“WHERE DO WE FIND
AUTHORITY IN RELIGION?”
Nothing is more frustrating
than being confused, needing direction, and not knowing where or to whom we can
turn for the answers to our questions. And that is especially true in the realm of religion, even causing some people to become completely confused and ultimately cynical about the possibility of concrete answers for spiritual inquiry.
Many ideas have been set forth regarding
matters of religious faith. One person says, “Everybody’s got a right to believe
whatever he wants to believe,” while another declares, “All churches have a little good and a little bad—some truth and some error…” As one doctor told me some time ago, “We sweat the details too much in all churches.” I am overjoyed that he didn’t apply that philosophy to his practice of medicine, and in particular, to my treatment.
Another view that we often hear espoused is
the belief that we can never know absolute truth. If that premise is true, just
imagine that you were traveling through a city. You became hesitant about how
to get to a destination, and you stopped to ask directions. How would you
respond if a well-meaning person smiled and said, “Oh, it doesn’t make any
difference which direction you go. Just take off on any road you choose, and
it’ll get you there.” I don’t think so!!
The crucial question and answer was spoken
by Peter when he said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to
know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68)
THE KEY ISSUE
The key issue in society in general and
religion in particular is AUTHORITY! What do we mean when we speak of
authority? Webster tells us that it means, “The power to determine, adjudicate,
or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control,
command or determine…a power or right delegated or given: authorization…a
commanding influence…” (Webster’s
Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, page 100)
The recent furor over the parental “right”
to be informed if a daughter wants an abortion illustrates the point. The
question is one of authority. Is the government going to be the authority or “commanding
influence” in the life of minors, or should mothers or fathers have that
authority or “power to determine” what is best?
In our lesson, we ask a similar question: Will
the ideas of man or the law of God determine our direction in matters of
religion and faith?
SECULAR CONCEPTS OF AUTHORITY
But which idea of man will
be our authority? People express all kinds of ideas regarding how to determine
what is right and wrong:
·
Some believe in
majority rule, popularism.
·
Still others
let their personal feelings determine right and wrong. That’s subjectivism.
·
When right is
determined by whether something works or not, it is pragmatism.
·
When long held
human beliefs or the way we have always done something determines our conduct,
it is traditionalism.
·
When each
situation is approached without any standard except what is our best judgment
for the moment, it might be called situationalism.
·
When a cold,
heartless, dictatorial edict is passed down that we are expected to observe
perfectly, that is legalism.
·
When the
military is placed in authority and enforces its rule with threat and weaponry,
we are commanded by militarism.
·
When
scholarship becomes the court of last resort, we are dominated by intellectualism.
·
When there is a
demand for acceptance and tolerance of all supposed truth and all ideas of man
as being of equal value, our authority is pluralism.
·
When each
person becomes his or her own law, and free thinking determines authority, we
are directed by libertarianism.
·
When each
person’s experience and personal interpretation determines his truth, existentialism is his authority.
·
When men and
women become their own God and determine what is true by what they think will
promote excellence in human existence, they bow at the altar of humanism.
·
If sensuality
and fleshly indulgence determine our actions, we are recklessly led by hedonism.
·
When absolute
sources of authority are distrusted, cast aside or abandoned, when reason and
rational thought are rejected as a means of determining truth, when it is
claimed that truth is in a state of constant flux and change, the anti-authority
is post-modernism.
But, do any of us really want to live in a
state of complete political, moral, or religious anarchy? Would you like to live
in a culture where there is no standard of authority? We call that lawlessness, and the bible calls
lawlessness sin. (1John 3:4)
The Bible clearly states the necessity of a
revealed standard of law to determine right and wrong! God-revealed law is
given to teach the lawbreakers the error of their ways, and the penalty for
rebellion against it. (1 Timothy 1:9, 10)
CHAIN OF COMMAND
Just by common sense and
casual observation we can easily see the importance of authority operating with
a chain of command.
In the business
world, smooth operation demands a chain of authority. A Board of Directors hires a CEO to run the
company. But he cannot do it by himself. He needs an effective administrative
team all the way down to local managers.
In the military,
structure is vital to victory in combat. The President is the Commander in
Chief who approves a Supreme Commander for the military operation. Officers,
from Generals to Lieutenants, must be assigned to positions of authority. Their
orders are carried out by the non-commissioned officers.
In secular
education, the people elect a school board to represent them in determining
policy. They, in turn, hire a Superintendent to oversee the administration of
the educational process. He hires principals and other administrators for each
school, to whom the classroom teachers turn to receive their direction.
We come face to face with
the reality and the necessity of authority and the concept of the “chain of command”
every day of our lives.
We readily acknowledge the necessity of a chain
of command in the secular world, but what about Christianity? Is there a chain
of command—a chain of authority—that helps us know for certain how to determine
the direction for our lives as individual Christians or corporately as the Church?
GOD THE FATHER
The reader does not have to proceed beyond the first
page of the Bible to see the authority of God. Genesis 1:1 states, “In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The word used here that is
translated “God” is plural in the Hebrew language. We assume the authoritative
role of God the Father in creation, when the direction is given, “Let us make man in our image.” (Genesis 1:26) Someone observed about the creation
man: Father, Son and Holy Spirit were all involved, but there is a clear
indication of authority and superintendence of the Father.
Paul spoke of the El Elyon, the, “High over all one, supreme
and omnipotent… the sovereign Lord who rules over the affairs of men.” He said, there is “One Spirit,” the Holy
Spirit (Ephesians 4:1), “One Lord,” the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:5), and “…one God
and Father of us all, who is over
all and through all and in all…” (Ephesians 4:6). There is within the Godhead,
a chain of authority: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in that order.
