Religious Authority
Principles of Interpretation 1 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Religious discussions between individuals often bog down into meaningless controversies or hear up into ongoing arguments because of the differences in how people view religious authority.
If we cannot agree on religious authority then there is no basis for determining who has the proper interpretation when two or more people disagree.
These differences generally account for the differences in various religious practices as people distinguish themselves religiously into their respective groups.
Differences in denominations.
These differences generally fall into the following categories.
What is required
What is prohibited
What is optional—all of which extend from whatever is used as the basis for religious authority.
In the name of creating unity the current ecumenical trend has placed more and more into the “optional” category.
This would be false unity.
11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.
By treating so much as optional there has been an explosion of even more differences and corresponding different religious sects.
In other words no one can agree as to what is optional, required, or prohibited.
For example instrumental music.
Thus the answer for achieving unity does not lie in elimination the first two categories (for we would first have to establish that we have the right to do so).
In other words we would have to have already established religious authority and have God’s authority to eliminate anything.
Nor does it lie in elimination the third.
Without establishing how to obtain religious authority and then obtaining it we have no capability of eliminating anything.
Rather, the answer to religious differences is to discover, through diligent effort, the view of religious authority that is consistent with God’s own view.
In other words God is the authority and we need to study His word to obtain that authority.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Within society we can distinguish at least five views regarding moral authority.
All is allowed
All that the conscience allows is allowed
All that the church allows is allowed
All that is not prohibited is allowed
All that of which God approves is allowed
First, to the humanist all is allowed because there are no absolutes.
Second, many may not allow everything, yet they want to become the standard themselves.
They want to decide what is allowed and what is not allowed based on their conscience.
This would make the standard subjective to the individual.
This basis for authority paves the way for situational ethics.
This standard is what was followed in the days of the Judges.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
This standard for authority is flawed.
4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
Here Paul recognized that his conscience was not the standard for right and wrong.
He was not justified by his conscience determining whether his actions were right and wrong but by the Lord judging him.
1 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”
Here Paul was telling the people before I became a christian my conscience told me that persecuting Christians was right.
The problem with our conscience being the standard is that we are fallible.
Third, many people appeal to what their church teaches as the standard of right and wrong.
This actually extends the previous position into a corporate body.
It still places men in charge of right and wrong and makes God subject to following the decisions of men, misinterpreting Matthew 16:18-19.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Forth, many people will look to the Bible and accept God’s prohibitions as identifying wrong behavior that is sinful but they refuse to accept the silence of the scriptures as prohibitive as well.
For example the ten commandments
1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Finally, there are those who believe that we must have God’s approval of a given behavior before acting, recognizing His authority over mankind to be all encompassing of our moral decisions.
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
The Bible student dose not have the right just to look at the choices cited above and choose the one he finds most appealing.
Why do we need authority?
That we need authority in order to act we derive from...
That God is.
That God is greater than man.
That God has expressed His will for man.
The existence of God follows logically from the very fact that the universe and man are neither eternal nor self-caused, implying the necessity of a Creator.
Thus, since by right of definition God is the Creator and thus greater than His creation, man must be subject to Him.
However, one can only express such a relationship in relation to and as far as the Creator has expressed His will.
In other words we can only be held accountable if the Creator has made his will known to man.
Therefore, throughout human history, mankind has been subject to the will of God inasmuch as He expressed it and directed it to man at that time.
In other word man is subject to God because He has expressed His will and directed it to man.
The Scriptures the prophets, apostles, and scriptures fulfill this.
Since God now has expressed His will fully and completely to mankind, it follows that all mankind is subject to God.
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
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.
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Any action in which we choose to participate must coincide with God’s will thus expressed.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Even Jesus’ enemies understood the need for moral authority.
23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” 24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: 25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
This demonstrates
That we need authority in order to act.
That when we act we do so either based upon man’s authority or upon God’s.
Jesus’ miracles demonstrated that He acted based upon God’s authority, as He elsewhere argued.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
Everything He did constituted submission to the Father’s will.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
So if Jesus Himself, God in the flesh, recognized and submitted to the authority of the Father, then we who are sinful and weak by all means must submit to God’s authority.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
We need authority to act because...
Mankind is not the pinnacle of existence.
We are the needy, the weak, and the sinful.
We do not know what is best for us.
23 O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
We are incapable of improving our own situation apart from God.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
We live in a world that is not our own.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.
We owe our present existence to God and the quality of our future existence to God.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
Nothing that we do steps out of the realm God created for us.
We are is subjects.
We need his authority.
Where do we find God’s Authority?
Today’s New Age movement reverts to these practices of trying to achieve “spirituality” through individual preferences.
No matter how sincere this attempt is pointless.
Many established religious groups indicate that submission to God’s authority comes through internal urges.
This once again places God’s authority into the realm of subjectivity.
Religious people commonly will say, “God put it on my heart” to do thus and so, not realizing that they have arbitrarily assigned an action to God that He has not Himself “signed on to.”
How can we possibly maintain that it is God’s will for us to do something when God has not Himself said as much?
We can be subject to God’s will only so far as He has expressed His will, and our authority to act can extend only so far as God has made His will known.
Since He has expressed His will fully and completely in the Bible thereby revealing all truth.
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
If the previous statement is true then we have no authority to act beyond what the Bible says.
This concept is absolutely essential in order to understand God’s authority and our relationship to His authority.
Since God has totally revealed His will in the pages of the Bible, then only to the extent that the Bible provides authority to act can we do so with God’s approval.
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.
Jesus always responded with “it is written” when tempted to sin by the devil.
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
He did this because He recognized the scriptures as God’s authority.
35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
Think for a moment about some of your actions—in life, in worship, in service.
Where has God given His permission for you to do them?
Any answer besides, “The New Testament,” is a wrong answer.
48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
