The doctrine of the authority of Scripture states that God's word stands above all earthly powers. Within God's governmental structure, God - the Living Word and the Written Word - hold positional authority. We are created, not Creator. We are stewards, not owners. Because many of us have experienced "authority" as a way to leverage power or to obtain a desired outcome, we may balk at the notion of the authority of Scripture.

Yet acknowledgement of the authority of the Word of a God who gave his own Son on our behalf is not submission to a power-hungry deity, but to a Father who inverts the very idea of authority. He gives grace and agency to the humble. He elevates and protects the meek and powerless. Submission to such a Father grounds us and allows us to share in his abundant life, a life animated by his Word and illumined by his Spirit.