provide untold strength for living. Notice how he begins this sections “So we do not lose heart!” We don’t lose heart, we live heartily because the very thing which comforts us in dying prods us in living: “though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day!”

Only once this process of sanctification is realized can we then truly share the perspective that “this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” because only then will be able to say that “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” When these truths take residence in our hearts, then we will truly be able to say “we are always of good courage,” and live lives in which we are honestly able to say that “whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.”

It’s easy to miss many of the riches of Scripture because we go to it looking for a certain coin. We remember that there is a particular tree in the forest that is really helpful and we negelect the power of the forest before our very eyes. Living the sufficiency of Scripture means that we listen to what it says rather than telling it what we want to hear.

If your doctrine does not result in doxology, you’re not living the sufficiency of Scripture. If comfort for the dying does not also provide you with strength for life, you’ve not been ministered to fully by the text, or the Spirit. The truth of the future that awaits us ought to ignite our present circumstances for God’s glory or we’re not fully convinced of the sufficiency of Scripture. Are you?