the Authority of Scripture
Neil
What Can Be Known About... (Theology Series) • Sermon • Submitted
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· 15 viewsWhat can be known about Learning the Will of God? A biblical explanation of General Revelation and Biblical Authority
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We understand that there are core doctrines in our faith that unite us in following God’s will, but what can be known from scripture about where we find God’s revealed will?
What we can learn from created things
What we can learn from created things
God’s invisible attributes: his eternal power and divine nature:
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Creation around us demands that we accept that there is a creator who is outside of time and space with full power over time and space; this is something that all men are confronted with.
In other words, creation is not said to reveal a personal God that all men may come to know, but a majestic God who is Sovereign over all. Verse 21 tells us that the proper response of a person is to honor him as God or be grateful to him, as wicked people refuse to do.
Paul preaches a sermon to pagans revealing what can be known from creation about God in Acts 17:23-30:
23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
That creation reveals the glory of God is also seen in Psalm 19:1-3
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.
The amazing thing, according to the Apostle Paul, is not simply that the glory of God is revealed, but that people look at it and still refuse to glorify God! So Paul concludes that they are without excuse.
God’s wrath is revealed against them, Paul says, because they hardened their heart against what God made plain to them.
God reveals his glory through creation, but he also reveals himself more directly to humans.
Authority of the Old Testament Scriptures
Authority of the Old Testament Scriptures
Entire sections of the Old Testament were spoken by God
The phrase “Thus says the Lord” appears 417 in the ESV text of the Old Testament
20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’
God is said to “speak through the prophet” multiple times
7 Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ”
12 Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.
When God sent a prophet, his message was considered God’s own words.
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the Lord.
If one refuses to obey the words of a prophet speaking in God’s name, God himself is dishonored.
19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.
Certain sections of the Old Testament are happened as examples of wrong behavior, and are written down for Christian instruction.
6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
The whole of the Old Testament is inspired by God
The New Testament declares the Old Testament to be inspired by God, and capable of instructing people toward salvation by faith in Jesus.
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The inspired scriptures are specifically the sacred writings which Timothy has been made acquainted with from childhood.
20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Peter also tells us how prophecy works - the Holy Spirit does not give exact words, but men speak words as the Holy Spirit guides them, and the effect is a message that is called the words of God.
It’s not about exact words, but a message expressed by man, that God claims as his own because the Holy Spirit guided him to express it correctly, as we have already seen.
Jesus calls narration in Genesis “the word of God.”
4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
The Psalms are inspired by the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 1:16
16 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus;
Many other verses in the New Testament show us that the Old Testament is definitely declared to be the authoritative word of God.
The Old Testament is the authority for informing Christian orthodoxy.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
the Old Testament is profitable for teaching
the Old Testament is profitable for convicting the misguided
the Old Testament is profitable for correcting the errant
the Old Testament is profitable for training converts in righteousness
This does not give us the right to be careless in our understanding of the Law and the Prophets, but rather demands of us that we understand God’s will from the Old Testament, and use it carefully.
It contains a national law for the people of Israel that is not binding upon Gentile believers in Christ, nor upon exiled Jews. As such, many prophecies of the Old Testament are to be understood as judgments upon Israel for breaking the covenant, or the laws within it.
However, with all of those and likely other similar exceptions noted, it is still profitable for teaching, convicting, correcting, and training in righteousness.
Therefore, it becomes important for us as a church to carefully seek to understand it.
Authority of the New Testament Scriptures
Authority of the New Testament Scriptures
Revelation is flatly declared to follow the rules of prophecy
18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
The gospels are considered scripture by the apostles
Paul’s quote of Mark
10 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.
11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Paul refers to both Deuteronomy and Luke as “Scripture.”
18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
4 “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.
7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.
The gospels (and Luke in particular) are considered “Scripture.”
The words of the apostles are considered authoritative.
Paul’s understanding of his own authority
12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.
25 Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.
40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, according to my judgment—and I think I also have the Spirit of God.
14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.
37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
2 I have told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare—3 since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.
Paul considers himself to be inspired in a similar sense as the prophets were inspired - filled with the Spirit of God and given understanding of God’s will, capable of making sound and godly judgments.
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
To a certain extent, this is something that is available to all believers, but there is a distinct difference between Paul and us: the nature of his mission (and by extension, the mission of all of the apostles).
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
Peter declares that the apostles gave his readers commandments from Jesus himself
2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
While this doesn’t immediately mean that everything an apostle writes carries the authority of Jesus, we do get a fairly clear sense that everything an apostle says could be a command of Jesus, and ought to be treated with respect.
But when this idea is linked with all the New Testament says about itself, the conclusion starts to be inescapable.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
The writings of Paul are considered authoritative, and on par with Scripture
15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
The New Testament is the authority for Christian orthodoxy.
It is more applicable to us than the Old Testament, for it is written to shape orthodoxy for people like us, and can be used to shape our understanding of God’s will most accurately.
Application
Application
If we want to understand God and his will properly, we must hear the gospel message.
This gospel message is recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, applied in the letters of the apostles, concluded in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and founded on the theology of the entire Old Testament.
If we want to love God rightly, we must love his word, for he is revealed there, even though his majesty can be seen in Creation all around us.
A Core Doctrine of our Faith is that God has revealed himself and his will to us in Scripture, and it is to be considered the source of all our doctrines.