Chapter 7.14

God Through Others

Extra-biblical Revelation through Human Authorities

Table of Topics

A) Introduction to God’s Purpose for Authority

B) Divine/Human Authority in OT Priests

C) Divine/Human Authority in Civil Government

D) Divine/Human Authority in Husbands

E) Divine/Human Authority in Parents

F) Divine/Human Authority in Employers

G) Divine/Human Authority in Church Elders

G.1) Who: A Plurality of Male Elders/Pastors

G.2) Where: The Local Church

G.3) What: Leading for Unity & Teaching for Transformation

H) Some Conclusions Regarding Divine/Human Authority

H.1) Preferences of Human Authorities are God’s Will

H.2) Divine/Human Authority vs. Mysticism and Independence

H.3) The Abuse & Blessing of Divine/Human Authority

Extras & Endnotes

Primary Points

• God intends to often reveal His will through God-ordained human authorities.
• “Authority” is “The right or power to rule and command another”
• Divine/human authority is found in: 1) government officials, 2) parents, 3) husbands, 4) employers, and 5) Pastors.
• If God the Son lives under authority, why should not we?
• It is not just sacred positions of authority that carry divine authority, but every human authority speaks directly for God. When God says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph 5:25), He is commanding a great deal more submission from the husband than many have even begun to imagine.
• The extent of civil authority is reflected in the fact that it supersedes the authority of all other human authorities when it is not violating Scripture. In extra-biblical amoral matters, God would never want us to break a civil law in order to obey a husband, parent, employer, or Pastor.
• When a wife lives autonomously from her husband, she has separated herself from a critical source of divine revelation in her life, and will continually be outside of God’s will and sinning against Him.
• The God-ordained male/female hierarchy of authority clearly declared in the NT regarding the family is to be reflected in the Church as well.
• Anyone who claims to be a follower of the Christian faith as revealed in Scripture must leave any church that has placed females in authoritative teaching roles over men. You can be in such a church, or be biblical, you cannot do both.
• God blesses corporate unity under leaders, not necessarily our individual creativity and ingenuity.
• By far the most prescribed method of life transformation in the NT is the public, gifted teaching of Scripture.
• Because of the scope of authority God grants to divine/human authorities in our life, even their seemingly petty amoral preferences become a moral command from God.
• Not recognizing the God-ordained place of human authorities in our lives has left many without a critical tool for divine guidance, and caused them to search for other more mystical and unbiblical ways to discern God’s will for their life.

Primary Points

Continued

• “Leaders in the kingdom are forbidden to use their position for such selfish ends, but rather must love, give, and serve. Jesus requires them to be the greatest servants of all—with fewer rights, more responsibility, and a greater obligation to sacrifice.
• While bad leaders are the bane of our existence, a humble, loving, holy, and wise President, parent, employer, or Pastor improves the quality of our whole life on Earth perhaps more than anything else.
• “If conforming to ecclesiastical, governmental, marital, or parental demands involves action contrary to Scripture, God can only be served by nonconformity at that point. This may put us out of step with others and prove costly to us, but nothing less will please God.”
• Challenging and difficult authorities may be God’s will for our life, but not immoral or abusive ones.

A) Introduction to the God-ordained Purpose of Authority

Scripture sanctions another source of divine revelation that is often overlooked in discussions of how God may communicate His will for our life. This is spheres of God-ordained human authority. The word “authority” as used in the NT comes from the Greek word exousia defined as:

The right or power to rule and command another . . . the right to exercise power . . . or the power of rule or government . . . the power of one whose will and commands must be obeyed by others. ^[1]

Divine/human authority is found in five God-ordained institutions/positions including: 1) government officials, 2) parents, 3) husbands, 4) employers, and 5) Pastors. God has delegated His authority to such people and it is through them that He intends to exercise authority over our lives, especially in extra-biblical matters. These divine/human positions of authority often include unbelievers, and is sanctioned by Scripture, and simply based on their societal position or relationship to us.

The God-ordained paradigm of leading through authority is founded in the Trinity. God the Father sent God the Son to do His will, and God the Son has now sent God the Holy Spirit to do His will (cf. John 3:16; 15:26; 16:7). Jesus Christ was, in very nature God, [and] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped” (Phil 2:6). Yet He said, “the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded Me” (John 14:31), even to the point of telling the Father, “not as I will, but as You will” (Matt 26:39). And God the Son’s submission to God the Father was not something temporary that simply governed His life while He lived as a human on Earth, but will define His life for all eternity as the Apostle writes: “When all things are subjected to Him [Christ], then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One Who subjected all things to Him, so that God [the Father] may be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28 NASB).

We see then that submission to authority is something God Himself practices, being guided by it. And this relationship of loving leadership and respectful submission is a beautiful, productive, glorious thing, rather than the ugly, oppressive, and ridiculous thing that many think. As Pastor Dave Bovenmyer has written in his excellent article regarding God’s design for authority:

[A]uthority and submission seem to be part of God’s pattern for relationship. In His nature and plan, the greatest possible love seems to be expressed as one person sacrifices himself to take responsibility for another’s welfare (loving, leading, directing, protecting, bringing to good) and a second person sacrifices himself to unite with the purpose of another (respecting, following, submitting). When these are practiced according to God’s plan, God’s good purposes are accomplished and love and relationship are enhanced. ^[2]

If the life and lordship of God the Son is directed by Someone in authority over Him, who are we to assume that God would not have us living under and getting direction from authority as well. ^[3]

B) Divine/Human Authority in OT Priests

This kind of divine/human authority is illustrated in the OT priesthood of which God says:

If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the LORD your God will choose. ⁹Go to the priests, who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.

¹⁰You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do.  ¹¹Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.  ¹²The man who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the LORD your God must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.  ¹³All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again. (Deut 17:8-13)

The authentication and scope of the authority of these priests was different than that of a Prophet like Moses. His authority was authenticated by the ability to perform miraculous deeds, and his authority extended only to the doctrinal and directional (moral) revelation he was receiving from God. The authority of these priests/judges, however, was authenticated, in a sense, by Scripture, Moses recording the will of God in this matter. Also, in a sense, the scope of their authority was wider as it potentially involved a number of extra-biblical matters.

Obviously these judges and priests were to base their decisions on the Scripture available to them as much as possible. However, no doubt there were several decisions to be made that were extra-biblical and the people were simply to trust the “decisions” of these men as the “verdict,” of God Himself. And there is no indication that they were receiving any kind of direct divine revelation from God to guide them in those decisions. God’s desire to delegate such authority to humans merely based on their position is illustrated by the fact that God wanted a person who rebelled against such human authority, in even an extra-biblical matter, to “be put to death.”

C) Divine/Human Authority in Civil Government

The NT reveals several spheres of human authority that are to act as a divine authority in our lives today. For example, the Apostle Peter writes concerning civil authorities:

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men; whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by Him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. (1 Peter 2:13-14)

Notice here that “every authority instituted among men” becomes a divine authority. This would, of course, include a “king” and “governors,” but it clearly includes other human-ordained civil authorities including law enforcement officials, school administrators and teachers, and anyone else who has been placed in charge of any secular institution which our lives are benefiting from. As the Apostle Peter put it, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men” (1 Pet 2:13).

Likewise, the Apostle Paul writes concerning civil authorities:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  ²Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. . . . ⁴For he is God’s servant to do you good. . . . ⁷Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (Rom 13:1-2, 4, 7)

Again, it is clear that every human authority in any secular sphere is to be regarded as having divine authority over our lives because, “there is no [human] authority except that which God has established. The [human] authorities that exist have been established by God” (v. 1; cf. Prov 8:15-16; Jer 27:4-8; Dan 2:37; 5:18). It is not just sacred positions of authority that carry divine authority, but every human authority speaks directly for God. That is why, “he who rebels against the [secular human] authority is rebelling against what God has instituted” (v. 2), and therefore rebelling against God Himself. In other words, generally speaking, the words of civil human authorities in our lives are the words of God. Along these lines, we read in Proverbs, “The lips of a king speak as an oracle [from God]” (16:10).

