The Authority of the Bible
“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 Timothy 3:16-17)
Authority is the right or power to command obedience or belief. God’s sovereign, universal, and eternal reign
over the entire universe evidences His authority. (See Exodus 15:18; Job 26:12;
Isaiah 50:2) He establishes His purposes
in time and does all things according to His will. (See Daniel 4:34-35; Ephesians 1:11) All authority on earth and in heaven comes
from God alone. His divine direction
over the events of history clearly demonstrates His authority.
Since He has created the human race, life’s meaning is found in
dependence on and relationship with Him. God exercises authority over His creation; and
God’s people respond to His authority in obedience and worship, as well as in
confession and repentance. God’s
authority is communicated in the church, in human reason, in conscience and
experience, in nature and history, in Christ and the Bible.
For centuries believers have insisted that the Bible is the only definitive
written authority for Christian faith and practice. They have struggled against those who claimed
otherwise, including popes, kings, bishops, pastors and teachers. Both religious and secular powers have
persecuted Christians. The books and
letters of the Bible have been handed down to us in substantially the identical
form as spoken by God to and through His prophets.
There are many books today that claim to be the Word of God. The Koran, the Bhagavad Gita,
The Book of Mormon, and other religious works all claim to be divinely
inspired. But the Bible claims to be the
only book that is divinely inspired and that all other claims of
inspiration from other works should be ruled out. Does the Bible confirm its exclusive claim to
be the Word of God? The totality of evidence
presents a strong case for the divine inspiration of the Bible.
The Bible was written in many different places, on three different
continents, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Moses
wrote in the desert of Sinai, Paul wrote in a prison in Rome, Daniel wrote in
exile in Babylon, and Ezra wrote in the ruined city of Jerusalem. It was also written under many different
circumstances. David wrote during a time
of war, Jeremiah wrote at the sorrowful time of Israel’s downfall, Peter wrote
while Israel was under Roman domination, and Joshua wrote while invading the
land of Canaan.
Each of the writers had different purposes for writing. Isaiah
wrote to warn Israel of God’s coming judgment on their sin; Matthew wrote to
prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah; Zechariah wrote to encourage a
disheartened Israel who had returned from Babylonian exile; and Paul wrote
addressing problems in different Asian and European churches.
If we put all these factors together, plus the Bible was written during
a span of fifteen hundred years by forty different authors at different places,
in three different languages, under various circumstances, and addressing a
multitude of issues, it is amazing that with such diversity, the Bible
proclaims a unified message! That unity is organized around one theme,
God’s redemption of man and all of creation. The writers address numerous controversial
subjects yet contradictions never appear.
Why do Christians believe the Bible to be a book inspired by God? Our answer is found in the Bible itself.
First, the authority of the Bible does not depend on our ability to
understand it. Let’s look at the
following verses:
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace
that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying
to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them
was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that
would follow.” (1 Peter 1:10-11)
“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.” (2
Peter 3:15)
Notice that even the prophets themselves did not fully understand
the words that God spoke through them or revealed to them. They were simply God’s messengers, and often
the great truths they wrote down were too profound for them to understand. No human mind can fully understand Divine
truths. Since the prophets themselves
were unable to understand the great truths they taught, so, many aspects of
Divine revelation are beyond the limitations of our minds. This problem is
partly explained by our next point.
Second, Divine Truth cannot be squeezed into the life span of any human
being. In 1 Peter 1:12-13 we read, “It
was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they
spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the
gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look
into these things. Therefore, prepare
your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to
be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
God is eternal, and we are mortal. God’s promises and revelations began from the creation
of human life on earth, and continued through the centuries with new aspects of
truth being added from time to time. In
some cases predictions were fulfilled hundreds of years after they were made,
and so the prophets did not live long enough to see the fulfillment of their
own words.
Some of the prophecies in the Bible will not be fulfilled until the
coming Day of Judgment. That’s why we
are compelled by our faith in God to believe that God’s revelations include the
entire period of His dealings with the human race. This is why we continually stress the vital
need for clear historical perspective in our study of the Bible.
Finally, the authority of the Bible is unchanging as the source of all
moral conduct. We see this in the verse
we began with, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Because
the Bible is given by inspiration of God it is profitable. It teaches us the truth about God and
states the kind of moral conduct God requires of us. It is profitable for doctrine, for instruction
and for correction. That’s why our
study of the Bible cannot be treated simply as an academic exercise! Unless we are willing to obey God’s Word with
a sincere heart, we will never learn the deepest truths it contains about
eternal life.
When we read the Bible seriously and ask God to speak to our hearts
through its inspired teachings, we begin to realize that God absolutely does speak
to men with Divine authority through His Word, the Bible.
Be
sure to look for my next article discussing biblical inspiration. Did God actually tell the various writers of
the Bible what to write? Feel free to send
me any questions you might have.
