John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Today, many people brace against any kind of authority in their lives. “Who are you to tell me what to do?” is an often-repeated question. A case could made for a person saying this to his or her mother-in-law, but the situation becomes serious when applied to the spiritual realm. Just as Satan convinced Eve to reject God’s authority in the Garden of Eden, so he has convinced many to move away from the Scriptures in the modern day. The tree of knowledge of good and evil along with its infamous fruit no longer exists. Neither, for that matter, does the practice of God meeting with mankind and audibly communicating with them as He did in Eden. In place of those is the Word of God, a book commonly called the Bible.
No one can doubt the Bible’s prominent place in the history of civilization, particularly of Western civilization. Two of the world’s great religions claim the Bible as the basis for their religion. Only one, however, recognizes the entire volume of both Old and New Testaments as authoritative. That religion, of course, is Christianity.
Detailed scrutiny will reveal that not all Christians who claim the Bible as their authority actually look to it alone. Many Christians have found adjunct authorities in church traditions, influential men, and church councils. In fact, of the historical groups who have called themselves Christian, only the Baptists have held to the idea that the Holy Scriptures are the only authority for faith and practice.
Today, however, even among Baptist people, the idea of the authority of the Bible seems to have fallen upon hard times. The erosion of its authority has taken interesting forms. For example, some regard the prohibitions of the Bible as no longer binding on modern culture. Women preachers were clearly forbidden in the Apostle Paul’s day, but cultural dictates make them fine today. While the same Apostle decried “chambering” (the practice of a man and woman living together without being married), the culture today allows it and so should we. Both of these issues highlight a problem of authority.
In His high priestly prayer, Jesus made a request and then a side comment both of which together cement the issue of Biblical authority. He prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” The word sanctify means to set apart. Jesus was asking that the Father set apart those who believed on Him. The means of this sanctification is no less significant: “through thy truth.” One linguist spoke of John’s usage of the word translated through. He noted that both Paul and John used the word to designate “under the control of, under the influence of, in close association with.”[i] Jesus was requesting that the Father set them apart under the control of, under the influence of, or in close association with the truth. Jesus’ prayer was that Christian people be known for their close proximity to the truth. Truth was to control and influence them so that it would become one of the dominating aspects of their everyday lives.
The statement that follows the request is fascinating. Jesus states truth in prayer. His statement must have been for those who would later read the account because the Father already knew what Jesus was stating. His assertion was “Thy word is truth.” Hours later, Pontius Pilate, the first post-modernist, queried, “What is truth?” Apart from the Bible, mankind finds himself no better off than Pilate blindly stumbling in a world of ceaseless assertions wondering where an anchor point for the soul may be found. The Christian has found his anchor point in the Word of God, knowing that in it he has the truth. The hymn writer put it well,
My heart is leaning on the Word, the written Word of God.
Salvation by my Savior’s name, salvation through His blood.
The Bible for the believer is to be more than just an anchor for belief, however. It is to be authoritative. Jesus’ prayer was that the Father sanctify believers under the control of truth. The Old Testament poet in the context of the written Word of God wrote, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” The flow of thought dictates that the Bible, so highly praised by the psalmist, be authoritative in his life so that he could be pleasing to God.
Simon Peter also spoke of the Bible’s authority. After referencing one of the greatest experiences of his life in seeing the glorified Christ, Peter reminded his readers, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed.” The phrase take heed means “to give close attention to, follow.”
Through my life, I have experienced a great change in automobiles. I got my driver’s license in the middle of the 1990’s and have driven various vehicles ever since. My first truck was a 1989 Ford F250. While it was a great truck that distinguished itself for dependability, it did not even have an automatic transmission. My newest acquisition at the time of this writing is a 2011 Ram 3500. There are computers that tell me as the driver all kinds of things about the engine. There are procedures to follow to clear different codes and troubleshoot different issues. There is even a button I can push to answer the phone while on the road. All these are detailed in the owner’s manual that came with the vehicle from the manufacturer. If my powerful 6.7-liter Cummins diesel is to continue to gobble up miles (we are nearly to a quarter of a million so far), I must follow the manual.
Not long ago, the truck gave some kind of warning that the diesel particulate filter (DPF) needed to be regenerated. Without the owner’s manual, I would have been completely helpless to know what that even meant, much less been able to address the situation. Reading the owner’s manual was not enough, however. I had to treat that manual as authoritative. Exercising faith in the team that produced both truck and manual, I had to do exactly as the manual said to keep from experiencing engine shutdown. I had to take heed to the manual.
So it is with the Christian and the Word of God. Reading the Bible as interesting literature will not do. Simply noting its beauty of phrase falls short. Any approach, in fact, that fails to treat the Bible as the authority for life is nothing more than a waste of time.
Is the Bible authoritative? Absolutely. There is no other authority. Why do Christians obey the law of the land? Because the Bible says so. Why should children obey their parents? Because the Bible says so. Why should husbands love their wives? Because the Bible says so.
In a world where many are moving away from the authority of the Bible, the authors of this blog wish to make it plain that there are still some in this Internet, cell phone, social media age who still stand on the authority of Bible. We affirm our commitment to stand on the truth and make its principles a part of our lives and ministries. But these ideas are perhaps best stated by the Bible itself, and with its words I close:
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.” If that isn’t Biblical authority, then nothing is.
© 2020 Paul Crow. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
[i] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, ed. Frederick W. Danker, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), BibleWorks. v.10.