Therefore, to obey, “respect,” and “honor” human civil authorities is to obey, respect and honor God. God guides His people through these authorities. And like all authorities, they are intended by God to be, “God’s servant to do you good” (v. 4). Accordingly, because authorities are intended to be a God-ordained source of divine authority He tells those dwelling under any government to “submit . . . to the governing authorities” (Rom 13:1). Essentially, then, the laws of government are the laws of God. Accordingly, the King Himself said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” (Matt 22:21).

The extent of civil authority is reflected in the fact that it supersedes the authority of all other human authorities when it is not violating Scripture. In other words, in extra-biblical amoral matters, God would never want us to break a civil law in order to obey a husband, parent, employer, or pastor. If such authorities ask us to break civil laws, it is they who are being immoral, and we would be moral to disobey them and respect the laws. Accordingly, Pastor Bovenmyer has written:

As direct and intensive as parental authority is, parents do not have the authority to inflict the death penalty. Even in Israel’s theocracy, parents were required to submit to governmental authority and not administer the death penalty independently (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Biblically, the authority to inflict capital punishment seems to be reserved to the government alone. ^[4]

Accordingly, civil authorities have God-ordained authority to end the life of a human if the public law and person’s crime demand this.

Many Christians, after seeing in Scripture the enormous amount of authority that civil government is to have over our lives, immediately want to balance this teaching with the disclaimers. Of course, God is the ultimate authority of all authorities and if any civil authority wishes to demand or coerce us to obey something that violates Scripture, they forfeit their God-given authority over us, and, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29; cf. Exod 1:20-21; 1 Kgs 18:3‑4). However, the guy who said that was the same Apostle Peter quoted above as writing, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men” (1 Peter 2:13). Let us not allow the limited exceptions of immoral civil laws keep us from recognizing the full ramifications of this source of divine authority in our lives. Remember that the King and the Apostles commanded God’s people to obey civil authorities in the context of an oppressive, rather anti-Christian Roman Empire.

Therefore, a mere personal dislike or disagreement with our civil authorities will not be accepted by God as a reason to dishonor them. And the Scripture above tells us to honor them, not simply grudgingly comply with their wishes. If you believe Scripture then you must also believe that to obey the word of a civil authority is to obey the word of God.

D) Divine/Human Authority in Husbands

In light of all the Christian books, sermons, conferences, ministries, and radio programs devoted to the Christian family, it is important to be reminded that at least half of all the NT instruction given regarding the family concerns submission to authority. It’s a safe bet that the same cannot be said of all the other media mentioned.

Nonetheless, God is serious about “speaking” in every family through the human positions of authority He has ordained there. For example, Scripture says concerning marriage:

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Eph 5:22-24)

Again, to the Colossian Christians the Apostle wrote, “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord” (v. 18), and to those in Corinth he said: “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor 11:3). Commenting on this remarkable verse, Pastor Bovenmyer writes:

When Paul wrote about the relationship between men and women in marriage, he advocated the same sort of relational interdependence of authority and submission as is present in the Trinity.

But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3).

Paul bases his teaching about the differing roles of men and women on God’s plan in creation, prior to sin entering the world:

For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake (1 Corinthians 11:8-9).

A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve (1 Timothy 2:11-13).

From this we see that righteous, loving authority and respectful, obedient submission were not instituted as part of the judgment of the curse nor were they a necessary evil or an accommodation to the sinfulness of man. Rather, they were present before the fall of man, both in the first marriage and in the Triune God Himself. ^[5]

Accordingly, the Apostle Peter commanded even the wives of pagan husbands:

Wives, in the same way [as we are to submit to civil authorities, as slaves are to submit to masters, and as Christ submitted to the cross, cf. 2:13-24] be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ²when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

³Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. ⁴Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

⁵For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, ⁶like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. (1 Peter 3:1-5)

God wants the word of a husband to be accepted, respected, and followed by His wife as if it was the word of God. If this is what God says of a wife living with a husband who does “not believe the word” how much more does God’s desire in this area relate to a Christian husband?! The word “submit [hupotassō]” is just as strong in Greek as in English. The biblical writers equate the relationship between husband and wife to the absolute authority that the Lord Jesus Christ exercises over an individual man (cf. 1 Cor 11:3), and the Church (cf. Eph 5:23). Likewise, the relationship is compared to that of a slave to their master (cf. 1 Pet 2:18; 3:1), and it is said that Sarah was praiseworthy because she “obeyed Abraham and called him her master” (1 Pet 3:6).

No doubt, the Apostle specifically picked the relationship between Abraham and Sarah because Abraham was at times a lousy leader, at least twice commanding his wife to put herself in a position of potential sin and danger just because of his cowardice and failure to trust God (cf. Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). The example also illustrates God’s willingness to protect, bless, and honor a submissive wife even in such difficult circumstances. Contrary to the opinion of many in American Christianity, such submission “is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Pet 3:4). God glories in it, “Evangelical” feminists despise it. However, this is not primarily the fault of feminists but men who do not love and respect women as God desires. If they did there would be far fewer feminists.

In all of these relationships used to illustrate the hierarchy of authority in marriage, every command and desire of the authority (i.e. Christ, a master) is to be immediately and whole-heartedly obeyed by their subject (a man, the Church, a slave), if it does not contradict Scripture. Thus, God says “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord” Jesus Christ, therefore meaning they should “submit to their husbands in everything” (Eph 5:22, 24). That is a lot of divine/human authority, and ultimately can amount to a great deal of very specific divine direction for the entire family, including where they live, what church they attend, how they spend their money, and what they do on any given evening or weekend. All of these things could be decided by the mere preference of the husband and God would approve.

In essence, the wife’s submission to the husband’s God-given authority is the practical outcome of the divine design for marriage in which:

a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ . . . So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. (Matt 19:5-6)

And when a wife lives autonomously from her husband, she has separated herself from a critical source of divine revelation in her life, and will continually be outside of God’s will and sinning against Him.

All of this makes the infiltration of aspects of prophetism ^[6] and mega mysticism into Christian marriages an abomination to God. Imagine, for instance, a man who is married to a woman who claims to posses the biblical gift of prophecy. This would not be all that unlikely for those in modern prophetism because (unlike biblical times), the great majority of the “prophets” in this movement are women. ^[7] Would a mere husband be right to tell a “prophetess” what to do “in everything” (Eph 5:24)? Why would the “prophetess” need to treat her husband as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (cf. Eph 5:22), if she has a direct revelational line to God herself? And what is the husband to do if the “prophetess” tells him “God told me we are supposed to do so and so”? The outcome of this aspect of prophetism in marriage is that God’s ordained roles are threatened, if not consistently violated, and both the husband and the wife end up living constantly outside of God’s will. It would be better if the “prophetess” understood that her husband’s mere preferences possess more divine authority than all of her supposed “prophecies.”

Likewise, an adherence to mega mysticism can lead to the outright disobedience of Scripture as well. Notice, for example, how the mega mystical perspective of Christian and Missionary Alliance Professor Gordon T. Smith, Dean of Regent College, is used to violate the clear teaching of Scripture regarding marriage. God says:

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Eph 5:22-24)

On the contrary, Dr. Smith says:

As a general rule act only when you agree with your spouse. The two of you need to have a similar level of peace regarding the choice or decision. My wife and I believe that God will lead us together. Sometimes, of course, one of us may know the [extra-biblical] direction of God first. But if so, that one waits for the other. We do not act in such a manner that we violate each other’s ability to discern and know the peace of God.

I have found this to be tremendously liberating [from my responsibility to lead?]. It frees me to seek the peace of God in the knowledge that my peace will be confirmed or questioned by how the Lord is speaking to my wife. Probably because we have different temperaments, she usually has a sense of God’s [extra-biblical] purposes earlier than I do. She seems to have a keener sensitivity. It takes me longer to slow down, still the mind and attend to the promptings of the Spirit. But she waits for me and sees my process of discernment as confirming the sense she has in her mind.

