How TO Arrive At Authority The church of Christ How TO Arrive At Authority

How Do We Mine Scripture For Truth? It’s one thing to insist that the Bible is our only source for authority. It’s quite another to get everyone into agreement on what the Bible actual says. How we arrive at Bible authority is at least as important as limiting authority only to the Bible. How do we arrive at what is authoritative in the Bible, so that all believers can be united?

Note: We Are Obligated To Seek Authority Jesus sought the authority of God the Father John 12:49-50 -- For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

The Holy Spirit Sought Authority John 16:13 --But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

Refusing Authority Is Failure 2 Peter 2:10 – “…and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties….” Jude 8 -- Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.

We Have An Obligation To Authority Colossians 3:17 – “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” I Peter 4:10 -- As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We are blessed by God and thereby serve God according to His will, in His name, to His glory!

What Are We Proving With Scripture? Primarily we are seeking to see if Scripture affirms a matter, not necessarily whether it condemns it. Example: Instrumental music in worship. Does the New Testament openly condemn it? No. But it AFFIRMS singing and using the heart.

Which Brings Us To Hermeneutics We must strive for a consistent, fair hermeneutic. Hermeneutic: a method or theory of interpretation, especially of the Bible. What is our operational hermeneutic?

Our Hermeneutic Involves Three Principles As it concerns questions of authority: Do we have a direct authoritative command? Do we have an apostolic example with the force of a command? Do we have necessary inference?

Examples Of Authoritative Commands Matthew 28:19 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…” John 13:34 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Acts 2:38 – “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Examples Of Authoritative Examples Acts 14:23 – When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Acts 20:28 – Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. We decide matters concerning elders based in part upon examples: their plurality, their presence in every church, their function.

More examples… Acts 20:7 – On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. 1 Cor. 10:16-17 --Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. We use such examples to establish Lord’s Supper

Necessary Inference Inference is the most difficult to explain: Example of inference: Why don’t we baptize babies as is common in many denominational bodies? Mark 16:16 -- He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Acts 2:38 – “…repent and be baptized…” Since babies cannot repent and cannot believe, they are not candidates for baptism. That is our necessary inference.

Limits and Allowances If Scripture designates one thing, it automatically eliminates all other things. Genesis 6:14 – “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.” By designating gopher wood, God automatically eliminates any other type of wood: not pine. not elm. not oak. not mahogany. By designating pitch, God eliminates any other substance: not mud, not adobe, not whitewash.

Why Unleavened Bread Using necessary inference: Jesus instituted His supper during the Passover meal. No leavened items would have been present. He likened the bread He was blessing to His body. Since He was using unleavened bread all other types of bread are excluded – though not specifically condemned.

A Brief Note On Expedients Someone will say: Why do you have Bible classes? Why do you use song books? Why do you have microphones? None of these things were commanded, do not have example support, cannot be necessarily inferred. True. We could do without each. But they are expedient to accomplishing commandments, such as teaching, preaching, etc.

Do NOT Add To Or Take Away Finally – we must take care not to destroy God’s authority by adding to or taking away from His word. Revelation 22:18-19 -- I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”

Joins Other Such Warnings… Deuteronomy 4:2 – You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Proverbs 30:5 -- Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. If we will each endeavor to have God’s authority for whatever we do, we will go far toward restoring unity. That continues to be our plea.