The Authority Of Scripture Series

The admiral sailing his flagship on the open seas left his quarters and had gone into the bridge after darkness had fallen. He looked out into the night with his binoculars. A light was coming directly toward them, and they were on a collision course!

He gave an order to his crew: send a signal for them to change their course two degrees south. The reply came back you change your course two degrees north. This roused the admiral when his authority was flouted. His next radio command was I am an admiral, and you change your path two degrees north. The reply came back, I am an able seaman, and you change two degrees north.

This time the admiral stated the full authority in his command: I am a battleship, and you change two degrees north. The reply came back. I am a lighthouse. You change two degrees north. You change I cannot change.

In this confrontation the lighthouse was the ultimate authority. Four our lives the Bible is the ultimate authority. We must live our lives up with the teachings of the Bible. It does not change to fit a changing society. It does not change to fit our ways. We must align with the Bible. That is what Paul told to Timothy.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

If we are to bring glory to God, if we are to obey Christ’s command to “go and make disciples of all nations” we must rightly hold to the authority of Scripture.

“Without the Bible world evangelization would not only be impossible but actually inconceivable. It is the Bible that lays upon us the responsibility to evangelize the world, gives us a gospel to proclaim, tells us how to proclaim it, and promises that it is God’s power for salvation to every believer It is moreover, an observable fact of history, both past and contemporary, that the degree of the church’s commitment to world evangelization is commensurate with the degree of its conviction about the authority of the Bible. Whenever Christians lose their confidence in the Bible, they also lose their zeal for evangelism.”1 It is the utmost importance for the Christian to behold a conviction that the Scriptures are authoritative.

Inspiration defined

If we are to understand the divine authority of Scripture, it is important that we understand the way scripture was inspired by God.

“By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God supernaturally directed the writers of Scripture and without excluding their human intelligence, their individuality, their literary style, their personal feelings or any other human factor, God’s own complete and coherent message to men was recorded in perfect accuracy and the very words of the Bible bear the authority of this divine authorship. This is sometimes referred to as plenary, meaning full and verbal inspiration, meaning that every word is inspired.”2

Many factors support the Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God.

Internal Claim

The Bible itself claims to be the inspired Word of God. “The phrases ‘The Lord said’, The Lord spoke’, the word of the Lord came’, are actually used 3,808 times in the Old Testiment.”3 David claimed inspiration for his writing in 2 Samuel 23:2 when he said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me.” O Acts 1:16 we see Peter proclaiming David’s prophecies as of the “Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David” The Lord Jesus Christ himself verified this truth. We read his words in Matthew 22:43 “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him Lord.”

The apostles verified the inspiration of the Bible. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Peter also verifies this truth “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:21)

Continuity

The continuity of the Bible further points to divine inspiration. The Bible was written over a 1,500-year span (40 generations) and by over 40 authors. The authors came from all walks of life and included fishermen, rabbis and kings. The writing of the Bible took place on 3 continents and was written in 3 languages. Although these authors have different cultural experiences, they write with complete harmony on many controversial subjects.