Do we act as if we really believe that "the Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the word of God written?

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 2000 by Grudem, Wayne

The net result of all of this is that OT and NT exegetes don't tell us what the whole Bible teaches. And other scholars don't tell us what the whole Bible teaches. So my question is this: Where care the whole-Bible exegetes? The Church needs you! Who among us will be able to say at the end of our lives, "I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God"? (Acts 20:27 j. Do we act as if we really believe that "the Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Ward of God written"? Do we really believe that God has caused it to be written in such a way that we can understand his will from it? Here, then, is suggestion #l: Consider the possibility that God may want you to write more books and articles that tell the Church what the whole Bible teaches us about some current problem. 2. Suggestion #2: Consider the possibility that God wants the Church to discover answers and reach consensus on more problems, and wants us to play a significant role in that process. This is a development of the previous point, and an implication of it. It has been about 1970 years since Pentecost, and during that time Jesus Christ has been gradually purifying and perfecting his Church. In fact, Ephesians 5 tells us that "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:25-271. Throughout history, Jesus Christ has been purifying the Church, working toward the goal of a beautiful, holy, mature, godly Church.

Sometimes that process of purification has been marked by specific historical events; for example, in 325 and 381, the Nicene Creed; in 451, the Chalcedonian Creed; in 1517, Martin Luther's 95 theses; even in 1978, the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy's Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. At other times, there has been no one defining moment, but a gradual rejection of misunderstanding and a growing consensus endorsing Biblical truth in some area. For example: the rejection of the militarism of the crusades and their attempt to use the sword to advance the Church; or the realization that the Bible does not teach that the sun goes around the earth; or, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the marvelous advances in doctrinal synthesis that found expression in the great confessions of faith following the Reformation; or, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the realization that the civil government could and should allow religious freedom; or in the 19th century, the growing consensus that slavery is wrong and must be abolished; or in the 20th century, the growing consensus that abortion is contrary to Scripture. Other examples could be given, but the pattern should be clear: Jesus Christ has not given up his task of purifying his Church. The long-term pattern has not been nineteen centuries of decline in the purity and doctrinal and ethical understanding of the Church, but rather a pattern of gradual and sometimes explosive increase in understanding and purity.