Introduction⤒🔗

How noble were the hearers of Paul's sermons in Berea! They not only received the Word of God with "all readiness of mind," but they went a step further (Acts 17: 11) They did not have "itchy" ears, but they also did not have "spongy" hearts that would soak up everything. They would not just join hands with this new preacher. They took home the Word he brought, and they compared what he had spoken with what was written in their "scrolls." Apparently the Word which Isaiah had brought still had great authority, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). They finally bowed before the absolute authority of God's Word.

Today another view more and more gains a foothold. That is the opinion that truth is relative instead of absolute. This view considers the immovable truths of the Word of God as time-bound or personal. Disciples of this opinion argue, "What was formerly true is now no longer tenable," or, "What is true for you is not necessarily true for me."

It is unarguable that the circumstances of former days were far less complicated than those which we and our children have to experience today. In our society we have to cope with tensions, situations, and temptations which the former generations never faced. Our youth grow up in a time where the general decay of morality seriously undermines each aspect of our society. A dangerous and subtle warfare is fought today on campuses, in the classrooms, and through the media. It is the assault upon the absolute authority of the Word of God. Therefore it is exactly against this background that we need to wage the battle for the maintaining of the absolute authority of the Holy Scriptures.

Definition of authority←⤒🔗

Authority is a broad concept. Imagine a professor in astronomy. For his whole life this man has studied the vast universe with telescopes. When he begins to speak about the stars and planets, then it is obvious that he speaks with authority. There may be something convincing and gripping in such scientific authority, but ultimately it has no compelling or moral character. It has no determining influence upon the content or direction of my life and actions. His authority is limited to being an expert.

A different form of authority is the power someone possesses to command me to do something. Let's look at a few examples. The policeman has the authority to make me stop my car along the road. My neighbor has the authority to forbid me to walk on his lawn. My parents had the authority to make me go to bed at a certain time. In this case the authority has a compelling character. It has to do with the relationship of a higher-ranking person (superior) who has power over a person of lower rank (inferior). This form of authority demands obedience and submission, and it possesses the power of coercion and punishment.

This form of authority does not sound good to us. It is a subject which quickly stirs our nature to either action or reaction. We simply do not like this authority. Ultimately the fall of mankind was connected to this question: "Who shall have the authority?" (Genesis 3). By nature we never will agree to the only right answer upon this question. We must, however, observe that the strife concerning this question is fought with renewed intensity in our days, not only in unchristian circles, but also within our own circles, where God's Word has been authoritative.

Divine authority and inspiration←⤒🔗

The Word of God has a divine authority in all circumstances and all times. The Supreme God, the Creator of heaven and earth, has made known His will for us in His Word. He is not just any superior, but the Sovereign Creator and King, who by means of His Word speaks and rules (Psalm 99:1). It is His Word and not the word of Moses, Paul, or Peter.

The foundation of the authority of the Holy Scriptures lies in the divine inspiration of each word which is written. Bavinck, a Dutch theologian of the former century, rightly assessed that as soon as we begin to doubt the inspiration of the Word of God, then immediately the authority of the Scriptures is fatally eroded.

By letting go of the divine inspiration we lower the Bible to a collection of human documents. If that view is adopted, then the authors of the various Bible books had in their time a certain authority (because of their expertise or ecclesiastical position), but today they no longer have that same authority. They may command a certain respect, but we can no longer hold their writings as normative for today; our further knowledge and new social circumstances make such a position untenable. Then the response to the Word of God becomes, "Yes, the Bible indeed says that, but that was true for Paul's days and not anymore for today."

In this way the modern man ventures out onto a sea of confusion without a compass or anchor. Or, in other words, so the modern man reasons himself into a hopeless, religious vacuum, without a solid rule or guide for faith and life. In a family and in society we cannot live without authority. That would be chaos. This is far more true in the realm of our religion. Correctly did Bavinck write, "Here (in religion) is authority a necessity of life. Without authority and faith, religion and theology cannot exist for a moment."

From bad to worse←⤒🔗

Of course, the question regarding the character and ground of authority in our days is not a new one. Already in the time of the prophets the authority of "Thus saith the LORD" was severely resisted. But when in the former century the doctrine of the divine inspiration of the Word was gradually dispelled, foolish man was compelled to find another reason to confirm the authority of the Word of God. Bavinck summarized this search to find another reason for validating the authority of Holy Scripture as fol­lows:

The authority of the Scriptures, as far as it was still acknowledged, was based upon the conviction that it was the authentic deed of the revelation; that it expressed the Christian idea in the most pure form, even as water is purest nearest the source; that it is the fulfillment of the Old Testament salvation-thought and contained the complete Christian doctrine, be it in an acorn form; and that it is the commencement and continued renewing of the Christian spirit in the church.¹

What could have been expected also happened. Slowly the conviction grew that not everything in the Bible is the Word of God, but that human elements and additions are mixed with God's revelation. Hence, it was necessary to determine what parts in the Bible were really God's Word. As a result the Bible as the absolute Word of God became quite thin! What eventually was received as God's Word was determined according to man's opinion. Such a view fits our fallen nature far better. Such a flexible authority is much easier to accept than the rigid doctrine that all which is written is true for all times and in all circumstances of mankind.

