The Authority of Scripture
Ephesians 1:1
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Sermon Summary Paul's words in Ephesians are not just his own - he is a messenger speaking on behalf of Christ Himself. Since these are the words of God, they are authoritative and demand our attention and our obedience. |
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Ephesians 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
I mentioned last week that we often see these introductory greetings as skippable material. Well, I am returning to it today in order to glean some more of the Lord’s teaching from it. As you will find, there is abundant material here.
This past week, I heard a story about a pastor by the name of Carl Robins. Pastor Robins was invited to be a guest speaker at a certain church. Pastor Robins was actually doing some traveling, and he was going out to see some friends of his. One of these friends was a pastor, so he invited Robins to come and preach to his congregation while he was out there visiting.
When it came time, Pastor Robin’s friend got up and introduced Carl to the church and then invited him to come forward and give the message. As he got up from his pew, everyone else in the church rose up too. The congregation took their Bibles and held them up in the air. Then they began to wave or even shake their Bibles at him.
Pastor Robins didn’t have a clue what was going on. His friend stepped down from the pulpit and said, “Don’t worry about it; I’ll explain later. Just get up there and bring the Word of God.”
After the service, Robins immediately went over to his friend to get the scoop. His friend replied that this was a tradition that they had in their church. It was their way of saying, “We want the Word of God. It is our authority for life and faith. Give us nothing but what God has said in his Word.”
There’s another church I have heard of, I think it is in Indiana. It is a very conservative church in a denomination that has long since started to become quite progressive in its views. One of the things that this church has done as part of the opening of its service is to have one of those processionals where the ministers and the worship leaders walk in from the back of the church. During the opening hymn or music, they process in and take their seats up front. But as they walk in, the minister of the church holds a large pulpit Bible. He carries it above his head, with his arms stretched high. It’s not a Bible like this one that I have - it is incredibly big.
This a testimony to the congregation. Everyone who is there is to recognize the Word of God has a place of prominence there. They are to recognize that Bible has the absolute, highest authority. It is almost as if the Word of God is marching in like a king might march through his city with his royal entourage.
While we might not have any of those practices here in our own congregation, we certainly can recognize what these people are trying to communicate. By their actions, they are promoting the authority of Scripture.
And that’s what I would like us to meditate on today. I want us to contemplate how Scripture has a unique authority.
We as Christians believe various doctrines. We talk about the doctrines of God and the doctrines of Christ and the doctrines of the last things. We hold various beliefs regarding ethics and how we should live. But fundamental to all these doctrines is what we believe about the Bible itself.
You might even say that the most important doctrine of the church is the doctrine of the authority of God’s Word. After all, if the Bible has authority, then we need to take what it says into account. If it doesn’t have authority, then we need to question what we are doing here.
As a matter of fact, this is the number one question. This is the biggest question. Some of you may even be asking it. Some of you young people in particular may wonder why it is your parents drag you out of bed and make you come here every week. Or you might have grown up in a home that reads the Bible regularly around the table, and you really can’t stand it. You wonder, “Why in the world are these people so fanatical about the Bible?”
And here at the outset of the book of Ephesians, we have a good opportunity to think about that very thing, because this opening verse is all about how this epistle in particular demands our attention. This first verse is telling us that we need to pay special attention to everything that is said here because it has divine authority.
Specifically, you see two things in this verse. You see Paul assert his authority as the bearer of God’s Word, and you see how we, as the people of God, must humbly receive that authority and submit to it.
You see how this epistle begins. Paul opens this letter by asserting his authority. And in doing so, he points to the authority that this epistle should have over our lives.
I. The authority of Scripture is asserted by Paul
Look at what he says. After Paul gives his name, he gives a brief description of himself. He says that he is “an apostle of Jesus Christ.”
In doing this, Paul is highlighting the fact that he is not simply writing a friendly note to the Ephesians. This isn’t a nice little letter from good ole uncle Paul. Paul specifically mentions that that he is acting in an official capacity as an officer in the church. Thus, as an apostle, this letter should be regarded as having the same authority as if Jesus Christ himself wrote it.
Let me explain. The word “apostle” literally means “sent one.” This word was a very common one in the ancient world. It was used of those who served as messengers of kings and representatives of military leaders. An apostle would be one who was sent out to speak on behalf of someone or deliver a specific message. So, the words of that messenger were to be equated with the words of the king or leader who sent them.
