Sunday, March 19, 2017 am
THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH
2017
Authority – 3
How to establish authority
We
have also noted that the religious world is greatly divided.
There is not a single topic that is universally accepted even
among believers in God. And
among those professing to believe the Bible and in Jesus, there is also
great disparity.
Furthermore, even among brethren there is a great diversity of beliefs,
much of it with implications that affect our fellowship with one another
and with Christ. Yet our
Lord prayed for unity (John 17:20-21) and Paul on more than one occasion
called for unity (1 Cor. 1:10, Ephesians 4:1-3, Philippians 2:1-2,
etc.). So why are we not
united? The simple answer is
because many have rejected the authority of scripture or misapplied the
authority of a text. For
many, it has to do with HOW we establish authority.
And that is where we want to begin our study of the elements of
establishing authority.
In
the next few lessons we are going to discuss:
1)
Today – the 3 ways to
establish authority – the acronym CENI
2)
When is an example
binding?
3)
What do we need to
consider when it comes to necessary inference?
4)
The two types of
authority - Specific and generic
5)
What about expedients
and aids? (How do they differ from additions?)
6)
Is silence a legitimate
way to establish authority?
a.
There are 3 legitimate
ways to establish authority – Direct Command, Approved Example and
Necessary Inference. We will
discuss all 3 of these in this lesson.
b.
These three ways are in
common use today. Consider
you job as an example:
You are hired to do a certain job – you are told what you need to do.
The boss has a right (authority) to give you directions in doing
that job.
- What he tells you to do is a DIRECT COMMAND. How he tells you to do
something is a DIRECT COMMAND.
If he gives you further instructions, it is still a DIRECT
COMMAND that you must follow.
- But in learning your job, you might be provided a mentor (or training
materials) to teach you how to do that job.
He is an APPROVED EXAMPLE that you are to learn from so that you
can do your job correctly.
- A third way that you will learn is simply by observing what goes on.
As you observe you will see others doing certain things in
certain ways and NOT doing other things.
In time you can reach a NECESSARY CONCLUSION about what is and
what is not accepted (provided they are doing what they are supposed to
do).
In utilizing these ways to figure out your job you use your common sense
(unless you are commanded otherwise).
You DON’T ASSUME that something is acceptable or rationalize that
you can do anything you want as long as it is not specifically forbidden
(appealing to silence).
c.
These ways also apply to
driving the car that you obtained a license for.
There are specific laws you are to follow (COMMANDS).
You learn how to drive by observing and following APPROVED
EXAMPLES (in other words, those who are driving within the bounds of
law). And through
observations you figure out how to drive safely and courteously
(NECESSARY INFERENCE). You
may not be aware of a specific law, but through observation you can
reach a conclusion. For
example: On a road trip a while back, as I entered a state I did not see
the sign that said “move over or slow down for vehicles on side of
road”. But I observed
that every time I saw a car on the side of the road, all cars would move
over to the center lane. I
began to wonder if that was the law.
Later I saw the sign (the command).
My point is that by observing PROPER examples I could NECESSARILY
INFER what I needed to do.
d.
Just as in life, these
are the same 3 ways we establish authority for all that we do according
to God’s word.
a.
Means that something is
specifically stated or prohibited.
When God tells us to do something OR tells us HOW to do
something, we need to follow that command.
When He says, DON’T do something, we are prohibited.
b.
Ephesians 4:32
– we are commanded to forgive one another.
It is actually specified in many places (Col. 3:13, Matt.
6:14-15) While there
are further instructions as to HOW we are to forgive, the command leaves
no room for us to ignore it.
c.
Colossians 3:9 – says, “Do not lie to one another” – we are forbidden from lying.
d.
Matthew 26:29, 1 Cor.
11:24-25
– we are commanded to partake of the Lord’s Supper.
Jesus instituted it and Paul re-emphasized the need to partake of
it. There are other details
that we will address in a few moments.
e.
Acts 2:38
– Repent and be baptized – is a command and is necessary if we are to
receive the remission of sins.
f.
NOTE:
The majority of instructions come in this form of authority. When we
appeal to examples and necessary inference – often it is associated with
HOW to carry out something that is specifically commanded.
a.
Approved Example – Based upon what God has
commanded us to do, we can learn details about HOW to fulfill those
commands by approved apostolic example.
b.
WE are told to follow
approved examples:
1 Corinthians 11:1,
“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”
Hebrews 13:7 we are
COMMANDED to follow the faith of our elders.
Philippians 4:9,
“The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me,
these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
c.
Based on the command to
be baptized we have many examples of those who were baptized.
Acts 2:41, 8:36-38, 16:33,
etc.
d.
Acts 20:7
- Concerning the Lord’s supper. We find that Acts specifically tells us
WHEN they partook – “on the first day of the week”.
