Authority in Religion

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Identify Jesus Christ as the final authority in all matters of religion.
2. Trace the line of authority from the Father's promise of a prophet like Moses, through its fulfillment in Christ, to its plain consequences.
3. Reject every competing source of religious authority — human creeds, later "revelations," and even Moses now — in favor of the words of Christ.

Thesis

All authority in religion belongs to Jesus Christ; therefore His word, and His word alone, settles every religious question, and to refuse to hear Him is to be cut off from the people of God.

Burden

Every religious dispute, when traced to its root, is a dispute about authority: Who has the right to say? Men appeal to feelings, to tradition, to councils, to the founders of their movements, to the spirit of the age. But if there is a final court in religion, then our duty is not to argue but to submit; and if that court is Christ, then the only question that finally matters about any practice or doctrine is, "Did He authorize it?" This lesson aims to put that question, and that Person, back at the center.

Introduction

What is authority in religion? What is the final authority? These are not idle questions; their answers settle all disputes, just as the supreme court settles the questions brought before it. And Jesus spoke to common people; if we will not put ourselves on that plane — willing to hear plainly and obey simply — we will not understand Him. Boles builds the argument in four steps: where authority lay under the promise, how Jesus fulfilled it, what conclusions follow, and the great claim of Matthew 28:18.

I. The Promised Authority (Deut. 18:18-19)

God promised Moses, "I will raise up a prophet... like unto thee... and I will put my words in his mouth."

1. God promised to raise up a prophet like unto Moses.
2. He would put His words in that prophet's mouth.
3. That prophet would speak all God's words to the people.
4. God would require it of everyone who refused to hear him. From the beginning, then, authority was located not in the prophet's own opinions but in the words God placed in his mouth — and hearing him was not optional.

II. Jesus Fulfilled the Promise (Acts 3:22-23)

Peter declares that this promised Prophet is Jesus (Acts 3:22-23):

1. God commands us to hear His Son — "This is my beloved Son... hear ye him" (Matt. 17:5).
2. Nothing was original with Jesus as mere private opinion; all came from the Father: "I have not spoken of myself... whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:49-50).
3. How much shall we hear Him? Whatsoever He says (Acts 3:22).
4. The soul that will not hear Him shall be destroyed from among the people (Acts 3:23).

III. Two Conclusions From These Premises

1. All that Jesus spoke bears the stamp of divinity — His words are the Father's words; to hear Christ is to hear God.
2. No other voice is authority — not even Moses, now. The Law and the Prophets pointed forward; at the transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah had appeared, the voice from heaven left only One: "hear ye him" (Matt. 17:5; cf. Heb. 1:1-2). If Moses has no independent authority now, then neither does any man since. Human creeds — a "Confession of Faith," a "Discipline" — and latter-day claimants such as Joseph Smith carry no authority whatever, for they add to or set beside the word of Christ what He never spoke (Gal. 1:8-9; Rev. 22:18-19).

[Doctrinal note: this is Boles' point and it is squarely within the framework — the rejection of human creeds and post-apostolic "revelations" as religious authority. The source named "Joe Smith"; corrected to Joseph Smith for accuracy. The point is doctrinal, not personal: any voice that competes with Christ's completed word is without authority.]

IV. All Authority Belongs to Jesus (Matt. 28:18)

"All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth."

1. In heaven — therefore God, the Holy Spirit, and the angels all work in the plan of salvation under His authority and do nothing contrary to His will.
2. On earth — therefore all men must teach just what Jesus taught, neither more nor less (Matt. 28:20, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you").
3. Even civil governments have their limits; there are realms — the worship and service of God — where the authority of the state does not reach, for that authority belongs to Christ alone (Acts 5:29).

This is the ground of the plea to speak where the Bible speaks and to do Bible things in Bible ways: biblical authority established by the command, the approved apostolic example, and the necessary inference of the One to whom all authority belongs.

Application

Settle, then, how you will decide religious questions. Not "What do I prefer?" nor "What has always been done?" nor "What does this respected man teach?" but "What has Christ authorized?" Test your worship, your work, and your teaching by His word. Where He has spoken, submit gladly; where He is silent, do not presume; where the conclusion follows necessarily from what He said, accept it. The man who learns to ask only "Did the Lord authorize it?" has found the one question that quiets every religious storm.

Conclusion

All authority — in heaven and on earth — has been given to Jesus. That single fact dethrones every rival and unites every honest heart. Moses has had his day; the creeds of men and the books of later prophets carry no weight in His court; the state cannot command the conscience He has claimed. There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy (James 4:12). Hear ye Him.

Invitation

If Christ holds all authority, then His terms of pardon are not negotiable and not to be improved upon. He commands the believing, penitent soul to confess Him and to be baptized for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38) — and because He commands it, it is enough. If you have been resting your hope on a human creed or a teaching of men, rest it now on the word of Christ alone, and obey Him today. "He that heareth you heareth me" (Luke 10:16) — and to hear Him is life. Come while we sing.

Word Study

• "Authority" (Matt. 28:18, Gk. exousia): rightful power, the legitimate right to act and to command — not mere force, but lawful jurisdiction. Christ claims it over both realms, "heaven and earth."
• "Hear / hearken" (Acts 3:22-23, Gk. akouō): in this context, to hear with submission, to obey. To "hear Him" is not to listen idly but to do what He says (cf. Matt. 7:24).

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