As an “apostle of Jesus Christ” Paul is saying, “I am sent by Christ. I am the representative of the King. And I am bringing you a word from the anointed one, our Redeemer.”
We are to infer from this that everything that Paul now communicates in this letter is to be regarded as having the same authority as if Christ himself had been standing right here in our midst speaking it right to us.
So again, these are not to be regarded merely as Paul’s words. They mean nothing to us if they were simply written by some random guy who lived 2000 years ago. Neither should they be thought of as the words of some highly influential rabbi or religious guru. They would have no meaning whatsoever if that was what Paul was claiming to be. It doesn’t matter if he claims to be an expert. You could still take it or leave it.
The only reason we are to give this book the time of day is because it is the very Word of God, and as such, these words are to have absolute command over our lives. These words are to trump everything else when it comes to what we believe and how we live. If we believe something that does not measure up to what is written here, then that needs to change. If we are doing certain things or speaking in a way that is directly opposed to what is set forth here, then we need to make some corrections.
Everything we say, everything we think, everything we do is to be measured by what is laid down here, because this is our authority for life. Nothing else can supersede this because it is God’s Word.
Let me be very specific. In the next few pages we are going to learn certain things about the nature of God. We are going to learn about God’s nature and God’s work, and we might not be accustomed to thinking of God in that way. Maybe we had some preconceived notion or we had learned something different about God. If we come to find that there is a difference, this has to take precedence. God’s Word is to have the priority. It is to be the authority which shapes our lives.
The same is true when we come to chapter 2. In chapter 2, we are going to learn about the nature of man and what it means to be dead in our trespasses and sins. We live in a world that says the exact opposite about the nature of man, and typically we can have a hard time with that because we don’t want to think of ourselves that way. However, we must conform to what God says. It doesn’t matter what we think or what the people around us say - God alone is to dictate our beliefs.
The same will go for the later chapters and what they say about marriage and parenting and our relationships. All our actions must be measured by what is laid down here, because what Paul writes by virtue of his apostolic authority transcends what Dr. Spock says or what some college professor may say.
We might be able to sum it up by the old saying, “God said it, therefore I believe it.” The Bible is to be the rule of our lives. What is said in these pages is to be regarded as king because they are, in fact, the words of the King.
But as we think about the authority of Scripture, we should remember to look at it from the other side too. We’ve seen here how Paul asserts his authority as an apostle. In so doing, he presents us with the authority of Scripture. But there’s another side. It is our side. We learn from this passage that just as Paul asserts his authority, the church is to respond to that authority. That is to say, the authority of God’s Word should be humbly received and obeyed.
II. The authority of Scripture is received by the church
Look at the last part of our verse. After Paul introduces himself, he addresses his audience. He says, “To the saints that are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Now, we talked about what it means to be a saint last week, but we skipped over that part about the faithful. I want to zero in on that for a few moments.
The word “faithful” is translated from the Greek word pistios. Literately translated, it means “the believing in Christ Jesus.” We don’t normally use that kind of language, and so most versions translate it as “faithful.”
So, while it could mean, “To the faithful in Christ Jesus,” as in those who are being faithful to obey Christ Jesus, it could also mean, “To the ones who are believing in Christ Jesus.” Either way you translate it is fine. But translating it “believing” offers a little more, I think. To be a believer is to be one who is trusting in the authority of Scripture. You believe what is being said. You affirm it and you accept it. You then translate that into life action. Why do you do that? Because you have accepted it as true. As a result, you apply it to your life.
So what you find here is that Paul is saying something about us. He may assert his authority and help us to realize how important his words are, but he’s also showing us that our response is to believe and obey it.
How do you react to the authority of God speaking in his Word? You accept it for what it is and let it have full command over your life.
We have talked about that a little already. We’ve been at least hinting at that fact, if not outright saying it, but I want to highlight it because there are so many people who fall short of this very thing. They do not believe the Word and receive it as the prime authority over their lives.
If you would, allow me to give you four kinds of responses that people have to the authority of God’s word. There are at least four improper responses to the truth of the Scriptures, and they should be somewhat easy to remember because they all start with the letter D.
1) Some disregard the Bible’s authority
That is to say, they completely reject the Bible as having any authority over them. This would be the view of atheists, secularists, and those who hold to some religion other than Christianity. These people do not see the Bible as being from God in any way and they do not give it any place in their lives. They live by their own wisdom or by their own religion’s tenets.
