The doctrine of authority

1. Definition; Authority is the legal power delegated by God under the laws of divine establishment whereby certain members of the human race have jurisdiction and responsibility for others. Authority exists in both the temporal and spiritual realm under the laws of divine establishment.

2. The principle of authority and the fall. Rejection of authority on the part of the woman contributed to her fall. The woman failed in the garden under two principles of authority. First she failed under the principle of the Word which was taught by Jesus Christ to both of them daily. Secondly, she failed under the principle of the authority of the man who was both divinely commissioned as ruler of the world, as well as the ruler of the woman under category #2 love. Under the original laws of divine establishment Adam was the ruler of planet earth. Not only so, but he was also the ruler of the woman. Both failures are emphasised in 2 Timothy 2:11,12. So the first civilisation really began with rejection of authority — revolution.

3. There are certain areas of authority in life which are established by God. These authorities are based upon the laws of divine establishment.

a) The first of these is God’s direct authority. God’s direct authority today is exercised only through the Word, not through dreams, visions, trances, through the hallucinations of those who claim they hear the voice of God, the delusions of those who are looking for some special revelation from God apart from the Bible — it is only through His Word.

b) The local church, the pastor.

c) The divine institutions of which there are four: volition, the authority in the individual usually defined in terms of human freedom; the husband over the wife; the parents over the children; government over people.

d) There is academic authority, regardless of whether it is a public school, a private school, a college, university, a graduate school, a Christian school.

e) Athletics. Coaches ought to be the best disciplinarians in the world. They ought to have the right to remove people from the team, they should have very strict code standards, dress standards, morality standards, anything the coach wants. And he should be backed up to the hilt.

f) In business. The people who invest the money ought to set up the policy for an individual business — not the government and not the employees.

g) In the military. RHIP (Rank has its privileges). The senior officer has authority over the junior officer regardless of any other set of circumstances.

4. Greek words for authority.

a) u(pakouw means to obey or to be subject to — Matthew 8:27; Luke 8:25; Romans 6:16; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20,22; 1 Peter 3:6.

b) u(potassw means subordinate to or to obey, to be in submission to — Romans 8:20; 1 Corinthians 14:32; Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18; James 4:17; 1 Peter 5:5.

c) peiqw means to obey — Galatians 3:1; 5:7; Hebrews 13:17; James 3:3.

d) peiqarxew which means to obey one in authority — Titus 3:1.

5. Commandments from God. God has certain commandments directed to the believer for obedience — Deuteronomy 11:27; 1 Samuel 15:22; Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4,7. These commandments s

The doctrine of authority

1. Definition: Authority is the legal power delegated by God under the paws of divine establishment whereby certain members of the human race have jurisdiction and responsibility over and for others. Authority exists in both the temporal and spiritual realms of life.

2. The first principle is authority and the fall. One of the reasons for and one of the areas of vulnerability in the original failure of our human parents, Adam and the woman, is rejection of duly constituted authority. The woman fell because she rejected authority, Genesis 3. She failed under two principles of authority. One was a spiritual principle, the other a temporal. The spiritual principle: the authority of the Word as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. The temporal principle: Authority of the man who was both the divinely commissioned ruler of the world, and therefore was her ruler; and also being her right man he ruled her. The failure of the woman to accept the authority of the man is emphasised in 2 Timothy 2:11,12.

3. The areas of authority in life:

a) God’s authority which is expressed today by way of Bible doctrine.

b) The authority in the local church — the pastor teacher.

c) There is authority under the divine institutions. Each divine institution has an authority. Divine institution #1 is volition related to mentality of the soul. Divine institution #2 — right man, right woman — the authority is in the right man. That is why when a woman responds to her right man she is the glory of the right man. If she doesn’t respond then she’s anything you want to call her that’s bad! Divine institution #3, the family. Parents are the authority. This is where the woman gets into the picture as an authority and as a teacher. Every woman who is a mother is an authority over her children. d) Divine institution #4, nationalism: Government has authority over people.

e) Athletics. The coach and the management is the authority.

f) Business has a duly constituted executive. One of the big problems in business today is lack of authority among executives, whether it is a boss or a foreman or a manager, or whatever it is.

g) The military. The senior officer is always the executive.

