The critical issue in religion today is the question of authority. Authority means the right to command and enforce obedience. When Christ walked among men and taught them, it is said, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). “The officers answered, Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46). He was crucified, and after His resurrection, He said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him” (1 Peter 3:22). “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:10)..
Therefore, we may correctly conclude that what men believe and practice today in the name of religion must be authorized by the Lord Jesus Christ. Men must respect the authority of Christ and submit to that authority in order to be saved from sin and for heaven. Paul wrote, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17). The expression “in the name of the Lord means: by the “authority of the Lord.” Do you remember after the lame man had been healed in (Acts 4:7-10), the Jews asked Peter and John, “By what power, or in what name, have ye done this?” In Peter’s reply, he said, “…in the name of Jesus of Nazareth… doth this man stand here before you whole.” The authority of Christ is today exercised through His will, the New Testament. Men have appealed to the Old Testament for authority to practice polygamy, use mechanical instruments of music in worship, keep the Jewish Sabbath, burn incense in worship, and to practice infant baptism. But the Bible teaches, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). When the apostle Peter on the mount of transfiguration desired to build three tabernacles, one for the lawgiver Moses, one for the representative of the prophets Elijah, and one tabernacle for Christ, God said from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matthew 17:5). In fact, He has pronounced a condemnation upon those who refuse to hear His Son and thereby disregard divine authority; “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:22-23). Men must not go beyond that which is written (1 Corinthians 4:6). They must not pervert or change the facts, commands, or the promises of the gospel (Galatians 1:6-9).
We must abide in the doctrine of Christ! Listen carefully, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9). Simple isn’t it? To abide in the doctrine of Christ means to be governed by the authority of the New Testament. If we refuse to be governed by the teaching of Christ he hath not God; that is, he has no claim on God as being his God; he does not have God’s approval. If one abides in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son; that is, he sustains that relationship to the Father and the Son which enables him to claim both of Them as his own.
A fundamental, basic Bible principle is stated in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight)”. This faith by which men are to walk or live comes from God’s word, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). No one’s faith can “out-run” his knowledge of the word of God. Therefore, what men practice in religion today must be authorized by God’s word and since God speaks to us by His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2); the word of Christ is the authority that must be respected and followed now, and this authority is exercised through the New Testament. Everything that a man believes, does is in either by God’s authority or by mere human authority. The Bible makes clear that in matters of religious faith and practice, God NEVER accepts that which is believed or done by mere human authority (Colossians 3:17). No man can be pleasing to God unless he does what the Bible authorizes! All unauthorized deeds are sinful. The Bible authorizes by what it says, not by what it does not say!
All men living today are under (amenable to) the gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:45-49). Do you remember what Jesus said in John 12:48? “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day.” The words of Jesus are eternally important because they are the words of God (John 12:49)! Judgment will be universal (Matthew 25:31ff); according to God’s standard (Revelation 20:12; Romans 2:16); and by Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10-12). Each person must give account to God for his actions. “Greater joy have I none than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4).