This outright disregard for the Bible’s authority is becoming one of the biggest problems in our society today. People tell you that science is supposed to be the authority or our reason, but it isn’t hard to look around and see how science isn’t all that reliable as the highest authority.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was not only one of the preeminent preachers of the 20th century but also a medical doctor, spoke to this. He said, “It is nothing but a simple fact of history to say that a hundred years ago, scientists were teaching dogmatically and with extreme confidence that the thyroid gland and the pituitary gland were nothing but vestigial remains. They said they had no function whatsoever…But today we know that these glands are essential to life.”
There is your supposed science. You might say that it is the nature of science to be always guessing and growing. As a matter of fact, Lloyd-Jones goes on to say that we should be “scientifically skeptical with the assertions of science” because so much that is claimed in the name of science is nothing more than “mere suppositions and theories that cannot be proved and may very well be disproved [in the years to come].” (Quotation from: The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture, Pache, Moody Press, P. 318.)
Since that is so, we shouldn’t be duped by all this hype about science and its supposed authority. No one should disregard Scripture because we know that the so-called “science” is not always as reliable as people make it out to be.
So some people disregard the authority of Scripture. But we should recognize that there’s another challenge out there. There are many people who downplay it.
2) Some downplay the Bible’s authority
This would be the stance of what you might call a mainline church. They may call themselves Christians, but they are pretty liberal in their views. They are, in that sense, a close cousin to those who flat-out disregard the Bible.
These people differ in one significant way, though. These people will typically speak about the Bible with some degree of affection. They will give the Bible some credence and regard it as a holy book. But when you really get down to it, they really do not give it the place they should in their personal lives. They may quote some verses here and there (at least the ones that fit their worldview), but the full content of Scripture isn’t seen as something that should shape their every thought or require their absolute obedience.
So you might hear someone talk about being loving like Jesus, but there’s a lot of Scripture that they will ignore or rationalize away. For instance, when it comes to what the Scripture says about the role of women in the church or teaching about sexuality, they will say that those things were cultural. They will come up with some excuse to say that these clear teachings are not applicable today.
What really happens is that they are more prone to follow the cultural norms of our day. They’ve been highly influenced by secularism and they see the cultural norms to be the higher authority. They then downplay the Scripture’s authority. Besides some sentimental nod to the Scripture being “the Good Book,” they brush most of it aside or ignore it altogether.
Of course, this is a great error because this proves that the person is not “faithful in Christ Jesus.” If they are embarrassed about the Word or wish to downplay it, they are pushing aside God’s authority over their lives.
There’s a third challenge that we face. We need to affirm the Scripture’s full authority because there are others who denigrate its authority.
3) Some denigrate the Bible's authority
These are people who will say that they believe the Bible and that they have a high view of Scripture, but they have a very distorted view of Scripture and therefore their understanding of its authority is all kinds of messed up.
For instance, a lot of people today view the Bible as an “inspirational book.” To view it as inspirational is basically to reduce the Bible to something that is supposed to give you an emotional lift. In that regard, it is the equivalent of spiritual caffeine. It is supposed to pick you up and give you a little boost, but it will eventually wear off and you’ll need another boost tomorrow. Or maybe when something bad comes along, you’ll need another little dose of inspiration to keep you going.
What typically happens is that you end up only getting a truncated version of the Scripture. Much of Scripture ends up getting neglected. That’s because there’s a lot in the Bible that is not all that inspirational.
I really doubt that those Bible apps will send a verse like Psalm 51:5 to you: “Behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Or Psalm 137 which says, “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rocks.” Those passages don’t hit you quite the same way.
Since the Scriptures are denigrated in this way, most who have this view of Scripture will have something else as their ultimate authority. Since it is inspirational and emotional, it will not have a real command over your life.
There’s one more that you should be aware of. When it comes to the authority of Scripture, some people disregard it, some downplay it, some denigrate it. But there are also those who dilute the Scripture’s authority.
4) Some dilute the Bible's authority
That is to say, they add certain beliefs and commands to the Scriptures. As a result, the Bible becomes less and less authoritative. These other commands become more authoritative because they supplant the Bible.
You know what it means to dilute something. If you have some Kool-Aid that is too strong, you can add a bunch of water to it to make it less pungent so that the water becomes more dominant than the original flavor.
