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Week 1 · October 3–4

Authority: Who Has the Final Word?

Pastor Bryan D. Edwards

Printable notes (PDF) (opens in a new tab)

Key points

  1. Everyone has an authority.

    Proverbs 14:12

    Culture, feelings, experience, upbringing, or simply ourselves—everyone ultimately submits to something. A Christian doesn't begin with “What do I think?” but with “What has God said?”

  2. Truth isn't determined by what we believe.

    Isaiah 40:8

    Truth is settled by reality, not by a vote. You can sincerely believe something and be sincerely wrong, and God's Word would remain true even if no one on earth believed it.

  3. Jesus trusted Scripture as authoritative.

    Matthew 4:4

    Jesus answered temptation with “It is written” and declared that “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). A Christian trusts the Scriptures Jesus trusted.

  4. Every claim must be tested by God's Word.

    Acts 17:11

    Jesus warned of wolves in sheep's clothing, and John tells us to test the spirits. Like the Bereans, Christians weigh every new prophet, revelation, or book against the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

  5. God's Word gets the final word.

    Hebrews 1:1–2

    The first temptation began with “Did God actually say?” Our problem isn't that God hasn't spoken—it's that we want the final word. We don't need new revelation; we need new hearts to trust the finished work of Jesus.

Highlights

  • “The Christian believes that God is the author of truth. He has spoken. He is very clear. His Word is trustworthy and true, and it is our final authority for what we believe and how we live.”

    Watch from 8:58

  • “You can sincerely believe something and be sincerely wrong.”

    Watch from 9:54

  • “A Christian trusts the Scriptures Jesus trusted.”

    Watch from 20:22

  • “The one requirement for heaven is not being good. It's being forgiven.”

    Watch from 38:47

  • “God has spoken. He gets the final word. And the final word has a name. His name is Jesus.”

    Watch from 43:55

Discussion questions

For a small group, with family, or on your own.

  1. Before you ever opened a Bible, who or what shaped what you believed to be true? Family, church, culture, your own gut? Can you think of something you once assumed was true that Scripture helped you to re-think?
  2. When your feelings, personal experience, or something you’ve always believed conflicts with what Scripture says, which one are you most tempted to trust? Why?
  3. Read Matthew 4:1–11. What do you learn about the way Jesus treated Scripture? What words or phrases in these passages communicate how seriously Jesus regarded God's Word?
  4. Discuss why it can be so difficult for someone to reconsider a sincere belief they might have held for a very long time.
  5. What's the difference between testing someone’s truth claim and judging a person? Many people think those are the same thing. How would you explain they're not?
  6. If two people both sincerely call themselves Christians, but have fundamentally different beliefs about God’s Word and who Jesus is, can both of those beliefs be true? Why or why not? How can they communicate their differences without sounding arrogant or treating the other with contempt?
  7. How do you lovingly tell someone, “I don't think what you believe is biblically accurate,” without the conversation immediately becoming an argument? What attitudes, words, or approaches can help keep the conversation both truthful and loving?