The Divine Authority Of The Scriptures

From The Christian Reader:

The Divine Authority of the Scriptures


“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)







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The church cannot be the foundation upon which the one believes the Scriptures to be the Word of God.



First, the church derives all its authority from the Word. We cannot acknowledge a church to be the true church except by means of the Word of God—and only if it preaches the pure doctrine and has the credentials which Scripture expresses as belonging to the true church. “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20); “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house” (2 John 10); “…and avoid them” (Rom. 16:17).



If the Word of God is the only criterion by which we can determine a church to be the true church of God, then we must first acknowledge Scripture to be the Word of God before acknowledging the church to be the true church. Furthermore, we cannot receive the testimony of the church unless we acknowledge her to be the true church. Thus, we do not believe the Word to be the Word of God because the church affirms it, but on the contrary, we believe the church to be the true church because the Word validates her as such. A house rests upon its foundation, and not the foundation upon the house. A construction is subordinate to its cause rather than the cause being subordinate to what it has constructed.



by Wilhelmus a Brakel, from The Christian’s Reasonable Service