by David Gibson<\/p>\n
I am indebted to Owen D. Olbricht, who helped me understand the chain of authority.<\/p>\n
He is “one God and Father of all, who is over all<\/strong> and through all and in all<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:6).<\/p>\n Jesus frequently referred to Himself as having been sent by His Father (John 4:34; 5:23, 24, 30, 36, 37, 38; 6:29, 38, 39, 44, 57; 7:16, 18, 28, 29, 33; 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42; 9:4; 10:36; 12:44, 45, 49; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3, 18; 20:21). If I counted correctly, He said it 33 times in John’s Gospel!<\/p>\n Repeatedly Jesus stresses the source of His teaching:<\/p>\n “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment – what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me<\/em>” (John 12:49-50; see also 8:28; 15:15; 17:8).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The night before He died, Jesus told the apostles:<\/p>\n “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you<\/em>” (John 14:25-26).<\/p>\n “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come<\/em>” (John 16:12-13).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n These promises were made only to the apostles (Matthew 26:20; Mark 14:17; Luke 22:14) and have already been fulfilled.<\/p>\n The Spirit-equipped apostles were Jesus’ direct representatives to the world (Matthew 10:17-20, 40; John 17:6, 8, 18, 20; Acts 2:42; II Peter 3:2). Therefore, their words have all the authority of heaven behind them.<\/p>\n F. F. Bruce has written, “The apostolic teaching was authoritative because it was the teaching of the Lord communicated through the apostles. In due course, this apostolic teaching took written shape in the New Testament scriptures” [Commentary on the Book of Acts<\/em>, p. 79].<\/p>\n The Spirit-inspired written word is our authority today (John 20:30-31; Ephesians 3:3-5, 8-9; II Thessalonians 2:15; II Peter 3:15-16). It is complete, needing no supplement or update (II Timothy 3:16; Jude 3; Revelation 22:18-19).<\/p>\n The message God the Father revealed to His Son, Jesus communicated to the apostles, and then He sent the Holy Spirit who equipped the apostles and prophets with the full revelation of God’s will. This was first preached orally, then put in written form for all succeeding generations.<\/p>\n And we are the blessed recipients of this precious message!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson I am indebted to Owen D. Olbricht, who helped me understand the chain of authority. God the Father He is “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6). Jesus the Son Jesus frequently referred to Himself as having been sent by His…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-63496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":86281,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-so-different-about-his-teaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":63496,"position":0},"title":"What Was so Different About His Teaching?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson \"No one ever spoke like this man!\" So said the officers sent by the Pharisees to arrest Jesus, but who came back without Him. After hearing Him teach, they could not bring themselves to take Him into custody. Many people noticed Jesus' teaching differed because He spoke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20352,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ye-are-gods\/","url_meta":{"origin":63496,"position":1},"title":"Ye Are Gods","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joe R. Price via\u00a0Guardian of Truth\u00a0XL: 3 p. 6-7, February 1, 1996 In the last year of Jesus' life, during the Feast of Dedication (present-day Hanukkah), unbelieving individuals confronted him and demanded of him a plain declaration that he was the Christ (John 10:22-24). Like ravenous wolves, the Jewish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/top_28_bmp-242x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62573,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-godhead-in-the-gospel-of-john\/","url_meta":{"origin":63496,"position":2},"title":"The Godhead in the Gospel of John","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 14:8-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John 1:1-4 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Of all the books of the Bible, the Gospel of John does the most to describe the nature of God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We are introduced to the Word \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Word dwelt among mankind - John 1:14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Word is distinct from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2763,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-whose-name-are-we-to-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":63496,"position":3},"title":"In whose name are we to be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: It appears to me that you missed the main point about the Jesus name baptism.\u00a0 Jesus commanded that his disciples be baptized in the \"name\" of someone.\u00a0 Who do you suppose he meant that name to be?\u00a0 He didn't say (about\u00a0Matthew 28:19) \"repeat after me now\".\u00a0 Do you suppose\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29773,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-jesus-say-the-new-covenant-is-not-his-but-the-lords-arent-they-the-same\/","url_meta":{"origin":63496,"position":4},"title":"How can Jesus say the new covenant is not his but the Lord’s? Aren’t they the same?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: People say God is three in one, but Jesus, the Son, says the new covenant is not his but the Lord's. Aren't they the same thing? Answer: Usually, these questions are easier to figure out if you read the actual verse. Jesus said that his words are no different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28097,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-authority-of-the-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":63496,"position":5},"title":"The Authority of the Apostles (Johnson)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson Many acknowledge the authority of God and Christ but do not accept or understand the authority of the Apostles. Some people today say we only need the words of Jesus to guide us. Some who take this position place a great deal of emphasis on the red-letter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Jesus the Son<\/h2>\n
The Holy Spirit<\/h2>\n
The Apostles<\/h2>\n
The New Testament Scriptures<\/h2>\n