Lloyd-Jones on Authority

Reaching for Fox's Book of Martyrs I stumbled across another old friend...  Authority by DM Lloyd-Jones.

It's a small Banner of Truth volume only about 100 pages in length. I remember early in my Christian walk reading this and (it seems kind of simple now) grasping how central the issue of authority was.

I remember thinking 'Wow, if you don't get that right...then everything else will be skewed.'

Hardly profound, I was surprised in subsequent days, weeks, months and years to discover how few people had ever really thought through the issue. Many said they believed the Bible alone was the source of their authority but then when it came to specific issues whether in the life of the Church in our lives as individual Christians.... they didn't seem to look to the Bible as the source of authority. They looked to tradition, reason, pragmatism or more often than not, the culture.

The book has three simple chapters...

The Authority of Jesus Christ

The Authority of the Scriptures

and The Authority of the Holy Spirit

It's not earth-shattering...but I guess in a way it is. Few seem to grasp that Paul the pre-eminent Apostle of the New Testament at the close of his final epistle (in what we call Chapter 3) writes:

¹² Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

How many who name the name of Christ disregard the lesson here...the authoritative Word has been given and through it we are given all that we need in order to be Christians and collectively to be the Church.

It's all there if we would be willing to:

¹⁵ Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. ¹⁶ Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4.15-16)

And yet so many have all too willingly embraced yokes of tradition, innovation and canon law... and Confessional Protestants are no exception here. These are all distractions and hindrances that prevent Christians from properly following Christ in the beauty of simplicity.