My wife and I are “one flesh” in the mind of God; I can only assume that God, then, will guide us as one. Further, both my wife and I are filled with the Spirit and capable of responding to the prompting of the Spirit. I can easily assume that God speaks to her as readily as he does to me. God leads us together. ^[8]

Of course any mature Christian husband knows the great wisdom of sincerely getting the counsel of his spouse in the decisions he is making. And all of us would wish that husbands and wives would agree on everything, as Dr. Smith implies, before having to make a decision. But he ignores both reality and Scripture here and uses a mega mystical perspective to do so.

First, there is nothing in Scripture that even hints that a husband must be in agreement with his wife in order to make a God-pleasing decision. Being “considerate as you live with your wives, and treat[ing] them with respect as the weaker partner” (1 Pet 3:7) does not require agreement.

Secondly, the wife will surely please God when she submits, whether or not she agrees with it or not. In fact, the apostle Peter teaches that Sarah pleased God when she submitted to the immoral, dangerous, and cowardly direction of her husband Abraham. While Dr. Smith’s perspective is certainly more in line with popular culture, it is an arrogant dismissal of what Scripture says.

Thirdly, if God is in the habit of leading a husband and wife together, and “as one” as Dr. Smith claims, what is the purpose of God designating the husband as the loving leader and the wife as the submissive follower in the family? In the scenario Dr. Smith paints, the need for male leadership and female submission is diminished significantly, if not abandoned completely.

In fact, because of Dr. Smith’s belief in mega mystical doctrine and practice, he is willing to reverse the biblical roles in marriage because his wife, “usually has a sense of God’s [extrabiblical] purposes earlier than I do. She seems to have a keener sensitivity [to God’s revelation of extrabiblical direction].” God never intended the idea of a “one flesh” marriage to mean that He expects both the husband and wife to have equal authority, but rather, that the wife’s life is virtually engulfed in the husband’s life.

The Apostles’ teaching is clear enough; wives are to get their direction from their husbands who act as God’s representative in their life. Therefore, when a wife disobeys, disrespects, ignores, or grumbles against their husband, she is disobeying, disrespecting, ignoring, and grumbling against Almighty God.

This teaching is, of course, too strong for many and it has become popular to find ways to dismiss, ignore, and ultimately disobey it. The above potential effects of prophetism and mega mysticism are an example. In addition, a growing number of Evangelical theologians are attempting to obscure the face value meaning of what the Apostles Paul and Peter wrote concerning marriage. ^[9] In our opinion, none of the arguments given to dilute the God-given authority of the husband in the home are at all persuasive. ^[10] Those who wish to dismiss the hierarchy of authority that God has established in marriage by arguing that it makes the husband and wife somehow intrinsically unequal in value or status, need to explain how God the Son’s total submission to God the Father makes them intrinsically unequal as well (cf. 1 Cor 11:3). It cannot be done without committing heresy.

As with civil authorities discussed above, because of the enormous amount of control that God intends a husband to exercise over the life of his wife, people want to immediately counter and water down this teaching with the exceptions to the rule. That is fine, but we had better ensure we are fully complying with the rule before we want to claim all the exceptions. Of course, no wife is expected by God to respect or follow immoral direction from her husband. In addition, we believe women in an abusive situation, in which the husband is acting like an unbeliever and not loving His wife as Christ loved the Church (cf. Eph 5:21), has the freedom to at least temporarily separate from her husband (cf. 1 Cor 7:15-16). ^[11] Nonetheless, a wife had better fear God enough to be very careful what she considers abuse. Overall, God is expecting her to respect the position He has given all husbands over their wives, such that they are to “submit to” their “husbands as to the Lord” Himself (Eph 5:22).

However, it must be said that the wife is not the only one that needs to be fearing God in marriage. Even much more so, every husband needs to remember that he will give an account before the One Who is the heavenly Father of his wife, for how well he loved God’s daughter. Like any father, God does not take kindly to the mistreatment of His daughters, which is why the Apostle Paul tells husbands to “not be harsh” (cf. Col 3:19) with their wives, and the Apostle Peter warns that inconsiderate behavior toward wives “will hinder” the “prayers” (1 Pet 3:7) of the husband because God Himself will have something against them.

While a Christian wife may be overwhelmed with the amount of submission God is expecting from her, a good Christian husband can assure her that he is equally overwhelmed with the tremendous amount of responsibility God has given him. Part of that great weight comes from his knowledge that whenever God gives divine authority, He will also require divine accountability. But the husband’s burden comes as well from the very fact that he loves the woman he has married, and abhors the idea of doing her any harm because of a weakness in his leadership. And it is because of that love that in most godly marriages, the preferences and desires of the wife influence the direction of the family at least as much as those of the husband.

In fact, if the biblical perspective on any kind of God-ordained authority is truly understood, we know that when God says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph 5:25), that He is in reality commanding a great deal more submission from the husband than many have even begun to imagine (cf. Matt 20:24-28).

E) Divine/Human Authority in Parents

If people don’t understand that more submission is required of a husband because of his God-given authority and responsibility, most can understand this when it comes to parenting. Indeed, God has given them a great deal of authority over their children, but the godly parent will essentially sacrifice the best years of their lives for the benefit of those under their charge. Why do so many dads work so hard, and why do many mothers forfeit their occupational careers? Because of their love for their children.

The divine/human authority of parents is just as clearly taught in Scripture as that of presidents and husbands. It is so fundamental to how God wishes to direct the lives of children that it is included in the Ten Commandments. Right before God says, “do not murder,” He commands children to, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Exod 20:12-13; cf. Lev 19:3). The reason that honoring parents, at least under the Old Covenant, would actually prolong your life is because, even as Jesus said, “God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death’” (Matt 15:4; cf. Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9; Prov 30:17). In other words, under the Old Covenant, children who did not honor their parents were to be executed.

The Apostle Paul specifies what honoring parents means when he commands in the NT, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord” (Col 3:20; cf. Eph 6:1-3). God expects children to get their direction from their parents, as it says repeatedly in Proverbs, such as:

My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. (Prov 6:20-22; cf. 1:8; 4:1; 5:1; 13:1; 23:22)

It is parents, then, who are to be giving continual, specific guidance to their children that must be obeyed as if God Himself were giving the direction.

Of course, there is some question as to how long children remain under the divine/human authority of their parents. Obviously, after marriage it is to completely cease (cf. Gen 2:24), and ignoring this biblical precept has hindered, if not destroyed many marriages. Also, once an unmarried child is financially supporting themselves, this kind of authority should probably cease as well. God forbid then, that an older child who is living with their parents, rent and board free, or being financially supported in college, should think they are not obligated to, obey [their] parents in everything” because for them to fail to do so “[dis]pleases the Lord” (Col 3:20; cf. Num 30:3-5).

Children living under the authority of their parents are wrong to look for any additional guidance in extra-biblical matters from God than what their parents would give or allow. Some sort of mega mystical claim that God would lead a child apart from and differently than their parents in an extra-biblical matter would most likely be a spiritual looking mask for outright rebellion. This is not to say that godly, good parents will not value the desires and preferences of their children, and if anything, most parents do this too much. Nonetheless, from God’s point of view, the desires, ideas, opinions, and preferences of parents are more important than those of the children.

The right attitude in this matter is reflected by Martin Luther (1483–1546), who later in life wrote his father concerning his decision at the age of twenty one to become a monk against his father’s wishes: “My vow was not worth a fig, since by taking it I withdrew myself from the authority and guidance of the parent to whom I was subject by God’s commandment; indeed, it was a wicked vow.” ^[12] This is a significant admission on the part of the older Luther, especially considering how critical becoming a monk was to his ministry and how certain he was that he was doing it for God.

Perhaps Luther had in mind Christ’s own support for the God-given authority of parents when He told the Pharisees:

[W]hy do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶ he is not to ‘honor his father’’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! (Matt 15:3-7)

And children dishonor their parents for a lot less “noble” reasons than a commitment to serve God. But even in such a case, it is impossible to honor God while at the same time unnecessarily dishonoring our parents.

