CHRISTIAN'S QUIZ ON AUTHORITY

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "CHRISTIAN'S QUIZ ON AUTHORITY"

Gervase Lamb
5 years ago
Views:

1 CHRISTIAN'S QUIZ ON AUTHORITY Question: to the Bible, who has authority over the church? a. pastor b. elder c. bishop d. deacon e apostles! "#$

According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? a. pastor answer: no. The word pastor is only used one time in the KJV New Testament (Ephesians 4:11).

They are called ministry--which means service, literally translated "gifts of servants". These gifts are specifi cally not positions of authority.

2 According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? a. pastor answer: no. The word pastor is only used one time in the KJV New Testament (Ephesians 4:11). It is listed along with the 4 other ministry gifts, which the new testament says are gifts/anointings given to everyone. They are called ministry--which means service, literally translated "gifts of servants". These gifts are specifi cally not positions of authority. There is no or example of "pastoral authority" in the new testament. In the Old Testament the Levitical priests had authority over the congregation of Israel. They ministered on an altar. They lived of and operated with the tithes/offerings. However, the purpose of all these functions in the old testament were sacrifi cial in nature. This was the "stuff" that Israel had to do in order to have their sin forgiven. Everything to do with the old covenant temple is redefi ned in the new covenant. For example the temple is now people, the priesthood is in all believers, and very specifi cally the Levitical priesthood is done away with...

3 & '() (* +(,( -)./0!* What are the limits of their authority? answer: unknown 2. What are the authoritarian functions they perform? answer: unknown 3. What are the New Testament Biblical examples of this authority over the church? answer: none 34 According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? Keep reading for the ANSWER and I am sure you will agree with it! According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? b. elder answer: no The word elder is used in both the new and old testament. In the old covenant, it appears that elders where a form of government in Israel. In the new testament, there are one or two references, when taken out of context which give the appearance of authority being placed into the hands of "elders". However, what I suggest is a complete study of all the uses of the word elder/elders in the entire Bible, giving equal weight to all. If one does this with an open mind we will see that it was the Jewish elders who bribed Judas to betray Jesus. We will also see that Jesus said some strong rebukes toward the Jewish elders. It seems hard to understand how an offi ce of authority which was used by Satan to betray Jesus would somehow be used later as the offi cial authority over the Christian church!

4 5/6' ( 77( # ($ )!508*19 :8/8 ( ;( ) 0077* <'=<4>'=<4?<41>"

5 77 "# 77 1 )5* ( ;# ( ) * 4.# ;)@ (A? $ B (= $$; " #

6 12 1. What are the limits of their authority? answer: unknown 2. What are the authoritarian functions they perform? answer: unknown 3. What are the New Testament Biblical examples of this authority over the church? answer: none 34 According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? Keep reading for the ANSWER and I am sure you will agree with it! c. bishop answer: no The word bishop is used a handful of times in the new testament. By no means does the Bible give any kind of clear understanding of the extent of the supposed authority of a bishop. The central reference is found in 1timothy chapter 3... &( 9( -)* #797 9 C@#9 < < D(797( 797( 9

1 ( ;4 9)9 *;00 12 1. What are the limits of their authority? answer: unknown 2.

7 1 ( ;4 9)9 *; What are the limits of their authority? answer: unknown 2. What are the authoritarian functions they perform? answer: unknown 3. What are the New Testament Biblical examples of this authority over the church? answer: none

8 34 According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? Keep reading for the ANSWER and I am sure you will agree with it! d. deacon answer: no The word deacon is only used a handful of times in the Bible. I suggest you study them all. These requirements are very simple basic common sense ideas, for someone to serve within the small group church meeting. You certainly would not want someone who is serving God to be a drunkard, or have more than one wife, etc! What is a deacon? This is another word (like bishop) that I believe was translated into the Bible since it was already a position of authority within the traditional catholic church practice (which was left largely unchanged by the early protestant church of that day). The word deacon is the Greek diakonos--which means servant (the opposite of someone with authority!)

