Sunday Sermons
The Blessings of Authority
“The concept of authority has become one of the most controversial notions of modern times. Yet the informed man knows that anarchism is an empty dream, and that unchecked individualism is but inverted slavery” (The Pattern of Religious Authority, Bernard Ramm, p. 9). What is genuine authority, and what blessings are contained therein?
Authority and Liberty
Sadly, many have been convinced that liberty and real freedom can only exist when authority is rejected. Yes, authority does involve the restriction of liberty, “yet political (or any other) liberty is possible only in the shadow of authority. Thus liberty and authority are complementary” (Ramm, p. 9). We see this demonstrated in the Garden of Eden. When man and woman were content to live under God’s authority they enjoyed tremendous freedoms (Genesis 2:16), and when they rejected God’s authority, liberties were lost. Concerning man’s freedom in the Garden, Alexander Campbell writes, “In order to have freedom, virtue, and happiness, it was expedient and necessary to place him under a law; for where there is no law there can be no liberty, virtue, or happiness. The law became a test of his character. The requisition was so little as to present the least conceivable restraint upon liberty of thought and of action, and yet it was the most infallible test of his loyalty. It placed only one restriction in the way of universal liberty… The whole earth was his to use, one single fruit lone excepted. Truly, God was superlatively good and kind to man” (The Christian System, p. 27). Various other writers have seen this connection between authority and real freedom:
“There is no real freedom in choosing to act like the devil” (J.M. Sterrett). “There is only one thing greater than Liberty, and that is Authority” (P.T. Forsyth).
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
Jesus noted that the person who practices sin becomes a slave (John 8:34) to that sin. The Bible also describes sin as being a violation of God’s law (John 1:3-4). Thus, rebelling against God’s authority will never produce freedom or liberty. Just as the modern scientist does not feel restricted because nature is determined and fixed, and the professional baseball player does not feel restricted because the dimensions of the diamond are fixed, and the rules of the game are settled, neither should we feel restricted when we realize that the truth is set as well (Jude 3; Ephesians 4:4-6).
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Authority and Learning
“Little learning can take place unless the student recognizes the functional authority of the teacher. Even the anarchist must use functional authority to teach his anarchy” (Ramm, p. 15). What this means is that real learning will never take place unless one is willing to listen, not to self, but to the true expert. The Bible makes it clear that not all attempts at learning succeed. Some are “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). Others want to teach, but do not understand what they are teaching (1 Timothy 1:7). Solomon noted that the publishing of books is endless (Ecclesiastes 12:12). Hence, one could actually spend their entire life “learning” nothing of real value. The Scientist does not dictate to nature, but rather only learns when he is willing to let nature teach the lesson. “It means that theories await the evidence, not evidence the theories. The freedom demanded in science is not freedom from evidence but freedom to determine what the evidence is; it is not freedom for freedom’s sake, but freedom for truth’s sake. Once truth is known, it wears its imperial crown and all should gladly submit. Knowledge is gained only as there is submission to the authority of the object investigated” (Ramm, p. 15). In like manner, the Word of God will only be understood if we let the text speak for itself.
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Authority and Unity
The problem with subjectivism, that is interpreting Scripture on the basis of “What do I want to believe?”, “What do I want the truth to be?”, “What sounds good and feels good to me?”, is that it presents each man or woman as his or her own authority, and “if each man is his own authority there is neither truth nor authority” (Ramm, p. 18). Obviously, there will never be any unity found in the human race if each person insists upon playing the role of God. “There are not as many authorities as there are individuals, and there are not as many religious truths as there are religious thinkers” (p. 21). Jesus noted that the true basis for unity was everyone submitting to the right authority, that is, the word of God (John 17:20-21). Division came upon the Church, not when people insisted that we need to follow the Bible, rather, division arose when people stopped following the Bible (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
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Authority and Humility
“It is true that man in his pride will discover that Christianity calls for intellectual humility and repentance as well as moral humility and repentance” (Ramm, p. 23). It is far easier to remain humble when we realize that God is the final authority and we are not. The Bible commends the right use of reason (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22; Hebrews 5:14), yet I condemns reasoning attempts to cast off God (Romans 1:22). In becoming a Christian it is necessary to destroy all speculations and prideful thoughts that are “raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This means I do not have the right to dwell on thoughts or hold to opinions that are in rebellion to the truth. Such an idea is far reaching. What the verse is demanding is complete intellectual honesty, and the rejection of all views, even privately held, that are unscriptural. Consider the word “destroying”. As a Christian I must “destroy” all inward views that are contrary to truth, including various prejudices.
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Authority and Honesty
“The voice of man must not be substituted for the voice of God. In all those instances in which man mistakenly speaks for God, the finite sits in the place of the Infinite. The Object of Religion must be allowed to speak for Himself. Every subjectivistic principle of religious authority (feelings, majority opinion, tradition, etc.) is finally man sitting in the place of the Infinite” (Ramm, p. 25). I find that accepting the Bible (the words of the Creator) as the final authority is really the only way one can remain completely honest. For when people reject God, they contradict themselves. For example, many who reject God still hold on to some moral principles, yet their attempts to explain why we should even care about such principles, is very weak. The question, “Why should I keep the laws of the land?” is never answered until we pick up the Bible and find, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him” (1 Peter 2:13-14). I am to submit to the laws of the land because the Creator expects such – that makes sense. So many people have the attitude, “No one is going to tell me what to do”, and yet submit to all sorts of cultural voices. The truth is that the Christian does have the attitude, “No one is going to be the final authority for me – except God”.
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Authority and Independent Thinking
When one is the slave of sin (John 8:34), one equally becomes the slave of men and especially of human opinions and what others believe or think about them. One benefit of fearing God (Matthew 10:28), is that you are not afraid of anyone else. Thus, you find the freedom to explore the truth without any qualifications or hindrances. If you are a Scientist and you find that Evolution isn’t true you can reject it, and righteously handle the rejection that you will receive from your peers (Luke 6:22).
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Authority and Freedom of Speech
“God is the Truth of religion. God has expressed Himself through the medium of revelation (2 Timothy 3:16). ‘No church, no minister’, writes Forsyth, ‘has any right to claim freedom from the apostolic word, but only for that word’” (Ramm, p. 43). Instead of worrying about stepping on someone’s toes, or saying something unpopular, biblical authority grants the believer the right to “preach the word… in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). At times I think we do not realize what a freedom this is. God has actually given us the right, yea more than that, the command, to speak God’s truth when we actually know we are around people who are not going to like it. Thus, we do not have to remain silent and be the one who is uncomfortable and suffering, we have the liberty to speak the truth and let someone else squirm and fidget.
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Authority and Personal Maturity
It should be a no-brainer that doing whatever you want to do without restraint is not the path of maturity, virtue, self-control and anything positive. “The Christian believes that obedience to Christ is the only sure pathway to moral freedom and spiritual maturity. ‘The chief sign of salvation… is not a sense of freedom, but an experience of mastery and of obedience. Hence a passion for liberty is not the first equipment for the study of Christ, or His God, His salvation, or His kingdom; but the first thing is the enthusiasm for obedience’” (Ramm, p. 43). What this means is that the person who submits to God is the person who is maturing as a human being. Obviously, one cannot be rejecting his or her Creator and maturing at the same moment! Thus living for self is the evidence that one is moving farther and farther away from being an authentic human being, and living for God and others is evidence of a mature view of life.
