So, my question is not whether his work was good or bad, but whether he had been obedient to the authority of the church or not.
Didn't he commit a sin on this point? Because when he started his work, there was no Protestant church, but only a Catholic church existed. And the authority of the Roman Catholic Church is the papacy. Even if a Pope committs a sin, he is still the authority of the church. So was Luther bound to papal authority? He was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, so he came under the authority of the pope. Was it apropriate for him to say something against the pope's opinions, teaching and doctrine?
If it is about the question which party was correct, all of us know that Luther was more correct than the pope in his time. But, was Luther obedient to the authority established in church? Did the people who were called "Protestant" (meaning those who protest) obey the authority? We can not say they obeyed the temporal authority because they declared teachings completely contrary to Catholicism. So, did he commit sin on this point? Or if we can say he did not commit sin, what kind of scriptural support did he have to go against ecclesiastical authority?
That is the question I have had in mind for a long time. When I was thinking through this matter, one day I was taught from the Bible a principle that dealt with this issue. It is the principle concerning "a prophet's authority." We can find some scriptures in which the Pharisees asked a similar kind of question against the Lord.
"By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?" (See the full text above.)
They saw Jesus as the man who went against the authority of God, and invaded that authority. The Pharisees, scribes and priests were representative of God's authority in the time of Christ. However, Jesus taught contrary to and differently from their teaching.
The reply of Jesus against their question is interesting.
"The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?"
He talks about the authority of John the Baptism. In the Bible, we find many aspects to the ministry of Jesus. For example, in the story of Nicodemus, in John chapter 3, the Bible mentions one aspect of his ministry as "a teacher." We can know that from these verses.
"Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God:"
"Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?"
When Jesus talked about authority, he did not recite the name of Aaron the high priest nor David the king. Instead, He mentioned the name of John the Baptist the prophet. That is loaded with meaning.
As we look at Matthew chapter 21, a related story continues. And there we find written about "a prophet" in the last verse of this chapter. "Matthew 21:46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet."
From this scripture I learn the following: When Jesus lived on this earth, he was not born in the house of priest, nor the son of a king, nor the Levites and he did not inherit the position that goes with being born in such households. As a human, He did not have any of these positions. Of course, that's just how men and women see it; before God it's another story.
When he was on the earth, he worked under the authority of a prophet. Why? He has the authority as the only son of God and the authority as the high priest of God. But He did not talk about these authorities in this passage.
Why Jesus speak and act the way he did? I think the answer is that he is the model for many prophets to be sent by God during the church age.
Scripture promised us God would send prophets in the church age.
Matthew23:34 ｦ Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:"
Jesus said that the prophets of the church age would also come under the authority of the prophets. For example, take a prophet like Luther. He speaks not under the authority of man, but under the authority of God. And as God gave him the words and authority, his work succeeded. When Jesus came, God's people, especially their leaders who ought to have been pure, were widely lead astray from God's will. Jesus was told by God to straighten out their distorted understandings and practices, and he told them as per God's will. If we think about his position, he is the only high priest of God. But, this position is only for Jesus.
God intended to send many prophets after Jesus' time to correct the failure of God's people. I think Jesus dealt with the sending of new prophets in the text considering authority.
I can see two kinds of authorities in the Bible. One is the authority of a pyramid style. That is to say, on the top of the pyramid, there is a head over God's people like a king or a judge, and from him there are leaders of one thousand, leaders of one hundred, leaders of ten.
The other is the authority of the prophet, directly given from God. The special feature of a prophet's work is they are given authority directly from God. There exists no intermediate human being between God and the prophet. In the old testament age, these two authorities balanced each other. In the monarchical age of Israel, there were good kings and evil kings. When we say good or evil king, it is not only a matter of the king himself. If king failed and worshiped Baal, this failure affected all of the people. It is same story in our age. If a king or leader over God's people makes an error with respect to the church, this will affect all of God's people. When the construction of church authority is in the pyramid style, such is the inevitable. For example, observe the history of The Jehovah's Witnesses' Watch Tower and the Roman Catholic Church. The hierarchical structure of these organizations is strict. And the obedience of the people is excellent. But, there is one problem. That is to say if the top leader of the people commit errors, there is no way to correct them. If we say something against these leaders, it will be an invasion of authority.
How does God correct these errors? What is His way? God's way to correct the errors of king and leaders of God's people is to send his prophet to the king. To go in front of king and correct his error? Is this an example of a prophet going beyond his position? Isn't he invading the authority?