There are a lot of churches that do this very thing with the Scriptures. This is what the Roman Catholic Church has done with their tradition and the different proclamations of the pope. This is what the Mormons have done. They have their Book of Mormon which they call, “Another testament of Jesus Christ.” To some lesser extent, this is what a lot of fundamentalist churches fall prey to when they make legalistic claims about how long your hair or your skirt should be.
But in each case, more is being added to the Bible, and because more of man’s laws are being added, the Scripture’s authority ends up being usurped. Man’s authority comes to be the rule of life. The Bible’s authority takes second place. Or, as it usually is, the Bible comes under the authority of the rules of man.
Now you note that in each case, there is a lack of regard for the authority of Scripture. It may be a purposeful rejection, or it may be accidental. That may depend on the person. But what it amounts to is a failure to be what Paul describes us as being: faithful in Christ Jesus.
By contrast, if I might add another D word, we are to dignify the authority of Scripture. When Scripture speaks, we are to place ourselves under it. We are to humbly believe it and subject ourselves to it.
And that is what is incumbent upon us as we make our way through this book, and every other book of the Bible for that matter. Each one of us should recognize that here in these words, God himself is speaking, and we have a duty to have a humble spirit that is willing to let the Word bend and shape every aspect of our lives.
Conclusion
Years ago, when I was in seminary, I had to write a 20-page paper on the fourth commandment, the law that pertains to the Sabbath Day. Obviously, you have to do quite a deep dive into Scripture and many other resources to fill 20 pages. As a result of this study, I came to find that the Scripture set forth a radically different understanding of what was appropriate and what was not appropriate on Sundays.
Prior to that study, I had particular things that I liked to do on Sundays. I had a particular view of the day that I had pieced together, and most of it was due to the fact that I liked feeding my own pleasures on the weekend. But I came face to face with the fact that the Lord’s Day is not a holiday (as I and the rest of the culture around me liked to view it), but rather to be regarded as a holy day.
But I struggled with this. Not because I did not know what was true, but because I didn’t want to acknowledge the authority of Scripture on this point. Finally, it came to the point where I realized that I needed to submit. My desires and the culture around me were not supposed to dictate my actions. I needed to believe what Scripture said and I needed to follow what Scripture said.
Of course, I am not now preaching a message on what the Sabbath is all about. I am here merely to highlight the authority of the Old and New Testaments and how they ought to hold sway over us.
This is the Word of God and whatever it speaks, we must comply. May it indeed be that the Word of God has complete rule over all that we think, say, and do.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
I mentioned last week that we often see these introductory greetings as skippable material. Well, I am returning to it today in order to glean some more of the Lord’s teaching from it. As you will find, there is abundant material here.
This past week, I heard a story about a pastor by the name of Carl Robins. Pastor Robins was invited to be a guest speaker at a certain church. Pastor Robins was actually doing some traveling, and he was going out to see some friends of his. One of these friends was a pastor, so he invited Robins to come and preach to his congregation while he was out there visiting.
When it came time, Pastor Robin’s friend got up and introduced Carl to the church and then invited him to come forward and give the message. As he got up from his pew, everyone else in the church rose up too. The congregation took their Bibles and held them up in the air. Then they began to wave or even shake their Bibles at him.
Pastor Robins didn’t have a clue what was going on. His friend stepped down from the pulpit and said, “Don’t worry about it; I’ll explain later. Just get up there and bring the Word of God.”
After the service, Robins immediately went over to his friend to get the scoop. His friend replied that this was a tradition that they had in their church. It was their way of saying, “We want the Word of God. It is our authority for life and faith. Give us nothing but what God has said in his Word.”
There’s another church I have heard of, I think it is in Indiana. It is a very conservative church in a denomination that has long since started to become quite progressive in its views. One of the things that this church has done as part of the opening of its service is to have one of those processionals where the ministers and the worship leaders walk in from the back of the church. During the opening hymn or music, they process in and take their seats up front. But as they walk in, the minister of the church holds a large pulpit Bible. He carries it above his head, with his arms stretched high. It’s not a Bible like this one that I have - it is incredibly big.
This a testimony to the congregation. Everyone who is there is to recognize the Word of God has a place of prominence there. They are to recognize that Bible has the absolute, highest authority. It is almost as if the Word of God is marching in like a king might march through his city with his royal entourage.
While we might not have any of those practices here in our own congregation, we certainly can recognize what these people are trying to communicate. By their actions, they are promoting the authority of Scripture.
And that’s what I would like us to meditate on today. I want us to contemplate how Scripture has a unique authority.
