Where We Find God's Authority

Introduction

In the first lesson, we offered reasons why Bible authority is a topic that needs to be discussed and understood.

Reason 1: God’s word is intended for our good

Reason 2: Authority lays the foundation for doing what is right

Reason 3: Without authority, everyone will do what they feel is right

Biblical authority is needed in the Lord’s church, just as authority is needed in any organization (the government has the Constitution; a business and their code of conduct; civic clubs have bylaws; sports have rule books that explain in great detail nearly any aspect of the game).

Of course, we are assuming when we speak of “Bible authority” that the Bible is the source of authority because it comes from God — the Bible is inspired, God-breathed.

But we must be able to show why the Bible is the ultimate source of our authority. It is one thing to make that claim, but we must be able to substantiate it and prove it.

That is what we will do in this lesson.

Jesus and Sources of Authority

When the Jewish religious teachers confronted Jesus, they wanted to trap Him by asking Him where He was getting His authority -

Knowing their dishonest hearts, He said that He would answer their question if they would answer His. So he asked them about the authority behind John’s baptism.

Jesus offers only two sources of authority: from heaven (God) or from men -

This ultimately proved their dishonesty because they refused to answer the question. And you see Jesus’ wisdom in asking them because if they would not be honest enough to answer the question, then they would not be honest enough to recognize where Jesus got His authority.

However, the biggest take away that we learn here is that Jesus offers only two sources from where people may get their authority: from God or from men and women.

The problem with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and many of the other Jewish teachers was that they derived their authority from themselves or from other human beings.

They ignored heaven’s authority!

Ultimately, we have the same two options: does our authority come from heaven or from men?

Misplaced Authority

There are some places that we should not look for divine authority in the spiritual realm:

Old Testament practices (Sabbath keeping, animal sacrifices, tithing) have been done away -

Catholic church, pope, and special priesthood. In fact, authority does not come from any church or any preacher or teacher of God’s word. Authority comes from God and His word alone! -

Elders in a local congregation do not legislate matters of faith. So they are not the ultimate and final source of authority. In fact, they are to be in submission to Christ -

Denominational creeds are the teachings of men. They might contain some truth within them, but if they contain truth from the Bible, then they are unnecessary. And if they add teachings of men that are not found in the Bible or contradict the Bible, then the creeds are an abomination - ;

Particularly in , you see that the tradition and teachings of the Pharisees was in violation of the law of God - ,

Sometimes when we don’t like something that the Bible gives us authority for, we say “that’s a tradition of man” and we use to try and show that traditions of men are wrong.

Traditions of men are wrong when they violate what God has plainly taught. That was what was wrong with the Pharisaic traditions!

Congregational desires are not what determine authority. Majority rules and democracy is not how the church functions. The test of what is right is not based on answering the question “what pleases everyone (or most people)?”

The children of Israel had a strong majority of people who asked for a king so that they could be like the other nations -

These are all inappropriate sources and places to appeal for Bible authority.

Another danger is that people assume that if a good work is being done, then that is the ultimate goal. They assume if something produces good results, then the work must be okay. The ends do not justify the means. That is another faulty assumption when considering sources of authority.

Nadab and Abihu offered fire before God. They achieved the intended result, but the means by which they offered that fire was “strange” or “unauthorized” -

Heavenly Authority

God’s authority is understood, implied, and accepted since He is the Sovereign Ruler of all creation -

He is the author of heavenly authority -

God has revealed His mind and will through His Spirit, leading human authors to write down what God led them to write -

Prophecy is not made by human beings, but by men inspired by the Holy Spirit

Under the old covenant, prophets spoke by God’s will -

The prophets would speak the “word of the LORD” -

The prophets did not speak by their own authority; they spoke the words God had given them.

As Peter points out, the Old Testament prophets were speaking of things that were not yet fulfilled. Something more was to come.

Therefore, Jesus designated His apostles to continue to reveal the will of God from heaven.

During the times that the New Testament was being written, it was the apostles who were revealing the word of God - ;

Jesus told His apostles that the Helper/Spirit would guide them into all truth so that they would be able to remember His words - ;

The apostles wrote down the message that had been revealed to them - ;

Their words and teachings, along with the teachings of Jesus, and God have been preserved for us in the Bible.

This is why we speak of “biblical authority” — God’s will has been revealed and we find His words in the Scriptures. To find heavenly authority means we must turn to the Scriptures. We must have scriptural authority for everything that we do!

The inspired writers of the New Testament had all truth revealed to them -

The inspired word of God was completed by the close of the first century -

God’s words are not to be removed nor changed -

God has spoken to us through His Son -

Now, He and Jesus has spoken to us through the apostles - ;

And God’s words are not to be added to or changed -

Heavenly authority is the authority that we must be concerned with.

Conclusion

We have impressed upon us so far that we need to talk about Bible authority. It is important for the life and health of the Lord’s church.

Before we really understand how to first apply Bible authority, we need to understand where we go for authority in our religious beliefs and practices. That place and that source is heaven’s book — the Bible.

The authority of God is demonstrated by revealing His will to us and offering us the hope of eternal life.

You can have eternal life if you believe in God and commit yourself to obeying His word.

Come to Him today!