A Study of Bible Authority, Pt 1

Our Goal As Disciples of Christ

What is our goal as Christians? Why is it that we do what we do? How we answer this question is important. We need to have the right reason as to why we choose to do what we do in service and worship to God. I believe the Apostle Paul sums up pretty well what that reason should be in 2 Corinthians 5:9:
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“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.”

In everything we do, is this our desire? This needs to be the motivation we have in approaching the will of God and the Authority of Christ. Each one of us as Christians must make it our goal and aim to be pleasing to Him in EVERYTHING we do. This must be where we begin any discussion about Bible authority because we need to remember what our goal is. In our worship, in the organization of the local church,  in evangelism, and in every aspect of our lives, our goal must be to please the Lord. The question that always must be asked is, "Does this please Him? Does this action please our King?" 

Then once we ask this question, we must find the answer. And in order to do so, there are many places we do not primarily go to get it:

• Our feelings or intuition. No matter where we believe these feelings are coming from, they are not the ultimate source of authority. Saying “I feel God would like it if we do this” when God does not speak on the matter or says something else on the matter is dangerous. Our feelings are not King. 
• What we have always done as a church. Traditions are not our King. They must be submitted to what He says also. Just because we have done something a certain way for so wrong does not make it right.
• What our families have always believed. Our parents, grandparents, and other families members are not our King either. Pleasing them in our beliefs and practices must not be our primary concern. When we become Christians, we make the decision to take Jesus’ words above even what those closest to us say. Jesus says, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26) Our allegiance to Him as King needs to far surpass our allegiance to anyone else.
• What preachers and elders say. Even those who we look up to and respect in the church are not the King of our lives. If they say, "do this" and it contradicts scripture, we cannot do it! 

These things are not how we find out what is pleasing to our King Jesus. 

Paul told the Colossians in 1:9-10 that he prayed that they would “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" and that they "may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…”
If we want to be fully pleasing to God, we need to be filled with the knowledge of His will. But where do we get this knowledge? The only way in which we can “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding…and increasing in the knowledge of God…” is to, as Paul says in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…” Only the word of Christ given through His Apostles and Prophets can equip us with the knowledge we need to be pleasing to God. We cannot know whether anything is pleasing or displeasing to God unless He reveals it to us in His word.