How is Scripture Authoritative?

Last week I said that it was important for us, as Christians and as First Baptist Church, to be grounded in the word of God. The culture that surrounds us would claim that there are multiple sources of authority, depending on whatever the authority you would like to follow is. Yet, in reality, many agendas will claim that they have authority on their side and that you and I should follow what their subjective advice is. So then as Christians, what do we mean when we say that the Scriptures are the authoritative word of God? Let me answer that question by given you four key truths to hold on to when we say that the scriptures are the authoritative word of God.

First, Scripture is the authoritative word of God because it is inspired. Essentially what this means is that God inspired the words that the men in the Bible wrote. This is called verbal plenary inspiration. What that means is that we believe that every single word is from God and inspired by him, but that men wrote it from their own hand, in their own style, with their own personalities attached to them. We might also call this, the dual authorship of the Bible. You see this in the Old Testament, for example, every time you read the phrase, “Thus says the Lord.” Here the prophets are speaking on behalf of God. Then, Peter confirms inspiration for us in the New Testament in 2 Peter 1:21 when he says, “for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The Bible is inspired by God, though written by the hands of men.

Second, Scripture is the authoritative Word of God because it is inerrant. That word, ‘inerrant’ is not a word that we use every day. Inerrant basically means without error. Therefore, to say that the word of God is inerrant means that it is perfect, complete and without any error. Now some would want to break the Bible apart, so to speak, and claim that only passages talking about faith and spiritual matters are inerrant or without error. The problem with this sort of thinking is that if one area of scripture cannot be trusted, then neither can any other area or focus of scripture. Added to this, all of life is ‘spiritual’ since God is the creator and sustainer of it. To separate our life or the word of God into topical categories misrepresents how we are to think about God and the world around us. Therefore, all the word of God is inerrant.

Third, Scripture is the authoritative word of God because it is clear. God’s word does not come in code to us. It is not written in some sort of heavenly language that is impossible to understand. In fact, God has ordained that through the understanding of his scriptures, his people will be saved. His desire is that throughout this entire book, it would be clear that we as men and women are sinners, he is holy, righteous and good, and that Jesus Christ came to bring us to himself through his life, death and resurrection. Therefore, as Matthew Barrett says, “God’s word was not restricted to the educated adult but can be understood and absorbed by little boys and girls.” It is given to us for salvation, for correction and for our training in righteousness so that we may have eternal life and be equipped by God for this life (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Fourth, Scripture is the authoritative word of God because it is sufficient. Everything necessary for salvation and for our Christian life is contained within the Scriptures. It may not tell us who to marry, what job to take or what house to live in, but scripture does give us guidelines for all our decisions to which we can make inferences and implications based upon its teachings. So then we may not know who to marry, where to live or where to work, but we do know that God calls us as Christians to a life of holiness, God calls us to serve him, to love him and to follow his son and he calls us to do all things to his glory. All of this occurs through the word of God being known and then applied to our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Meaning then to understand the sufficiency of scripture, we must see the word of God and the Spirit of God together. Therefore, we don’t need a word from the pope or from some modern-day prophet. The word of God is sufficient for everything we need to live our lives for the Lord.

As Christians here at First Baptist Church, we don’t need to turn to the left or to the right to find out how to live lives that our fruitful, faithful or productive. We need to continue to uphold the word of God as authoritative. Furthermore, when the culture around us claims to have the market on an authority to base our lives, remember that that inspired, inerrant, clear and sufficient word of God has been given to us to know God, honor him, serve others and live lives of joy today and on through eternity. May this be our firm foundation.  

Serving Him with You,

Pastor Michael Nelson