F) Divine/Human Authority in Employers

God’s desire to direct His people through ordained divine/human authority extends to the work place as well. In the specific context of the relationship between masters and slaves in the first century, the Apostle Paul commanded slaves, “obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ” (Eph 6:5; cf. Mal 1:6; Col 3:22-24; 1 Tim 6:1-2; Tit 2:9; 1 Pet 2:18 ). We again have the amazing equating of the authority of a human with the authority of God.

While in its original context this instruction was given specifically to slaves, the Apostle would seem to broaden the scope of it when he adds, “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free” (Eph 6:7). Working “wholeheartedly” not only applied to slaves in the first century, but to the “free” craftsmen, tradesmen, and laborers as well, just as it does today. ^[13]

Accordingly, the word of our boss at work is the word of God. Therefore, the direction, desires, priorities, and even preferences of those in charge of us in our workplaces are nothing less than the direction, desires, priorities, and preferences of God Almighty during our workday.

Gender does not seem to apply in this sphere of authority, and if a man chooses to work for a woman, he is obligated to “obey [her] in everything” like any other employer or manager. And our managers do not need to be even nice about their management for God to expect us to fully respect them (cf. 1 Pet 2:18). Of course, unlike slavery, we have the free right to quit an occupation at any time we choose. However, like slavery, while we are engaged in the job of our choosing, God fully expects us to obey those in charge, “just as you would obey Christ” (Eph 6:5). Once again, however, whenever God grants divine authority to a human, He will require divine accountability, and such is the case for our employers in the workplace as well (cf. Eph 6:9; Col 3:25, 4:1; James 5:4).

G) Divine/Human Authority in Church Elders

G.1) Who: A Plurality of Male Elders/Pastors

Finally, God has ordained that a plurality of male Elders/Pastors ^[14] in a local church are to be a source of divine/human authority as well. The Apostle Peter writes:

To the Elders [presbuterous] among you, I appeal as a fellow Elder [sumpresbuteros], a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be Shepherds [poimanate: “Pastors”] of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as Overseers [episkopountes: “Bishops”]. (1 Pet 5:1-2)

Likewise, the Apostle Paul told “the Elders [presbuterous] of the church” in “Ephesus” (Acts 20:17): “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you Overseers [episkopous: “Bishops”]. Be Shepherds [poimainein: “Pastors”] of the Church of God” (v. 28).

Several observations can be made about this vital source of God-ordained authority among His people. First, it should be noticed that in these texts the Pastors (poimēn; cf. Eph 4:11), Elders (presbuterous), and Bishops (episkopos) were all the same person. Accordingly, we can also note that the Apostle refers to local church Elders as Bishops in 1 Timothy 3:1, ^[15] and Titus 1:5, 7. Despite ancient and modern tradition, in the NT, there is only one ultimate source of authority for the local church, that being a plurality of men variously and synonymously referred to as Pastors, Elders, and Bishops. While there may be practical reasons to distinguish these positions, there are no biblical ones.

Secondly, note that these positions are always mentioned in plurality, and there is no biblical evidence for a single Pastor, Elder, or Bishop being in charge of a local church all by himself. The idea of plurality comes from both a practical and a biblical consideration. First, whenever the leadership of a local church is addressed, the plural “Elders” or “Overseers” (Bishops) is always used, and never the singular, implying that pluralities of these leaders were overseeing these churches.

For example, we read in Acts:

Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. . . . Paul and Barnabas appointed [a plurality of] Elders for them in each [single] church. (Acts 14:22-23; cf. Acts 11:30; 15:2ff.; 20:17; 21:18; Phil 1:1; Tit 1:5;^[16] James 1:14; 1 Pet 5:1 ^[17])

Appointing a plurality of qualified Pastor/Elders in each local church was the practice of the early Church, perhaps following the model of the local Jewish synagogues where Elders were always in plurality there as well.

In addition, good common sense would tell us that it would be dangerous for one man to hold exclusive and ultimate authority over a local church without the accountability of peers possessing similar authority. And the multiple and destructive disasters that have occurred because of this very lack of peer accountability in the life of some “super pastor” unfortunately proves our point.

The fact that local church leadership is to be exclusively held by men is equally clear in Scripture. We could derive this fact simply from recognizing that the two NT lists of qualifications for Elders/Pastors clearly refer only to men, the pronoun “he,” for example being used throughout, and the qualification to be a husband and father (cf. 1 Tim 3:1-7; Tit 1:5-9). And clearly, throughout Church history this has been the case, with women being allowed to lead churches only very recently.

Nonetheless, the clearest reason we know that men are to be the leaders of the local church is what the Apostle Paul wrote in a letter containing “instructions” so that people “will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). In this letter, this Apostle of Jesus Christ commands, “A woman should learn [in the Church] in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man [in the Church]; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve” (1 Tim 2:11-13). Contrary to modern efforts to dismiss the Apostle’s mandate, he did not base his commandment on changing culture, but something unchangeable about Creation. Therefore, the God-ordained male/female hierarchy of authority clearly declared in the NT regarding the family is to be reflected in the Church as well.

Therefore, several significant and serious corrections need to be made in the Church regarding an issue as important as how God wants to lead His people. The Lord of the Church would have liberal denominations and churches who have embraced female elders/pastors to repent. They have succumbed to worldly pressures, and taken it upon themselves to invent politically correct, but new and erroneous interpretations of Scripture. Of them the prophecy is true: “the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim 4:3). May the Apostle’s solution to such compromise be true of us: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (v. 2).

More specifically, anyone who claims to be a follower of the apostolic Christian faith as revealed in Scripture must leave any church that has placed females in authoritative teaching roles over men. You can be in such a church, or be biblical, you cannot do both. You can have your ultimate authority be worldly culture or Scripture, not both. The Lord of the Church, and the Lord of you does not want any of His sons under the authority and teaching of a woman, and to remain so is to remain in rebellion to His will, all for the sake of appeasing culture or some false sense of humility. Submitting to women in such a context is actually pride, and the real humble thing to do would be to obey God.

The Roman Catholic decision to completely abandon the office and plurality of Pastors and Elders in the local church and replace them with a Bishop exercising authority over a local Priest is likewise unbiblical. In the NT, all believers are “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet 1:2:9) who can “approach [God’s] throne of grace with confidence” (Heb 4:16), and with equal access to the only Person we are to call “Father” (cf. Matt 23:9), and it’s not a Priest. And the Roman Catholic Church has never offered a satisfactory explanation for why they have abandoned the NT teaching on this issue. The illegitimacy of their having one Pope exercise ultimate authority over all local churches is taken up elsewhere. ^[18]

Finally, Evangelicals have gone astray here as well, with many churches being governed by congregational vote, or one executive Pastor possessing ultimate authority, or a board of Elders telling the Pastor what to do. Such practices ignore the equivalence of Elders and Pastors in the NT, and none of them have any biblical support whatsoever. Those in churches following these unbiblical forms of church government should consider whether they are under biblical spiritual authority and perhaps choose to serve and worship elsewhere where it exists. While this is not the place for a detailed argument for our position, ^[19] we contend that the NT model for local church leadership is a plurality of godly male Elders/Pastors humbly and unitedly leading “the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made [them] overseers” (Acts 20:28).

G.2) Where: The Local Church

Now that we have established the biblical model for who God has given divine/human authority in the local church, we can discuss where it is exercised. Where does God exercise His authority and spiritual guidance over our life through the plurality of male Pastors/Elders? In a local church. This biblical precept as well confronts all sorts of unfortunate practices in American Christianity.

The first thing that needs to be said is that it is God’s will that every Christian be a committed member of a good local church. In our individualistic American culture, far too many Christians are content to live out their supposed love for God while forfeiting all the commands to love God’s people. “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). There is simply no way you can claim to “love [your] brother” and therefore God, if you are not even meeting with them, let alone befriending, serving, knowing, and praying for them. You can be independent, which is simply selfishness and pride, or you can be Christian, you cannot be both. Authentic Christianity is a team sport.

