For those readers who desire to learn and grow;
http://www.sgbcsv.org/literature/
THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE The authority of Scripture must necessarily be discussed in the context of both its sufficiency and our Baptist distinctives. If we hold to the all-sufficiency of Scripture as the only rule of both faith and practice, then we must do so intelligently and consistently, understanding the nature and significance of Scriptural authority.
FIRST, The Source of Scriptural Authority.
The Bible does not derive its authority from its content, the validity or accuracy of its historical data, the uniqueness of its character, or even the internal witness of the Holy Spirit (All of which are vital or necessary). The authority of Scripture derives from God Himself. He is the Self-contained, Self-disclosing God Who has spoken (Gen. 1:1-3; Heb. 1:1-3). The Bible is therefore the very Word of God inscripturated.
SECOND, The Significance of Scriptural Authority.
The word authority derives from the Latin auctor, which means author, originator, teacher. It connotes the power to command, to 4 C. H. Spurgeon, Autobiography. Banner of Truth ed. I, pp. 148, 152. 3 require and receive submission and obedience.
This term carries the status of ultimacy and finality. The Bible as the inscripturated Word of God is the immutable and ultimate authority as much as the Word of God spoken. Note the phrase: “It is written… gegra?ptai, perf. “It stands written [with unchanging authority and force]…” As the very Word of God, the authority of Scripture is:
• Necessary. Natural revelation (God revealed in creation, history, and in the rational and moral nature of man) is insufficient for both unfallen and fallen mankind. Even unfallen Adam in the state of primeval righteousness needed special revelation or the word of God spoken directly to him for an adequate concept of reality and duty (Cf. the creation mandate, the commands concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and his duty to tend the garden of Eden, Cf. Gen. 1:26-28; 2:15-25).
• Comprehensive. It necessarily encompasses all of life and reality. There is no sphere of life or activity where the Word of God is not to be our guide (Matt. 4:4; 1 Cor. 10:31).
• Ultimate. Because this Word derives from God Himself, there is no higher authority by which it can be judged or standard to which it can be subjected! It is self-authenticating, intelligent and absolute. All other criteria or authorities are relative to the Scriptures. (Psa. 138:2; Isa. 46:9-11; Matt. 24:35; Heb. 1:1-3).
THIRD, There are five essential terms necessarily associated with the authority of Scripture:
• Revelation. God can only be known as He is pleased to reveal Himself. He has revealed Himself in creation, i.e., natural revelation (Psa. 19:1-6; Rom. 1:18-20), and in His Word, i.e., special revelation (Psa. 19:7-14; Heb. 1:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). This Word or Self-revelation of God has been inscripturated, or put down in written form. God is intelligent, non-contradictory and absolute; so is His revelation, both spoken and written.
• Inspiration. (2 Tim. 3:16, qeopneu?stov, literally, God-breathed). Scriptural authority rests on inspiration in as much as Divine inspiration has given us the very Word of God in written form. Cf. Also 2 Pet. 1:20-21.
• Infallibility. “Incapable of error or deception.” The Bible is self-consistent and not contradictory. It reflects the intelligence or mind, and the nature and character of God Himself. Because the Bible is the inspired Word of God, it is authoritative and so necessarily infallible.
• Inerrancy. “Free from error arising from either mistake or deception.” Because the Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God, it is infallible and inerrant.
• Canonicity. The terms canon, canonicity, are derived from Gk. Kanw?n, and mean a rule, measure or standard.
Secondarily, these terms denote the body of Divinely inspired, authoritative Truth—the Word of God inscripturated—the Scriptures. Early Christianity possessed the Jewish Scriptures, the writings of the Apostles and evangelists, a great body of oral tradition, and various writings styled as Apocryphal and pseudographical. From these writings early Christianity, with great care and by a stringent standard (or canon), recognized [They did not establish or form] a given body of writings as the 4 Holy Scriptures or the Word of God inscripturated. Canonicity, then, recognizes the body of revealed truth inscripturated and distinguishes the false from the true, the authoritative from the unauthoritative.
CONCLUSION The doctrine of the Scripture alone—Sola Scriptura—as the only and all-sufficient rule of both faith and practice is the one great Baptist distinctive from which all others derive. This great truth stands as foundational to all other aspects of truth.