Force of God in His Church
In the book of Acts, God moved with force and purpose in the creation of His Church. Few places in Scripture do we see this movement of God displayed with such power. God acts directly through His Holy Spirit, His Christ, His Written Word and His Apostles.
The Pillars of God Regarding His Church
The Church as an institution is founded on three critical pillars. The Absolute Authority of God and His Christ, The Absolute Authority of Scripture, and the Unity of Christians created by Individual Holiness and the Personal Responsibility of each Believer.
The Absolute Authority of God and His Christ
The Church is the design and creation of God. It is not a human institution. It was God’s Spirit that came upon the believers at Pentecost. It was not through human desire or pleading that the Church was founded, but through God acting. The life force of the Church comes from God and without Him the Church is not the Church. Without the Spirit of God the Church becomes an ugly collection of broken and vain people attempting to become righteous in their own eyes.
By submitting ourselves to the absolute authority of God and His Christ, we have a pattern and model of how we are to view God. In Jesus Christ we have our tutor. Jesus teaches us by His example and words how to pray and submit ourselves to God. As our tutor Jesus teaches us by His example how to treat and submit to each other.
If the people in a particular congregation want to remain part of the true Church of God, then they must seek out and uphold the absolute authority of God and His Christ. This appears obvious however ask yourself, what does the authority of God really mean? What is it and how do I uphold and affirm God’s authority?
The Absolute Authority of Scripture
How do I submit to God’s authority? Who is God? How can I find out what He likes and dislikes? What is it about me that He loves and what is it about me that He hates? For the true Christian there can be no final authority except the Bible. The Bible is the Christian’s anchor and rudder. It serves as our teacher, our Judge and our measuring tool. When we measure anything in life by the standard and doctrines of the Bible, we share something in common with every Biblical believer around the world and throughout time.
The Bible teaches our great great grand children what we as Christians held dear, what we thought and how we conducted ourselves during good times and bad.
The Godly nation of Israel and the true Church through the ages has taught and read the Bible daily. They have done this so that God’s people would not forget how to worship and how to govern.
Scripture was and is the doorway to God and Christ and a successful Church. Tragically, much of the Church today is Biblically illiterate. Even if the Bible is taught correctly and forcefully from the pulpit, the people do not know what the Bible actually says. As this continues the words of Hosea ring loud “My people perish for lack of knowledge…”
To acknowledge the absolute authority of Scripture means that we do things according to the teachings of Scripture. There are many ways to “Do Church”, i.e., there is the right way and then there is the wrong way. If you want to know how to pray – do it according to Scripture. If you want to know how to properly energize your church – do it according to Scripture. If you want to lead your church – do it according to Scripture. If you want to know how to fix your marriage or raise your kids- do it according to Scripture.
Most of us shy away from things that make us uncomfortable. We tend to push against things that push us. Well the Bible pushes us. Biblical Christianity confronts us as a church and as individuals. That is why submission to the teachings of Bible is so important. Left without the restraint of Scriptural teaching we tend to wander and lose our way. As we fight against the restraint of Scripture we break free of it, but we become like sheep left to wander in open wilderness. Our people and family lack unity and become easy prey for enemies.
In the book of Acts, Peter used Scripture to validate the authority of God and Jesus as His Christ. The prophecies of the Old Testament proved that God was active in the lives of men and His Church. And as God’s Holy Spirit moved them, the Apostles clarified the work of the Old Testament in light of fulfilled prophecies. It was the Bible that the Apostles used to establish the teachings, organization and maintenance of the Church.
Unity of the Church, Individual Holiness and Personal Responsibility.
When we as individuals submit ourselves to God, His Christ and the Bible, we find an amazing thing happens to us. We become holy and we tend to take more responsibility for ourselves. In other words, individual holiness and personal responsibility are a result of submitting to the authority of God and the Bible.
As we become holy our Church becomes unified, petty disagreements and apathy diminish. This is because we all submit to the higher authority of God and Scripture which is clear about how we are to act and treat each other.
In order to strengthen and unify our Church we must first strengthen ourselves by submitting ourselves to the authority or God, His Christ, and His Word. This is not easy. The whole idea of becoming like Christ means that God is working to change us. But in order to change God demands that we understand what He is doing and why He is doing it. The Bible states that the key to our salvation and those who hear us is sound Biblical doctrine. ( I Tm 4:13-16). This is what the Church of Acts did and we can do no less.
Conclusion
As we move forward in making critical decisions for God’s Church, our goal and purpose as servants of the King should be to submit ourselves to the absolute authority of God, His Christ and the Bible. Ever mindful that we work for a King who loves us so much that He cannot take His eyes off of us!