Pastor Matt Carter interviews Joey Shaw, the author of All Authority: How the Authority of Christ Upholds the Great Commission.
Everybody who follows Jesus will encounter a myriad of “authorities” that directly challenge the authority of Christ. These other “authorities” may be parents, teachers, bosses, presidents, institutions, religions, or ideologies. In order to stay firm in devotion to Jesus, we must believe that He has supreme authority over all. Not partial authority, not most authority—all authority.
On the basis of his authority, he commissioned his people to go and make disciples among every people group on earth. This is an impossible commission if it were not for the promise that he is with them forever. The doctrine of the supreme authority of Christ not only upholds the work of the church, it is the central message that the church preaches. “Jesus is Lord” is good news!
More from the book:
“The Calvary Road is not a path merely to endure, but is to be embraced because Jesus himself walks with us there!”
“It surprises many to hear that the root of our confidence among the nations is not pragmatism, or strategy, or an easy opportunity to bear lots of disciple-making fruit. Rather, our confidence is rooted in truth. This truth is the supreme authority of Jesus Christ.”
“We believe that biblical mission is simply biblical doctrine faithfully applied.”
“When we are at the end of our wits with suffering, or when we feel entirely useless in shame, depression, and insecurity, or when we fight the hoards of Satan’s army in temptation, let us be comforted that the Spirit intercedes for us in the theater of our hearts, and Christ intercedes for us in the theater of Heaven”
“Without the doctrine of the Trinity, there is no doctrine of the authority of Jesus.”
“The triune God has a grand agenda, called redemption, and each person in the Trinity plays a critical role in that agenda. The Father delegates his authority to the Son. The Spirit executes the authority of the Son in perfect accord with the will of the Father on earth. Together, the Godhead authoritatively rules all creation in joyful unity for his redemptive purposes.”
“What motivates a church to send out their best people to the ends of the earth…?”
“Notice that most English translations of Matthew 28:19 start with ‘Therefore’ or ‘Go, therefore.’ So what is the ‘therefore’ there for? This ‘therefore’ helps the reader make the connection between the authority of Jesus and the mission of the church. Without the truth that Jesus has ‘all authority,’ our mission to ‘make disciples’ of all peoples is not only impossible, it is fatally foolish.”
“Jesus is the only person in history who has the legitimate right to say “Amen” at the beginning of his sentence, rather than at the end.”
“We have a confession that unifies us as a family of believers around the world throughout all time. This confession is the foundation of our faith and it is universally relevant to all of life. All of our faith and hope and joy depend on this confession. We should hear it declared, explained, and exulted every single day in every context of our lives. It is the banner that flies over our lives. This confession is simply three words: ‘Jesus is Lord.’”
“If we do not understand and appreciate his authority, we will not understand the meaning of our authority in him. Naturally, we tend to be more concerned with our authority than we are with Christ’s authority.”
“Jesus’ authority is supreme because it is innate, foretold, real, founding, unimpeded, empowered, exclusive, and legitimate.”
“There is absolutely no action more loving, more humanitarian, or more practically beneficial to the nations than declaring and demonstrating that Jesus is Lord.”
“Because Christ walks with us on the Calvary Road, we do not merely endure it, but we embrace it. In every minute of every trial and through every impossible task that we face, Jesus is with us. He never fails in his promise. What courage, confidence, hope, joy, and glorious peace we have even in the slightest remembrance that Jesus—the one with all authority in heaven and earth—is with us forever. Jesus is Immanuel—God with us.”
“The throne of the heart was crafted for only Jesus to sit and rule on it.”
“No matter the extent of our sin, the force and power of God’s enemies, and no matter if the will of all humanity is joined together against God himself, Jesus is still supremely Lord.”
“The Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the supreme authority over all existence. Jesus needs no vindication from reason, facts, history, or consensus. He never doubts himself. There has never been nor will there ever be any shadow of doubt in the Father as to the truthfulness, perfection, glory, completeness, and authority of Jesus. The Spirit always testifies to the authority of Jesus. There is no unknown fact, no revolutionary argument, no surprising revelation, no unseen reality, no innovative discovery, and no new thought for the Lord Jesus Christ, eternal logos of God.”
“Because Christ walks with us on the Calvary Road, we do not merely endure it, but we embrace it. In every minute of every trial and through every impossible task that we face, Jesus is with us. He never fails in his promise. What courage, confidence, hope, joy, and glorious peace we have even in the slightest remembrance that Jesus—the one with all authority in heaven and earth—is with us forever. Jesus is Immanuel—God with us.”
“Cherishing the lordship of Christ is the root of our strength against a myriad of daily temptations.”
“We have a confession that unifies us as a family of believers around the world throughout all time. This confession is the foundation of our faith and it is universally relevant to all of life. All of our faith and hope and joy depend on this confession. We should hear it declared, explained, and exulted every single day in every context of our lives. It is the banner that flies over our lives. This confession is simply three words: ‘Jesus is Lord.’”
“If we do not understand and appreciate his authority, we will not understand the meaning of our authority in him.”
“How many times have we relied on the strength of our programs, the influence of our leaders, the platform of our church, or the energy of our people over and above the engagement of the Holy Spirit in the task of making disciples among the lost? Is it not true that we often spend much less time in prayer than in strategizing on our programs? Are not our ministry strategies often more influenced by pragmatism than by faith in God’s promises?”
“Could it be that the church today bears so little fruit propor- tional to our size, resources, and the energy put forward because we abide in Christ so little and access his power so rarely? It is jaw-dropping to consider the vast impact of the early church with regard to their incredibly small pool of resources. Where did the apostles get their spiritual power? Where did the early church get their momentum? It came from none other than the Holy Spirit that was poured out on them at Pentecost. We are able to draw upon the power of Christ to use in ministry inasmuch as we abide in Christ in a loving relationship with him.”
“There is no action more loving, humanitarian, or practically beneficial than declaring and demonstrating that Jesus is Lord.”