Yet, there are those Christians who are willing to be in a Christian group, like a home Bible study, but they too miss God’s will for their life. The local church is God’s ordained vehicle for accomplishing His purposes on Earth, and a mere gathering of Christians do not make a church in God’s eyes. He wants under- shepherds to be serving the Chief Shepherd in pastoring His flock (cf. 1 Pet 5:1-4). Not just any self-appointed person can be one of God’s shepherds, but must meet the qualifications God has prescribed (cf. 1 Tim 3:1-7; Tit 1:6-9; 1 Pet 5:1-3).

Without a plurality of such men you do not have a church, which is precisely why the Apostle Paul wrote Titus: “The reason I left you in Crete [where there were certainly groups of Christians] was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint Elders in every town, as I directed you” (Tit 1:5). The first Christians knew God wanted something more than incomplete, “unfinished” “groups.” He wants NT churches which require NT leadership. Humans did not invent the local church anymore than they invented marriage. Both are the creation and desire of God, and trying to do church any other way than what the NT teaches is like a single person or two people merely living together of the opposite or same gender claiming to be married. You cannot redefine the institutions and purposes of God for your own purposes.

Therefore, any Christian who is not a committed member of a local church is out of God’s will and forfeits the divine guidance and protective, beneficial authority that exists there. If God commands qualified men to “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers” (1 Pet 5:2), and is holding them accountable to do so (cf. Heb 13:17), than it is because He knows His people need such shepherding and oversight.

G.3) What: Leading for Unity & Teaching for Transformation

In addition to telling us through whom and where God desires to exercise divine/human authority over His Church, the Scriptures are clear on how this is to be accomplished. While the analogy of a shepherd certainly communicates care, it also involves leadership and teaching. Leading obviously involves decision making, and in a local church this will involve a great number of even extra-biblical issues that Scripture does not specifically dictate. If we understand the God-given responsibility of Pastors/Elders, then we will respect their biblical and extra-biblical directions and decisions as the very directions and decisions of God for that local church.

For example, the biblical mandate to make converts and disciples to Jesus Christ is clear (cf. Matt 28:18-20), but God has left a great deal of freedom as to how these commands get accomplished in our church. Who does God want to decide the methods and strategies used to fulfill these purposes of the local church? The biblically qualified and recognized Elders/Pastors. And how those church leaders want to do evangelism and discipleship is how God wants that local church to do these things as well.

This is because of how much God values unity (cf. Rom 15:5; 1 Cor 1:10; 2 Cor 13:11; Eph 4:3; Phil 1:27; 2:2; 1 Pet 3:8). Of all the factors in successfully advancing the Kingdom of God on Earth, the unity of believers is one of the most critical, and difficult. Why were the first century believers so powerful? Acts essentially tells us four times that, “All the believers were one in heart and mind” (Acts 4:32; cf. 1:14; 2:46; 15:25). This is because, as the Psalms promise, “when brothers live together in unity . . . the LORD bestows His blessing (Ps 133:1, 3). God had even said concerning wicked unbelievers, that, “as one people speaking the same language . . . nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (Gen 11:6).

Simply put, God blesses corporate unity, not necessarily our individual creativity and ingenuity. It is unfortunate that so many in the Church think that the most important thing in decision making is to find what appears to be the most easy, efficient, and effective option for doing God’s work. Hours and hours of discussion can be spent on discovering the “right answer” to the situation, when in reality, several different approaches would be equally sufficient, and the best thing to do would be to have a leader choose an option and for all to unite around it. This is because God’s divine blessing is much, much more valuable than even the best human idea. While He does not promise to bless any ideas we come up with, He does promise to bless our unity. And the best way to accomplish unity is for God-ordained leaders to lead and for others to follow. Accordingly, Pastor Bovenmyer writes: “God instituted leadership and authority to help unite a group not only around the obvious truths of the scripture, but around particular ways and approaches to living those truths out in the kingdom. ^[20]

Obviously, as in the case of what man a woman would choose to marry and follow, or what business we would choose to work for, we also have a God-given choice as to the Pastors/Elders that will be our spiritual authorities. In fact, contrary to how most people choose a church, the teaching and character of the Pastors/Elders should be the most important attribute of the church considered. Nonetheless, once we have chosen a particular church leadership to be under, God would have us be humble, patient, respectful, and fully supportive of them.

Accordingly, one early Church leader wrote to Christians in the first century:

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you (Heb 13:17).

First, the writer again specifies that the spiritual leaders in a community of believers will be “men.” Secondly, their responsibility is to “keep watch over” their flock, helping them to grow in their relationship with Christ. Thirdly, because God has given them divine/human authority to lead their flock, the people are to “obey them” which will result in their own “advantage.” Finally, again, as with any God-given authority, these Pastors/Elders will “give an account” of how they used their divine/human authority to serve God and His people.

It must be understood that the authority of a Pastor/Elder only extends to matters commanded in Scripture and pertaining to the local church you would choose to belong to, not extra-biblical personal matters. If a man is biblically qualified to be a Pastor/Elder, he will be loving and wise and someone whose counsel you could benefit a great deal from. But such counsel on extra-biblical personal matters need only be received as the suggestion of a wise person at best, and not the word of God. They are not Prophets or Apostles unless they can foretell the future or work a miracle on command and consistently exhibit the supernatural fruit of the Spirit. We know of no one on Earth today that deserves this label and the extra-biblical authority they exercised. ^[21] Accordingly, church movements in which church leaders are dictating who you should marry, where you should live, etc. are displeasing to God and damaging to Christians.

The local shepherds’ responsibility is not only to care for and lead the Christians in their local church, but to teach them as well. This is another important way in which God reveals Himself to His people and exercises His authority over them. While certain Pastors/Elders may teach more because of their gifting, all NT Pastors/Elders are required to be “able to teach” (1 Tim 3:2), and “must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9). These are NT requirements for all church Pastors/Elders and the idea of a merely administrative Elder on a board who is not a teaching Pastor is, again, unbiblical. If a man cannot or will not teach “sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” then he should not be an Elder in God’s church.

Once again, the teaching function of women in the Church needs to be directed to other women as Scripture says that in the Church, we should “not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man” (1 Tim 2:12). This, however, does not at all mean that women should not be teaching in the Church. Scripture in fact says elsewhere that church leaders are to:

teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2:3-5)

However, even here, the topics which older women are to be teaching the younger women are not doctrinal in nature, an area that should be reserved primarily for the male Pastors/Elders in the church.

Surely one of the most unfortunate and unbiblical trends in the American Church is the increasing disrespect for the teaching function of the local church. Mark this well Christian. By far the most prescribed method of life transformation in the NT is the public, gifted teaching of Scripture. Read the Pastoral Epistles especially, and you will not see any exhortations for God’s people to have private devotions, small group Bible studies, read spiritual books, go on fasting and prayer retreats, or receive counseling, all of which are methods promoted today as the most important modes of being, “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2).

Of course, some of these practices may have biblical support elsewhere, and all of them can be of value to spiritual growth. We simply find it significant that in letters written to explain how the local church should function (cf. 1 Tim 3:15), there is no mention of them, but rather, the often repeated command for the leaders and members of a church to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching” (1 Tim 4:13; v. 6, 11, 15; 5:17; 2 Tim 2:2; 14-15; 24-26; 3:14-17; 4:1-5; Tit 1:9; 2:1-10, 15; 3:1-2).

This has been God’s way for a long time. Accordingly, publicly teaching the Scriptures was one of the responsibilities of the OT Priests. For example, we read in the context of the spiritual revival in Nehemiah: “The Levites . . . instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read” (Neh 8:7-8). While the writings of Prophets and Apostles are clear enough, God has ordained a ministry of Teachers to help His people both understand and apply the Scriptures more fully.

