With this article, we bring to a close our series on Biblical authority. We began with a fundamental look at God. His very nature establishes some things about His word, its authority, and our respect for it. We also examined our purpose as outlined in His word. We then noticed how His word establishes its right to direct our every action. We noticed how God has changed His covenant with man and what bearing that has on what we do religiously. We would be remiss if we did not address one more factor that has a direct bearing on whether or not man's religion is acceptable to Him...a factor many overlook.

God's silence is as thunderous as His instructions. Just as any parent keeps some things from their children, God, too, has His "secrets." The principle behind Deut. 29:29 teaches this. What He has revealed belongs to man, and man has every right to pursue it and is under obligation to it. What God has not said is not for us, and we have no right to speculate about it. Furthermore, it is eternally dangerous to base one's religion on what God did not say.

David encroached upon God's silence in 2 Sam. 7. Granted...his intentions in building God a temple were noble. One could even argue David had the approval of his "preacher" (v. 3). Still, God wouldn't approve of it simply because He had not told David to build it (v. 7). It would have been wrong for him to do so.

God's silence is never permissive, always prohibitive. If man undertakes a task about which God has not spoken, man is acting lawlessly. This is illustrated in Heb. 7:14. Under the Law, it would have been wrong for Jesus to be a priest because the Law "spoke nothing" about anyone from the tribe of Judah serving in such a capacity. God did say who should be His priests - those from Levi. The point? When God specifies what He wants, that automatically eliminates everything else.

Is Bible authority important? Absolutely. We must honor God's word because of who He is, and respect His silence. Only then can we please Him and live eternally with Him.