The Bible Is The Highest Standard of Authority

Disciple Makers Basic Training: Week 3

Q: Who Has Authority Over Me?

A: God has authority over all of us, and what He declares in His Scriptures is authoritative. The Bible says we are to submit to the agents of authority in each of the God-ordained, earthly institutions of family, church and state. When there is conflict between the demands of the state and the commands of Scripture, we are to obey God rather than men.

The Law

The great English Reformer and Bible translator, John Wyclif wrote, “The Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” God summed up His standard for human conduct in the Ten Commandments by declaring who He was, how He was to be worshipped, and how men were to rightly live together. The Ten Commandments encapsulate God’s moral and civil laws, which apply to all cultures, in all circumstances, and in all times.

God’s Law is eternal, authoritative and expansive. The Law is not limited to the Ten Commandments, either. All of Scripture is inspired by God, and given to man for his benefit (2 Timothy 3:16). The whole Bible, then, is our standard of truth and morality for all of life. There is therefore no legitimate authority apart from that which is established by Scripture.

The Bible commands us to love God and love our neighbors. One of the greatest acts of love we can perform is our humble submission to lawful authorities. As we show genuine compassion and respect for others, we demonstrate our submission to the Lord, and obedience to His Word. The light and momentary trials of living under the authority of imperfect people is part of God’s sanctifying process of making believers more like Christ. So rejoice as you submit.

Institutions Of Authority

God has ordained three institutions of earthly authority. They are (1) the family, (2) the church and (3) the state. Within each of these institutions there are agents who exercise God-given authority over us. Extending over these institutions is the Law of God, which is the highest standard of authority for all human conduct and relationships.

1. The Family

Submission to authority in your family is inescapable. Your parents have authority over you. Your husband has authority over you. Your spouse has authority over you. All this is God’s plan for couples to stay faithfully married and to train up well-behaved children. Individuals are produced in families and they are God’s possessions, bought with a price, and under obligation to give God glory (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Fathers are commanded to be servant leaders in their homes. They are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, and they are to discipline and instruct their children. Wives are commanded to respect their husbands. Children are commanded to obey their parents (Ephesians 5:22-6:4). When authority is properly exercised and respected in a family, the home is a wonderful place of nurture and joy. Therefore, the first priority of every Christian family should be to unleash the authority of God’s sure and sufficient Word in our homes.

* Deuteronomy 6:5-9 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

* Colossians 3:16-21 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Private Enterprise

The institution of the family does more than make marriages and babies. It is also the engine of economics and free enterprise. It is the realm of commerce, business contracts, personal industry and the creation of material wealth. The family populates the planet with productive workers, ministers of mercy and shapers of culture. The other institutions are completely dependent on the family for their personnel. All business dealing must be subject to the rule of God’s Law which regulates fair contracts and transactions.

2. The Church

Submission to the leaders of the your local church is required. Your church elders have authority over you, and they must give account for your spiritual condition directly to the Lord. Your proper submission to them allows you to grow in your knowledge of the Bible and to walk more faithfully as a follower of Christ. As you respond to their teaching and preaching of sound Biblical doctrine, you mature in faith and are better able to do good deeds. The Bible calls you to honor and obey them so that they consider it a joy as they watch over you (Hebrews 13:17).

The Church is God’s divinely appointed guardian of Truth. The Bible refers to the church as the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23), the Bride of Christ (Matthew 25:1-13), and the Household of Faith (Galatians 6:10). Although the church cannot produce children, it certainly helps shape them. Church leaders are charged with the responsibility of proclaiming God’s Word to edify the body and equip them for the works of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16). Christians are commanded to maintain regular fellowship with one another and stir one another up to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:23-24). The Church plays a significant role in cultural transformation through the ministry of God’s Word made active and alive in the other institutions of family and state.

3. The State

Submission to the authority of human government is mandatory. Or else! You know this when you speed past a parked police cruiser on the highway with an officer inside pointing a radar gun at you. Your lead foot on the accelerator may have just cost you a hefty fine. And when you are pulled over, you know that the club, handcuffs and pistol on the officer’s belt are not merely ornaments. They are instruments of law enforcement, and he is authorized to use them if you decide to pitch a fit.

Human governments are ordained by God to execute justice and punish evil behavior. They regulate human conduct by justly enforcing God’s moral and civic laws. They ensure that individual rights are protected and that contractual agreements can be enforced. Because man is sinful by nature, human governments are necessary to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. The need for the external law enforcement is directly proportional to the lack of self-restraint exercised by individuals in society. Therefore, obey the laws of the land and be respectful to those in serve in the government.

* Romans 13:1-7 1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

* 1 Peter 2:13-17 13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Application

In order for us to have a right perspective on living under authority in a fallen world, we should look to Jesus as our example. The King of Glory submitted himself to birth in a lowly manger. He was submissive to his earthly parents as boy (Luke 2:51). He humbled himself even unto death on a cross in obedience to His Father's will (Philippians 2:4-8). Christ, our Lord and savior came to serve, rather than to be served (Matthew 20:28).

We should do likewise.

Follow Up Assignments

1. On as many pages as necessary, write a list of good works that will get you into heaven :)

2. Listen to audio file on "Myth of Adolescence"