The special relationship between Scripture and Teachers is described by the Apostle Paul when he writes Timothy the Teacher: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God [i.e. minister ^[22]] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17). The Apostles and Prophets gave us this Scripture, and Teachers like Timothy are now to deliver it to God’s people. And when a Teacher preaches the Word of God, they have a great deal of divine authority. Accordingly, the Apostle Paul told the Teacher Titus: “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (Tit 2:11-15). Likewise, the Apostle told the Teacher Timothy: “Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young” (1 Tim 4:11-12)

Paul would seem to be referring to this progression of divine/human authority from Apostles/Prophets to Teachers when he writes: “And in the Church God has appointed first of all Apostles, second Prophets, third Teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues” (1 Cor 12:28). It should not be missed in our super-supernatural Christian age that the Apostle clearly ranks the ministry of “Teachers” as more important than “workers of miracles.” This is again because by far the most prescribed method of life transformation in the NT is the teaching of Scripture.

In addition, most Christians recognize that the office of “Apostles” has been withdrawn from the Church, and we argue elsewhere that so has the “Prophets.” ^[23] This reflects the Apostle’s statement that the Church was to be “built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets” (Eph 2:20), but now that the “foundation” of the Church has been finished, and the Scriptures are complete, other gifts are to complete the building of the Church. Therefore, we would suggest that if the Apostle Paul were to rank the gifts in the Church today, as he did in the text above, “Teachers” would be first. Why? Because, by far the most prescribed method of life transformation in the NT is the public teaching of Scripture.

What is a more important purpose for any divine revelation for God’s people than to change our lives? None. And it is primarily through teaching that God intends to accomplish this goal of divine revelation. Teaching is not the source of the divine revelation, as Teachers are not given revelation in the way NT Apostles and Prophets were. Scripture is the only source of life changing teaching, ^[24] but public teaching is God’s prescribed method for the communication of the divine revelation in Scripture. No other method has ever been, or ever will be nearly as effective.

Independents think all they need is their Bible. If that were so, then why has God given the church “Teachers”? (Eph 4:11). In fact, God says such Teachers are indispensable:

to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Eph 4:12-13)

Independent Christians may very well gain much biblical knowledge, which often is why they are too puffed up to receive instruction from anyone else (cf. 1 Cor 8:1). But such people will severely stunt their spiritual growth because they have forfeited by far the most prescribed method of life transformation in the NT which is the accurate, gifted, and godly teaching of Scripture. In other words, the Scriptures themselves are not wholly sufficient to affect the spiritual growth of God’s people, or else there would be no need for the ministry of teaching. God has ordained that there be Teachers to complete the purpose of His divine revelation through Prophets, Apostles, and Scripture.

Again, as with any real divine authority, there is divine accountability and the same will certainly be true of Teachers in the Church. Accordingly, we read in James: “Not many of you should presume to be Teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (Jas 3:1). The Apostle Paul exhorts all Teachers in the Church, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). Any Teacher in the local church with any sense will have a healthy fear of God, Who long ago, thundered from a “storm” to some self-confident, but self-deceived “teachers,” “Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). May that never be true of us when we teach God’s word.

Be assured that God will hold a Teacher accountable for his error much more than his listeners. And God have mercy on a woman who refuses to, “learn in quietness and full submission” but rather in her own pride, and taking advantage of weak men, presumes “to teach or to have authority over a man” in the church, instead of being “silent,” because “Adam was formed first, then Eve” (1 Tim 2:11-13). We do not intend to be harsh, but grace and truth must always be kept together, as it was in Jesus (cf. John 1:14, 17).

Why is it that those “who teach will be judged more strictly” (Jas 3:1) by God than other Christians? Because their God-given authority is so great. They are to influence the beliefs and conduct of God’s people as much as any other source of authority on Earth. The Christian will not hear, receive, understand, apply, and be transformed by the divine revelation of Scripture in the way and to the degree that God desires, apart from listening judiciously, attentively, and humbly to the Teachers He has given the local church. This is a vital aspect of divine revelation, authority, and guidance that is not respected and understood enough, to the detriment of God’s Church, the local church, and the individual Christian. Let that not be so for the one who has been reminded of these truths here.

Pastoral Practices

• It is imperative that our church understand the responsibilities of both Pastors and those in their church. If this has not been a teaching topic for some time it would perhaps be a good idea to do so. At best, such an explanation should be part of your church membership process.

H) Some Conclusions Regarding Divine/Human Authority

H.1) Preferences of Human Authorities are God’s Will

It should be recognized how specifically God desires our lives to be guided by the divine/human authorities He has ordained in our life. Of course, any direction given by human authorities directly based on biblical commands would be readily recognized as having divine authority. However, the point we wish to stress here is the divine authority present in even the extra-biblical desires and decisions of those human authorities. Accordingly, Scripture tells children to “obey your parents in everything” (Col 3:20), and slaves to “obey your earthly masters in everything” (Col 3:22), and “wives should submit to their husbands in everything” (Eph 5:24). The scope of the God-given authority of such people extends far beyond specific direction given in Scripture.

A face-value application of these texts is that even the seemingly petty (although not unbiblical or immoral) preferences of presidents, husbands, parents, employers, and a plurality of Pastors/Elders is to be heeded as God’s specific will for any given situation in their God-given sphere of responsibility. Accordingly, otherwise amoral issues become moral ones in which sin can occur. For example, it would normally be an extra-biblical, amoral issue as to where a family would live, and one that not even God would have an opinion on. However, if for whatever reason the husband and father of a family decides to choose a particular place for the family to live, then it does become God’s will, something that He cares about, and a moral issue in which the rest of the family could sin against God if they do not respect the man’s decision. In other words, from God’s perspective, the mere preferences or seemingly petty decisions of a husband and father become equal in authority to a command of God Himself in Scripture.

One primary reason that God has ordained that the mere preferences of human authorities are to be obeyed is God’s desire for unity and dislike for chaos. “For God is not a God of disorder [“confusion” NASB] but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33). Many group decisions come down to preferences, and if everyone’s preference is given equal value, chaos will ensue and no united decision will be able to be made. Therefore, it is very helpful if there is a mutual understanding that the preferences of the person in authority (parent, husband, Pastors, etc.) are to be prioritized, including their decision to honor the preferences of another instead of themselves. Regardless, in such a context, unity, peace, and progress are all easier in a marriage, family, and church.

It is easy to assume that the apparently petty desires and decisions of our authorities do not have divine authority. However, it might be helpful to be reminded that many of God’s own commandments in Scripture certainly seem petty as well, and yet it would have been sin to disobey them. This is especially illustrated in the OT commands concerning the Tabernacle.

Why would it have been sin to make the sacred “chest” out of cedar, rather than “acacia wood” (Exod 25:10)? Why would it have been morally wrong for the Israelites to use their own creativity and make the chest two cubits wide instead of “a cubit and a half wide” (Ibid.)? And why would a normally insignificant, amoral decision such as how to make curtains for a sanctuary become an opportunity for rebellion if they were not fabricated with “blue, purple and scarlet yarn, being “twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide” with “fifty loops . . . of blue material” (Exod 26:1-5)? These petty preferences became moral issues because God had told Moses, “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you” (Exod 25:9).

And the point of all this is that the directions were in fact petty. All of the mere speculations as to the supposed practical or spiritual reasons that specific sizes, materials, and colors were specified by God for the making of the Tabernacle are just that: speculation. The real story here is that God was testing the Israelites to see if they would respect His authority enough to comply with even the minutest detail.

And so God is testing us as well as we live under the divine/human authorities He has placed in our life. If a husband wants ham instead of chicken for dinner, it becomes a moral issue between God and the wife as to whether she will comply. If a parent wants a child living under their care to wear a red shirt instead of a blue one, then that child will sin against God to do otherwise. If a boss at work wants a Christian employee to file certain papers in a particular cabinet instead of a more convenient one, that employee will be rebelling against God, and will answer to God, if they do not comply.

If the plurality of Elders/Pastors in the local church of your choice decide to change the Sunday service time to 9:00 a.m. instead of 10:00 a.m. for reasons you don’t agree with, it is God you will be grumbling against if you complain about such a decision, and it will be God whom you will ultimately be whole-heartedly supporting when you whole-heartedly support those Elders/Pastors. As the writer of Hebrews said, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. . . . Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Heb 13:17).

