You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us. NLT.

As preachers, the only authority we have is Christ’s. So I would argue that we have authority when we say what Christ said (and when we speak in line with what He said). Also, we have authority when we treat the Old Testament Scriptures as He treated them. He regarded them as the Word of God and so should we. (There is also the authority of a Christlike life, enabled by the Holy Spirit).

We are not free to ‘make it up as we go along.’ There is too much tinkering under the bonnet of truth; tampering with what has been handed down to us.

Is it not obvious that here in the west, the mainline ‘liberal’ churches are in serious decline, as they rip bits out of the Bible and teach what it expressly forbids? Even as they crave cultural credibility they are losing divine authority. They are like Esau, selling their ”inheritance” for’ ”a single meal” (Hebrews 12:16).