By Gary Ray Branscome
Because the Bible is the Word of God, it is the highest
authority in the Christian church, an authority that can and should be the only
source, standard and judge of all that is taught in our churches. That
authority, the authority of Gods own Word, has a twofold function. 1- In
the life of a believer that Word convicts the heart of sin, while assuring the
contrite (those who are sorry for their sin) of Gods mercy and forgiveness in
Christ. 2- In the life of the church, that Word exposes doctrines that
are not taught in Scripture, while condemning doctrines that contradict
Scripture. [See Micah 3:8, Psalm 34:18, Romans 15:4, Acts
Gods Word in the Life of
a Believer
Because Scripture is the
Word of God, it is empowered by God to accomplish His will. Of course, part of that
will is to bring people to faith. However, after He has brought them to faith,
His Word will be at work in their hearts, enabling them to see sins that they
were formerly blind to, teaching them to shun those sins instead of making
excuses for them, and assuring them of forgiveness in Christ, while bringing
them to a greater knowledge of God and a better understanding of the Gospel. And,
the authority of His Word plays a part in that. As it is written, We
continually give thanks to God, because, when you received the Word of God that
you heard from us, you did not receive it as the word of men, but as it is in
truth, the Word of God, which effectively works in you who believe.
(1Thessalonians
The words, Do not be
conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and
the words, Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,
tell us that our minds and our thinking our entire worldview should be conformed
to the Word of God (Romans 12:2, 2Corinthians 10:5). At the same time, the
words, Making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, warn
us of the danger of making excuses for sin instead of repenting and turning
away from sin (Mark 7:14). And, the words, Christ did not send me to
baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with words of worldly wisdom, lest
the cross of Christ be made of no effect, warn us that unbiblical thinking
can undermine the work of the gospel (1Corinthians
Gods Word in the Life of
the Church
Just as Gods Word should be the highest authority in the
life of the believer, it should be the highest authority in the church. All
teaching should be in agreement with it, and anything that contradicts what it
says should be rejected. As it is written, To the law and to the testimony:
if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them (Isaiah
However, in order for Gods Word to have its rightful place
in the life of the church, and the preeminence that it deserves, we must
distinguish clearly between what God says and what men say. When the
prophet Jeremiah said, The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream;
and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully, he was speaking
out against all who pass their own word, their own opinions, off as the Word of
God (Jeremiah 23:28). When Jesus said, You completely invalidate the
commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition, He was speaking out
against all who rationalize sin, and make up excuses aimed at getting around
what the Bible says (Mark 7:9). Yet, the practice of teaching opinion as
doctrine while explaining away any passages of Scripture that contradict that
opinion is widespread in American Churches. You ask where. Where does the Bible
say that Christ will raise up believers before the last
day? I tell you that it is not in the Bible! In fact Christ said the
opposite. Christ said, Every one who looks to the Son, and believes on Him,
may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up on the last day
(John
The point I am making is that we can know for certain
exactly what the Bible says, or does not say. However, you will never be able
to know what the Bible says unless you can tell the difference between what the
words actually say, and the ideas you read into them. And, you will never be
able to know what the Bible says until you are willing to reject any
interpretations that contradict what the words say. There is no place for
self-deception! As it is written, Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does
not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no self-deception (Psalm
32:2).
Gods Word is Our
Standard
The words, If they do not speak according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them, tell us that Scripture is the
standard that everything taught in the church should agree with (Isaiah
When we reject and condemn a doctrine that contradicts what
the Bible says, we are using Scripture as a judge. The words, Those who
know God accept what we [the apostles and prophets] say, those who are not of
God will not accept what we say, condemn those who refuse to submit to
Gods judgment (1John 4:6). As do the words, If anyone teaches otherwise,
and will not agree with sound teaching, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the doctrine that is in accord with godliness; He is proud, knowing
nothing, (1Timothy 6:3-4).
Beware of False Prophets
With the words, Beware of false prophets, who come to
you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves, Christ
authorizes every believer to judge what is being taught, and to reject those
who contradict what the Bible says (Matthew 7:15). The Apostle Paul was not
offended when the Jews at
Translations
Because translations are not inspired by God, the original
Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible is the authority by which all translations
must be judged. However, a good translation of the original text is just as much
the word of God as the original text. Therefore, while a pastor should know
what the Hebrew or Greek text says, he should never use that knowledge in a way
that undermines the confidence the people have in their translation, or gives
them the impression that the Bible is a dark book that can only be understood
by those who understand Hebrew and Greek. In the words of John Theodore
Mueller, The
gap between the original text and its translations must not be widened unduly,
so as to create doubts regarding their authority; for the language of Scripture is in most instances so
direct and simple that any translator who performs his work conscientiously is
compelled by the clear and direct language of Scripture to reproduce the sense
of the original. (Christian Dogmatics, page 132)
The Cannon of Scripture
There are at present a number of publications and false
documentaries spreading the lie that certain books have been removed from the New
Testament. The truth is, those books were never accepted by the Christian
church, and were never a part of the New Testament. Contrary to what these
people claim, the four Gospels, and the Epistles of Paul have been universally
accepted by the Christian church from the very beginning. The Gospels of
Matthew and John were written by Apostles. The Gospel of Mark was written under
the supervision of Peter. And, the Gospel of Luke and book of Acts were fully
approved by Paul. There were a few people in the early centuries who questioned
Hebrews (because the author is not named), the second and third epistles of
John (because they seem like private letters), James and Jude (because even
though they were brothers of Christ they were not prophets), and the book of
Revelation (because of its strangeness). Nevertheless, those books were all
widely accepted from the beginning. Let me also add that the books included in
the New Testament did not become Scripture because of a decision made by the
Church of Rome, but God compelled