While wise leaders will refrain from pettiness, it remains their prerogative just as it was God’s. And those under the God-ordained authority of governments, husbands, parents, employers, and Pastors must be especially careful to fully respect even the extra-biblical, amoral, seemingly and perhaps actually insignificant preferences of these leaders. When we understand that the divine authority that God has delegated to human authorities extends to their extra-biblical, otherwise amoral preferences and desires, we begin to see how much of a life lived in God’s will is to be dictated by those authorities.

Hopefully, all of this is made easier if these authorities have earned our trust and respect. If the government officials that you vote for are in power, you are more eager to comply with their direction. Even more so, no woman should marry a man whom she does not respect and love enough to do all she can to make him happy. Nor would God normally want you working for an employer you cannot respect or trust. And finally, God has put it in children to naturally desire to please their parents in everything, and if this is cultivated, the kind of authority that God desires the parents to exercise over the childrens’ lives is a much more blessed experience. ^[25]

H.2) Divine/Human Authority vs. Mysticism and Independence

Both American independence and mysticism have blinded Christians in America to the significance and blessing of God’s institutions of divine/human authority. The King desires everyone in His Kingdom on Earth to be living under multiple divine/human authorities in their life. While the American attitude finds this constraining, it is intended by God to simplify and clarify a life lived in the center of His will.

What has been the result of Christians abandoning faithful, careful, respectful obedience to His ordained divine/human authorities? The loss of a great deal of peace concerning God’s will, and a grasping at mega mystical techniques to find that peace. It is especially interesting to note the apparent independent and rebellious attitude evident in American Christianity in which the authority of God-ordained human authorities is consistently ignored, while the supposed authority of one’s personal impulses and private impressions are exalted. God intended to provide a great deal of guidance for our lives as we diligently pursued pleasing our authorities in every way possible. Instead, we are more concerned about what pleases us, and have therefore inherited a guilty conscience about whether or not we are truly following God.

In order to appease our conscience, and fill the need for divine guidance that has been left because of our abandonment of divine/human authorities, we have bought into the mega mystical dogma that God wants to lead us independently as individuals through personal impressions and “signs.” Isn’t it interesting how often those impulses and “signs” confirm what we wanted to do all along? It’s tragic that often our personal impulses and supposed divine “signs” are given more authority than the divine/human authorities God has put in our life.

God would have us guided by the mere preferences of our authorities more often than most think. As a result, it is rather ludicrous for a Christian to expect any further guidance, let alone blessing, from God unless they are honoring and obeying their God-given authorities. Many of those who complain of a lack of specific divine guidance for their lives are the very ones who do not properly respect their God-given authorities, thus forsaking an essential means of knowing God’s will.

H.3) The Abuse & Blessing of Divine/Human Authority

Pastor Bovenmyer writes:

American culture seems confused about the need for and place of authority. Over the last quarter century, a steady stream of foreign policy failures, presidential scandals, and corporate abuses has left an entire generation skeptical of authority. As society becomes more open about abuses of authority in families, government, the corporate world, and even the church, our skepticism of authority can seem justified. We can easily begin to question the purpose and usefulness of traditional authority structures. ^[26]

Indeed, the God-intended power and blessing of human/divine authority may be illustrated in how destructive it can be when those authorities are in rebellion to God. Immoral Presidents, parents, and Pastors are perhaps the greatest cause of pain on the planet. For someone who has lived under the authority of a demonic dictator, an abusive parent, or a deceitful and disqualified Pastor, God’s purposes for divine/human authority may be difficult to understand, and even harder to trust.

Perhaps it will help to be reminded of what kind of authorities God intended to be over our lives. Along these lines, Pastor Bovenmyer writes:

[A] helpful definition of human authority might be: “The God-given right, responsibility, and power to care for and direct others, for their good and to fulfill the good purposes of God.”

He goes on in answer to the question: “How does authority in God’s kingdom differ from authority in the world?”:

Jesus sharply contrasted how authority is exercised in the world and God’s requirement within the kingdom.

And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’” But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. “For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves (Luke 22:25-27).

In His contrast, Jesus does not negate authority in the kingdom, nor does He lessen the power or diminish the position of those in authority. Rather He commands those in authority to adopt a different goal and attitude. The world’s leaders tend to disregard the responsibility to love and care and to use their authority for personal gain—to feed their ego, to seek security, or to gain a life of pleasure and ease. They pursue these selfish ends while demanding that people enhance their reputation by calling them “Benefactors.”

Leaders in the kingdom are forbidden to use their position for such selfish ends, but rather must love, give, and serve. Jesus requires them to be the greatest servants of all—with fewer rights, more responsibility, and a greater obligation to sacrifice. Jesus demonstrated this attitude Himself. Authority in the kingdom, although no less powerful or compelling than in the world, must be used for the good and blessing of others and for the purposes of God and never for selfish ends. ^[27]

Our King’s authority over us was given to Him to bless us and even die for us. Likewise, the Apostle said the purpose of his God-like authority was “for building up . . . rather than pulling . . . down” (2 Cor 10:8; cf. 13:10). This is the kind of authority God intended to be operating over our lives and when it does, it is a great blessing to our lives. While bad leaders are the bane of our existence, a humble, loving, holy, and wise President, parent, employer, or Pastor improves the quality of our whole life on Earth perhaps more than anything else. Which again reveals the amount of influence God has ordained for them to have in our life.

Of course, these types of authorities are becoming increasingly rare in all spheres of life, and they therefore abandon God’s plan and intention for such authorities. We have made the point all along in our discussion that there are limits to the divine authority of any human authorities. When their direction violates God’s written word in Scripture, their authority ceases and we must obey God rather than men.

Accordingly, Anglican theologian J. I. Packer makes an important point on this issue when he writes:

If conforming to ecclesiastical, governmental, marital, or parental demands involves action contrary to Scripture, God can only be served by nonconformity at that point. This may put us out of step with others and prove costly to us, but nothing less will please God. ^[28]

Dr. Packer is right on, and there are no doubt times when we must defy those in authority over us. Of course, in any situation where there is abusive authority, one should seek a higher authority for help, and if the situation remains the same, remove themselves from that authority if at all possible. Challenging and difficult authorities may be God’s will for our life (cf. 1 Peter 3:13-17; 4:12-19), but not immoral or abusive ones.

Along these lines, Pastor Bovenmyer has written:

Disobedience to an authority should be limited to situations in which the authority is requiring something that is in disobedience to a command of God. In everything else, authorities ought to be obeyed, even when obedience may seem unwise, a waste of money and effort, or threatening to our desires, hopes, and dreams. There are times when we should appeal and there are times when we should remove ourselves from under a relationship of authority, but while we are under an authority we should submit to that authority unless to do so would be a clear violation of the will of God. . . .

Even in authority relationships that are intended to be permanent, there may be times when the person under authority must leave the relationship. Since all human authority is derived from the authority of God and since human authority can be so badly abused that it no longer performs the function that God desires, there will be times when leaving an abusive authority relationship is required, whether this be a government, church, business, or family.

Biblical examples include the following:

• Jesus’ parents, following the command of God, fled from the authority of King Herod who sought to kill Jesus (Matthew 2:13-18).
• Moses, at the command of God, led the Israelites out from under the oppressive authority of Egypt (Exodus 3).
• Jehu, at the command of God, overthrew the idolatrous and corrupt government of Ahab and his son Joram (2 Kings 9-10).
• Jehoiada the priest preserved the royal line and overthrew the usurping Queen Athaliah (2 Kings 11).
• In the Mosaic Law, a slave woman was allowed to go free from her marriage to her master/husband if he did not provide her with food, clothing, and conjugal rights (Exodus 21:8-11).
• Also in the Law, a slave who was forced to flee from his master was to be protected and not returned to his abusive master (Deuteronomy 23:15-16).

 

These examples indicate that it is permissible to flee from abusive authority to preserve life or under severely abusive circumstances. Yet, even when flight is required, authority is still to be honored and not undermined, except in the most extreme cases and then perhaps only at the command of God.