#950 ((( ()B* # <E &(F(F(F (F,( )*(;- )<E0!* ((( )(GB* ;#( D 770000 # )B* ;) B* # A (D. 12 1. What are the limits of their authority? answer: unknown 2.

9 #950 ((( ()B* # <E &(F(F(F (F,( )*(;- )<E0!* ((( )(GB* ;#( D # )B* ;) B* # A (D What are the limits of their authority? answer: unknown 2. What are the authoritarian functions they perform? answer: unknown 3. What are the New Testament Biblical examples of this authority over the church? answer: none

10 34 According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? Keep reading for the ANSWER and I am sure you will agree with it! e apostles answer: no Apostles were by far the most prevalent ministry in the new testament. The defi nition of apostle is someone who is sent with a message. The church in the new testament was operating in apostleship, frequently sending small groups of believers to spread the Gospel. Apostleship was the central operating method of Jesus in His earthly ministry. When you read the word "sent" in the Bible it is most often the Greek word "apostello". You will fi nd that Jesus "sent" many many people, in fact in John chapter 17 He prayed all His followers would be sent in the same way as the apostles He was speaking to at the time. Once again, apostle is a gift of ministry, of servants, not of rulers within the church.

11 Were the apostles the leaders in the early church? Well it seems they were, however, if they were following Jesus example, they were serving others within the church, not exercising authority over others. Jesus specifi cally told His followers that they should NOT exercise authority one over another among themselves... &(D$ F$ #( F(, (( (3..7 7(77(77(77(77 $ #.B What are the limits of their authority? answer: unknown 2. What are the authoritarian functions they perform? answer: unknown 3. What are the New Testament Biblical examples of this authority over the church? answer: none 34 According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? Here is the ANSWER and I am sure you will agree with it!

12 THE ANSWER: According to the Bible, who has authority over the church? THE ANSWER: GOD! GOD THE FATHER GOD THE SON GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT ;6# (;F <!!6( ( <E56#(( (; <5!6; ;H6((9 F ;!86(?!!6(DF A :56(?( C('F

13 @&?7> ;# (.(. B..B #( B &@ (( )* <- )+!HH* ; 3 "1<4 '2 1. What are the limits of this authority? He is meant to have ALL authority over believers. He is the Head of all the church and the Head of every individual. And He is perfectly capable of leading 100 billion believers in the same moment of time! He can lead us all directly and I believe at times all of us have had Jesus lead us. Those moments in time when He showed you exactly what to do or say, to help someone else, to help someone understand the Gospel, to pray the words for those who were sick or in need, He was the One who gave you the strength to help others and bring people to Him and His great love. He gave you His love in the fi rst place! Jesus Christ has limitless authority, why should we not want to access His authority at every possible opportunity.

14 2. What are the authoritarian functions He performs? The Bible is clear about Jesus' authority and the authority He gives to His followers... +!86#1)* ( 'I6( ( +86( D(D"00(.@ 1.. ;= >B# (1

15 3. What are the New Testament Biblical examples of this authority over the church? That is actually very easy to fi nd. Look in the new testament at the ministerial actions of Jesus. This is the perfect example for us to strive toward. Jesus' actions are perfect. The new testament also illustrates many of the followers of Jesus and it is very clear that sometimes they were able to follow His will and at other times not. I believe we can only fi nd Christ's true authority in hindsight. If things work out perfectly and we produce the results He is after (salvation healing deliverance--meeting people's needs) then we truly did follow His authority. If not, then we must have made some mistake in either hearing His command or executing His will. He is always right, but we can make mistakes. In fact human error mixed in with the fruit of the Gospel is actually the sign of His authority. Therefore we should beware of ritual that creates outward perfection and pleases our D "@D(..$.7 3(,. ( ( F, (( (

16 @ $DJ.( 9D(9. 1D B D( 7)8H*.D((

17 &1'( F (( (( '-)'EH0I*.(

question: Who should we give to, as Christians? 2. The pastor/leadership...tithes/offerings

Christian Quiz On Giving question: Who should we give to, as Christians? 1. The church/building fund 2. The pastor/leadership...tithes/offerings 3. To the ministry we partake of? question: Who should we