AUTHORITY

of The Scriptures

WHAT DID PAUL WANT THE CHURCH TO HAVE?

1 Cor 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

Do the followers of Jesus today agree perfectly? Are there division among the followers of Jesus?

WHAT WAS JESUS’ DESIRE FOR THE CHURCH IN HIS UPPER ROOM PRAYER?

John 17:20-21 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE that you have sent me.”

Does the world believe in Jesus?

Why did Jesus want unity?

HOW MANY DENOMINATIONS ARE THERE TODAY? Some suggest that there are now over 600 major splits and splinters among those who claim to be followers of Christ.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO UNITE THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS?

In the early 1800’s a bushel, a quart or a pound was strictly what each man perceived it to be. One man would sell a bushel of corn to another and the other man would complain that he did not get what he paid for because his bushel was larger than the other fellows. This problem led to constant bickering and ill will. Eventually the Federal Bureau of the standard of weights and measures was established. Someone selected a basket and declared that it would represent a bushel in all of the states. Today, we have no complaint when we purchase a gallon of gasoline or a pound of butter because we all recognize the same weights and measures. In other words the Federal Bureau of weights and measures has become the authority for our nation. We all recognize the same authority and we have UNITY. If we could do the same with regard to religion we could have unity among Christ’s followers today.

AUTHORITY DEFINITION: The power or right to make discussions, give commands and to force obedience, - the last word on any subject.

WHAT ARE SOME COMMONLY RECOGNIZED RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES? The Church, Preachers, Teachers, Parents, Friends, Creed books, Feelings.

Incidentally, Prov 28:26 says, “He who trusts in his heart himself is a fool.” KJV

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CREED BOOK AND A BIBLE STUDY GUIDE?

A Bible study guide is designed to help us understand the authority – the Bible.

A creed book is designed to be the authority, - the last word on the subject.

THE BIBLE SAYS THAT JESUS HAS ALL AUTHORITY IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS.

Matt 17:1-5 “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters-one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’” Here God tells Peter that it is no longer Moses or Elijah who has the authority, the last word, - it is Jesus.

Acts 3:21-22 “For Moses said, `The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.”

Heb 1:1-2 “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”

Matt 7:28, 29 “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”

Matt 28:18 “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’”

Eph 1:20-23 “…which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

JESUS MUST HAVE THE FINAL WORD in all religious matters!

JESUS PUT ALL AUTHORITY IN HIS WORD

John 12:49 “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that VERY WORD which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.”

JESUS GAVE HIS ALL AUTHORITATIVE WORD TO THE APOSTLES

John 17:8 “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.”

John 17:14 “I have given them your word and the world has hated them…”

HOW DID JESUS GIVE HIS WORD TO HIS DISCIPLES?

John 16:13-14 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

John 14:26 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

As the disciples spoke and wrote they were directed by the Holy Spirit. They could not speak or write things contrary to God’s desire. They also had perfect recall of the things that Jesus had taught them.

WHAT DID THE DISCIPLES DO WITH JESUS’ ALL AUTHORITATIVE WORD?

2 Peter 3:15-16 “Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

Here the apostle Peter, by inspiration, says that Paul’s writings are part of the Holy Scriptures.

2 Tim 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The disciples took the all authoritive word that Jesus gave them and wrote it down. It is now our all authoritive Bible.

WHAT DID THE DISCIPLES THEN DO WITH JESUS’ WORD?

2 Tim 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”

The disciples took the word that Jesus gave them and gave it to reliable men who taught others.

THE CHAIN OF AUTHORITY

The chain of authority goes like this. God had all authority. He gave the authority to Jesus. Jesus put the authority in his word. Jesus gave the word by way of the Holy Spirit to the disciples who wrote it down and gave it to reliable men who taught others, who taught others. Eventually a reliable man taught me and now I am teaching you.

The question we need to ask is how much authority do you and I have. We have as much authority in religious matters as God has as long as we hide behind His Word. In other words, as long as we are properly quoting the Scriptures we can affirm what is correct doctrine and what is not. Notice what Paul taught a Christian in his day.

Titus 2:15 “These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with ALL AUTHORITY. Do not let anyone despise you.”

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND SUFFICIENCY?

