Bible Authority—what Is It (Part 2)?
Since the purpose of life on earth is to prepare each of us for eternity, God, through His Word, has provided us with the building blocks that will help us during our training. The New Testament is God's divine pattern for righteous living. Just as God gave Noah the pattern or blueprint for building the Ark to the saving of his household and Moses the pattern for building the tabernacle, so He has also provided us the pattern for the church, Christian worship, and daily living. Sadly, most people cast aside God's Word in favor of man's creeds, manuals, statements of faith, catechisms, and methods. They choose to do that which is right in their own eyes (Judges 17:6); rather than by God's authority, which means without Biblical faith.
Logically speaking, the Scriptures teach that in Christian work and worship we must do only that which is authorized by the Word of God. Therefore, it is possible for human beings to ascertain what is and what is not authorized by the Word of God. There is no authority from God to change, substitute, add, or subtract from the New Testament Law of Christ. We are not authorized by God to allow what God condemns (alcohol, gambling, homosexuality, adultery, divorce for any reason, etc.), nor are we authorized to condemn what God allows (eating all meat, marrying, working on the Sabbath, etc.).
Since God's inspired Word, the New Testament is provided for all human beings today to follow, anything not found in the New Testament is not authorized. God will not accept the worship of anyone taking part in acts that He has not approved of. Cain's worship was not accepted by God (Genesis 4:2-5). God did not accept the worship of the Israelites when He said, try offering that kind of sacrifice "to your governor!" (Malachi 1:8). God does not authorize based upon our likes or dislikes, our erroneous conclusions about Scripture, what is popular, or majority rule. He does not authorize by human tradition, long-standing practices, silence of the Scriptures, or what some highly respected individual believes or teaches.
The Bible authorizes by what it says—not by what it doesn't say! Nowhere does the Bible authorize counting beads, praying to dead saints, or praying to Mary. Nowhere does the Bible authorize praise teams, the use of instrumental music, or females to be elders, deacons, prayer leaders, or song leaders. Nor does the Bible authorize more than one church to exist. Jesus gave authority for only one church—HIS church—the church of Christ (Matthew 16:18), and that is the only church that is discussed in the New Testament. All denominational churches today are anywhere from 1500 to 2000 years too late, with human founders of their own churches. If we are wrong, then we would appreciate someone showing us where the Bible authorizes more than one church—or anything else we have said in this article.
Instead, individuals will choose to hide behind their anonymity when they disagree. Is your doctrine so weak that you are unable or unwilling to demonstrate it is superior to what we have been teaching? Our purpose is not to cast aspersions upon any one person, but to expose the errors of the doctrines you have been taught. And if you believe they are not errors, then please, let us reason together (Isa. 1:18).