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All Scripture is God breathed …
Some thoughts on biblical authority
Ok, so I promised in a blog awhile
back that I would give some thoughts on biblical authority. I know that
everyone has been waiting with eager anticipation of my deep spiritual wisdom.
Well, I’d like to think I have wisdom. I’m not sure how deep it is though.
Anyways, for those who have been waiting … here it is at last. WARNING: This
post is long. Read at your own risk.
Should we consider the Bible
authoritative? Really, to me this issue is sort of a given. God, Himself, gave
us the Bible and the Bible points us to Christ. At least for the church and for
Christians it seems only natural that the Bible would be the standard and
authority for faith and practice. However, I full well know that with the
changing cultural landscape many want to (even within the church) diminish the
authority of the Bible and the notion of absolute truth in general. I believe
the Bible to be authoritative for three main reasons. 1) Because God inspired
it. It is His book, His words. 2) Because the Bible points us to Christ and
Christ is inseparably linked with Scripture. 3) Because the Holy Spirit speaks
through the words of Scripture.
The Bible is not God …
It will not surprise fellow
Protestants and evangelicals that much has been written in
protestant/evangelical circles about the Bible and its place in the faith and
practice of the church. After all sola scriptura has in some form or
fashion shaped every protestant movement since the days of Martin Luther and the
Reformation (and even before that with John Hus and Wycliffe). Having read much
of what has been written here there are several qualifications that are usually
made in reference to the Bible, usually (I presume) in order to be balanced.
It is often said that, “We must
remember that Bible is not God,” or that “the Bible is not Christ.” I can
understand why such statements are made in light of some of the legalism and
abuses of some that I have seen. Please note that I did not say I
disagreed with these statements. Of course the Bible is not God or Christ.
These statements appear to me to be made in order to clarify that we are not to
engage in bibliolatry (or the worship and veneration of the Bible) and that the
Bible does not save us. Only Christ died on the cross and was resurrected. Only
Christ saves. It is in the Bible that we are pointed to Christ though. All this
is to say that these statements seem to be a little out of place where the
discussion of the Bible’s authority is at hand. No, the Bible is not God, but
as God’s Word it carries the authority of God.
A statement that often goes along
with the first two is, “the Bible’s authority is given to it by God (or
delegated).” Again this seems to be said in order to combat the tendency of
some to place God’s book (the Bible) above God Himself. When discussing
authority this statement actually strengthens arguments for the Bible’s
authority. The Bible’s authority is God’s authority. Since the Bible carries
God’s authority it is ultimately authoritative itself.
I have also heard it said that the
Bible is secondary to Christ. What are we to make of this? In a sense, yes, I
do agree with this. Christ is the final and complete revelation of God. The
Bible points us to Christ and the Bible is only properly understood through a
Christological (Christ centered) hermeneutic, but at the same time the
definitive knowledge we have about Christ is in the Bible. Christ is in the
Bible, interwoven all throughout its pages. Christ has linked himself with the
text of Scripture. As such, Christ and the Bible can not be taken apart or
divorced from one another. The Bible itself is not Christ - I agree that we
should recognize this. But we can not dispense with the Bible or simply put it
aside. The question occurs to me: did Christ ever intend that we should know
him apart from the Bible. The answer here, I think, is an obvious and emphatic
“No!”
Avoiding extremes
We must be careful not to divide
Christ from the Bible. We can do this by going to extremes on either end. Some
may focus only on the Bible and become guilty of bibliolatry or legalism. With
this one can easily become unloving and the Bible becomes a tool to hit people
over the head with rather than God’s love letter to us. This ultimately ends
with the trading in of both the Bible and Christ to legalism. The Bible
comes to be interpreted in light of one’s own legalistic presuppositions. Grace
is lost and only a harsh legalism remains.
Some may also claim to focus solely
on Christ saying that they are “Jesus only” people. The thinking here is that
since we have Christ then we don’t need the Bible anymore. This type of
thinking was popular in the liberal scholarship of the 20th century
and is even being picked up by the postmodern worldview. The problem with this
is that Jesus all too easily ceases to be the authority and one’s claimed
“experience” of Christ becomes the authority. Christ as revealed in the Bible
ceases to be authoritative and through one’s experience Christ can be made into
whatever image the individual desires. Thus lying, cheating, stealing, foul
language, sexual _expression outside of marriage, etc, etc, pose no problems,
for the individual can simply adjust their image of Christ to justify anything
they might want to do. Ultimately, this cuts the Bible as well as Christ
out as authorities. Instead the individual and their experience are set up as
the authority.
