AUTHORITY AND UNITY
By Timothy Glover
A discussion of authority must begin with a definition and Dr. Bernard Ramm offers a clear and understandable one: Authority itself means that right or power to command action or compliance, or to determine belief or custom, expecting obedience from those under authority, and in turn giving responsible account for the claim to right or power (The Pattern of Religious Authority, pg. 10).
Of course, authority resides in God who is the source of authority. He is the one who has the right and power to command action. After Jesus asked the disciples, “who do men say that the Son of man is,” he then asked, “But who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus then explains “flesh and blood had not revealed it unto you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:13-17). Jeremiah said, “O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walks to direct his steps>” (Jeremiah 10:25). The origin of the Scriptures is not in man or “flesh and blood.” Man must have divine guidance. Without such guidance, man is left hopelessly confused and divided.
Furthermore, we are not born with an intuitive knowledge of and faith in God’s will. Not even the apostles were born with such knowledge. They had to be guided into all truth through the work of the Holy Spirit in the first century (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-13). Only divine revelation could make known the will of God – not “flesh and blood” (1 Corinthians. 2:16).
In 1 Corinthians 2:6-13, Paul emphasizes that the freely given things of God is that which neither human eye, ear, heart could conceive. God has revealed these things to the apostles through the Spirit (v.10). Then in verses 12-13 we read:
But, we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit, which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given of God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Spirit teaches; combining spiritual things with spiritual words.
According to these verses, the freely given things of God are: (1) things that we might know (perceive or understand), (2) things that the apostles spoke, and (3) words that the Spirit teaches. It is clear that divine revelation is objective (outside of man) and can be spoken (taught with words) and understood by the hearer. The Bible, the product of the Spirit’s work, inheres within it authority to command and is intended to produce faith in the hearer (Romans 10:17). It is something that can be read (Ephesians 3:3-4), understood, and obeyed. Our faith must not stand in the wisdom of men (1 Corinthians 2). Our convictions must not be based upon how we feel inside (emotions) or upon our own reason and logic (intellect). Our faith and convictions must be based upon the Scriptures because the Scriptures derive their authority from their source—God. The simplest statements are often overlooked. Christians do not obey the scripture simply because it is law but because it is God’s word and He alone is the authority. James illustrates this point in 2:10-11:
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
One cannot justify the transgression of one law because he or she keeps other laws. One violation declares such “guilty of all” because he or she is in rebellion toward the authority. God stands behind the scripture as both the author and authority.
What relationship exists between authority and unity? Since the Spirit’s role is in the revealing of the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), we see a connection between the authority of the Scriptures and unity because unity is defined as belonging to the Spirit. In Ephesians 4:3, Paul speaks of the unity of the Spirit, a kind of unity which Paul wants us to keep. Immediately, Paul continues to say, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Therefore, the unity of the Spirit is based on the things that have been revealed. The Spirit has revealed the “things of God” to us so we can know (perceive, understand) them. If we know them at all, we will know them alike. There is no such thing as my truth and your truth. Truth is oneness for you and I alike if we learn it at all.
Some have the mistaken idea of unity being union, that is, staying together, or not separating. Although, while it is impossible to have unity without union, it is possible to have union without having unity. You can tie two cats’ tails together and have union but there would not be much unity. Marriage illustrates this truth, also. If a husband and wife are constantly fighting, there is a union (marriage) but no unity. When both treat each other with mutual respect, there is both union and unity. Marriage is a union between and man and a woman but until they have the same mind and attitude toward one anther, there will be no unity. Unity, then, refers to a sameness, oneness or singleness (unity) of people who live and work together (union). When brethren have the same attitude toward one another and the Word of God, there will be unity in their union. It is a “unity of the Spirit” because we learn to develop an attitude toward one another that enables us to attain unity through the Scriptures (Phil. 2:1-5).
