Few want to talk about it today and even fewer understand it. Yet all of life boils down to authority: whose authority will we live under? The world is full of a spirit of rebellion, but even many believers do not seem to understand that life is to be lived under divine authority. A Christianity defined by emotion, experiences, and extra-biblical teaching is evidence that we have forgotten the principle of biblical authority. The authority is not me. The authority is not a man. The authority is the divine revelation.

The foundation of our faith is the Word of God. Without it, we have nothing to stand on and nothing to say, but in the Word we have all that we need! Jesus Christ, in His high priestly prayer for His disciples, said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). If you want to follow Jesus then you must follow the Scriptures.

This is why both the Living Word, the Lord Jesus, and the written Word, the holy scriptures, are referred to as our “foundation.” The Apostle Paul wrote that the church itself is build on Christ, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). And in another place he spoke of the foundational teachings given through the scripture, “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20).

God has given us an all-sufficient Christ and all-sufficient Scriptures – there is no person like Christ and no book like the Bible. The Living Word and the written Word agree completely and perfectly express God to us. They are God’s revelation to man and God’s resource for every need.

You cannot separate the authority of Christ and the authority of the Bible. Hear the Son of God in His own words, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). If people need Jesus, then people need the Bible!

As I preach and teach God’s Word week after week in different settings and to a variety of audiences I am reminded that the power is in the authority of Scripture. Not in my voice. Not in my experience. Not in my ability to articulate. Not in my ideas. People – and preachers – need God’s Word!

How does this apply to everyday living?

1. Believe in the authority of the Bible. Determine to let the Word of God guide your decision making and direction. Settle in your heart that the Scriptures are more than enough.
2. Allow the Bible to speak for itself. Instead of bringing your preconceived ideas or another person’s interpretation to the Scriptures, find out what the Word is saying. Search it. Study it. Speak to the Author about it. In the words of William Cowper’s hymn, “God is His own Interpreter, and He will make it plain.”
3. Refuse to add to or take away from what the Bible says. The last page of Scripture gives this closing warning (Revelation 22:18-19). You can’t add anything to perfection and you shouldn’t take anything away.
4. Depend on the sufficiency of the Scriptures for your own needs and the needs of others around you. Every question, struggle, and situation should drive us to the Bible. What does God say about this? How would the Lord want us to respond? This is not theoretical – it is intensely practical.
5. Submit to everything plainly given in Scripture. Once we have found God’s intent we must obey Him. To live under the authority of the Bible is more than listening to sermons or saying “Amen” to some statement of faith. It is to consciously, purposefully submit to the leading of the One who wrote His will in black and white.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Do you really believe in the authority of the Bible?