Final Authority and the Bible

A chart showing the chain of command for an organization begins with the Final Authority of that organization. The concepts of a chain of command and an organization together show that the chain of command is the sole domain of and exclusive realm of people. Animals or inanimate objects such as books cannot occupy space at any level of the chain. The concept of a chain of command for an organization precludes any person who does not belong to that organization from occupying a space in that chain. The chain of command also demands that a living person who has open two way communication with the organization occupy each space in the chain.
God as the supreme authority of everything is the Final Authority in the chain of command of the Church and as such all arbitration will be resolved by Him. Jesus Christ the second member of the Godhead, the second Adam of the human race and head of the church is the second in the chain of command. These two are of course not on earth at present however they do maintain office space on earth that is occupied by their personal representative, the Holy Spirit. There are two opinions as to the location of the office that He occupies. One states that the office is the Church, giving the Church an identity of its own that is separate from the individual members of the Church. The other states that the office is the heart of each individual member of the Church which members collectively compose the Church. The first would suggest a wholistic view of the Church in that it would be something more than, and different from, the sum of all the individuals in it; where as the second views the body of the Church, the body of Christ, as a group of people defined by their common faith and family relationship to each other and God (faith as trust rather than creed, doctrine and theology). The first would suggest a church conscience that the individual’s conscience would be subservient to while the second would maintain that each member’s conscience answers to God alone; we do not go to a priest or pastor for absolution of sin (a bit exaggerated maybe, for the sake of emphasis). The first would therefore claim that the Church (governmental hierarchy) is next in the chain while the second would populate the next space in the chain with the collective voice of the members, all the members. The church for the most part, and for all practical purposes is the local congregation. Jesus said “where two or three are gathered, I am there”.
Some would give the Bible third place in the chain and move the church to fourth place. This claim would declare that the Bible is the Final Authority on earth, all matters of daily living and of arbitration must conform to the ordinances of it therefore it must be in the chain. Actually ordinances are documented ‘in’ the Bible. The Bible does not ordain anything, it holds some of the Word of God it contains some of the Word of God. Jesus is called the Word of God in the Bible, He is the living Word of God and without Him the Bible is a dead book. Jesus said that He sent the Holy Spirit to teach us the things that He Himself had said and taught. It is true that the Bible IS the Word of God - in that everything that is recorded in it was put there by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what is recorded in it IS what God said! It is true. It is true that God will never contradict Himself, when He makes a judgment it will not contradict the Bible; when people regardless of their personal relationship to God, or lack thereof, do something wrong, for example murdering someone, they are guilty and guilt is documented in the Bible. The point is that they are not guilty because the Bible says so but rather because God the Sovereign Judge says so! Christianity is based on a personal relationship with a living person named Jesus, His personal representative officiates in my heart! How do I know that the Bible is the Word of God? It does not become the Word of God when I come to understand that it is so or when it comes to have meaning to me. Because the Christian life is a personal relationship with a living God there cannot be a book that has exhaustive content on how I should live. The Bible does not look like ‘Back to the Future’ – “well, we didn’t get it right that time so turn ahead to page five billion and thirty seven and do what it says, tomorrow you can back up and give it another try”. The Bible comes to be authoritative to me when it is illuminated to me by the Holy Spirit (emphasis on ‘to me’. It is authoritative whether or not I think it is.). I accept it as God’s Word because I have the confirmation of the Holy Spirit. It is a fact of life that people read and study the Bible all their life long and never come to know God or what the Christian life is, because they do not have the Holy Spirit in their life confirming it to them and giving them a comprehending heart. It is a fact of life that even people who claim to be Christians and are in fact recognized to be so by others in the general christian community do not all agree on what the Bible says; many is the time when those who claim to agree do not. Did God mean for us to understand the Bible? He certainly meant for people to comprehend what Jesus did for us by coming to earth and dying but He did not mean that each, or any, of us should have comprehensive exhaustive understanding of it. Witness Daniel, he wrote part of it and God told him to close up the book because even he would not understand what he wrote. How many versions of the book of Daniel do we have? Of the book of Ezekiel? Of the book of Revelation? How many versions of the story of David and Goliath? How tall was David when he killed Goliath? The Bible is a small book and there are more questions raised by it than are answered; while it is the only written authoritative statement of God’s will that we have it is not an authority in matters of living the Christian life or in matters of difference or conflict. We still have to go to the living head of the Church for those things. Love, forgiveness, faith, hope and all the other attributes of a Christian cannot be obtained from the Bible. Discipline, reproof and rebuke cannot be derived from the Bible. We do not derive our New Life in Christ from the Bible. I do not pray because the Bible says that I should, I pray because Jesus said to and because I want to.
There are clear concise direct specific statements in the Bible. Then there are statements that are obscure and difficult to understand and try to implement. “You shall not kill!” is a direct clear statement. Then there is “whoever kills someone by man he shall be put to death.” God has a list of other capital crimes as well as killing; if we are not to kill how can we execute capital punishment? To try to explain this apparent contradiction we put another spin on it; we say that the Bible says “You shall not murder!” But under the Mt Sinai covenant even if a person accidentally killed someone he was liable to capital punishment. Let a modern jury look into the case of Achan. He stole and the Bible does not apply capital punishment to theft so the jury would let him off with community volunteer work and if they were to follow the Bible he would be required to pay back two or three times what he stole. But God said to execute him and his family! God said “the son shall not pay for the sins of his father”. ?? Then there is a broader implication of “Do not Kill!”. Are animal life and plant life part of the jurisdiction of this command?
Jesus said, “You must be born again”. Paul said “old things are passed away all things are new” and “we know that the old man was crucified on the cross with Jesus”. We have illustrations in the Old Testament of New Birth. Noah went into the ark and when he came out the world was different. Moses went into an ark and when he came out he belonged to a different family. Jonah went into the fish and came out a different man. But most Christians are still firmly convinced that we are schizophrenic; we have two natures, we are sinners and we have a new life; or that we are still sinners period.
What does the Bible say?
Point is that without some kind of interpretation the Bible does become ambiguous in the hands of people. It is true to itself and it does say only one thing but which one? Even Reform Theo says there are three tests for finding what the Bible says; direct statements, examples, and good exegesis and deduction. The Bible is not an authority in the chain of command; the head of the church is Jesus and next in line is the church, whichever way you view the church’s identity.
The Holy Spirit is not in the chain of command either; the Holy Spirit is the advisory board along side of the church and of the individuals in it.
Many christians have lived without any book but the Bible and even then without the whole Bible. The churches in Ethiopia, for example, lived through the second world war without anything but the New Testament. The Bible is our reference, hard copy memory. Without the Bible there is no new birth, it is the only revelation of the Gospel that we have; but the Christian life, after the new birth, is a relationship with a person.