The Authority of Scripture in Joshua 1:8

The Authority of Scripture in Joshua 1:8

By Dave Pound

     Only God could command Joshua, "Be careful to do everything written in (the Book of the Law)," and then offer the guarantee “Then you will be prosperous and successful." Only He can promise that and we know it is fulfilled.

     If a written document has any authority, it comes from only one place, its author. The authority of the Bible derives from the authority of the One whose words the Bible records, God Himself. God is truth and cannot lie (1 Samuel 15:29, John 17:17, Titus 1:2), the Bible itself is without error (inerrant) in its original manuscripts. Therefore to attack, discredit, disbelieve, or disobey the Bible is to attack, discredit, disbelieve, or disobey God Himself.

     The "plenary" inspiration of the Bible refers to Scripture's complete authority. Plenary is a foundational theological term meaning "full" and the expression means that all of the Bible is inspired, the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Paul affirmed this, saying that "All Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16).

     Jesus made the same point in even more detail: "For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:18). Jesus announced that the inspiration and the authority of the Word of God extended to the level of the individual letters, not just the themes, paragraphs, facts, sentences, or words.

     A helpful way to think of inspiration is that it is "God-breathed"- imagine it as the breath one expels when speaking. Scripture, therefore, is a written representation of God's spoken words. God did not audibly speak all the words written in the Bible, though He did speak very large portions of the OT through the mouths of prophets. When Scripture is referred to as "God- breathed" it conveys God's authority to "all Scripture” as if He had audibly spoken every word composed of all these tiny letters.

     The notion of plenary inspiration touches the subject of authority this way: we are not allowed to pick and choose the portions of Scripture we will honor or believe. In a day when people often claim, "My God would never say, do, require, object to ...", the authority of Scripture comes center stage. There can be no disconnect between what the Bible says and what God says. A person cannot follow the words of Jesus, for example, but then pick and choose among the words of the apostles, or take to heart the Bible message about salvation and treat its message about sexual morality (or any other subject) as optional. Whether the subject is finances, marriage, sexuality, salvation, eternity, identity of Jesus Christ, civil government, or the prophetic future, what the Bible says is what God says.

     While the authority of the Bible encompasses the whole book, it does not mean that every truth is in the Bible. Everything in the Bible is true and authoritative, but not every truth in the world is contained within its pages. The Bible is not a textbook on physics, zoology, astronomy, or other disciplines that God has left for humans to explore (1 Kings 4:29- 33) though it gives some truth to those subjects; ultimately, the Bible contains the story of redemption.



     Finally, when it comes to seeking God's guidance on matters not covered in Scripture, divine direction discerned through prayer is not on the same authoritative level as the Bible. Whatever clarity a Christian senses through prayer and counsel must always be measured against the authority of Scripture. God will never reveal anything that contradicts Scripture (Galatians 1:8; Galatians 9:1; John 4:1-6). This makes it even more necessary for Christians to know the Scriptures thoroughly, so that any decision can be determined in view of its consistency with the teachings of the Bible.

Resource: 

Jeremiah Study Bible (page 275) The Authority of the Bible