Thus saith the Lord!←⤒🔗

Did it ever occur to you that Paul and other Bible authors always fall back on the Word of God? Although for some of them the Word, the Old Testament, was already one or two thousand years old, yet they continually appealed to it as authoritative. The conclusion is irresistible: Although so old, yet the written Word was still for them as the voice of the living God. Even for the Lord Jesus the Word had such authority. Every time the devil tempted Him in the desert, we hear Him appeal to the authority of what is written (Matthew 4). He spoke as One having authority (Matthew 7:29), and yet He accepted the authority of the Word without any reservation. For Him, "It is written" was the end of all dispute.

To counter this by saying that Jesus spoke that way because He accommodated Himself to the Jewish tradition, with its great reverence for the books of Moses, doesn't hold true. In His teachings, we cannot fail to observe that He was not afraid to question, or rather to overthrow, many of the popular interpretations which the Jewish rabbis gave of the revered books of Moses (see Matthew 5-7).

If the written Word of God had such authority for the Lord Jesus and His apostles, then it is high time to ask ourselves, "Who am I to dispute the authority of the Scriptures?" If the Word had such a normative authority for the authors, yes, for Jesus Himself, would it then not have the same character for us today?

Why then is it not sufficient anymore, when we wrestle with questions involving marriage and divorce, simply to fall back on the authority of the written Word of God, wherein God has clearly revealed His unchangeable will? Does the sanctity of the Lord's Day as legislated in God's Word no longer apply to our days? Is the place which the Bible gives to the woman in ecclesiastical and marriage life merely a description of how it was "back then," or is it God's will for today as well? If you notice that Jesus did not say, "It was written," but "It is written," then you know the answer to such questions.

Submission←⤒🔗

Do we hear the high and lofty God speaking to us in the Scriptures? How important it is that we acknowledge the voice of God in His Word. "Thus saith the Lord" requires submission. We need to direct our faith and life according to the Word. A. A. Hodges, in his book The Outlines of Theology, answered the question, "What is meant with the saying that the Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice?" as follows:

Whatever God teaches or commands is of sovereign authority. Whatever conveys to us an infallible knowledge of His teachings and commands is an infallible rule. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only organs through which, during the present dispensation, God conveys to us a knowledge of His will about what we are to believe concerning Himself and what duties He requires of us.

The Roman Catholic Church still maintains that the authority of the Scriptures is dependent upon the Church because she recognizes them as authoritative. However, Scripture does not require submission because ecclesiastical authority calls for it; the Bible carries its own authority. God used the Reformation to free the authority of the Word from the paralyzing grip of the Roman Church. However, today we need to be faithful and guard that the author­ity of God's Word does not fall prey to the equally paralyzing grip of the relativising (toning down of the absolute authority) of the Word of God, with sentiments like, "Certainly, that is what the Bible says, but that is not tenable for today."

Especially our young people facing the liberal teachings of these days must continually be pointed to the timelessness of the authority of God's Word.

Time-bound?←⤒🔗

It will be obvious to all of us that the circumstances of our lives are enormously different from the times when the Bible was written. As a result, there are definite passages which at first sight seem to have a "time-bound" character. A great deal of the struggle for every faithful preacher of the Word is related to precisely this fact. He is called to be God's mouth in today's world. Every preacher and reader is to search for the underlying principles in Old and New Testament passages and to seek the application for us today. Therefore our first task is to listen to the voice of God in the Word, with the continual petition, "Show me Thy ways, O LORD; teach me Thy paths" (Psalm 25:4).

Many of the prophets' utterances have definite historical backgrounds which have no direct connection or literal application to our situation. One example is the command of God to kill all the Canaanites in the land. Although this is an express command, it is not literally to be carried out in our days. Yet it is possible to hear, even in such passages, the voice of God with application and direc­tion for faith and practice today. In other words, even certain historic Old Testament portions have a normative authority for our circumstances and life. For example, we can trace the same underlying principle of the command to kill all the inhabitants of Canaan in several New Testament passages. When God admon­ishes the believer not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, or not to have fellowship with the unrighteous, but to come out from among them and to be separate, then we meet the same principle which formed the background of the command to the Israelites.

Hence, even though certain historical passages have a time-bound characteristic, they still have a moral authority and practical significance for our daily walk. We must not be so rash as to conclude that certain parts of Scripture have no moral authority simply because they have a time-bound character. God teaches us to tremble at His Word and to seek to know His unalterable will for life and faith in such passages.

A fence←⤒🔗

Despite the ever-changing circumstances and the complications of living in this day and age, we must maintain that the Word of God remains the only and absolute authority for faith and practice. Without the knowledge that the Scriptures are the Word and Truth of God, there is no comfort, no cer­tainty, and no unchangeable standard. When the preacher and the congregation lose the conviction of the divine authority of God's Word, then they become like a ship without a rudder in a tumultuous storm.

We conclude with a passage from Bavinck's Dogmatics. He wrote, "There is nothing humiliating when a person listens to and obeys, in a childlike way, the Word of God. To believe God on His Word, i.e., to accept His authority, is no more humiliating than when a little child relies entirely on the word of his father." It is exactly here that the "shoe pinches." We do not want to be children. The safeguarding fence, which God in His authoritative Word has placed around us in His love, we find bothersome, restricting our liberty and independence.

Let us learn to see the absolute authority of the Word as God's protecting fence around our life. What would you think of parents who would allow their children to play beside a dangerous road or near a treacherous swamp? Loveless! May God teach us to see His will for faith and practice as a token of His loving care for our well-being.