“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).

Every generation is charged with recognizing the absolute authority of God’s written word. This was made abundantly clear in the charge the apostle Paul made to the church in Corinth. In the miraculous age of the first century, when there where both true and false prophets, the apostle Paul wrote, “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). In other words, the inspired written word of God trumps the professed spoken word of God, every time.

There are three principles that are to be recognized and respected in the establishment of Biblical authority: command, example, and necessary inference, which is intended to lead to an inescapable conclusion. These principles have been long recognized but are not always respected. Nevertheless, the validity of the use of these means to establish Divine authority is clearly established by Jesus, the apostles, and the first century prophets.

First, we must recognize, acknowledge, and respect the fact that all authority is inherent in Jesus (Matt. 28:18). Therefore, we hear and see in Jesus the authorized pattern of principles for recognizing the things we are authorized to do so that we might be practicing His will and be found in His favor.

Jesus appealed to the principle of command as a means of establishing authority. This is clearly seen in such statements as, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15), and, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt. 7:24). He authorized the apostles to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). We know that what the apostles taught was authorized by the authority of Christ because it was made evident by “the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20).

Jesus also appealed to the principle of example as a means of establishing authority. This is evident from the statement of Jesus to His disciples, “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). Another article in this special series will deal with identifying the difference between binding and non-binding examples. But here, as well as in other incidents, the principle is established that we are to recognize and respect the authoritative nature of divinely approved examples.

Jesus often expected people to recognize and respect to the principle of necessary inference as a means of recognizing and establishing authority. He expected the divine authoritative nature of His words to be recognized by the people of His day based on the evidence of the miracles He performed (cf. John 15:22, 24). In other words, the miracles Jesus performed necessarily inferred that His words were the authorized words of God. Nicodemus observed this principle of necessary inference and stated the inescapable conclusion, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Jesus expected Philip to have recognized that His character was a mirror image of the character of His Father based on the principle of necessary inference; “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?” (cf. John 14:8-11). The apostle Peter observed the necessary inference of the vision given to him (Acts 10:9-16) and came to the inescapable conclusion, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28 NKJV).

The validity of establishing Divine authority through the principles of command, example, and necessary inference is clearly demonstrated in Acts chapter fifteen. Here we find that Paul and Barnabas traveled from Antioch to Jerusalem to determine the source of a false doctrine that had been brought to Antioch by certain men from Judea. Arriving in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas declared all things God had done with them among the Gentiles. However, “some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses’” (Acts 15:5 NKJV). Rather than answering the false teaching of this sect on the basis of apostolic authority (cf. Matt. 16:19; 18:18), the truth was demonstrated by appealing to the authoritative principles of example, necessary inference/inescapable conclusion, and command.

Notice Peter rose up and appealed to the example of the conversion of the first Gentiles. He stated what all Christians knew to be true: God had chosen that, by the mouth of Peter, the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. [Jesus stated that He would give to Peter “the keys to the kingdom” (Matt.16:19). Therefore, Peter would “unlock the doors to the kingdom” through the preaching of the gospel of Christ. This was fulfilled for the Jews on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2). It was fulfilled for the Gentiles at the household of Cornelius (Acts 10).] Peter’s declaration of the gospel to the Gentiles, as revealed to him by God, did not include the necessity of circumcision for their salvation. By giving the household of Cornelius the Holy Spirit, God necessarily implied His confirmation of the authority of the message as it had been delivered by Peter and His authorization of taking the gospel to the Gentiles. The inescapable conclusion is that God had authorized the same gospel that had been delivered to and practiced by the Jews was to be delivered to and practiced by the Gentiles (Acts 15:7-11).

Next, Barnabas and Paul declared the example of the miracles and wonders God worked among the Gentiles by them (Acts 15:12). The miracles and wonders they performed necessarily implied that God confirmed the message as it was delivered to the Gentiles by Barnabas and Paul. Their message did not include the necessity of circumcision for salvation. The inescapable conclusion is that it is not necessary for Gentiles to be circumcised in order for them to be saved.

Finally, James (probably a brother of Jesus, and one of the elders at Jerusalem) confirms the testimony of Peter concerning the authority of the Gentiles hearing the same gospel and practicing the same faith as Jews who trusted and obeyed Jesus. James stated that this was consistent with the stated will of God that had been written in the word of prophecy (Acts 15:13-17; cf. Amos 9:11-12).

In this example we see, regardless of who is teaching it, that the validity of a doctrine must be proven to be consistent with the written word of God, and divinely approved examples of the practice of truth, while observing and respecting what is necessarily inferred in each or by either and arriving at the inescapable conclusion of God’s revelation of truth by each, or in either.

The pattern of establishing divine authority through the means of commands, examples, and necessary inference was employed by Jesus. The apostles, who were guided into all truth through the Holy Spirit (cf. John 16:13), continued to employ this pattern for establishing divine authority. Those who are of an “honest and good heart” (cf. Luke 8:15) recognize and respect these established and approved divine principles. Jesus identifies His true disciples as those who abide in His word and know the truth (cf. John 8:31-32). If we hope to be in fellowship with Christ, we must abide in the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9) as it is revealed to us in the Bible through the means of commands, examples, and necessary inference. May we rightly divide the word of truth and be found practicing the faith that has been delivered to us through it, so that we might proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15; Jude :3; 1 Pet. 2:9).

Doug Roush has worked with the Southside Church of Christ in Bowling Green, KY, since September 2005.