4. The Greek vocabulary:

u(pakouw, u(p means “under”; a)kouw means to listen, to listen under the authority of someone and finally comes to mean to obey, to be subject to. it is found in Matthew 8:27; Luke 8:25; Romans 6:16; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20, 22; 1 Peter 3:6.

u(potassw, the military word for authority. tassw means “ranks”; u(po means to be under in the ranks. It comes to mean to be in submission to, to be subordinate to, to be under the authority of. It is found in Romans 8:20; 1 Corinthians 14:32; Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18; James 4:17; 1 Peter 5:5.

peiqw also means, among other things, to obey. Peiqw has different meanings in the verb form, depending on the context. It can also mean to believe, also to have confidence. But one of its basic connotations is obedience. It means to obey in Galatians 3:1; 5:7; Hebrews 13:17; James 3:3.

peiqarxew, a)rxew means to rule and so this is a very strong word for obedience usually used in connection with government with the laws of establishment, as in Titus 3:1, “obey the magistrates.”

5. The commandments from God principle. Every time we have a commandment from God stated in the scripture obviously this is authority. God has certain commandments, for example, which are directed toward believers and demand obedience. Such commandments are found in Deuteronomy 11:27; 1 Samuel 15:22; Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4,7. These commandments stem from the omniscience and the sovereignty of God and they are to be executed by the believer through the function of GAP.

6. The scientific laws indicate God’s authority over nature. Divine laws have been established in the function of nature and the principle is that nature obeys God. In fact, the obedience of nature far exceeds our obedience because obviously nature has no soul, nature has no volition. Mark 8:27; Matthew 4:41; Luke 8:25.

7. The authority of God over angels. Angels are creatures, super creatures greater than we are by creation. Angelic creatures are subject to divine authority, even the fallen angels and even Satan who is an angelic creature. Mark 1:27; 1 Peter 3:22.

8. Authority in the human realm.

a) The pastor is the ultimate authority in the local church, 1 Corinthians 16:15,16; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7, 17. Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper...”

b) The authority of the right man over the right woman. It provides great happiness in the realm of category #2 for the right woman. Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18.

c) The authority in business. Principle: Proper authority in business stabilises the economy. Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22.

d) Freedom through military victory is based on authority in the military establishment, Nehemiah 4:13-15.

“Children,” anyone from zero to 18 or 21, but the word also applies to anyone who is 80 and still living under the parents’ roof.

1. The word “children” is a vocative plural of teknon and it is an excellent choice of word because age doesn’t make the difference with teknon. Teknon plus the definite article means “the children.” And that is even stronger because it means age doesn’t make the difference. The word used here is not brefoj, which means baby on mother’s breast, it is teknon which is an ageless child.

2. Under the laws of divine establishment the basic authority in life is the parents and the home over the child.

3. Parents, therefore, become basic authority in life. This authority has the responsibility to train the children and orient them to the functions and principles of life.

4. The parents are not only responsible for food, shelter and clothing but they are also responsible for training as well.

5. This training or inculcation of children must include the fundamentals of freedom as well as the basic principles of authority. One depends on the other, these are not separated. Establishment makes it possible to have freedom and without establishment there is no freedom because under freedom you have the right to pursue a course in life, the right to your privacy, the right to property, etc.

6. Respect for authority, for the privacy of others, for the property of others, are basic concepts of life.

7. Add to this respect for law and order, respect for country under the principles of patriotism, instruction of all phases of the laws of establishment.

8. Add to this the responsibility of Christian parents to evangelise their own children. In addition to that parents provide doctrinal teaching, good common sense from doctrine, Deuteronomy 6:6-9; 7:9.

9. All children must be oriented to the local church and they must be taught to recognise the authority of the pastor-teacher. They must be taught to concentrate on his message, not his personality — Hebrews 13:7,17.

tem from the omniscience and the sovereignty of God and are executed by the believer through the function of GAP.

6. There is also authority over nature. Divine laws have been established to control nature. Nature, in effect, obeys God — Matthew 8:27; Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25.

7. There is authority in the human realm. The pastor is the ultimate authority in the local church — 1 Corinthians 16:15,16; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7,17. For example, the authority of the right man provides great happiness in the realm of category #2 love — Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18. There is the authority in business which stabilises economy. When you have free enterprise and when management and capital has the authority you always and inevitably have great economic blessing and prosperity — Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22. Another area of authority: freedom through military victory is based upon authority in the military establishment — Nehemiah 4:13-15.