Our Source of Authority

One of the most deceptive confusions among Christians today rests in God’s word and while all Christians should adhere to God’s word and follow it as close as possible, not all do. All of us know at least one person that believes God’s word is there to only set an example of morality as it is filled with good examples of how to live for man but is not meant to be taken literally and when people say this to me, I have a hard time understanding how they come to such a conclusion but these mindsets exist.

Unfortunately, when people tell me that they do not believe the Bible to be what it says it is, especially Christians, I am no longer surprised but for Christians who tell me this, I shake my head because they have no real foundation for their lives or their relationship with Jesus Christ. While Christianity is about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ rather than following a set of traditions, God’s word is there for a reason.

Genesis 1:4-5 goes on to explain “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” We are seeing this play out in front of our eyes as fewer and fewer people are unable to comprehend the light that God has shined upon this Earth. It was clear way back then when Adam and Eve defied God’s instructions, present before the flood destroyed the Earth, and ever-present now as people look for newer alternatives to God’s word.

There is no better source of authority than God’s word. Jesus is the light and in Him was life. Today, there is still life in Jesus and He still shines in Darkness. Jesus says in John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’” If you follow in Jesus steps; you must accept that His word is literal but more importantly, you need to apply His words to your life. If you do not, you can still call yourself a Christian but there is no ground for consistency.

It has been this way since the very beginning and nothing has changed except for the date and attitudes of man. John 1:1 reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We read the same in Genesis 1:1 that “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Further, we read in John 1:3 that “The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Therefore, we can see that the God that created time, space and matter and created all things that occupies this time, space and matter is the same God that inspired those to write the word of God. In other words, there is nothing more powerful than the word of God and there is nothing more authoritative in and over our lives than God’s word. Further, if authority is a position, the ultimate form of authority is God. God has given us His word so we can know what to do, how to do and when to do it.