We likewise see the authority of God to
command when he told Adam and Eve that they could eat of every tree of the
Garden of Eden with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. It was an authoritative command with the penalty of death for
disobedience! (Gen 2:16, 17) His authority was validated when the penalty was
imposed, and man was driven from the garden, away from the tree of life. (Gen
2:22-24)
GOD THE SON
Christ stated emphatically that he had been
given all authority. In what has been called the “Great
Commission,” Jesus told his apostles, “All
authority in heaven and earth has
been given to me…” (Matthew
28:18). And after commanding them to go make disciples of all the nations by,
“baptizing them into the name of (authority) the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,”
he ends with the exhortation in verse 20, “…teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you.”
Paul informed the Corinthians that the
source of Christ’s authority was God the Father:
Then
comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every
rule and every authority and every power. For he must reign
until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be
destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.
But when he says, ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that he is excepted who
put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to
him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians
15:24-28)
Peter added his testimony to this vested
authority of Christ from the Father on the day of Pentecost, when he said, “Let
all the house of
What does “Lordship” mean? It means the
authority to command and to be obeyed. Jesus declared that accepting him as
Lord means we will do what he says, which is synonymous with doing the will of
the Father! (Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:21)
The author of the book of Hebrews began his
message reminding his readers of the authority God gave to his Son, Jesus.
Long
ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days he has spoken to
us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he
created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint
of his nature, and he upholds the
universe by the word of his power… (Hebrews 1:1-3)
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
In the gospel of John, the apostle records
a disturbing announcement of Jesus at the last supper with his apostles. Judas
had just left to betray him, and he disclosed that he was not going to remain
with them on earth much longer. He said, “Little children, yet a little while
and I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I
said to the Jews, so now also I say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot
come’.” (John 13:33)
They were terribly upset that their friend,
Lord, comforter, and teacher was going to a place that they could not go. But
he explains, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward.”
(V 36)
He comforted their hearts even more with
the announcement that he would not leave them without direction, guidance, and
instruction while they were apart from him, but he would send the Holy Spirit
as his and the Father’s representative: “…I will ask the Father, and he will
give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth…You know him, for he dwells with
you and will be in you.” (John 13:16, 17)
He continued,
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in my name (authority), he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:25, 26) In other words,
Jesus had not taught them his entire will during his earthly ministry,
but it would be revealed to them by the Holy Spirit after he went back to heaven. And that is exactly what happened as
recorded in first two chapters of the book of Acts. In Acts 1, the resurrected
Christ ascended to heaven with the promise to his apostles of the coming Holy
Spirit. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came and empowered the apostles as witnesses
and spokesmen for Christ.
But he was not through with his instructions
about the coming of the Spirit: “But
when the Helper comes, whom I will send
to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me, And you will
also bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” Jesus
refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of truth,” for it was only through all
the truth of God’s word revealed by the Holy Spirit that men would be
sanctified or set apart for God’s service. (John 17:17)
He summarized by saying,
I
still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide
you into all the truth, for he will not
speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and
he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to
you. All that the Father has is
mine; therefore I said he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John
16:12-15)
INSPIRED WRITERS
When the apostles received the truth from the Holy
Spirit, what did they do with it?
First, they preached the gospel and the divine
terms of forgiveness on Pentecost, and opened the doors to the
Second, they fulfilled the will of the Lord
with which he charged them in Acts 1:8, that when they received the power from
the Holy Spirit, they were to be his
witnesses not only “…in Jerusalem…” but “…to the end of the earth…”
(Mark
Third, they and other prophets inspired by
the Holy Spirit with the knowledge of the word of the Father and of Jesus,
wrote down their authoritative message.
For example, in his letter to the church in
For
this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you
Gentiles—assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you will be able to perceive my insight into the
mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other
generations as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. (Ephesians 3:1-5)
John began the book of Revelation with
these words:
The
revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take
place. He made it known sending his
angel (messenger) to his servant
John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is
the one who reads aloud the words of
this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear,
and who keep what is written in it. John to the seven
churches of
Notice again the chain of authority: God
the Father gave the revelation to Jesus who in turn sent his angel (messenger…the
Holy Spirit) to a prophet and apostle, John. John wrote down what he saw and
sent that written message to the seven churches of
Paul wrote about the complete authority of the
written word: “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the
man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16,
17)
And it is vital that we
note that Peter included letters written by Paul as a part of the inspired
Scriptures in 2 Peter 3:15, 16.
SUMMARY STATEMENT
What then have we said in
answer to the question of the hour regarding authority in religion? God the Father, vested all authority in his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus
revealed a portion of his will to his apostles during his earthly ministry that
is recorded for our learning in the four gospels. He sent his Holy Spirit back
to reveal all truth to his apostles and inspired prophets, and they penned the
Acts through Revelation, which reveal for us “the faith once for all delivered
to the saints.” (Jude 3)
On the front of every bible
should be embossed the words, “Precious!
Handle with Great Care!” No wonder Paul wrote to Timothy, “Do your best to
present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed, rightly handling the word of
truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Holy Bible, Book divine,
Precious
treasure, thou art mine;
Mine
to tell me whence I came;
Mine
to teach me what I am;
Mine
to chide me when I rove,
Mine
to show a Savior’s love;
Mine
thou art to guide and guard;
Mine to punish or reward.
Mine
to comfort in distress,
Suffering
in this wilderness;
Mine
to show, by living faith,
Man
can triumph over death.
Mine
to tell of joys to come,
And
the rebel sinner’s doom:
O
thou holy book divine,
Precious
treasure, thou art mine.”