The Authority of Scripture

by Terry Wane Benton

Two fundamental and opposite approaches to biblical authority are common today:

View #1: Everything is permissible unless the Bible expressly forbids it. If the Bible does not say not to, then we can.

View #2: We can do nothing unless the Bible permits it, and we can prove it is acceptable by at least the general authority of scripture statements, commands, approved examples, and necessary inference.

The second view is in harmony with Romans 12:2-3, which places responsibility upon us to “prove what is acceptable to the Lord.”

The first view allows the following:

• Popes,
• Cardinals,
• Monks,
• Nuns,
• A separate priesthood from other Christians,
• Infant baptism,
• Animal sacrifices,
• Burning incense,
• Sprinkling for baptism,
• Instrumental music (traditional, hard rock, or heavy metal in worship),
• Auricular confession (confession to a designated priest),
• A diocese of churches, church associations, and synods,
• Organization of churches into districts, state, and national associations.

Nothing in this group should be opposed or forbidden if this view of authority is correct. If this view of authority is incorrect, nothing in this list can be “proven acceptable to the Lord” (Romans 12:2-3).

The second view is correct.

In Hebrews 7, the writer argues that it would not be permissible for Jesus to be a priest on earth because he was from the tribe of Judah, “of which tribe the Law spoke nothing concerning priesthood.” It did not forbid it, but it did not permit it. It could be proven acceptable if one were from the tribe of Levi and linked to Aaron in genealogy, but no one could prove it acceptable to the Lord to become a priest on earth from the tribe of Judah. Even though the Law did not expressly forbid a Judean priest, the fact remains that it only permitted Levitical priests. The Hebrews writer did not consider the first view above a valid way of establishing authority. He pointed out that the only way for Jesus to be a priest would be to have a “change of the law,” which is what Jesus did (Ephesians 2:11-15; Colossians 2:13-17). So, under the new law of Christ, Jesus can now be our High Priest (Hebrews 9:9-11). But, now that we are under the law of Christ and not the law of Moses, the rule of “proving what is acceptable to the Lord” still applies under this law (Ephesians 5:10; I Thessalonians 5:21; Romans 12:1-3). If we cannot prove something is acceptable to the Lord, then we cannot do it. It is as simple as that.