Both of these extremes are very
dangerous. Christ should not be divided from Scripture and, indeed, if we are
to remain faithful to Christ, he can not be divided from Scripture. No, we can
not have a relationship per se with the Bible, but Christ is inseparably linked
with the Bible. I would never say that our experience of Christ is not
important. I have found it quite hard to go through life without experiencing
things. But we must also recognize that neither us nor our experience (however
dramatic) are the standard of truth. The Bible is a place where our life
experience (religious or otherwise) are met and informed by the ultimate truth
of God and Christ. Since Christ can not be divided from Scripture our
relationship with Christ necessarily includes the Bible. It is where we learn of
Him and from Him. It is where God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.
It has God’s authority. The reality that God Himself inspired the Bible and has
given authority to the Bible makes it the standard for faith and practice and
ultimately trustworthy and authoritative. The Bible is absolute truth and
absolutely true. Both Christ and the Bible are God’s Word (ie,-revelation) to
us. The Bible is God’s written Word pointing us to Christ who is God’s living
Word. Neither can be separated from the other. To really follow Christ is to
accept biblical authority. To accept biblical authority is to believe what
Christ says about himself in the Bible.
Knowing Jesus better
The Bible is not just any ordinary
book. It is not simply a good piece of literature – though there is certainly
some good literature in it. It is God’s written Word to us where we meet
and learn from God’s living Word (Jesus) through the Holy Spirit. We
should submit (not a popular word in the 21st century)
ourselves to it. We should learn from it and if necessary allow
ourselves to be judged and convicted (more unpopular words in
today’s culture) by it. We should order our lives (outer and inner) around its
commands, and we should allow it to change us from the inside out.
2 Peter 1:3 says,
“As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for
living a godly life.” This verse shows us two major things. One is that
living a godly life is not something we can do by ourselves. It is not within
our power to love a God like kind of life. We need divine power. Second is that
we must be intimately acquainted with Christ in order to live a God like kind
of life. The question then becomes: how do we come to “know Christ better”? I
believe that we come to know Christ better through his message to us – through
his words to us in the Bible.
John 15:1-3 says, 1"I
am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. 2He cuts off every
branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing
he prunes back so it will bear even more. 3You are already pruned
back by the message I have spoken.” Notice first that even
fruitful branches get “pruned” and second that this pruning (which results in
bearing even more fruit) takes place as a direct result of the message
of Christ.
Then in verses 4-6 Christ says, 4"Live
in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch
can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't
bear fruit unless you are joined with me. 5I am the Vine, you are
the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate
and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a
thing. 6Anyone who separates from me is deadwood …” Ouch!!!! Did
you catch that last part? One who separates from Christ is deadwood.
These verses give basically the main point to the whole passage – intimacy with
Christ. The result of intimacy with Christ is fruitfulness. But how is an
intimate relationship with Christ achieved?
Verses 7-10 say, 7”But
if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home
in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and
acted upon. 8This is how my Father shows who he is--when you produce
grapes, when you mature as my disciples. 9I've loved you the way my
Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. 10If
you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's
what I've done--kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.”
Notice how intimate these verses are. Notice also the emphasis on Christ’s words and his commands. Verse 7 says that being “at home” in Christ is linked
with his words being “at home” in us. Verse 10 seems very clear that to have an
intimate relationship with Christ is to obey his commands.
I think we learn three things in
this passage. 1) To be fruitful we must be willing to be pruned by God’s Word.
2) To be spiritually mature we must obey Christ’s commands. 3) To be “at home”
with Christ, the Bible must be “at home” within us. Some wish to gain what they
think is spiritual “intimacy” with Christ by putting the Bible to the side. In
the end however, they just end up with a Christ of their own making and a
religion built on the authority of their own experience. This approach is
pretty shaky and weak if you ask me. It seems apparent that ultimately
fruitfulness, maturity, obedience, intimacy with Christ, and biblical authority
are a packaged deal.
Be
blessed!!! | 
), but our six year old little girl is not cooperating. 
. I am going to try and catch the Nebraska bowl game on ESPN tonight. I'll have to watch it on the the TV in the main living room of the cottage we are in since our cable is not installed yet (I hope they get that done soon!!) The Colorado Buffs lost to Clemson last night - but at least they did not get blownout again.