Scripture and the Church

The Church's Authority: Why Scripture and Nothing Else?

By Dr. Paul M. Elliott
If a church is not genuinely committed to the authority of Scripture alone, its people and leaders do not speak for God.

From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 6 of a 13-part series. In our last article we identified the seven marks of a Scripture-driven church. Today we begin examining each one in detail.

The foremost mark of a Scripture-driven church is that its people and leaders are committed to Scripture alone as their authority - and nothing else. If a church is not genuinely committed to the authority of Scripture alone, its people and leaders do not speak for God.

"To the Law and to the Testimony!"

They say, as the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, "To the law and to the testimony!" In Isaiah chapter 8 verse 20, God challenged the apostate house of Judah with those words. Go "to the law and to the testimony!" God said. "If anyone does not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in him." The phrase "the law and the testimony" (like "the law and the prophets" in Matthew 22:40, John 1:45, Romans 3:21, etc.) referred to the entire written Word of God. In other words, the Lord was commanding Judah, "Go to the Word of God alone as your authority - nothing else. If anyone doesn't want to be subject to the authority of the Word of God alone, it is because there is no light in him."

Light in the Soul

The phrase "there is no light in him" is quite graphic in the original language. It means that in the mind of such a person, someone who does not want to be subject to God's Word, dawn hasn't come yet. Light hasn't come yet. In Isaiah chapter 8, God was speaking against false prophets. He was saying, "If someone consistently does not want to be subject to the authority of the Word of God alone, such a person does not speak for Me. You have every reason to understand that such a person is not truly a believer."

Being willing to be subject to God's Word is evidence of saving faith. Lack of that willingness is evidence that someone does not have saving faith in Christ. Now those are strong words. But this is God's Word. God has established response to His Word as the primary evidential dividing line between the saved and the unsaved.

We see the same point in First Thessalonians chapter two, where the Apostle Paul commends that church with these words, beginning at verse 13: "For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe." They welcomed the Word of God - literally, they "received it as true".

We find the same root word used in the opposite sense in the Greek text of 1 Corinthians 2:14, where we read that the natural, unsaved man "does not receive the things of the Spirit of God" and indeed is incapable of receiving them as true, because they are spiritually discerned. The reason the Thessalonian believers welcomed the Word of God was because it was "effectively working" in them - it was truly operative, accomplishing God's purpose. They understood that the Word of God is indeed the Word of God - not the word of men.

Scripture-driven Christians are committed to the authority of the Word of God. It is a commitment that comes only because there is light in the soul. Commitment to the authority of the Word of God is the church's starting point.

Practical Questions for the Church

This commitment is vitally practical.

How can you make profitable use of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16) unless you are willing to submit to its authority?

How can you skillfully handle the sword of the Spirit for the battles of daily living (Ephesians 6:17) unless you are committed to its authority?

What's the use of reading and feeding on God's Word (Jeremiah 15:16) unless you are willing to submit to its authority?

What's the use of hiding God's Word in your heart (Psalm 119:11) - absorbing Biblical truth, and committing Scripture to memory - unless you are willing to submit to the Bible's authority?

What's the use of preaching, if the preacher isn't committed to the authority of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-4:5)? The people of a Scripture-driven church should demand that their pastor be a man of the Word, not a man of the world. God the Holy Spirit will only enable the preacher for sound preaching if he is committed to the authority of the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:13). There will only be receptive listeners to sound preaching if the people in the congregation are committed to the authority of the Bible (Acts 17:11).

What's the use of witnessing to the world, unless your witness for Christ is rooted and grounded in the Word (John 1:45, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4)?

People of the Book

In all of these ways, the people and leaders of a Scripture-driven church are committed to Scripture alone as their authority. It is their sole and final authority. They are truly "People of the Book." That's the first mark of a Scripture-driven church.

The second mark of a Scripture-driven church is this: The people and leaders of a Scripture-driven church conduct the ministry of the church according to God's eternal purpose as He has given it in Scripture, not according to man's purpose of the moment. In our next article in this series, we shall examine this mark in detail.

Next: What Are Christ's Purposes for His Church?

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