We as Christians believe various doctrines. We talk about the doctrines of God and the doctrines of Christ and the doctrines of the last things. We hold various beliefs regarding ethics and how we should live. But fundamental to all these doctrines is what we believe about the Bible itself.
You might even say that the most important doctrine of the church is the doctrine of the authority of God’s Word. After all, if the Bible has authority, then we need to take what it says into account. If it doesn’t have authority, then we need to question what we are doing here.
As a matter of fact, this is the number one question. This is the biggest question. Some of you may even be asking it. Some of you young people in particular may wonder why it is your parents drag you out of bed and make you come here every week. Or you might have grown up in a home that reads the Bible regularly around the table, and you really can’t stand it. You wonder, “Why in the world are these people so fanatical about the Bible?”
And here at the outset of the book of Ephesians, we have a good opportunity to think about that very thing, because this opening verse is all about how this epistle in particular demands our attention. This first verse is telling us that we need to pay special attention to everything that is said here because it has divine authority.
Specifically, you see two things in this verse. You see Paul assert his authority as the bearer of God’s Word, and you see how we, as the people of God, must humbly receive that authority and submit to it.
You see how this epistle begins. Paul opens this letter by asserting his authority. And in doing so, he points to the authority that this epistle should have over our lives.
I. The authority of Scripture is asserted by Paul
Look at what he says. After Paul gives his name, he gives a brief description of himself. He says that he is “an apostle of Jesus Christ.”
In doing this, Paul is highlighting the fact that he is not simply writing a friendly note to the Ephesians. This isn’t a nice little letter from good ole uncle Paul. Paul specifically mentions that that he is acting in an official capacity as an officer in the church. Thus, as an apostle, this letter should be regarded as having the same authority as if Jesus Christ himself wrote it.
Let me explain. The word “apostle” literally means “sent one.” This word was a very common one in the ancient world. It was used of those who served as messengers of kings and representatives of military leaders. An apostle would be one who was sent out to speak on behalf of someone or deliver a specific message. So, the words of that messenger were to be equated with the words of the king or leader who sent them.
As an “apostle of Jesus Christ” Paul is saying, “I am sent by Christ. I am the representative of the King. And I am bringing you a word from the anointed one, our Redeemer.”
We are to infer from this that everything that Paul now communicates in this letter is to be regarded as having the same authority as if Christ himself had been standing right here in our midst speaking it right to us.
So again, these are not to be regarded merely as Paul’s words. They mean nothing to us if they were simply written by some random guy who lived 2000 years ago. Neither should they be thought of as the words of some highly influential rabbi or religious guru. They would have no meaning whatsoever if that was what Paul was claiming to be. It doesn’t matter if he claims to be an expert. You could still take it or leave it.
The only reason we are to give this book the time of day is because it is the very Word of God, and as such, these words are to have absolute command over our lives. These words are to trump everything else when it comes to what we believe and how we live. If we believe something that does not measure up to what is written here, then that needs to change. If we are doing certain things or speaking in a way that is directly opposed to what is set forth here, then we need to make some corrections.
Everything we say, everything we think, everything we do is to be measured by what is laid down here, because this is our authority for life. Nothing else can supersede this because it is God’s Word.
Let me be very specific. In the next few pages we are going to learn certain things about the nature of God. We are going to learn about God’s nature and God’s work, and we might not be accustomed to thinking of God in that way. Maybe we had some preconceived notion or we had learned something different about God. If we come to find that there is a difference, this has to take precedence. God’s Word is to have the priority. It is to be the authority which shapes our lives.
The same is true when we come to chapter 2. In chapter 2, we are going to learn about the nature of man and what it means to be dead in our trespasses and sins. We live in a world that says the exact opposite about the nature of man, and typically we can have a hard time with that because we don’t want to think of ourselves that way. However, we must conform to what God says. It doesn’t matter what we think or what the people around us say - God alone is to dictate our beliefs.
The same will go for the later chapters and what they say about marriage and parenting and our relationships. All our actions must be measured by what is laid down here, because what Paul writes by virtue of his apostolic authority transcends what Dr. Spock says or what some college professor may say.
We might be able to sum it up by the old saying, “God said it, therefore I believe it.” The Bible is to be the rule of our lives. What is said in these pages is to be regarded as king because they are, in fact, the words of the King.
