Quote: A Question of Authority

Let’s say you’re reading your Bible and you come across a teaching that you violently disagree with. What do you do?

As it turns out, there are really only two choices. One option is to accept what the Bible says and change your view of the matter. The other is to reject what the Bible says and continue to believe as you did before.

There is a world of difference between these two choices. If you accept the Bible’s teaching then you are placing yourself under its authority. You are acknowledging that the Bible has the authority to define right from wrong, and that anything that disagrees with it is in error. You have made the decision to live by its code.

However, if you reject what a verse is saying then the situation is entirely different. By rejecting it you are making yourself the ultimate moral authority in your life. You and you alone decide what is right and wrong, and if anyone disagrees with what you think – even if it is the Bible – then they are in error. You have become your own god, doing what you think is best. The Bible is simply a prop; you may use it when it agrees with you, or you may toss it out when it does not, but ultimately what it says is meaningless. It is not your source of truth; your own feelings are.

The question is, who is the authority in your life? Is it you, or is it the book that claims to be the Word of God? It cannot be both.

–Allen Conway