No, he's not. The prophet is sent directly from God. Therefore, he has authority to speak against the king. Just as John the the Baptist corrects the errors of King Herod, every prophet receives authority from God to correct the king and his people.
When there is an error with a king or the people of God, God must send a prophet and correct their errors through him; this is the way of God. Now we are in the age of the new testament. Can we apply this old testament principle upon the church of the new testament? I suppose we can. Because all the matters of the old testament provide a model teaching us how to live in this present age.
Jesus says, "I will send prophets." This is a prophecy from the new testament. It means he will send vessels in the new testament age corresponding to prophets in old testament. As Elijah and Elisha in the old testament corrected the errors of the king and God's people, God will send new Elijahs and Elishas who will do same work in this new testament age.
This word of Jesus was fulfilled in the new testament age. When the church makes errors, God sends appropriate vessels to correct her errors. That is to say, God sent Luther, Calvin, Wesley and others. Their role is not completely equal to the role of prophet in the old testament. But they grasped God's will correctly and preached it faithfully to the king and the people of God. They did the work of a prophet in this meaning. In an epistle of Peter, it is written that false prophets in the old testament correspond to false teachers in the new testament. So, I think the work of a prophet in the old testament age -to correct the errors of God's people- will be done by a teacher in the new testament age.
So, when we consider the authority and order of the church, it is necessary to pay attention on the two matters written below:
One is: Every church member is to obey the authority of the church in his position within the pyramid authority and order of the church and is to remain in his position within the church.
Secondly, we must accept the authority of a prophet as sent directly without intermediary from God.
For many Christians, to accept the first authority is easier and it is difficult to accept the latter authority, the prophet's authority.
When the Pharisees asked Jesus "By what authority doest thou these things?," they doubted Jesus's authority. They did not see Jesus as given authority from God.
It is same story with Jeremiah and Micah. People never believed the fact they had received their authority from God. It is the same story in the new testament. Luther, Calvin and Wesley were not always accepted as vessels sent from God by the people of their age. Therefore, they underwent much persecution. It is difficult for most people to accept prophets as prophets truly sent from God.
So, we have to learn from these failures.
We need to have the attitude of faith that God really sends his prophets to the church. When there is an error in the church, God will never overlook it. Instead, He will correct it through the prophets, servants sent from God. Hezekiah was a great king of Judah. "He did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done." He destroyed idols in the temple. When Sennacherib king of Assyria came with a big army, Hezekiah continued to believe in God and won a big victory by Him. But, he made a mistake. "Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land" He showed them every treasure in the temple.
At this time the prophet Isaiah was sent from God and pointed out his error. Hezekiah was a great king before God. If he had been right, the prophet would never had been sent to him. Instead, when he made a error, God sent his prophet to correct the king's error.
So, we can never say God would send a prophet only to corrupt a church. If a church did nine out of ten things right, God would send His prophet about this one error, instead of the other 9 right things.
Even if there is a good church which has only one error among 100 matters, God still wants to correct her one error, so he will send his prophet.
Another thing to know is the fact that the work of a prophet is basically not accepted by many.
Concerning the Pharisees and Scribes who were confident in saying, "If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets," Jesus said "Ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets."
Even if we have confidence in what we believe and do, it seems difficult to treat the Lord's prophets appropriately. Usually, it is difficult to recognize a prophet as a prophet. If it is concerning a famous prophet coming with much advertisement, like Cindy Jacobs, we will at least hear her words, even if we do not accept her words completely. But, when God sends his prophet, he will not always use this kind of method. Instead, he may send a nameless brother or sister as his prophet to the church. It is difficult to judge it correctly.
By the way, if any person receives prophecy or words to the church from God, what should he do? The answer is very clear. If he judges it objectively, and is convinced it is a word from God, he should open his mouth. As there is no value in a canary which does not sing, so there is no meaning in a prophet who does not open his mouth. Of course we have to do every thing according to scriptural order. We should not destroy orderliness, nor do not speak in a place where we are not permitted to speak. But, when permitted, we should speak. Because even though there might exist a canary which does not sing, there should never exist the prophet who does not speak.
The results which follow after a prophet opens his mouth may not be too happy. He might be criticized or persecuted like Jeremiah and Ezekiel or Luther, Calvin and Wesley.
As the Bible frequently tells us, the way of a prophet is the way of the cross.
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