Bible Authority - How to determine what God requires us to do in order to please Him. Generic and Specific Authority.

1. We can know the Lord authorizes
something to be done in three ways:
Direct Statement, i.e. “It is
written ..” /Express Command,
Precept, etc
Example (Apostolic, Holy Spirit
Approved)
Necessary Inference or Unavoidable
Conclusion
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2.  There are two kinds of authority
 SPECIFIC – That is when God in His word specifies
the instructions to be obeyed.
 GENERIC – That is when God in His word only
supplies general instructions to be obeyed.
 In order to obey God, we cannot make His specific
instructions generic, nor can we make His generic
instructions specific. To do so would change God’s
directions to us. We have no authority to do that.
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3.  Examples of generic & specific authority from the OT
 Gen 6:14-16 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms
shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and
without with pitch. 15 And this is the fashion which thou
shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three
hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the
height of it thirty cubits.
 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit
shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt
thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third
stories shalt thou make it. KJV
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4.  “Make” is a generic term. Noah had
authority to use whatever tools necessary
to make the Ark.
 “Gopher wood” was a specific kind of
wood. Noah could not use oak, pine,
shittim, cedar, etc. He had no authority to
change God’s specific instructions
regarding the kind of wood to use in
making the Ark.
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5.  God specified the dimensions of the Ark.
Noah had no authority to change them. To
do so would have shown a lack of faith.
 God specified one window with its
dimensions that could be opened (Gen 8:6),
one door in the side of the Ark and 3
stories.
 Noah had no authority to change any of
these specified directions. To be faithful to
God, he had to do exactly as God specified. 5

6.  Num 19:2-3 2 This is the ordinance of the law
which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak
unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a
red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish,
and upon which never came yoke: 3 And ye shall
give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may
bring her forth without the camp, and one shall
slay her before his face: KJV
 Again, God’s specific instructions were to be
obeyed. No changes were allowed to be made.
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7.  Ex 25:10-11 10 And they shall make an ark
of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall
be the length thereof, and a cubit and a
half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a
half the height thereof. 11 And thou shalt
overlay it with pure gold, within and
without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt
make upon it a crown of gold round about.
 Another example of God’s specific
instructions that could not be changed. 7

8.  Results of changing God’s specifics
 Lev 10:1-2 1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of
Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put
fire therein, and put incense thereon, and
offered strange fire before the Lord , which he
commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire
from the Lord , and devoured them, and they
died before the Lord . KJV Note Lev 16:12
 There are serious consequences if God’s specific
instructions are not followed.
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9.  Num 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the
assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother,
and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it
shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth
to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give
the congregation and their beasts drink.
 Num 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with
his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water
came out abundantly, and the congregation drank,
and their beasts also. KJV
 Num 20:12 ….And the Lord spake unto Moses and
Aaron, Because ye believed me not….
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10.  Note in the previous slide that God had
given Moses and Aaron specific instructions
to speak to the rock to get water out of it.
 Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses
smote it. Water came out, but God was not
pleased. He noted that Moses and Aaron
did not believe Him when they failed to do
what He specified.
 Because of this disobedience, neither
Moses nor Aaron entered the promised 10

11.  Examples of generic & specific authority from the
NT
 Matt 28:19-20 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
 20 Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Amen. KJV
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12.  “Go” is a generic term. Any means to “go”
is allowed by God. Whether walking, riding
a donkey, a chariot, a plane, car train, etc.
is allowed. God gives us the authority to
choose the best way to obey.
 “Teach” is a generic term. God gives us the
authority to choose the best way to
“teach”. Writing in the sand, oral, written,
PowerPoint, etc. We are free to choose.
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13.  Who are we to teach? God specifies “all
nations”. We cannot teach only one
nationality, one color, one gender, etc.
 Baptism is specified by God which is
immersion in water for the remission of sins
and is done by the authority of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.
 Sprinkling, or pouring as baptism is a
change to God’s specific instruction and is
consequently, not acceptable to God. 13

14.  Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all
the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature. KJV
 Again, we see that “go” is a generic term.
 Into “all” of the world is a specific term that
includes everywhere on the globe.
 What to preach is specified and it must be “the
gospel” as recorded in the NT. Not our opinion or
the doctrine and commandments of men.
 “Every creature” is also specified. We cannot limit
who we preach the gospel to. 14

15.  John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth. KJV
 We do not get to choose how to worship God. Our
worship must be spiritual as opposed to carnal
and according to the truth as specified in the NT.
 To worship in any other way is to make it vain.
 Matt 15:9 But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men. KJV
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16.  The inspired apostles worshipped God on the
specified first day of the week as recorded in Acts
2:1, 42 and Acts 20:7.
 Worship consisted of the Lord’s Supper as Jesus
established in Luke 22:17-20 and Paul taught the
Corinthians in 1 Cor 11:23-34.
 Taking up a collection for the saints as Paul
instructed in 1 Cor 16:1-2 and 2 Cor 9:6-7.
 Note that the funds collected and used were “for
the saints.”
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17.  Singing and prayer were part of the worship per 1
Cor 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit,
and I will pray with the understanding also: I will
sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the
understanding also. KJV
 Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord; KJV
 Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. KJV
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18.  “Singing” is a specific kind of music, which
is without instruments. To add instruments
violates what God has specified in His word.
 Singing and praying is to be done with the
understanding and with the spirit, that is
the individuals spirit.
 An individual might be unable to sing or
speak physically, but they can still worship
in their spirit which is what God listens to.
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19.  Of course preaching the gospel is part of
worship in spirit and in truth as we see Paul
doing on the first day of the week in Acts
20:7
 Reading of scripture would also be included
as Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:10.
 According to Hebrews 10:24-26 Christians
are not to willfully forsake or neglect
assembling together.
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20.  An examination of what the inspired
apostles taught reveals that they routinely
told their listeners what they needed to do
to be saved from their sins.
 By examining what they taught, we can
ascertain what we must do to be saved.
 God is no respecter of persons.
Consequently, what He required of those in
the first century, He requires of us today.
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21.  What Must I Do To Be Saved?
 Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
 Acts 8:36-37 36 And as they went on their way, they came
unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is
water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip
said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God.
 Acts 18:8 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue,
believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the
Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
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22.  From these examples, we learn the following:
 One must first hear the gospel as the Corinthians did.
 One must believe that Jesus is the Son of God as Phillip
told the eunuch.
 One must confess that belief as the eunuch did.
 One must repent as Peter told those on Pentecost.
 One must be baptized (immersed) in water for the
remission of their sins.
 Finally, one must be faithful to the Lord until death per
Revelation 2:10.
 These are not man-made requirements. They are specified
by the Lord in His word as taught by His inspired apostles.
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23.  By learning the Lord gives us Specific and
General instructions in His word, we can
know if He has given us the authority to
choose how to accomplish His commands
or if we have no choice but to do exactly
what He commanded.
 We cannot change His specific instructions
to Generic or His Generic ones to Specific.
 To do so is to disobey Him. See 2 John 9.
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