Paul even stayed there for 7 days leading up to this.
From this APPROVED EXAMPLE we see that Sunday is the day we ought
to partake of the Lord’s Supper.
e.
NOTE:
The examples must be APPROVED.
The Bible is full of examples that do not apply to us and are NOT
approved.
a.
Necessary inference
means that something is necessarily implied when you look at the text
and all the facts of a subject.
Based upon the teachings and examples of scripture we reach a
necessary conclusion as to how we are to do something.
b.
Jesus appealed to
necessary inference as He sought to establish His authority.
In
John 5:39–40 He said, “You
search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and
these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to
Me that you may have life.”
Jesus was saying that if they would examine the law they
professed to follow (the Law of Moses) they would conclude that He was
the Messiah.
In
Matthew 22:31-32, as Jesus
was confronted by the Sadducees who denied the resurrection Jesus posed
a thought for them. He said,
“But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what
was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the
living.”” NOTICE How He
reached a conclusion based upon not just a word, but the TENSE of a
word. And He expected them
to understand it!
c.
Concerning baptism notice
Acts 8:35-36. As
Philip was beginning to teach the Eunuch it says simply, “beginning at
this Scripture” he “preached Jesus to him.”
“Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And
the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being
baptized?”” (Acts 8:36) Notice
how we are not told that Philip told the Eunuch to be baptized, but it
can be necessarily inferred as a part of “preaching Jesus to him.”
In fact, it was so important that it was immediate.
ANOTHER thought, this passage demonstrates that baptism is immersion in
water - “So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip
and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when
they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip
away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way
rejoicing.” (Acts 8:38–39) In
addition to the word “baptize” actually meaning “to dip, to submerge” (a
command) we find here an example where we can CONCLUDE that the Eunuch
was immersed.
d.
Matthew 19:3-6
– when Jesus was
asked about divorcing for any cause, notice His reasoning.
He appeals to scripture and that which is implied in it – “Therefore,
what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Furthermore, in vs. 9 of this discourse we can necessarily conclude that
one who divorces FOR sexual immorality can remarry and it not be
considered adultery.
e.
Concerning the Lord’s
Supper – Acts
20:7 again. We have
established by example that this was something to be done on the “first
day of the week.” There is
simply NO example to the contrary.
But HOW frequently is it to be done?
We are not given specific instructions that say how often.
But by this example, it can be IMPLIED that it ought to be done
EVERY first day of the week.
How often does the 1st day of the week come around?
Every week. Further,
when you examine what other passages say about the Lord’s Supper you
find it was done frequently (see 1 Cor. 11:20, 33).
While some might argue that it should only be done monthly,
quarterly or even yearly, there is NO implication of that being how
often it was done. The safe
course is to partake “on the first day of the week” whenever there is a
“first day of the week.”
And though we are not under the Old Law, there is precedence of a weekly
observance with the commands of the Jews to remember the Sabbath each
week (though no passage specifically says EVERY Sabbath – but it was
certainly implied- Ex. 20:8-11).
NOTE: 1 Cor. 16:1-2 – why don’t they have a problem understanding the
frequency of taking up a collection?
f.
NOTE: There are
rules to consider in dealing with necessary conclusion (such as it must
harmonize with the rest of scripture, it should be the judgment inferred
when all known facts are in place, etc.).
But it IS a valid way to establish authority.
a.
In Acts 15, the apostles used all three avenues to establish their
decision concerning whether or not Gentiles needed to be circumcised and
keep the Old Law. Their
conclusion was NO!
b.
Direct Command – James
appealed to the law – Acts 15:15-17 where the Old Law is quoted (Amos
9:11-12 - note the question arose from the teachings of the Old Law)
c.
Approved Example- 15:7 – Peter recounts Cornelius’ conversion.
Paul and Barnabas refer to God blessing their efforts among the Gentiles
– 15:12
d.
Necessary Conclusion –
15:15-19 – James made a necessary conclusion “therefore I judge”
And
thus we have established the three ways to establish authority for what
we do. This is NOT something
we made up (as is now being claimed) to establish our way of thinking.
We have seen that these are the ONLY logical ways authority is
established. Some today mock
these as the only ways authority is established.
They might use the term CENI in a sarcastic way.
Some want to appeal to what scripture doesn’t say or fill in
details with subjective standards (I thinks, etc.) – NOTE: I’m not
saying here that we do not have matters of liberty (we will discuss this
in a future lesson on types of authority), but many stretch and twist
scripture to reach conclusions that are not there.
If
there is another way, let me know so that I can repent and amend my
teaching. BUT I have one
request: Please do so without telling me, showing me or without a
necessary conclusion! Think
about it!