The Authority of Scripture

Over the last three months, I have been looking at several topics related to the Scripture as the Word of God – especially the doctrine of inspiration. Last week we discussed the fact that the Scripture is God’s revelation to us. Today I want to conclude this series of posts by looking at the authority of Scripture.

Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word, it is inerrant and infallible. God can not lie or make a mistake, and therefore we can trust His Word to us in the bible. We the Bible speaks, God speaks, and therefore we can trust it completely. We may have to verify other sources of information, but the Bible is God’s Word and is therefore the standard by which all other words are judged!

This also means that God’s Word is authoritative. When the bible speaks, God speaks. Therefore the Bible has the full authority of God behind it. This means that if we reject the Bible we are rejecting God Himself. And when we obey the Scripture we are obeying God Himself. When we approach the Bible, we do not come as its judge, but rather as those under its authority. Our task is not to determine if we will obey it, but rather to ask God to help us accurately understand it so we might obey.

I hope this will help you take time this week, not just to study the Word of God, but to apply it to your life. To merely hear the Word and not obey it is deception (James 1:22). But there is a great blessing as we ask the Spirit to help us understand and obey the Word of God!

In Christ,

Bret