As noted in our
previous article, even modern mankind recognizes the need for authority in the
secular realm; we must have laws and representatives to enforce those laws when
necessary. This is a generally accepted concept,
although we also noted that there would be exceptions. However, when it comes to our souls, many
people perpetuate the belief that authority is unnecessary and that God must
accept whatever we are willing to offer Him (if anything at all). If authority is necessary in the unimportant
events of this life, then shouldn’t it be much more important when it affects
our souls?
Even Jesus recognized
the need for authority in the spiritual realm; if we deny it, then we are
saying that Jesus didn’t know what He was talking about or what was
necessary. In Matthew 21:23-27, the
religious leaders of the time recognized the necessity of authority and when
they disagreed with the teachings of Jesus, they questioned Him concerning
where He had obtained His authority for His doctrine. By even questioning Jesus in this manner, the
chief priests and elders were acknowledging the necessity for authority in
religion, as well as the fact that such authority must come from an entity that
has the rightful power to grant it.[1]
Also shown in this very
same passage is that Jesus concurred with the chief priests and elders on the
necessity of such authority.
Additionally, Jesus acknowledged that there are only two sources of
religious authority: divine (God – proper) and human (improper and
powerless). Obvious there is a
difference between the two sources and Jesus did not equate the authority of
men with the authority of God; this is evidenced by the fact that Jesus even
asked, “The baptism of John – where was it from? From heaven or from men?” Why
ask where it came from if they held equal importance in the eyes of God?
Some argue that the
religious world (Christians) does not need authority from God for all that they
do. Generally, when someone argues
against the necessity of having such authority from God, they are submitting
instead to either their own self-proclaimed authority or even the authority of
other men (which is really the “authority” of the devil – Romans 6:16). In Jeremiah 10:23, we read that the “way of
man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps”
(NKJV). Man does not have the proper
right, power, or even the proper intellectually ability to be his own authority
in spiritual matters (1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4).
Whereas man is fallible, God is not.
Our judgment as humans is not on the same level as God’s judgment is,
nor can we know the mind of God without it having been reveled to us (Ref. 1
Corinthians 2; Proverbs 14:12; Matthew 15:9; Isaiah 55:7-9). If an individual does not have the proper
judgment within themselves as Jeremiah 10:23 and Proverbs 14:12 indicate, then
why would that individual entrust their souls to another human with the same
shortcomings rather than submitting to the authority of God?
The necessity of God’s
authority in the spiritual realm can even be found in the pages of the Old
Testament; there are multiple examples of men and women who chose to do things
contrary to the will of God and thus without His authority, and they paid the
consequences for their decision to proceed without authority. Consider Leviticus 10, which provides us with
one of the clearest and arguably one of the most concise examples of the need
for proper divine authority. In this
example, we have two men that were correct in their authority for most
of their duties before the Lord and they only did one thing contrary to the
command of God. Nadab and Abihu, the
sons of Aaron, were the correct men to offer incense before the correct God,
they had the correct censers for the job, and they had the correct incense for
the job. However, they used fire “which
He had not commanded them” (10:1) instead of the proper fire obtained from the
altar of the Lord (16:12). This was just
a small infraction, wasn’t it? By man’s reasoning, yes, this would be a small
infraction; who really cares where the fire comes from? Wouldn’t the incense
burn just as well with this fire as with the fire God had commanded them to
use? Aren’t the same ends brought about?
What we really learn
from this example is that God has all authority over us and that He does have
requirements for our service to and our worship of Him. We have to have authority for all that we do
in our worship of God and not just some.
Note that for Nadab and Abihu, the consequence for their infraction was
immediate death; our consequence is the loss of our souls.
Consider also 2
Chronicles 26:16-20 where we read about King Uzziah attempting to burn incense
to the Lord. It was a good work for
incense to be burnt before the Lord (as we see by the fact that Nadab and Abihu
were commanded to do such), and by human reasoning it was “good” for King
Uzziah to want to be the one to offer it.
However, it was specifically commanded that only the priests were the
ones to burn the incense (Exodus 30:1-10).
King Uzziah opted to seek his own authority for what he thought would be
a good work (ref. Jeremiah 10:23) rather than looking to God for his
authority. The consequence for Uzziah’s
infraction of God’s authority was that he was struck with the disease of
leprosy.
As we can see from
these passages, God set the precedence for authority being needed in the
spiritual realm during the period of the Old Testament Law. Logically, the requirement for divine
authority did not end along with the Old Testament Law, but rather that it
continued into the New Testament. This
fact has already been noted from studying Matthew 21:23-27, but there are
numerous other passages in which Jesus recognized and taught the need for
proper religious authority. For
instance, in Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus states that there would be many who claimed
to have done works in the name of God (by the authority of God), but that they
will be separated from God because of their lawlessness (lack of submission to
the proper authority). Simply claiming
to have the proper authority does not make it the proper authority. Those that practice lawlessness will be
gathered and cast into the furnace of fire (Matthew 13:41-42).
Using many parables,
Jesus taught obedience to His commands; thus we have the parable of the wise
man that built his house on the rock (foundation of proper religious authority)
and when the storms came his house stood strong. On the other hand, the foolish man build his
house on the sand (man’s authority, weak foundation) and when the storms came
the house fell (Matthew 7:24-27).
Likewise, the Apostles
taught the same need for authority from God throughout their teachings and
writings. In Philippians 3:16, we have
the plea that we all walk by the same rule and have the same mind. If there is no greater authority than
mankind, how could there possibly be such unity? Paul, writing with the
authority of God, makes the same plea in 1 Corinthians 1:10. We cannot be so perfectly joined together if
we are seeking to authorize our own actions rather than by submitting to the
perfect authority of God.
In Colossians 3:17,
Paul instructs us plainly that we are to have authority from God for all that
we do. Some contend that we do not need
such authority, but that is a clear violation of not only the principle of this
passage, but the command contained therein (reference also Galatians
1:6-10). It is not merely suggested that
we might want to see what God’s opinion is before we act, it is commanded that
we seek His authority (reference 1 Samuel 13 & 2 Samuel 24). God has given us His will and His word to
teach and live by, but if we choose not to abide by it there will be
consequences (2 John 9-11). Seek, then,
the authority of God and submit yourselves to His will.
No comments:
Post a Comment