For example, for many years, David was forced to flee for his life from King Saul. Yet, out of respect for God and for Saul’s position of authority, David twice refrained from destroying Saul when he had the opportunity (1 Samuel 19-26). And even after God removed Saul, David honored Saul’s memory out of respect for Saul’s position (2 Samuel 1).

In the New Testament, Peter commands believers to submit, even to harsh authority (1 Peter 2:13-3:22). So, it seems that leaving a relationship of authority that is designed to be permanent should happen only rarely—to preserve life or in extreme cases of abuse. ^[29]

Indeed, we simply need to make sure that the direction of such authorities is truly unbiblical or immoral, and not merely extrabiblical, amoral, and simply against our personal preferences. There is a difference between a bad authority and an unbiblical one. We can think that today the authorities in our lives are worse than in previous generations. But even in the NT era, the Apostles addressed the need to fully respect bad masters/employers (cf. 1 Pet 2:18-21); bad husbands (cf. 1 Pet 3:1-6); and bad civil authorities (cf. 1 Pet 4:12-19). Their lack of skill or character is not an automatic excuse in God’s eyes to disrespect the authorities in our life.

Pastoral Practices

• Given the amount of authority we have as Pastors, do we use it to build up our people rather than tear them down (2 Cor 10:8; 13:10)? Do we make it easy for our people to follow us? Do we meet the biblical qualifications of being a Pastor so that we have earned the respect of those under our authority? Are we unnecessarily indecisive, demanding, fickle, or fussy? Does our leadership make our followers happy? And are we encouraging the husbands, parents, employers, and civil authorities in our church to likewise be a blessing to those under their authority?

Extras & Endnotes

A Devotion to Dad

Father, we are rather amazed at how much You desire to lead us through human authorities, even unregenerated ones. We thank You for the good authorities in our life who have blessed us. We pray for them. We also pray for the bad authorities in our life and ask for wisdom and grace to honor them. And may we be the authority we would like to have in whatever realm of responsibility we have.

Gauging Your Grasp

1. How are human authorities sources of divine revelation of God’s will in our life?
2. What is the definition of “authority”?
3. What are the five biblical realms of divine/human authority?
4. What is the significance of the Trinity in terms of our relationship with human authorities?
5. How does civil law relate to other God-ordained human authorities?
6. What are the consequences of a child disobeying the authority of their parents? What are the consequences of a wife disrespecting the authority of her husband? What are the consequences of a Christian refusing to place themselves under biblically qualified pastoral care?
7. Why do we claim that the God-given responsibilities of a husband require more submission than many have even begun to imagine?
8. Why would God want the God-ordained male/female hierarchy of authority clearly declared in the NT regarding the family, to be reflected in the Church as well?
9. We claim that anyone who claims to be a follower of the Christian faith as revealed in Scripture must leave any church that has placed females in authoritative teaching roles over men. Do you agree or disagree and why?
10. If we valued the divine blessing of unity more than individual creativity, how would this change how we interact with others, especially our authorities.
11. What is by far the most prescribed method of life transformation in the NT? Do you agree or disagree? If so, how does this affect your involvement in a church?
12. We claim that even the seemingly petty amoral preferences of authorities in our life become a moral command from God. Do you agree or disagree and why. If so, how would this affect your life?
13. What are the negative effects of not respecting our authorities in terms of discerning God’s will? What are the unbiblical substitutes we suggest? Do you agree or disagree and why?
14. What characteristics does God desire from those in authority over others?
15. What are the consequences for the authority who does not lead people in the manner God desires?
16. When is it acceptable to God for a person to disobey or separate from an authority in their life?
17. What are common but illegitimate reasons that people disobey or separate from an authority in their life?

Publications & Particulars

1. W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Thomas Nelson, 1996), 45. ↑

2. Dave Bovenmyer, “God-Honoring Authority: God’s Plan for Leading and Following Others,” online at http://www.gccweb.org, 2009, 4. ↑

3. For further discussion regarding the authority of God the Father over God the Son see section 1.3.1.B.1-2. ↑

4. Bovenmyer, 9 ↑

5. Bovenmyer, 4. ↑

6. Prophetism is our term for the popular contemporary belief that God is still granting prophets to the Church who possess new, authoritative, divine revelation from God. For support of our view that this is not true see Book 9: God’s Prophets. ↑

7. For further discussion of the abundance of female prophets in charismaticism see section 9.3.C. and 9.7.F. ↑

8. Gordon Smith, Listening to God in Times of Choice (InterVarsity, 1997), 112. ↑

9. One of the most scholarly presentations of what we would consider the unbiblical “egalitarian” view is Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy, edited by Gordon Fee, Ronald W. Pierce, and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (Intervarsity, 2004). It was written in response to the book cited below, and includes entries from such respected biblical scholars as Gordon Fee, Craig Keener, Peter H. Davids, I. H. Marshall, Stanley Grenz, Roger Nicole, and Ruth Tucker. While this is not the place to refute them, for whatever it is worth, we believe anyone who truly desires first to properly interpret God’s word instead of promote their own agenda, will find the biblical exposition here to be inferior. ↑

10. For what we consider as a very biblical study of the God-ordained roles of women particularly in the Church see, Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Crossway, 1991). It was written 13 years before the book cited above and likewise included entries from noted Christian scholars such as the editors, Douglas Moo, Thomas Schreiner, D. A. Carson, John M. Frame, H. Wayne House, and George W. Knight III. ↑

11. Admittedly, the issue of marital abuse is a very difficult one and requires a great deal more discussion than can be given here. ↑

12. Martin Luther, “Letter to Hans Luther,” Luther’s Works, Theodore Bachman, ed. (Concordia, 1960), 48:329-36. ↑

13. For further discussion on the nature of first century slavery see section 1.5.17.E. ↑

14. Anyone who would quibble with our practice of capitalizing such positions as Pastor, Elder, and Bishop, but have no problem with doing the same with a President of a company or even a country, perhaps fail to see that the former have a much more prestigious calling than any President, and if any title deserves to be capitalized, those referring to the leaders of God’s people certainly do. ↑

15. The suggestion that the Apostle is using the concept of local church Elders and Bishops synonymously in the Pastoral Epistles is demonstrated by the fact that the requirements for Bishops, or “office of overseer [episkopēs]” (1 Tim 3:1 NASB), are the same as those for the “elders [presbuterous]” spoken of in Titus 1:5. The Apostle does nothing to distinguish these two offices. ↑

16. It is very likely that on the island of Crete there was only one Christian church in each town. Therefore, when the Apostle instructs Titus to appoint a plurality of Elders in “every town” (Tit 1:5) it resulted in a plurality in each local church. ↑

17. The Apostle Peter’s reference to “Elders among you” clearly implies a plurality in a specific, personal location to those he is writing to, such as a local church. ↑

18. For further discussion of papal authority in Roman Catholicism see chapter 13.7. . ↑

19. Also see Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership (Lewis & Roth Publishers, 1995) for a similar view to ours. ↑

20. Bovenmyer, 14. ↑

21. For further discussion on the biblical requirements for God-sent Apostles and Prophets who receive direct, authoritative, extra-biblical, divine revelation see appropriate sections of Books 8 and 9. ↑

22. For arguments suggesting that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is specifically referring to ministers see section 7.10.D. ↑

23. For discussion regarding the cessation of the gift of prophecy see chapter 9.13 ↑

24. For further discussion of Scripture’s relationship to teaching see section 7.10.F. ↑

25. Pastor Bovenmyer comments on the relationship between authority and relationship when he writes:

    In modern, technological societies, authority tends to be detached and impersonal. No longer is the policeman known personally by the members of the community, nor does he personally know most of those he serves. Political leaders tend to be distant and detached. It is difficult, if not impossible, for pastors of larger churches to personally know all their church members. Although personal knowledge between an authority and people under authority is not always possible, it should be acknowledged that authority and submission tend to work best when there is personal knowledge of one another. (11) ↑

26. Ibid., 1 ↑

27. Ibid., 5-6 ↑

28. J. I. Packer, Truth & Power (Harold Shaw, 1996), 44. ↑

29. Bovenmyer, 18-19. ↑