3-12-23 Follow-up

Sunday Follow-up
1 Corinthians 1:1-9   “Introduction and Foundation”

Yesterday we began our study of Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth known as 1 Corinthians. Paul begins with a greeting. I believe this greeting lays the foundation for the rest of his letter. In today’s follow-up, I want to focus on one aspect of yesterday's teaching and that is the authority of God’s word.

When we write someone a letter, we identify ourselves at the end. But most of the New Testament writers identified themselves at the beginning. This was true of Paul. But Paul didn’t just say “Hi guys, this is Paul”. He began most of his letters, with his name and his apostolic calling. This was not done to flaunt his position, but so that his readers would understand that he was writing them from a position of spiritual authority given to him by God. This letter would become a part of what we call the Bible.

All believers live under the authority of God. And because we live under His authority, we live under the authority of His Word, what we know as the Bible. Let me share with you a couple of excerpts from an article on Answers In Genesis website. The article can be found here https://answersingenesis.org/.../battle-biblical-authority/

“Biblical authority refers to God’s Word being the foundation and absolute authority for our thinking in every area. This means we take what we hear from culture, family, friends, the media, and even Christian leaders, and we compare it to the Bible. If we don’t do this, we are susceptible to dangerous false doctrines and are blown about by every wind of teaching (2 Corinthians 10:5; Ephesians 4:14).”

“When culture or the church strays from biblical authority, everyone does what’s right in his or her own eyes (Judges 21:25). Moral relativism runs rampant, the gospel is watered down, and sin abounds.”

“Unbelievers have a different foundation from believers. Islam, Mormonism, Buddhist philosophies, and atheism—all are rooted in human reasoning. We need to explain that unbelievers think differently from us because they have a different foundation. But we also need to tell them that God’s Word is the only sure foundation and explain why it can be trusted. That’s where apologetics comes in—you need to know why God’s Word can be trusted.”

The Word of God should be the basis for our worldview. It should be the basis for how we choose to conduct ourselves. It should be the basis for what we believe. Live under the authority of God’s Word and you will never go wrong.