The Authority of Scripture
I recently asked myself the question, “What makes Scripture authoritative?” It may be something you’ve wrestled with as well.
Scripture is to be wrestled with, but at some point, we also must listen to its words: to obey and not just wrestle. It has something to teach us about ourselves and how we live in relation to God and our neighbor. Jesus, time and again, points to verses in the Old Testament to make His arguments. At different times, Jesus himself quotes the Bible.[1] He assumes we are living our lives according to these words. If Jesus takes it seriously, we should too.
N.T. Wright claims that the Bible has authority, but only because God is exercising His authority through Scripture.[2] The words in and of itself don’t have authority over our lives, but God (the bearer of all authority) has used Scripture to teach us about Himself, ourselves as His creation and our relationship to Him.
We go to the Bible to learn about God and who He is.
And that is why describing Jesus as the Word made flesh (as the Gospel of John does) is so vital. Jesus is not only the fulfillment of everything said in the Old Testament, but He literally embodies God’s authority found in the Old Testament. Jesus is the Bible enfleshed!
That is why we read the Bible as authoritative for our lives because it not only tells how the ancient Scriptures came true in the person of Jesus, but it also points to Jesus as the incarnate Word of God.
Thus, the Bible has a message that we should not only hear but one that we need to obey. There are complexities and things to wrestle with, but it is also there to show us the way, to show us how to be the people God is calling us to be. We need the Bible, we need to know what it says because without it we would be lost as believers.
[1] Mark 10:17-31
[2] N.T. Wright, The Last Word. pg. 25