Allow me to answer the question with an illustration. Suppose two men are in a raft in the middle of the ocean. One man has a gun. That man is the authority. He could probably make the other person lick his shoes. With all the authority he has he may not have sufficient goods to provide for their needs.

THE ALL AUTHORITATIVE BIBLE WORDS ARE ALL SUFFICIENT

John 20:30-31 “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Rev 20:12 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

2 Tim 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

Since the Bible is sufficient to give us eternal live, can equip us for every good work and is everything we need for live and godliness, we need no other book or manual to take care of our spiritual needs.

GOD DEMANDS RESPECT FOR HIS ALL SUFFICIENT BIBLE

1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.”

1 Cor 4:6 “Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’”

Gal 1:6-9 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”

GOD WILL NOT ALLOW ADDITION, SUBTRACTION OR SUBSTITUTION

2 John 9 “Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.”

Deut 4:2 “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.”

Prov 30:6 “Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”

Matt 15:9 “They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

Rev 22:18-19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

MOTTO

SPEAK WHERE BIBLE SPEAKS

BE SILENT WHERE BIBLE IS SILENT

OLD TESTAMENT EXAMPLES OF RESPECT

Gen. 3:3-4 “…but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’… ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman.”

Death means separation. The moment Adam and Eve ate of the tree they became separated from God. Eventually their soul was separated from their body. They were driven out of the paradise. They were made to work hard with suffering. God means what he says. We must respect his authority.

Num. 20:8-12 “’Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.’ So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.’”

1 Sam 15:1-9 “Samuel said to Saul, ‘I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty says: `I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim-two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. Then he said to the Kenites, ‘Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.”

1 Sam 15:23 “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”

Lev 10:1-2 “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.”

GOD’S AUTHORITATIVE WORD MUST BE RESPECTED AND OBEYED

Rom 11:22 “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.”

Heb 2:1-4 “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”

2 Tim 2:15-16 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Acts 17:11-12 “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

APPLICATION

“…that the world might be saved…” this was Jesus desire. This was Jesus prayer. Yet most of the world is lost simply because Jesus’ followers are divided. We are divided primarily because we do not recognize the Bible as God’s last word on all religious subjects.

This study is important because it is a guard against such abuses as limbo, purgatory, indulgences, restrictions on where and who can preach, who can take communion and the list of man made laws go on and on separating and dividing us so that the world will not believe that Jesus is God’s son.

MOTTO

SPEAK WHERE BIBLE SPEAKS

BE SILENT WHERE BIBLE IS SILENT

SYLLOGISM:

1 John 3:4 “…sin is the transgression of the law.” KJV

Rom 4:15 “…where there is no law there is no transgression.” NIV

Therefore: Where there is no law there is no sin.

Rom 14:4 “Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (We can only make religious judgments based on the all authoritative word.)

John 7:24 “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” (We are to command all that is clearly commanded but only what is clearly commanded. This is an easy formula for unity.)

AUTHORITY

1.      How many denominations are there today?

2.      What was Jesus’ main desire for the church in his John 17 prayer?

3.      Why did he want unity for his followers?

4.      What was Paul’s desire for the church at Corinth?

5.      What does authority mean?

6.      What are some commonly recognized religious authorities?

7.      How can authority bring about unity?

8.      How did the scribes teach?

9.      How did Jesus teach?

10.  How much authority does Jesus have?

11.  Where did Jesus put his authority?

12.  What did Jesus do with his all authoritative word?

13.  What did the Disciples do with Jesus’ word?

14.  What was Timothy to do with Jesus’ word?

15.  What are you to do with Jesus’ word?

16.  What is the difference between authority and sufficiency?

17.  What application can we make in today’s world from the lesson of the all sufficient word?

18.  Is unity important? Why?

19.  Is the religious world united? Why?

20.  What are some of the barriers to unity?

21.  What can we do to produce unity in the local church? In the religious world?

22.  Quote the syllogism that shows we have freedom where God has not legislated.

23.  On what basis can we judge another person’s servant?

24.  When judging other’s of what must we be careful?

This column lists the studies that will lead to a proper understanding of God's Word

Just click on the title

We Can Know . . .

There is a God in Heaven and the Bible is His Word

Prayer and God's Promises

 The Authority of The Scriptures

The Two Covenants

The Proper Method of Study