Authorit

Authority

Basic Christian Doctrines 8

1. The Bible is Absolutely True.

The Bible is true. It is also truth itself, for Jesus said, "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17). Some other books may be true, in that their contents are correct; but only the Bible is truth itself. It is "the Word of truth" (Eph. 1:13). It is the only reliable guide to ultimate truth. Many editions of the Bible title it "Holy Bible", which is quite right, for 2 Tim. 3:15 refers to it as "the Holy Scriptures". Being holy, it is free of all impurity of error. It is "pure" (Psa. 12:6, 19:8). Indeed, "Thy word is very pure" (Psa. 119:140). "Every word of God is pure" (Pro. 30:5).

2. The Bible is Inerrant.

The Bible is inerrant; it contains no errors. Truth and error are incompatible, like light and darkness. It is also infallible; it cannot fail to speak the truth. It does not and cannot err. Jesus said it "cannot be broken" (John 10:35), for even all of its individual words are true. Thus, Scripture has no contradictions between its parts, such as the four Gospels They are complementary, not contradictory. The Bible also contains no myths Scripture itself warns against myths (I Tim. 1:4, 4:7, Tit. 1:14). Parables are not myths. It contains deep mysteries and paradoxes, but no errors. Nor does the Bible contain any forgeries or frauds (cf. 2 Thess. 2:2).

3. The Bible is Inerrant in All Areas.

The Bible is completely true, in whole and in part, in all details as well as in the general content. It is true whenever it speaks of things we could otherwise study or observe, such as history and science. It is true in all areas, not just the spiritual, religious and theological. If we do not believe God in the areas we could verify, how could we believe Him in the areas that we cannot verify? (John 3:12). Man can err; God cannot. But it is not true that to be human one must necessarily err. Adam did not err before the Fall, nor did Christ ever err, and they were fully human. The divine side of Scripture guarantees purity from error in the human side, just as the divine nature of Christ protected the purity of His human side. Yes, the Bible uses round numbers, hyperbole, figures of speech, symbols, and phenomenological language. But these are usual for human language and are not errors.

4. The Bible is True Because God Cannot Lie.

God is truth and cannot lie (Tit. 1:2). The Bible is God's Word. What Scripture says, God says. Each sentence of the Bible could be prefaced with the phrase, "Thus saith the Lord." The Bible receives its essence and nature from God Himself. This is not to deify the Bible, as we are falsely accused of teaching. Rather, it is but to recognize what God says about His Word. To believe the Bible is to believe God. To believe God is to agree that God is and speaks truth (John 3:33). To charge the Bible with even one error is to disbelieve God and call Him a liar (I John 5:10). But let God be true and every man a liar (Rom. 3:4). It is dangerous and blasphemous to question the truth of God's Word. To judge it is to condemn oneself.

5. The Bible is Our Final Authority.

God tells us to test all things (I Thess. 5:21). By what? By the Word of God, as the noble Bereans did in Acts 17:11. Anything that contradicts the Bible is automatically wrong (Isa. 8:20). We err if we do not know the Bible or if we contradict it (Matt. 22:29). God tells us "not to go beyond that which is written" (1 Cor. 4:6). God curses those who preach false gospels contrary to the one true Gospel (Gal. 1:8). Sola Scriptura - Scripture alone is our final authority in all areas, such as faith and practice. It carries with it the very authority of God Almighty Himself.

6. The Bible is over Church Tradition.

In Matt. 15, the Lord Jesus confronted the Jewish religious leaders over the question of authority. They appealed to their tradition; Jesus rebuked them by appealing to Scripture. Church tradition must be subject to the Bible, otherwise it nullifies Scripture. Roman Catholicism repeats the same error as the Pharisees with their tradition. They say that the Church gave us the Bible, therefore the Church is in authority. But this is wrong. The Church is built on God's Words, not vice-versa (Matt. 7:24). All churches are under the authority of God's Word. That includes all creeds, confessions of faith, catechisms and church constitutions.

7. The Bible is Over All People.

Men can and do err, but God cannot err. The Bible is therefore over the authority (even the delegated authority) of people who exercise some degree of influence and authority. While Scripture tells us to obey parents, preachers and politicians, we must obey God and not them if they ever go against the Bible (Acts 5:29). The words and books of theologians must be weighed by Scripture, as well as all sermons and Sunday School lessons. Any preacher, priest, pope or rabbi who sets himself up as an equal authority to God is automatically a false prophet, for the true prophets themselves were under the authority of the Word of God. No exceptions.

8. The Bible is over Human Thought.

2 Cor. 10:5 tells us to submit all to God and take captive every human thought to the obedience of Christ. Thus, all philosophy, psychology, logic, reason, science and opinion are subject to the truth and authority of the Bible. Because of common grace, Man may learn and teach some truths. But if they contradict Scripture - whether implicitly or explicitly, whether in doctrine or in method - then they thereby condemn themselves as false. This applies to our own thoughts as well. Even Adam before the Fall was subject to the spoken Word of God. He fell into sin when he rebelled against that authority. The mind of fallen Man is still under the authority of God's Word. We dare not trust our fallen minds, which are prone to err.

9. The Bible is over All Spirituality.

The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. He never contradicts Himself, for that would be contrary to His nature as the Spirit of Truth. Some groups need to remember this in their zeal for the work of the Spirit. All spiritual feelings, impressions and intuitions must be subject to the Word. We dare not invent exceptions because we feel that the Spirit is leading us - otherwise we are no different from the fanatic who murders his neighbor with an axe because he said that God told him to. Nor can any pretended "new revelations" of the Spirit contradict or equal Scripture. Scripture is the authority over our whole being, including experience. Peter himself had heard the divine voice from Heaven, but stated that we have a "more sure word of prophecy" in the written Word of God (2 Pet. 1:19-21). We must "test the spirits", because there are many false prophets in the world (I John 4:1). The Holy Spirit never contradicts what He says in the Bible. For example, He never says "Jesus is accursed" (I Cor. 12:3). "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord" (I Cor. 14:37). The Bible alone is our source of all spiritual authority.

10. We Must Follow Scripture in All Things.

We must trust in God and His Word, even when we do not understand it. We must not lean on our own understanding or inclinations (Pro. 3:5). We ought to read it, study it, believe it and obey it. Our attitude to the Bible is to be the same as our attitude to God, for it is His Word. This means we are to love it, even as we love God. Love God, love His Word.