Articles > Systematic Theology > The Authority of the Bible > God's Word & God's Character

Part IX: God's Word & God's Character

I. The relationship between Scripture and God's Character

a. God's Character is revealed in Scripture

i. Since God is infinite, to know His infinite nature requires God to reveal it to us

ii. There are aspect of God's character that we have not experience, but He reveals it through Scripture

b. Scripture (being God's Word) is Authoritative based upon God's Character

i. The basis for trusting in the authority of God's Word is God's Character

II. THESIS: God's Character is the foundation for the Authority of God's Word

III. God as Creator and the Authority of Scripture over His Creation

a. This is an important Creator and Creature distinction. (Endnote 1)

b. "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." (Jeremiah 32:17)

i. Since he created everything, it is His right to speak to it authoritatively

c. God's powerful nature is displayed through His Word during Creation

i. Genesis 1:1-31

IV. God's Character and the Authority of Scripture to give truths

a. God's Omniscience and the truthfulness of God's Word

i. Since God knows everything (omniscience), God can give us true knowledge through His Word

1. This is the epistemological basis for the authority of God's Word when it comes to Scripture giving truths

ii. God's Omniscience: Psalm 139:1-6

b. God is truth and the truthfulness of God's Word

i. Since God is truth Himself, God has truth to give us

1. This is the metaphysical basis for the authority of God's Word when it comes to Scripture giving truths

ii. God is truth: "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True." (Revelation 19:11a)

1. Notice that this rider, who is Jesus, is called True.

a. Notice that in the context, Revelation 19:16 shows that Jesus is God with the God's exclusive title of "King of Kings and Lord of Lords".

c. God's faithfulness and the truthfulness of God's Word

i. Since God is faithful, God's Word can be trusted to faithfully present the truth

1. This the moral basis for the authority of God's Word when it comes to Scripture giving truths

ii. God's faithfulness: "God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged." (Hebrews 6:18)

1. The context is talking about the certainty of God's promise

2. It is impossible for God to lie, therefore it is impossible for God to be unfaithful to what He says

d. God's Sovereignty and the prophetic truths of God's Word

i. Since God is Sovereign, God's Word can be believed concerning future predicted events

1. This is the metaphysical basis for the authority of God's Word concerning future prophecies

ii. God's Sovereignty: "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." (Proverbs 21:1)

1. Notice that God is Sovereign even over the heart of a king as to direct it wherever God pleases.

V. God's Character and the Authority of Scripture to demand compliance

a. God's Goodness and the goodness of God's Law in Scripture

i. Since God alone is Good, laws based upon God as revealed in Scripture is Good

1. Since these laws are good, they ought to be followed

ii. God's Goodness: "'No one is good-except God alone.'" (Mark 10: 18b)

1. See also Psalm 100:5

b. God's Immutability and the Immutability of God's Law in Scripture

i. Since God never changes, God's moral law never changes

1. God's laws is not restricted since it is not based upon culture or society, but on His nature which transcends time periods and era

ii. God's Immutability: "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." (Malachi 3:6)

VI. God's Character and the Authority of Scripture to enforce compliance

a. There is authority in God's Word to enforce compliance

i. Analogy: Police officer has authority on the basis of a warrant to search a criminal, owner having court order to evict a client, etc

ii. Examples of different dispensations where God's Word was the authority to enforce compliance

1. Theocracy in Israel (see Deuteronomy)

2. A Pastor acting on the Authority of God's Word to preach against sin and carry out church discipline

b. God's Omnipotence and the Authoritative enforcement of God's Word

i. Since God is all powerful, He has the power to enforce His Laws

ii. God's Omnipotence: "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." (Jeremiah 32:17)

c. God's Holy Anger and the enforcement of God's Word

i. Since God is a Holy God with anger towards sin, He has the desire to enforce His Laws

ii. See Psalm 5:4-6

iii. "God's judgments against those who defy His authority further validate His rightful possession and exercise of ultimate authority." (Endnote 2)

1. For example, Genesis 3:18-21.

VII. Conclusion

a. Ramification for apologetics

i. Any cults that claim it derive its heresy from the Bible yet deny any of the above attributes of God would undermine an important aspect in the foundation of the authority of Scripture.

b. Be in wonder and awe at the majesty of God's character, now Worship Him!

i. Only the God of the Bible, who is Sovereign, Creator, Holy, Good, immutable, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Faithful and True, that prompt us to have a Holy, reverential fear, can give us authoritative revelation!

Endnotes

1. This is a major penetrating insight by Cornelius Van Til and other Presuppositional Apologists after him.
2. Richard Mayhue, "The Authority of Scripture", Master Seminary Journal, Fall 2004) pg. 232.