But as we think about the authority of Scripture, we should remember to look at it from the other side too. We’ve seen here how Paul asserts his authority as an apostle. In so doing, he presents us with the authority of Scripture. But there’s another side. It is our side. We learn from this passage that just as Paul asserts his authority, the church is to respond to that authority. That is to say, the authority of God’s Word should be humbly received and obeyed.
II. The authority of Scripture is received by the church
Look at the last part of our verse. After Paul introduces himself, he addresses his audience. He says, “To the saints that are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Now, we talked about what it means to be a saint last week, but we skipped over that part about the faithful. I want to zero in on that for a few moments.
The word “faithful” is translated from the Greek word pistios. Literately translated, it means “the believing in Christ Jesus.” We don’t normally use that kind of language, and so most versions translate it as “faithful.”
So, while it could mean, “To the faithful in Christ Jesus,” as in those who are being faithful to obey Christ Jesus, it could also mean, “To the ones who are believing in Christ Jesus.” Either way you translate it is fine. But translating it “believing” offers a little more, I think. To be a believer is to be one who is trusting in the authority of Scripture. You believe what is being said. You affirm it and you accept it. You then translate that into life action. Why do you do that? Because you have accepted it as true. As a result, you apply it to your life.
So what you find here is that Paul is saying something about us. He may assert his authority and help us to realize how important his words are, but he’s also showing us that our response is to believe and obey it.
How do you react to the authority of God speaking in his Word? You accept it for what it is and let it have full command over your life.
We have talked about that a little already. We’ve been at least hinting at that fact, if not outright saying it, but I want to highlight it because there are so many people who fall short of this very thing. They do not believe the Word and receive it as the prime authority over their lives.
If you would, allow me to give you four kinds of responses that people have to the authority of God’s word. There are at least four improper responses to the truth of the Scriptures, and they should be somewhat easy to remember because they all start with the letter D.
1) Some disregard the Bible’s authority
That is to say, they completely reject the Bible as having any authority over them. This would be the view of atheists, secularists, and those who hold to some religion other than Christianity. These people do not see the Bible as being from God in any way and they do not give it any place in their lives. They live by their own wisdom or by their own religion’s tenets.
This outright disregard for the Bible’s authority is becoming one of the biggest problems in our society today. People tell you that science is supposed to be the authority or our reason, but it isn’t hard to look around and see how science isn’t all that reliable as the highest authority.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was not only one of the preeminent preachers of the 20th century but also a medical doctor, spoke to this. He said, “It is nothing but a simple fact of history to say that a hundred years ago, scientists were teaching dogmatically and with extreme confidence that the thyroid gland and the pituitary gland were nothing but vestigial remains. They said they had no function whatsoever…But today we know that these glands are essential to life.”
There is your supposed science. You might say that it is the nature of science to be always guessing and growing. As a matter of fact, Lloyd-Jones goes on to say that we should be “scientifically skeptical with the assertions of science” because so much that is claimed in the name of science is nothing more than “mere suppositions and theories that cannot be proved and may very well be disproved [in the years to come].” (Quotation from: The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture, Pache, Moody Press, P. 318.)
Since that is so, we shouldn’t be duped by all this hype about science and its supposed authority. No one should disregard Scripture because we know that the so-called “science” is not always as reliable as people make it out to be.
So some people disregard the authority of Scripture. But we should recognize that there’s another challenge out there. There are many people who downplay it.
2) Some downplay the Bible’s authority
This would be the stance of what you might call a mainline church. They may call themselves Christians, but they are pretty liberal in their views. They are, in that sense, a close cousin to those who flat-out disregard the Bible.
These people differ in one significant way, though. These people will typically speak about the Bible with some degree of affection. They will give the Bible some credence and regard it as a holy book. But when you really get down to it, they really do not give it the place they should in their personal lives. They may quote some verses here and there (at least the ones that fit their worldview), but the full content of Scripture isn’t seen as something that should shape their every thought or require their absolute obedience.
So you might hear someone talk about being loving like Jesus, but there’s a lot of Scripture that they will ignore or rationalize away. For instance, when it comes to what the Scripture says about the role of women in the church or teaching about sexuality, they will say that those things were cultural. They will come up with some excuse to say that these clear teachings are not applicable today.
What really happens is that they are more prone to follow the cultural norms of our day. They’ve been highly influenced by secularism and they see the cultural norms to be the higher authority. They then downplay the Scripture’s authority. Besides some sentimental nod to the Scripture being “the Good Book,” they brush most of it aside or ignore it altogether.
