Who gets the final say: God, Scripture or the Church?

[AngelusSax]

You are so lucky that you do not life in 15th century Spain.

I figure there's a reason God waited until when He did to create me.

 

[wardpossy]

Simple: God gets the first word, the middle word and the Last Word " God is the Alpha & Omega"

Jeff

 

[Ravenous]

Simple: God gets the first word, the middle word and the Last Word " God is the Alpha & Omega"

Jeff

Wouldn't that be Alpha, Kappa, Omega?

 

[- DRA -]

It seems from reading various messages that through time and today who people determine as the "ultimate Authority" changes depending on your point of view. And this seems true for all controversial issues.

Let me give you an example: women in leadership

One group would say, The scripture says women are to be silent in church, thus God has spoken through scripture and women aren't to be pastors.

Another group would say, There can be different interpretations of the rule on silence for women in church but the body of the Church has determined that women should not be Bishops.

A third group might say: it is evident that the spirit of God is working good works through this person, who are we to say no, when the Spirit says yes.

Personally I suppose I lean toward the third group. The book of Acts is a chronicle of how a group of Christians leaders who made up the church realized that scripture was not the end of the story. They knew that God had chosen Isreal and yet here was the Spirit in the Gentiles. So they changed, first trying to make the Gentiles into Jew and then recognizing that God was calling them as they were.

Another example is how recently our church had meetings over whether to give same-sex blessings. There was a great deal of heated debate over whether the church should be involved in such a thing. To me it seemed a strange conversation because if God is the one giving the blessings, then isn't God the one deciding who should and shouldn't recieve them? All the talk about whether these people should decide seemed to me as if they were trying to determine what God "should" be thinking before giving God the opportunity to act. Is that really the role of the church? As the Gamalio (sic) guy said when they were going to stone Steven, if it is of men, it will wither but if it is of God, who can (or should) stand against it?

Maybe the question should be, why does it matter so much in such cases that we not let time and God make the final decision?

But for those who see scripture as the answer or the church as the answer, enlighten me please.

As strange as it might seem to some, the truth is designed to be understood (John 8:32). If God's word does what 2 Tim. 3:16-17 says it does, then we should be looking to it for guidance in all spiritual matters.

What does 2 John 9-11 say we do with those that teach contrary to the truth? Should we accept them as they are? What happens if we do? See the problem?

Ultimately, Christ will make the final decision on our lives (2 Cor. 5:10). However, we must make certain judgments along the way e.g. John 7:24, Matt. 7:6. Condeming others is not our role. Standing opposed to what God has condemned is within our role as a servant of God. While some may not be pleased with this, the issue is with what pleases God.