Of course, this is a great error because this proves that the person is not “faithful in Christ Jesus.” If they are embarrassed about the Word or wish to downplay it, they are pushing aside God’s authority over their lives.
There’s a third challenge that we face. We need to affirm the Scripture’s full authority because there are others who denigrate its authority.
3) Some denigrate the Bible's authority
These are people who will say that they believe the Bible and that they have a high view of Scripture, but they have a very distorted view of Scripture and therefore their understanding of its authority is all kinds of messed up.
For instance, a lot of people today view the Bible as an “inspirational book.” To view it as inspirational is basically to reduce the Bible to something that is supposed to give you an emotional lift. In that regard, it is the equivalent of spiritual caffeine. It is supposed to pick you up and give you a little boost, but it will eventually wear off and you’ll need another boost tomorrow. Or maybe when something bad comes along, you’ll need another little dose of inspiration to keep you going.
What typically happens is that you end up only getting a truncated version of the Scripture. Much of Scripture ends up getting neglected. That’s because there’s a lot in the Bible that is not all that inspirational.
I really doubt that those Bible apps will send a verse like Psalm 51:5 to you: “Behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Or Psalm 137 which says, “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rocks.” Those passages don’t hit you quite the same way.
Since the Scriptures are denigrated in this way, most who have this view of Scripture will have something else as their ultimate authority. Since it is inspirational and emotional, it will not have a real command over your life.
There’s one more that you should be aware of. When it comes to the authority of Scripture, some people disregard it, some downplay it, some denigrate it. But there are also those who dilute the Scripture’s authority.
4) Some dilute the Bible's authority
That is to say, they add certain beliefs and commands to the Scriptures. As a result, the Bible becomes less and less authoritative. These other commands become more authoritative because they supplant the Bible.
You know what it means to dilute something. If you have some Kool-Aid that is too strong, you can add a bunch of water to it to make it less pungent so that the water becomes more dominant than the original flavor.
There are a lot of churches that do this very thing with the Scriptures. This is what the Roman Catholic Church has done with their tradition and the different proclamations of the pope. This is what the Mormons have done. They have their Book of Mormon which they call, “Another testament of Jesus Christ.” To some lesser extent, this is what a lot of fundamentalist churches fall prey to when they make legalistic claims about how long your hair or your skirt should be.
But in each case, more is being added to the Bible, and because more of man’s laws are being added, the Scripture’s authority ends up being usurped. Man’s authority comes to be the rule of life. The Bible’s authority takes second place. Or, as it usually is, the Bible comes under the authority of the rules of man.
Now you note that in each case, there is a lack of regard for the authority of Scripture. It may be a purposeful rejection, or it may be accidental. That may depend on the person. But what it amounts to is a failure to be what Paul describes us as being: faithful in Christ Jesus.
By contrast, if I might add another D word, we are to dignify the authority of Scripture. When Scripture speaks, we are to place ourselves under it. We are to humbly believe it and subject ourselves to it.
And that is what is incumbent upon us as we make our way through this book, and every other book of the Bible for that matter. Each one of us should recognize that here in these words, God himself is speaking, and we have a duty to have a humble spirit that is willing to let the Word bend and shape every aspect of our lives.
Conclusion
Years ago, when I was in seminary, I had to write a 20-page paper on the fourth commandment, the law that pertains to the Sabbath Day. Obviously, you have to do quite a deep dive into Scripture and many other resources to fill 20 pages. As a result of this study, I came to find that the Scripture set forth a radically different understanding of what was appropriate and what was not appropriate on Sundays.
Prior to that study, I had particular things that I liked to do on Sundays. I had a particular view of the day that I had pieced together, and most of it was due to the fact that I liked feeding my own pleasures on the weekend. But I came face to face with the fact that the Lord’s Day is not a holiday (as I and the rest of the culture around me liked to view it), but rather to be regarded as a holy day.
But I struggled with this. Not because I did not know what was true, but because I didn’t want to acknowledge the authority of Scripture on this point. Finally, it came to the point where I realized that I needed to submit. My desires and the culture around me were not supposed to dictate my actions. I needed to believe what Scripture said and I needed to follow what Scripture said.
Of course, I am not now preaching a message on what the Sabbath is all about. I am here merely to highlight the authority of the Old and New Testaments and how they ought to hold sway over us.
This is the Word of God and whatever it speaks, we must comply. May it indeed be that the Word of God has complete rule over all that we think, say, and do.